The Interaction Island...Meeting with Helen Keller

The shore seems away. 

Still, I can see the boarders.

The old vision is blurred

And a Sailor is there to soar

and meet Miss Keller's soul

What a voyage to enjoy!!

A time to reflect 

A time to interact 

A new soul is creeping into your mind 

to make your soul soar 

No Aha Moment ..... I AM THE AHA SAILOR 



* Based on Helen Keller's Quote;" one can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar…"

No power ...still a will ( The Interaction Island)

The hot mornings mood can be a burden to just think that you have to go somewhere.
I know that I have to be there on time and ready with all means, but really cannot resist being sick or feeling burdened by many weekly plans on the Holy Dutiful Saturdays of a poor creature naming teacher.

I just wanted to point out that as teachers are humans, they should think the same of their students.

Energizers are really a great help for a teacher to let students into the mood and to renew the process they interact.

In such exciting voyage, the sailors are never bored but they are energized to recycle what they absorb the ingredients, I would say the hidden ingredients in a positive atmosphere.

It is a real work of an artist ...It is the trainer.

My Aha Moment 

Energizing a mind in an active environment learning creates that harmony that makes all participants unique artist.

Mission 1

Learners' Island (3) - Jack of all trades.

In an active Learning environment, the most important dimension is the "how". The way a facilitator  delivers and performs are the main concerns.

As it is obviously noticed in our systems, we do not differentiate between the three roles of the SME, the ID and the trainer. They all the same in the learning process and the " jack of all trades" facilitator is really a master of none.


The bottle and the cups is the perfect experiment to show the difference between the traditional way of a learning process and the deep active one.Imagine that You are that poor Jack and You will be into the class with the objective of just " throwing the water" from your bottle (the content)or( the what) and you are behind " emptying the bottles" into the glasses (representing the learner's minds" or the "How" It really drives me crazy to be such a Jack nothing to be discovered or acquired

The poor Jack will not have the perfect chance even in the best learners' centered environment.It will just be better but not the perfect.

 My Aha Moment:
I played all the roles in the process. Can I help rescuing all " Jacks" around?












 

Learner's Island (2)

In the movie "Castaway", Hanks went through a very tough experience that changed his life. The final words he declared were a summary applied to all learning journeys.

The journey started by an opening activity. We were asked to share writing a story together on a white paper sheet. We were given clear rules to stick to; not more than three words, use different colours of markers and so on. In fact, it seemed as if we will be thrown into the sea with no rescue. As soon as we started, we felt that it is not impossible to do it . We went on and on and it was completed.

Learners' Hat: Active learning seems to be impossible, as a learner, sometimes you feel you will never do it,but go with it and it will be done. 

Trainers' Hat: I never felt how a learner feel about it. I have to push the learners and lead them to go and try. 


The journey went on with a new concept highlighted ; " Losing Control partially and  intentionally"

As a trainer I know how to do it. Still, I have to admit that I am not aware why should I lose control. I discovered that I acquired the skill of  " Losing Control partially and  intentionally". It is my first time to be aware of it and the term itself is new for me. Losing control partially will let the trainer see something different than planned or expected. It is the human outcome presented by learners. This is why it should be intentionally done.

Another concept was highlighted. If you will lose the control intentionally, why not trying to guide the learners to drift away and you can get them back easily as you are not fully losing control. Use the VFE ( Valuable Faliure Experience)
( Find the attached article for more reading. It is interesting)
We learn from mistakes, this is a human nature of learning.

http://qideas.org/articles/the-value-of-failure/The Value of Failure by Henry Petroski 

My Aha Moment:
Active Learning is about leading my learners to react positively to failures. 

The Learners' Island (1)

Before starting a journey, you ought to be ready enough to sail. I mean by this you need to know where to go and what to take. Let me confess that I was not totally aware of where I am going and what should I carry with me. By " what should I carry with me" I mean What should I have within my soul?

I had the chance to know my partners by names in the virtual world of WhatsApp just one day before the journey. It was exciting  to read their minds even before reading their faces. The group on the WhatsApp just popped out with notifications and images of names, titles , life activities and titles of their books. The images were all about parts of our libraries and what we are currently reading. It was enough to know that I will have the right partners.


The books shown were really catchy, still I found out that most of my readings are about literature and history. I am not a fan of the so called " Human Development" books but sometimes they attract me to go through quickly. I convinced myself that "Well, literature is enough to create an active learner who can relate, compare, analyze and criticize." Let me just try it.

I felt that I have to be punctual today. If I will allow my laziness and the spirit of the weekend to overcome my soul, I will lose a scene from the journey and I will never allow it.

I was on time and started to shake hands with those I knew before. Still, I can see them differently today. I had my ID card and started to scribe my name and then comes a question that I really felt that it was my passport. It was;" What is your favourite quote?.I wrote "Was not God's earth spacious for you to emigrate" At that Moment I realized that my journey started."

My Aha Moment
Go around,look around and try it. Nothing to be lost. Not sought ...Not found."

Here I was...Moments before and wishes to be revealed.

Being one of those who are easily captured by words to go beyond the horizon and to see the other way around, I was captured by the title of the movie " A Beautiful Mind" even more than the story. It seemed to me not related at the beginning; how they use the word "beautiful" to describe a " mind". It lead me to the question; " What is a beautiful mind?". Knowing that it was not only a title, it was also about the true story of John Nash, the Princeton University mathematician who shared the 1994 Nobel Prize for his work in economics along with Reinhard Selten and John Harsany and who suffered to survive after a mental disease with the help of his supportive wife, it added to me a new vision to the title. It is not merely to be told, it is a life to live. My Aha moment came when the couples, Nash and his wife, died in a car accident and I read what Crew, staring Nash in the movie, tweeted:  “Stunned…my heart goes out to John & Alicia & family. An amazing partnership. Beautiful minds, beautiful hearts.”. Here I am starting a new journey in life with " Beautiful Minds" and " Beautiful Hearts."


The time we passed in our lives is not only measured by minutes and hours. It is also measured by number of the "Aha moments'' you capture. One " Aha Moment" can be enough to change your life if only you will go truly for your aha and defending the moment.

The Journey I am starting is all about " Active Learning", still I can see something bigger hidden to go for and catch.

The word " Sawaed" in Arabic was enough to let you into the mood. It means literally "arms" and it is the plural form but the cultural connotation of the word is really strong and rich. It signifies "power emerged from united efforts" and it is a symbol of " Constructing a value."

My Aha Moment (1)

Beautiful Minds and hearts can change Nations only if " United powerfully to construct."...
Sawaed Workshop 21