Hit a wall, but focusing on one brick at a time
So, I have hit a wall. I had a moment this week where I felt guilty for not actually putting my learning to use. I have actually only created one arrangement…shouldn’t I be making more? I felt like I needed to reflect on that a little. And I realized this. I simply chose something that is not super practical. Although, I am interested in it, and I love flowers and arranging, unless I have 24/7 access to the supplies, or a purpose to arrange (like a wedding, holiday, or as a gift), it isn’t an easy thing to just do.
But that doesn’t mean I haven’t learned anything. Every little tip and trick I have read or seen across the various platforms has stuck with me. I will remember them. I know opportunities will surface in my future for me to do this activity. I am just learning that this is not something I turn to in crisis or stressful moments, like I might Yoga or Meditation. I need a purpose for it. But, that is ok! I am still finding so many little tips along the way that will make me a “better florist” when I am ready to actually create. Maybe I have hit a bit of a wall or my limit on this new skill.
The process is just as important as the final product.
That statement is important to keep in mind. I am challenging myself to try and arrange a few more things-to actually try applying my learning. But this week, I just gave myself permission to reflect…..and now move forwards….
3 thoughts on “Hit a wall, but focusing on one brick at a time”
Hi Kaelyn, thanks for sharing on some of the struggles you have faced. I have faced a similar challenge to you where throughout my learning project I feel I am not learning a skill that is practical and applicable for me to really use in the future as mine is learning to draw and my end goal isn’t to be an artist. Therefore, from reading your post I do not feel alone with this feeling as doing all this work on learning a new skill for nothing as it seems you are also struggling with this feeling.
One of my largest takeaways from my learning project has nothing to really do with the skill of drawing but rather on the idea of learning to do something new. This takeaway is that when teaching future students it is important to not take on too challenging of a project using the new skill too soon or to take my time teaching a new skill and not teaching it in a fast paced way. I learned this from my learning project as when I would try to draw a more challenging drawing too soon or trying to follow along with a fast paced video just made me extremely frustrated to the point that I wanted to just give up. Is there something such as this that you have learned from your learning project that can be applied to your future classroom and teaching strategies?
I am glad to hear you took the time this past week to reflect on your learning and project as I believe this is such an important aspect when it comes to learning something new. I will definitely be providing lots of opportunities in my future classroom for students to be able to reflect on their learning! As you said the process is just as important if not more than the product so it is important to reflect all around and not just on the end results! Keep up the great work and I hope you have opportunities in the future to use your new skills!
Hey Kaelyn, I appreciated your honesty in looking at your learning project. I don’t think the challenge of these projects need to be something that you are doing all of the time, it’s essentially just an opportunity to develop a new hobby or something that you can do occasionally! Given the busy-ness of life, it’s obviously quite unrealistic to be doing floral arrangements every day, but as you said, it’s a great skill to have for future events like weddings or gifts for people. I’m sure you could even turn it into a private little business if you wanted… Good luck with overcoming the current bump in the road with the project!
Thanks for your honesty! When I read this, my brain immediately ties into how this relates to education. I was actually just at a PD session today where we learned a lot about assessment. A huge piece of this discussion was shifting the focus from product to process- just like you mentioned. So don’t discredit your feelings- if we are talking about true, deep learning- then it is not the product that counts. Keep focusing on the process!