in praise of the simmer…

The past two days I’ve been involved in the #ed1to1 Twitter experience. The idea is that participants read a short article by Audrey Watters and then tweet questions, observations, connections, etc. using a common hashtag. #ed1tot is part coursework participation for students enrolled in an actual course with University of PEI, part “field trip to the land of sloooooooow” for those of us who are from the Twitter Journal Club (#tjc15) tribe, and part experimentation in the power of a hashtag to, for a short time, unify a diverse group of people.

I came to #ed1to1 via #tjc15. Each month I enjoy taking part in the breathless hour of live reading and live tweeting that is #tjc15. The experience is academic adrenaline and by the end of it I’m consistently both exhausted and exhilarated with new potential. In addition, I’ve established a solid community of connections, thus my participation has not only helped build my literature confidence…it’s also helped build confidence in my own voice.

I came to #ed1to1 wondering how the general ethos of #tjc15 would hold up in a long-term format. Would the experience be even better because there would be a whole parcel of students doing this in the context of a class? Would it be harder to engage “strangers” as opposed to the regulars? Would the experience be a bit flat without the condensed time frame to activate the fervor? Or, would the experience be better because it wasn’t forced into such a short time and could more organically ferment?

back. to. writing.

It’s been over a month since my last written entry, July is moving along at a much faster rate than I ever remember it doing in previous years, and my own feelings of guilt about my lack of writing are mounting thus…time to get back to it.

In February I had a mild crises at the thought of all that was going to happen over the next 11 months with a looming candidacy proposal to be produced and coursework to finish. I’m fortunate that my supervisor is totally okay with being a combination guru / therapist / drill sergeant / cheerleader thus whenever I feel an academic meltdown on the horizon…he’s on the email equivalent of speed dial.