Community, relationships, authentic learning

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”
― Dr. Seuss

That's true for this video too!

More than 30 minutes of video worth watching
As a group of learners collaborate
And relationships develop both between the learners and the Meadowlark residents





Michael Wesch and his students created a video that illustrates the potential of passion and relationships on many levels.

The video techniques are engaging, powerful and compelling.
The stories-- of the students, of the residents, of the assisted living model
Exemplify all that is good when people are open in engaging and sharing with each other--

The seniors' stories touched my soul-- of love, of life, of death, of coping.

The students' realizations of the depth of their authentic learning around both community and the impact of the relationships they developed caused me to smile broadly.

The model of community at Meadowlark, complete with bar, gave me great hope.

That each of us can experience this type of opportunity for learning, for caring and share that with our students-- what could be better?


And you've got to watch it to the end!
And then, smile because it happened--

Caring

Photo Credit

"The flow of water carves rock, a little bit at a time. And our personhood is carved, too, by the flow of our habits."
--Jonathan Safran Foer

It happened twice! within an hour--

We were out grocery shopping in the heat--

On a Saturday morning--

In and out of air conditioning, into the hot car--

And with that, Gus was having increasingly more trouble walking--

And twice, total strangers-- 2 different caring men-- approached us, asking they could help, were we ok?

And my mind came back to the tab that's been open in my browser since June 8 when Stephen Ransom shared this opinion piece from the NYTimes on Twitter-- How Not to be Alone.  So much food for thought there-- for example the quote above-- that resonated with me.

And yet, the sentence that came before it gave me pause and caused me to leave that open. 

My daily use of technological communication has been shaping me into someone more likely to forget others.

Perhaps it's because of where we live and the tragedy that struck our small town--

Perhaps it's because of the habit of care modeled by my parents-- Daddy sent this to me when I was young and I've carried it with me

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." -- George Bernard Shaw

Perhaps it's because of my alma mater and my years there that profoundly influenced me--

Perhaps it's because of the generosity and caring I find in many online spaces --

Perhaps it's because of  SLA's authentic use of technology and their ethic of care --




Perhaps it's because of the kindness of those 2 men yesterday--

I'd like to believe that technology and care can and do co exist and actually amplify the other---

Lots more in that post to ponder--