Happy Back-to-School!

And here we are again… starting another school year.  I hope you had a restful and recuperative summer.  Mine was challenging and filled to the brim with great activities, wonderful conversations and powerful interaction.  Each Camp Wannamaka was terrific and Meet Me @ Miami (College) Media WorkShops was unbelieveable!  Thanks to each of our top-notch instructors for making each seminar a joy to experience.

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I came upon a piece this morning that I think speaks right to us as we begin again.  It’s “We learn by doing” by  John Caldwell Holt (April 14, 1923, New York City – September 14, 1985) was an American author and educator, a proponent of homeschooling, and a pioneer in youth rights theory.

Not many years ago I began to play the cello.  Most people would say that what I am doing is “learning to play” the cello.  But these words carry into our minds the strange idea that there exists two very different processes: (1) learning to play the cello: and (2) playing the cello.  They imply that I will do the first until I have completed it,  at which point I will stop the first process and begin the second.

In short, I will go on “learning to play” until I have “learned to play” and then I will begin to play.

Of course, this is nonsense.  There are not two processes, but one.

We learn to do something by doing it.  There is no other way.

And so it goes with all that we are taking on this hot and humid August day.   We are set to start creating wonderful yearbooks, DVDs, eYearbooks, magazines, eMags, newspapers and online publications.  We know that we will spend hours on leadership skills and character-building discussions.  Along the way our “publications” will get DONE; we will fret, worry, console, threaten, grade, reward, celebrate, do and re-do, laugh, sing, dance, travel and LEARN.

We set out on the journey knowing that each moment, each day is special.

As I sit in my office “learning to play” this new 2011-2012 game, knowing full well that no matter how well I plan, organize and set things up there will be bumps in the road that will push each of  us to stop, look and listen before replanning, organizing and setting things up again.  I will learn to “do” by doing and picking up on your signals … and we all will learn so much in that process.

Thanks for taking this trip with me.  I plan to enjoy every minute of it!  I will design each day with lots for time for stopping, listening and learning.  See you soon!