I’ve been spending a lot of time lately just learning. It’s been overwhelming starting a new job – It’s really pushed me to develop a learning and development plan for myself.
I ended up buying Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Trainers recently using my Association for Talent Development membership discount and it’s been really good so far. One of my goals for this coming year is to develop a DEI training program in the library. It’s not enough to just have one training, but I would like for learning and development to be something that the folks in the library value and do as part of their job.
I’ve also been reading The Workshopper Playbook by Jonathan Courtney. I’ve found that I’m pretty good at facilitating workshops and trainings, but I could always use new approaches to incorporate. I’m also thinking of ways to incorporate what I’m learning in this Playbook into my teaching – these past two weeks, I taught 8 information literacy sessions – honestly, more than most semesters of teaching I had at my previous job.
In addition to reading, I’ve been working my way through Codecademy’s Data Scientist Career Path. Data Science has always fascinated me, and I see this as an opportunity for me to really become better versed in Python – I know enough to be dangerous, but not enough to really do anything cool. Once I get further into the Path, I’m hoping to share some data analysis and visualizations on this site.
One last FUN thing I’m learning about is Creative Coding: Making Visuals Using Javascript on Domestika. For the past few years, I’ve had this vision in my head of visualizing cool, interactive things on this site.
I guess when I tell people I don’t have a hobby, I should revise that statement – my hobby is learning.