Down In Front
If you don’t keep your mind open to new experiences, you are in the way of learning. If you take more than you give, you are in the way of learning. If you use your voice to tear apart learning metaphors, destroy other people’s ideas, or make personal attacks, however passive aggressive, you are in the way of learning. If you spend a lot of time arguing semantics, you are in the way of learning. If your students don’t have ownership of their creations, you are in the way of learning. If you promote conferences and require presenters to solidify topics more than three months in advance, you are in the way of learning. If you hate your job, you are in the way of learning. If you are hording valuable knowledge for the perfect publishing opportunity, you are in the way of learning. If you only consume and never produce, you are in the way of learning. If you withhold learning from students because you refuse to use the tools provided by your organization, you are in the way of learning. If you obey the letter of the law, you are in the way of learning. If you can’t admit when you’re wrong, you are in the way of learning. If you can’t start from scratch, you are in the way of learning. If your students can’t tell you what they’ve learned (using their preferred media) you are in the way of learning. If you never ask the students how they want to learn, you are in the way of learning. If you think teaching is about classroom control, you are in the way of learning. If you get more pleasure from testing a new tool than you do from seeing the spark in a student’s eye, you are in the way of learning. If the number of blog readers, Twitter followers and Facebook friends has more meaning to you than nurturing individual relationships, you are in the way of learning. If you rant and vent more than you uplift and inspire, you are in the way of learning. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you are in the way of learning. If padding your CV takes precedence over finding a position where you shine the most, you are in the way of learning. If you are in it for the money or fame, you are in the way of learning. If you can’t take five minutes out of your day to help someone outside your organization, you are in the way of learning. If you think you don’t need to connect with others, you are in the way of learning. If you think there’s only one best way to learn, you are in the way of learning. If you believe someone, just because of their reputation, and don’t test things yourself, you are in the way of learning. If you complain without offering solutions or seeking advice, you are in the way of learning. If you are in the way of learning, please move over, some of us want to get back to work.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:07 am
If you read a blog post, like it, and don’t leave a comment . . . you’re in the way of learning.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Thanks, Mike! I’m very guilty of that. I’ll work on it.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:12 am
New title suggestion - An Edupunk Manifesto
This is terrific, Jen. I think that a lot of us can relate to this particular rant. I need a poster size version to put up right behind my desk.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Bravo!
You covered a lot of ground. There is something to make most people feel at least a tiny twinge, no matter how self-righteous they felt when they started reading.
I’m often amazed at the little fortresses some teachers build, the way the snipe, and guard territory. I’ve often thought it was partially because other than principal, there is no place for teachers to advance to, so those whose egos need it, “elevate” themselves in other ways. It is so often much easier to build community in the classroom than among the staff or the larger community of educators.
Thanks for saying what needed to be said.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Amen, sister. I’m going to trot this out at the beginning of my first class in the fall, and see if our students can create a Desiderata of open learning philosophy.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:18 am
You are all too good to me. I’m blushing.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:20 am
[...] has an awesome post, which speaks to my previous post on [...]
June 18th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Great post, Jen. I think I might be in the way of learning on a couple of these points… hopefully the balance is tipped toward the “not in the way of learning” side of things though
June 18th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Love it! Going to use it wherever possible. Thanks Jen.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:36 am
I’m thinking bullet points or something more list like. Just a bit easier to follow. Still, impressive.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Thanks, Dean! I thought of that, but really wanted it to be a flowing, smashed up chunk. I actually wanted to full justify it to make it more obnoxious, but didn’t see the option in WP.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Now I just have to avoid the vicious circle of guilt and then inactivity in trying to meet these exhortations.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Jennifer, this is really good. I consume and take without sharing. I will have to change that so that I can get out of the way of learning. Thank you for being honesty.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:48 am
That last sentence should read “Thank you for being honest.” Really, my use of the English language is better than that sentence implies!
