Thursday 10 October

Rabbit holes

This week I was still wandering about in the ‘productivity’ rabbit hole I mentioned in last week’s newsletter. First I was recommended the work by Oliver Burkeman, the Imperfectionist, by Sandy and Laura. You can sign up for his email newsletter here . You can read a sample first.

Don't you think having access to a sample is a good idea?

I’m giving it a go. I saw that he’d written a column in the Guardian for years. It’s finished now but the articles are still worth a read. I love the name, ‘This column will change your life’. I wish I’d thought of that. I think it’s quintessential British humour. You can access the columns here . I read a few and will go back to read more. One week he mentioned PK (Personal Kanban) and the work of Jim Benson. Benson has videos you can subscribe to, but I haven’t checked them out so won’t recommend them here. I’m a huge fan of Kanban and use it when I have a lot on my plate but I’d never heard of PK. Now I realise of course that this is what I’ve been doing for years anyway, as I don’t use the system in an organisation. It’s just for me. Duh!

Page design and layout

I decided to buy the book after reading a few reviews and while the content is OK (not perfect), the design is very flawed. I was surprised and irritated but then I saw it as an opportunity. I’m going to look more closely, figure out all the things that are wrong with it (sometimes it isn’t immediately apparent, we just know something isn't right), and store the information some way. I’ll share it too. One of the things I’m increasingly interested in as a writer but also as a reader, is page design and layout. The more I read about it and think about it, the more I notice when something jars. And the more convinced I am that ‘less is more’.

As an aside …

Online there are lots of references to PK (Personal Kanban) but for some people PK means ‘Pecha Kucha’ and for other people it might mean something else. I looked it up. Amongst other things it’s the title of an Indian film, it’s the ISO (International Organization Standardization) country code for Pakistan, it’s a chewing gum brand (I remember buying PK gum), it can mean ‘peace keepers’ and in gaming it can mean ‘probability of kill’ and is written like this Pk. This is why acronyms should be used with caution.

Professional Development

This week I thought I’d mention a couple of things I’ve learnt in terms of PD from a one-year-old! Hanging out with my granddaughter of 17 months is an eye-opener. Even more so than when I had my children, because in those days I didn’t have much time to even think. So here are four things in no particular order.

• Learning new things is very exciting and it’s great if this can be encouraged and applauded by others, as this leads to more learning. The trial and error, testing moments can also be acknowledged without judgement. Especially valid for language learning, I think.
• Observation is a skill which is well worth developing, either in others or in ourselves. My granddaughter has a nursery school ‘diary’ where the teacher writes notes each day. She’s pointed out that our little girl likes to sit and observe intently before joining in anything. This stage can go on for days.
• Teaching someone else something, or explaining how something works to someone else, is an easy way to consolidate learning and discover gaps that need filling. In the image I’ve used for this week’s newsletter my granddaughter is showing her best friend (rabbits are just as good as humans for this) all the things I’m mentioning on our walk, things like clouds, cows, a tractor ...
• Repetition is necessary for deep learning to take place. For babies being read to this might involve them pointing at elements of a picture and the reader saying what it is. Again and again and … For us grown-ups, it might mean reading the same book or article more than once. I’ve sometimes found that when I do this I spot something I’d missed the first time.

Common courtesy … or netiquette

Do we still use that word? I haven’t seen it for a while.

I didn’t use to like LI when I first joined. I just signed up because as a freelancer I understood it would be a useful platform to be on. As I got used to the ins and outs I started to feel more at home on here, and over time I’ve seen how useful it can be. I read something interesting or spot a handy reference most days. I meet interesting people doing all kinds of work I didn’t even know people do. I read about research in education. I get to see first-hand what colleagues consider to be important or unimportant and I sometimes jump in spontaneously on a ‘live’ that happens to be going on at the same moment I chose to pop in.

I know it isn’t perfect, of course. No SM platform is. I also know there are a lot of people who post stuff that others find either daft or offensive. But that’s OK. It’s like this in our face-to-face world too, and I’m used to navigating that. But on saying all of this, as a platform for professional people, who are networking, looking for work or looking for potential clients, I’m always surprised when I see a post by someone who is rude or mean unnecessarily, especially an educator. As such we should set a good example, surely. We can disagree. We can say something is flawed. We can (and should) be critical. But please let’s do it without stooping to name-calling or public shaming. There … got that off my chest!

Thank goodness most people know how to behave. And of course, those who don’t are unlikely to change and probably have their own ‘issues’. I also think they have no idea of the awful effects their words can have on their targets.

Writing

Another good week in writing for me. Not heaps but the right amount. I’ve written:

… a table chart thing to map out where I am on my graded readers series. Now I can see at a glance what’s left to be done but perhaps equally important, al that I’ve already achieved.

… some readings and listenings for digital progress tests. Just the texts and scripts so far. Next week I’ll write the stuff that goes with them.

… a first draft of a blog post.

… a few emails asking about upcoming work, as I’m trying to plan ahead (not always easy).

… emails to course participants.

… this newsletter (I’ve always forgotten to add this until now).

Thank you

As always a big thank you for reading, writing, commenting, subscribing, and interacting. Every week I get new subscribers and while I’m not obsessed with numbers, that does make me think I might be writing something that some of you consider to be worthwhile reading.