Back to School!
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As someone who spent over forty years as an education professional, it’s hard to shed the significance of September as “Back to School” month. This year, I’ve found a way to fully embrace the vibe in my retirement courtesy of Gen Z. A trend that started on TikTok and spread to YouTube caught my attention. In an effort to combat “brain rot” — the cause and effect of consuming “low-quality, low-value content found on social media” — twenty somethings are turning to the development of personal curricula.
As a former director of curriculum and a retired person enamored with life-long learning, no one had to twist my arm for me to be itching to hop on this trend. And despite its genesis from the younger generation, it’s the perfect activity for anyone of any age who has a desire to learn something new. But for an aging population, it has particular implications for a more meaningful use of time as well as critical grease for the cognitive cogs.
Earlier in September I made my decision to pursue my own personal curriculum. But here’s where a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I spent weeks overthinking how to plan and format the perfect “syllabus” that would rival any higher ed independent study program, pulling me down countless rabbit holes, further and further away from rolling up my sleeves and actually learning something. This week I finally said ENOUGH! and put all that aside. I went for simplicity. So the bulk of my study trimester will now have to be October, November, and December.
My first step was deciding what I wanted to learn about. I have been playing around with wanting to dig deeper into some topics for a while. One was longevity, as I mentioned in my last blog post, along with wanting to infuse more creativity into my writing using Suleka Jaouad’s The Book of Alchemy — A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life. So that content would be shaped into two courses. If you are a regular reader, you will have noticed that I often write about feeling unmotivated and end up feeling stuck. Wrestling with some solutions to that problem would be another course. And finally, I have been meeting with a group of women bloggers discussing our writing as women of a certain age, looking for a deeper connection with our like-minded readers as content creators. That topic would be my fourth and final course for the trimester.
You may be seeing why I was so wedded to developing a proper syllabus at first. I would need structure and accountability to do this. I would need some kind of a schedule. But I also know myself, and I needed to be realistic. So again, I decided to keep the framework simple. I am a book person, so each course would have an anchor text. I am a writer, a notetaker, so I would use a separate notebook for each course that could include jottings about my learning, quotes, and my reflections. As much as I love to read, it’s easier to sustain engagement in a topic with a variety of modalities, so I’ll also include a podcast or two related to the topic or a YouTube video for each course as learning activities at some point. With each course, I’m reading, I’m listening or watching, and I’m writing. But I also need to be doing something with the learning. So each course needs to have at least a monthly action item, a deliverable. That is going to take some more thought, but it led me to thinking that a 3-2-1 strategy for a framework might work.
The 3-2-1 strategy would look like this. Three "learning activities” each day. That might include readings, taking some notes, or whatever. It also means since there are four courses, I may not hit all four every day. I may do three learning activities on just one course on a Monday, and all three on another course the next day. It’s up to me how I break that up. I would say the learning activities would total about two hours each day, depending on flow. Two times each week I need to review and reflect on my learning goals. So for me, I’ll break this up on reflecting on two courses at a time. Then I can adjust my learning activities as needed for the future. And finally, at least one time each month I need to commit to some deliverable, an action for each course. It may be a blog post, it may be a lifestyle change, it may be an Instagram post on something I am learning, or an email to a friend about some new learning. I am sure I will get more creative and/or practical about this one as I dig deeper into the course topics.
So that’s the plan for now. I think there is more than enough structure and accountability. I’ve given myself some grace —finishing each book is not a requirement. I can cherry pick sections or chapters. What if I find out it’s all too much and I drop a course? What happens? Nothing! I can pick it up later, modify it, drop it completely, or extend it into the next “trimester,” whatever I want. It’s not about acing the course or failing it … it’s purely about personal learning.
Here’s the outline of my four fall trimester courses:
Courting Creativity
The Text: The Book of Alchemy by Suleka Jaouad. I chose this book because it was highly recommended by some writers I follow.
Learning Goal: To engage more deeply in an exploration of self using reading and journaling in order to uncover more possibilities for memoir writing.
3- I am responding to the prompts pretty much nightly in a special notebook, so this will regularly be one of my three daily learning activities.
2- I have been reflecting in my Morning Pages about what the writing prompts are bringing up for me. This can be part of my two reflections a week.
1- I haven’t decided what my deliverables will be for this course, perhaps a full essay based on one of the prompts, a new approach to Morning Pages, or a blog post at some point about the journaling experience.
Note: I began this “course” on September 1.
Longevity 101
The Text: Super Agers by Eric Topol, MD. I chose this as my text because quite frankly, I want to be one.
Learning Goal: To understand the science behind certain lifestyle changes that promote longevity, better-equipping myself to implement them with integrity and commitment.
3-2-1 TBD - This will vary based on my other courses.
Getting Unstuck
The Text: The Science of Stuck by Britt Frank. I chose this book because she looks at “stuckness” through a trauma lens and suggests strategies beyond the conventional ones. It is also full of activities she calls “Five-Minute Challenges” that are a good fit for my plan.
Learning Goal: To understand how I can recover from unhealthy patterns of inertia and implement strategies in my daily life to be more purposeful and satisfied.
3-2-1 TBD - This will vary based on the other courses.
The Art of Connecting
The Texts: The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker and The New Rules of Gathering Planning Guide (download). I chose this book and this resource because I am interested in the concept of blogs as potential digital gathering spaces.
Learning Goal: To learn new strategies to curate my blog content in a way that engenders community among my readers and invites connection through compelling posts.
3-2-1 TBD - This will vary based on the other courses, but I may rely on the Planning Guide for some learning activities.
Well, that’s the current plan. In planning my personal curriculum, I watched a ton of YouTube videos (readers, there are so many), but the one I found most helpful for framing and the 3-2-1 was from MindBodyMel. And on a personal note, I’d like to thank my friend Dena for the perfect little notebooks she gave me for my birthday — just right for this endeavor. I’m excited to have a semi-fleshed out framework, and I am actually looking forward to fine-tuning the 3-2-1 each day for the learning activities and regularly for the weekly and monthly plan. It’s still a little vague, but I like the idea of design by inspiration as I am learning in the courses.
Have you ever created a personal learning curriculum? If you were to create one, what might some of your courses be? Also, if you have any suggestions for learning activities or actions/deliverables for any of the courses, I’d love to hear them. Let me know your thoughts and ideas in the Comments.
