When you learn something new, think about where it would fit into your life.
There’s always new things that you learn all the time, and you might not even realize it.
Take a minute and think about the last time that you learned something new… if you can’t
think of anything right now, that’s OK, give it some time.
Read on so that you can get some ideas on what would work for you.
A few years ago I was working at a private school full time, and I taught an Art and Sewing
Class that I rolled into one program that I named “Fiber Arts” for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade boys
and girls. The kids had all kinds of supplies available to them: wood, fabric, paint, wire, paper,
plastic, tools, sewing machines, and more. I made sure they were equipped with as many
different items as possible when they wanted to create.
I would have a quote or question ready to present to them before class started, and it was to
get them to start thinking about how to be aware of the world, their world and themselves.
It was important for me to as a teacher to teach them how to think outside the box, use their
imagination and bring out all of their creativity so they could use it to the max (as I like to call it).
I really loved the comments, replies or questions they had for me after I presented the quote or
question to them. They have this wonderful ability to think deeply and come up with many great
ideas to use and work with. These young people are really amazing, they are much more aware
of things at a younger age and they’ve always amazed me. I just loved working with them.
The first sentence of this article is one of the quotes that I presented to my class back then;
“When you learn something new, think about where it would fit into your life.”
A lot of the time, things that you learn in a specific area or subject can be used or applied to many
other areas of your life. It may not seem like it at first, but it’s true I’ve seen it over and over again.
For example: when I’m teaching someone how to work with wire, I have to show him or her the
tools they’ll need and how to use them. Then I have to teach them the different ways of designing
something made from the wire, which is completely different then working with the other materials
that they have used before.
It becomes a new learning experience.
For the student, it took a little bit of preparation, a little bit of planning and sometimes a lot of problem
solving, depending on the design. What that means is that the student is gaining new skills or getting
better at the skills he or she learned that they could use somewhere else in their life.
Most of the things in life require preparation, planning and problem solving like cooking, taking care
of family, working, and more.
Think about where you could fit something new that you learned into your life and where it
would have the greatest impact.