Weaving

Hitting the fifth of the 8W's feels like I'm starting the bell lap in a race. I feel that the hardest part is over now--especially since I took a desperately needed break from the work.

Yesterday was the most frustrating day of the project so far--not because of the project itself, but because of my personal learning styles. To think well, I need to be able to move physically and ideally outdoors; in my own mind, I refer to the process as short-circuiting, a time when I'm not directly considering a problem, but somehow the recesses of my mind are working through the data. A twenty inch snowfall pretty much took care of that for me yesterday. I was so desperate that I sent an emergency email to Dr. Lamb. (Thank you again, Dr. L).

On the other hand, it forcibly reminded me how important it is to take into account how each of our students think and learn best. It's not sexism to admit that boys need more active learning environments than traditional schools usually create

Weaving involves organizing the information and formulating plans (Lamb), but emotionally I find that Kulthau's description of the emotion of the learner is apt; I am again filled with increased confidence that I will complete this task because I have analyzed the information I've gathered and will start the final project shortly.

Since this step is about synthesis, I'm looking at the recommendations of The Big Blue Book, which suggests the following: charting similar ideas together, distinguish resources, and sequence events. The chance to speak with an expert was an essential step in final focus.  I've found that I tended to do these things as a part of my webbing and wiggling in random notes, scribbles, and doodles that sorted themselves out in my mind when I finally could get outside. I think it's because, in general, I'm product and outcome oriented. At any rate, I'm relieved that the end is in sight.