When I say social networking, I don’t mean Twitter or Facebook. Instead, I mean the networking that has gone on ever since humans could communicate. Think of all the learning that happens just rubbing elbows with a friend, family member, colleague, neighbor, or chance acquaintance, where you share information and experiences.

For example:

I had never heard about a portable GPS until my friend mentioned it as a way to resolve my driving misadventures.

Standing behind someone at a bird store, I learned to buy peanut pieces and a special bird feeder so that I could attract nut hatches and different woodpeckers to my backyard.

I learned a shortcut to my son’s school from a colleague who used to take his own child to that school.

Over the years, friends and colleagues have given me tips to run my business, find a webmaster, create a marketing brochure, obtain free workshop space, and hire a great accountant.

My son-in-law happened to mention how to buy and sell things on Craig’s List, which is now a solid fixture in my purchasing life.

At the urging of a good friend, I went on a wonderful cruise to Alaska, learning many things about the history, flora, fauna and sea life along the way.

A kind clerk told my daughter and me where to buy her prom dress at another department store!

When I visited to give a workshop, my client and dear friend graciously took me to tour and learn about Amish country, Cape May, and Philadelphia.

I am cutting my long hair. My daughter has taught me by example to send my shorn hair to Locks of Love, so that children with cancer can have the gift of real hair wigs.

My tiny granddaughter showed me that Christmas trees get lonely and like to dance, bough to hand.

My daughter-in-law just gave me the recipe for the scrumptious seven layer bars she had given me as a holiday gift.

Good grief. I just spent over a week in a retirement community helping my mother, who has terribly debilitating sciatica. Every single day, a different resident offered another therapy for us to explore!

Any time you ask a question and get an answer, observe someone else, overhear a conversation, watch an interaction, ask for help or suggestions, that is social networking at its most essential and vibrant level.

Of course, this includes the more formal networking that occurs at professional events, where you share information about products and services with others.

We are social beings and every day we are constantly networking and learning from each other as we simply live our lives.

Next week, we’ll discuss learning opportunities that are specifically geared to the elderly.

May your learning be sweet.

Tip #304: Lifelong Learning Opportunities

Posted on January 4, 2010 by admin

It doesn’t matter where you live. The range of lifelong learning opportunities available to the general community is simply amazing. We’ll begin this series of Tips by looking at informal learning offerings that are either free or inexpensive.

• Every professional and civic organization has a speaker at their monthly meetings.

• Local hospitals and health care organizations offer health-related workshops.

• Most brick and mortar businesses provide workshops to help consumers learn how to use their products.

• Food cooperatives and grocery stores, such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe, have workshops about food growth, delivery and preparation.

• Community centers offer a wide spectrum of learning opportunities that are as varied as the presenters: candle making, soap making, scrap booking, learning Italian, cooking heart-healthy recipes, etc.

• Local craft stores provide sessions that teach how to knit or quilt, how to make certain holiday crafts, etc.

• School districts offer all sorts of programs geared toward the entire family. Swimming lessons, sports clinics, team sports such as volleyball, softball and basketball; how to play different instruments; a variety of art lessons, different language lessons, computer, games, outings, theater, you name it, it’s available!

• Local organizations schedule outdoor learning opportunities such as bird watching, local flora and fauna, gardening, hiking, lake or beach clean up, etc.

• If you live in a northern climate as I do, community groups provide cross country skiing lessons at local golf courses in the wintertime.

• Libraries and museums provide programs that cover a wide range of topics and interests.

• Churches and other religious institutions have programs in Bible study, community relations, ethics, religious history, family studies, etc.

• Local groups and taverns offer lessons in a variety of dance styles.

• Local schools offer evening classes and theater events.

• I live in a university town (Madison, Wisconsin) and there is not one day or night that doesn’t offer free student or faculty music recitals, art shows, lecturers, etc.

• The internet, where you can learn about absolutely anything- although there is no guarantee that what you are learning is always accurate.

• Newspapers, books and magazines. Television and radio shows, and not just the educational channels.

• Bookstores bring in authors to speak about their books, and book clubs discuss books on a regular basis.

By now, you realize that my definition of learning is very broad. According to Wikipedia, “learning is acquiring new knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, preferences or understanding, and may involve synthesizing different types of information.” Therefore, any new experience can provide learning opportunities.

There are probably a number of obvious providers of new learning that I have overlooked. Feel free to add to this list.

The bottom line is that there is no limit to the possibilities, if you care to look.

Next week, we will discuss lifelong learning that occurs through social networking.

May your learning be sweet.

Tip #302: The Heart of a Teacher

Posted on December 14, 2009 by admin

We have spent the past two months looking at examples of the positive and negative impact that elementary and high school teachers can have on lifelong learning. We need good teachers in our schools, and many of our children are lucky to have them. The following poem by Paula J. Fox is a wonderful testament to those many teachers who nurture and guide the children in their care.

The Heart of a Teacher  
by Paula Fox

The child arrives like a mystery box with puzzle pieces inside;
some of the pieces are broken or missing and others just seem to hide.

But the HEART of a teacher can sort them out and help the child to see 
the potential for greatness he has within- a picture of what he can be.

Her goal isn’t just to teach knowledge by filling the box with more parts;
it’s putting the pieces together and creating a work of art.

The process is painfully slow at times; some need more help than others.
Each child is a work in progress with assorted shapes and colors.

First she creates a classroom where the child can feel safe in school,
where he never feels threatened or afraid to try, and kindness is always the rule.

She knows that a child can achieve much more when he feels secure inside,
when he’s valued and loved, and believes in himself, and he has a sense of pride.

She models and teaches good character and respect for one another;
how to focus on strengths not weaknesses, and how to encourage each other.

She gives the child the freedom he needs to make choices on his own,
so he learns to become more responsible and is able to stand alone.

He’s taught to be strong and think for himself as his soul and spirit heal;
and the puzzle that’s taking shape inside has a much more positive feel.

The child discovers the joy that comes from learning something new.
And his vision grows as he begins to see all the things that he can do.

A picture is formed as more pieces fit -an image of the child within,
with greater strength and confidence, and a belief that he can win!

All because a hero was there in the HEART of a teacher who cared;
enabling the child to become much more than he ever imagined or dared.

A teacher with a HEART for her children knows what teaching is all about.
She may not have all the answers, but on this she has no doubt:

When asked which subjects she loved to teach, she answered this way and smiled,
“It’s not the subjects that matter, it’s all about teaching the CHILD.”

It is my fondest wish that my tiny grandchildren, Helena and Isla, and all other children have the gift of a teacher like this!

Next week, we will begin to look at the range of lifelong learning opportunities available to the general community.