1: Mini-bites of 'blogging (inspired by Michael Cardus).

So much has happened in the last few months! We've been so busy at my organization--a blessing for an industry seen as expendable in today's economy. So, here are a lot of updates in a small space. Think of them as bite-size blog entries, an appetizer for an update I hope to make soon.

• Michael Cardus of Create Learning in Upstate NY is one of the best examples of an Experiential Education 'blogger. These things are NOT mutually exclusive people, and as more millenials join your ranks I hope my colleagues see, like so many others have, that technology is your friend.
• Goal: By April 15th, 2011, have made at least 52 new 'blog posts here at I Facilitate.
• Through social networking I have linked two experiential educators to jobs in the last two months and am not only earning good networking karma, but am recieving more exposure and contacts to networks because of all the forwarding and linking that happens as a result.
• I can predict with great accuracy whether I will know my students names at the end of a program based on 1 thing: Did I ever write them down? If yes, then I'll be able to recall them. If not, then I won't. Pretty funny, huh?
• If you set 11 really great goals, even accomplishing 6 feels pretty fantastic. Keep your eyes peeled for an updated goal list (whittled down from the 27 I started with for 2011 @_@)
• Buying expensive sunglasses when you work outdoors for a living and wear hardcore sunscreen every day has been fantastic, no tinting peeling from the acetate frames. Now I just need to learn to take better care of them.
• A good trail name, when called by it, will be accompanied by a rush of strong emotions. Remind me later to tell you all the story of how I got the name Baby D.
• While tough after a few days on trail, a well-facilitated debreif born out of 90 minutes planning on the ride home will leave participants and supervisors with nothing to add, and a HUGE feeling of accomplishment. It is a good reminder that all the front-loading and thumb-balls in the world cannot make up for a little reflection and a plan.
• Trailheads and side-trails near parking are harder to find than one might tell from the map. Ask questions on forums beforehand to avoid delayed outset and cancelled trips (learned that the hard way).
• Backpacking is much easier today than it was a year ago. I have a stove, certain packing systems and habits, a set of trekking poles, and most importantly: I make it easy to go. I have an entire bankers' box full of trail ready food, energy bars, lipton meals, veggie jerky, gatorade pouches, etc. that is always ready to go. I don't need to borrow anything, just make a plan, find shuttles, and pack. Food outlets have been my very best friend in building this cache, which often includes organic and light-weight options.
• This spring I made a visual guide for setting up a rescue-bag for our high ropes course. I hope to do the same for our Dam Rappel set-up sometime in the summer.
• Being an RA in college has followed me ever since. A few weeks ago I visited a friend who's finishing her BFA this week! I saw a quilt of hers in a show, and noticed a patch of stitching that looked eerily familar. She'd gotten it from my woodgrain textiles. This week I got her commencement postcards in the mail.
• Volunteering with outside organizations while living in an intentional community has been really great. Not only has it opened up the small town I've lived in for two years, but it gives a sense of purpose and identity outside of work, which is something that I struggle with a lot as an American.
• Attended AEE Mid-Atlantic. Colleagues who have been in this field for a few years consistently give the ho-hum to the regional conference. I still find so much new information, new techniques and seminars. This time around in conversing with someone I met at a workshop in passing post-conference, I even have a plan for a proposal I'd like to make for a workshop of my own! The best use of my time at this conference was definitely the workshops of Tiffany Wynn, an Adventure Therapist and Counselor who works out of Ohio. Tiffany is able to facilitate a workshop where theory meets practice, and the needs of those attending are of primary concern. I can't wait to see her again!

What are you up to this weekend?

Here it's the busy season, and I'm keeping myself busy, too. This weekend I'm hitting the trail, with plans to cover some A.T. in PA, a trip with students on the A.T. in New Jersey next week, and then taking my brother with me to finish New Jersey's A.T.!

Oh, I guess I SHOULD tend my garden someplace in there. Maybe I can make it into an initiative...