My Flickr stream and blog are filling up with these digital doodlings from conferences and meetings. I’ve made some pretty cool connections by doing these sketchnotes.
One of my favourite connections dates back to May 2012, when I attended the University of Guelph’s Teaching, Learning and Innovation Conference. The Godfather of Adult Education, Stephen Brookfield was the keynote speaker.
cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by giulia.forsythe
Stephen’s books are required reading for many university courses. My centre’s library houses several of them for loan to faculty and teaching assistants. His work on critical reflection and his critical incident questionnaire are cornerstones of good teaching practice.
His talk was really great. Natasha Kenny offers up a brilliant summary and reflection.
My notes, as usual, were more visual and admittedly, not as detailed nor critically reflective as Natasha’s. But it’s fun and helps me remember. Each image acts as an anchor to a point in his talk.
cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by giulia.forsythe
I tweeted them out after the talk
Brookfield #tli2012 Keynote: Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher http://t.co/gAE3Vube
— Giulia Forsythe (@giuliaforsythe) May 1, 2012
Three months later, I had Stephen Brookfield tweet me directly!
@giuliaforsythe can you send me your doodle of BECOMING A CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE TEACHER? I'd love to use it on my website @SteveBrookfield
— Stephen Brookfield (@SteveBrookfield) July 5, 2012
TWICE!
@giuliaforsythe Great – thx so much. I'm revising the book in 2 years & would love to include it there if it's ok with U. What's yr email?
— Stephen Brookfield (@SteveBrookfield) July 5, 2012
So now my visual notes also live on Stephen Brookfield’s web site and quite possibly, will exist in the next edition. To say I am honoured is an understatement, for sure.
It’s kind of nice, when your respected edu friends are impressed by it too.
@thecleversheep Heck ya. @stephenbrookfield is a long-time eduhero-mentor of mine and the wonder @giuliaforsythe check http://t.co/SYXxyyO8
— GNA Garcia (@DrGarcia) August 25, 2012
And if that wasn’t cool enough, out of the blue, stuff like this happens:
That moment when you're sitting in a presentation on Stephen Brookfield and @giuliaforsythe's visual notes on Critical Reflection shows up.
— Tim Owens (@timmmmyboy) February 14, 2013
@giuliaforsythe @DrGarcia @SteveBrookfield She found them from his website. It was a very cool moment to say "Hey I know that artist!"
— Tim Owens (@timmmmyboy) February 14, 2013
By making my notes available under creative commons to such a well respected author and educator, it made my world that much more intimate and connected.
And yes, this would make a good amazing, True Story.