June 18th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Fantastic post, Jen, and I agree about the bullet points.
I’m afraid Mike Hasley is wrong, though:
One can learn a lot in lurking, commenting is not required for learning, and it’s not always bad to keep quiet.
Who’s learns more:
The student that quietly listens to the student that incessantly speaks?
June 18th, 2008 at 10:04 am
@darren I’d rather a student speak up, even if annoying, rather than sitting silently. The stuff about still waters running deeply is just bs. Participation is noisy. Contribution requires speaking.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Jen, I ran the post through Wordle.net to render the words all purty ‘n stuff.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Nice Wordle. I’m in the way of learning because I refuse to try Wordle.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Nice Jen…was there a particular incident that sparked this? (;
June 18th, 2008 at 10:33 am
@d’arcy - My point, however, is that learning doesn’t require constant speaking and that one can still learn by not contributing to a conversation.
To say that you can’t learn from a blog post if you don’t leave a comment is completely false.
Or have you commented on every blog post you’ve ever found educational?
June 18th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Thanks, Jeff. Actually no. I’ve been trying to think of a way to say these things for a few weeks. I think the combination of fever, cough and too much coffee led to this outburst.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:41 am
@darren who said anything about constancy? The original comment about commenting was half tongue-in-cheek, and i read it more as “if you’re not participating in the conversation, you’re part of the problem.”
Participating isn’t constant babbling. Contributing isn’t ceaseless talk. Of course there are times when silence is a good thing. Of course not every person will comment on every blog post they read.
The point was that contributing and sharing in return is a valuable activity.
Don’t read too much into every single word you read. Sometimes, words are more of suggestions, inferences, or metaphors. Don’t dissect every syllable looking for fault, because that’s what you’ll find. Look for the meaning behind the words, and things become a bit more valuable. Or, dissect this comment, if it makes you happy.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Great stuff! I think you should have waited though and applied for a grant before bringing this out.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:49 am
@Dean @Darren
* No
* Bullet
* Points!
As I read over this again, I realize that this is an amazing piece of poetry, a passionate riff/rant like you’d here in a really good poetry slam. Jen, the fever, cough and too much coffee have released your inner poet - let her stay out for a while.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Uh - that should be “hear”, not “here”. I plead poetic license.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:29 am
…Nice!
I am definitely going to stick this in big print on the wall next to my desk - it’ll serve to inspire me whenever I’m tempted to take the easy way out. Might even be able to take down that A0 print of Troy from High School Musical.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Nicely done Jen! Your post is like poetry. I have a few favorites:
“If you can’t start from scratch,”
“If you think you don’t need to connect with others,”
“If you rant and vent more than you uplift and inspire,”
Thank you for inspiring me.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Agreed - no bullets. Here’s another Wordle of it: http://wordle.net/gallery/Jen’s_rant
I removed ‘can’t', ‘don’t’ and a dozen instances of ‘learning’ to let the other words be a bit bigger
June 18th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Previous URL broke on the apostrophe.
Let’s try this: http://wordle.net/gallery/the_Way_of_Learning
I like this one better anyway
June 18th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Great stuff, reminds me of a song or church refain in some really cool ways, which makes me agree entirely with Rob Wall’s notion of this as a kind of poem.
If you create cool stuff, I guess you ain’t in the way of learning
Sign me up for the group Gregorian chant of this.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Ugh. It’s turning into Jen Jonestown.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:59 am
This is great! We could spend weeks unpacking it. Months. Years. I see a separate blog post for each statement… can we look forward to something like that? Or for some of them? Okay, maybe that’s a bit of work
I have to admit the one that intrigues me the most is “If you obey the letter of the law, you are in the way of learning”. I agree, but I’d really love to know where you’re coming from.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:59 am
and also with you.
June 18th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Mmmmmm - koolaid!
June 18th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Jen,
Thank you, thank you, thank you. This kind of rant makes me look at my own practice to see where I am in the way of learning. I think the wordles of it are cool, too.
