It has been a fun and interesting two and a half weeks that I have spent learning calligraphy. While I am by no means an expert, I am much more confident in my skills thanks to many blogs and YouTube videos! Below you can see a video of me in action.
I spent a great deal of time watching videos like this one and this one, watching people write in order to learn how to even hold the pen. It was such a basic skill but one that I had to master before even beginning to write. Once I got a hang of the pen, I moved on to basic upstrokes and downstrokes to get used to the pressure that needed to be applied. I tend to write very hard, so this was a challenge for me.
The next move was from basic skills to writing the alphabet. This is where I had run into trouble at first. I became frustrated trying to watch the videos and make the letters at the same time. With my focus divided, I felt like I was not unable to concentrate on letters or what was happening on my screen. I actually had to put the pen down and not practice for a day because each time I tried I became more flustered. After my brief hiatus, I decided to move to using two blogs by Julia Bausenhardt and Julie Blanner. During my brief time off I thought about how I learned best, which for me is through reading and seeing something done. I had only watched calligraphy until that point. Incorporating those blogs really did make a difference for me.
The most difficult part of this project for me was realizing that I would not become an expert in two and a half weeks. I had in my mind this idea that I could learn calligraphy and write just like the people in the YouTube videos. When I realized how difficult it was, I became more and more frustrated. In the day that I took off, not only did I think about how I learn, but learning in general. As a teacher, it is easy for me to forget how difficult it can be to learn something that is brand new. Sure, we learn new tools and new strategies, but these relate back to knowledge we already have. I had no prior knowledge of calligraphy, and quite honestly don’t have the best handwriting to begin with. In the end, my frustration made me realize that so many of my students go through this same frustration. They walk into my classroom with very little background knowledge of physics and chemistry. At the end of the year they may not walk out of my room experts, but they have more foundational skills to carry them forward, just like I now have the foundational skills to continue improving my calligraphy.
The ability to learn through different networks, like YouTube and help forums, is becoming an increasingly important skill. I may have learned some basic calligraphy, however you can find almost anything online now! I think this is an extremely important skill and one that I hope to teach my students through some type of networked learning project of their own. Projects such as these teach students not only the content but how to evaluate resources online and how to problem-solve when they run into trouble. I too will use the skills I learned through this project to help me learn in the future. With the internet there is almost no limit to what can be learned!
The next move was from basic skills to writing the alphabet. This is where I had run into trouble at first. I became frustrated trying to watch the videos and make the letters at the same time. With my focus divided, I felt like I was not unable to concentrate on letters or what was happening on my screen. I actually had to put the pen down and not practice for a day because each time I tried I became more flustered. After my brief hiatus, I decided to move to using two blogs by Julia Bausenhardt and Julie Blanner. During my brief time off I thought about how I learned best, which for me is through reading and seeing something done. I had only watched calligraphy until that point. Incorporating those blogs really did make a difference for me.
The most difficult part of this project for me was realizing that I would not become an expert in two and a half weeks. I had in my mind this idea that I could learn calligraphy and write just like the people in the YouTube videos. When I realized how difficult it was, I became more and more frustrated. In the day that I took off, not only did I think about how I learn, but learning in general. As a teacher, it is easy for me to forget how difficult it can be to learn something that is brand new. Sure, we learn new tools and new strategies, but these relate back to knowledge we already have. I had no prior knowledge of calligraphy, and quite honestly don’t have the best handwriting to begin with. In the end, my frustration made me realize that so many of my students go through this same frustration. They walk into my classroom with very little background knowledge of physics and chemistry. At the end of the year they may not walk out of my room experts, but they have more foundational skills to carry them forward, just like I now have the foundational skills to continue improving my calligraphy.
The ability to learn through different networks, like YouTube and help forums, is becoming an increasingly important skill. I may have learned some basic calligraphy, however you can find almost anything online now! I think this is an extremely important skill and one that I hope to teach my students through some type of networked learning project of their own. Projects such as these teach students not only the content but how to evaluate resources online and how to problem-solve when they run into trouble. I too will use the skills I learned through this project to help me learn in the future. With the internet there is almost no limit to what can be learned!