I also like the idea of printing it and posting it in classrooms as so many of the other commenters have said. I would secretly like to give it to some folks I know with specifics highlighted for them, Just to help!
June 18th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
It’s not a rant
It’s a poem 
June 18th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Jennifer - Wooo eeee! Awesome! I love it. Any reason for this? I can really relate! Thank you so much for writing it all down. It is wonderful. All of the things you think, but never have said out loud - until now!
June 18th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
It isn’t a rant… it is much more poetic!
I think it is more like a Learner’s Manifesto.
I wrote a (largely ignored) ‘Participant’s Manifesto’ a while back… I won’t bother linking to it, but I will say this:
I have not seen enough emphasis placed on the responsibility of the learner for some time now. They have to bring something to the table… make that “bring ‘a lot’ to the table!” Learning isn’t something we ‘do’ to people.
I so agree with your final point… if you aren’t going to engage, then “please move over”!
June 18th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
The “consuming” versus “producing” line has me thinking. In Creative Memories, we talk about knowledge plus ACTION equaling results. In other words, if you do nothing but gather knowledge but never apply what you know, nothing comes of your knowledge. I suspect this applies in the edtech world - and many other realms - as well.
Had to dig a bit to figure out what CV meant, since I’m not a teacher (though everyone else in my family is!). “Resume” is the word we’d use in my (business) world. Point still holds, though.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
This is wonderful Jen!
And just in time for me to use for my final class tonight. Great way to end the course.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Thanks, Jen.
Jim
June 18th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
[...] yourself a simple question: What do you do that gets in the way of learning? Then read this terrific post by Jennifer Jones, and see where you fit. It’s inspiring and humbling, all at the same [...]
June 18th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Thank you all for this overwhelming response. I am humbled. I would love to see people add more and make it their own. It doesn’t belong to me.
June 18th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
May I add,
The day you stop learning is the day you step in front of others trying to learn!
June 18th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Great post. I love “If you rant and vent more than you uplift and inspire,”
@darren I get what you’re saying - sometimes the only comment I have is one that has already been said. Is it really necessary for me to add another comment for the sake of upping somebody’s comment number?
June 18th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
What can be said that hasn’t already been said? It’s awesome. I would love to share this with all of our teachers, but fear that I might be forcibly removed from the way of learning.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
I guess I have been in the way of learning. I just abou this the other day. Do I take more than I give back-probably. Will try to change in little bits.
June 19th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Jen-
Can you turn this into spoken word? I would love to have my students (and me) close their eyes and just….listen.
In the meantime, I’ll be posting a copy on my door.
thanks!
June 19th, 2008 at 7:24 am
“If you are in it for the money or fame, you are in the way of learning.”
If you are in it for the money or fame, you shouldn’t be in education.
Great post, Jen. How about “If you rely on the assignments and activities that have been in the department filing cabinet for years and years, you are in the way of learning.”
June 19th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Eric, I will think about it, but right now I have a nasty cough. I also don’t know if I could read it without sounding like Jeff Foxworthy. Plus, I don’t feel like it belongs to me, so I don’t think I want my voice permanently attached. It would be nice to have it done by kids though
Maybe one of those videos with the signs? Actually, I would love to see people of all ages reading it. Learning is lifelong.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Coffee, a cough and fever… Man I don’t write that well at 100%. Jen thanks for put down what I have been thinking for a while. Unfortunately I saw pieces of myself in that portrait. It will give me something to work on. I am definitely sharing this.
I hope you feel better soon.
June 20th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Okay, Okay, no bullet points. I get it.
June 20th, 2008 at 8:38 am
As promised, I have made a PDF of this and printed it out as a poster and put it on my training room wall.
Here is a link to the PDF: http://metamedia.typepad.com/ingenuity.pdf
Enjoy - Randy
June 20th, 2008 at 11:01 am
@Jen - By now I hope you’re over your cold! There’s nothing worse than a cold/cough in June!
@Randy - You’re pdf is pretty good! I like the scattered look, different fonts. However, you might want to spell @ingenuity differently.
@Elaine - Thank you! It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one that feels that way.
@D’Arcy - You’re absolutely correct that we shouldn’t put too much into every single word we read. The ability to filter (and to read beyond the words) is an essential skill. Nevertheless, how do you know that Mike’s original comment was half tongue-in-cheek? Furthermore, how do you really know that his “point was that contributing and sharing in return is a valuable activity”?
Without knowing more about Mike himself (his personality, his background, and his way of thinking - certainly more than simply his name and his website), all we really know is what he said.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:05 am
@Darren There is something worse than a cold in June, and now I have it — PINKEYE!
June 21st, 2008 at 4:29 pm
This (or at least a portion of it) begs to be put to song in some way perhaps in the style of the Wheezer pork and beans video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI In my loosely coupled network are many former students from a visual and performing arts school. One happens to be a member of an up and coming young band, a good friend of his is studying video production in Toronto and there are several artists, dancers, singers, actors, writers etc. I will be attending the bands CD launch and tour kick off next weekend and most of this crowd will likely be there. Would it be okay with you if I casually tossed out the idea of making an informal just for fun song and video around some of these themes?
June 21st, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Sure, Trevor! Would love to see it. Let them make it their own, though!
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:39 pm
If you are still in the way of learning, you will cause permanent head damage to those of us pending to learn.
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:20 am
It’s posts like this that make your blog a pleasure to read.
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:01 am
Thanks, Jabiz!
July 1st, 2008 at 3:45 pm
It’s a poem. A good one. Reminded me of this one, which though famous, I actually like less.
=========================
so you want to be a writer?
-Bukowski
if it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don’t do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it for money or
fame,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don’t do it.
if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,
don’t do it.
if you’re trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.
if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you’re not ready.
don’t be like so many writers,
don’t be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don’t be dull and boring and
pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don’t add to that.
don’t do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.
when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in
you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.
July 1st, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Cool! I guess if I’m going to be a hack, it should be a Bukowski hack. I don’t remember reading that previously, but maybe I did. I read a bunch of his short stories in the early 90’s.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Hi! Just wanted to let you know that I loved your post soo much that I have translated it into Spanish and published it at http://elearningxxi.blogspot.com/2008/07/debes-perder-una-mosca-para-pescar-una.html
Regards
July 17th, 2008 at 1:29 am
[...] en su espléndida entrada Debes perder una mosca para pescar una trucha ha hecho de un post de Injenuity. La copio aquí debajo y pienso tenerla bien presente muy a menudo. No tiene desperdicio. Muchas [...]
July 17th, 2008 at 2:43 am
[...] la traducción que hacen en Corto y Cambio de Down in front: Agáchese, que [...]
July 17th, 2008 at 3:20 am
[...] nuevas experiencias, tradiciones Estimulante, lúcida y clara a más no poder es la traducción de un post de Injenuity titulado Down in Front que ha hecho Esperanza Román en Corto y Cambio. Aquí debajo la copiamos: Agáchese, que [...]
July 17th, 2008 at 3:41 am
… ‘you are in the way of learning’ only? Why not simply ‘you are in the way’?…
Very, very good!
July 18th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
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August 7th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
[...] of the more interesting things I found reminded me of Jen’s edupunk blog post from a few months back (the “down in front” entry - click if you don’t know what [...]
August 25th, 2008 at 10:00 am
[...] Artículo de Jen Jones, original en inglés. [...]
August 25th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Brilliant! So much so that it has already been translated to Spanish (and basque too, I think…) This is how I came across it (in Chile)
August 27th, 2008 at 6:33 am
[...] Artículo de Jen Jones, original en inglés. [...]