Well Hello…..
I certainly did miss chatting with you all. In the week that I was missing I was on the hunt for another person that would fit the Method to the Madness series. I love a good hunt. How about you? Do you enjoy searching for that perfect something at that perfect price? What kind of things do you search for? Leave me a comment and let me know.
As a writer, I search for all sorts of things. Sometimes I’m searching for facts or words and sometimes I’m searching for a mannerism or an experience. Research is a common part of what I do. There is a method to my madness! (lol).
Like everyone else these days, I too, have been pondering the transition back from Covid19. Questions danced around in my brain. What will it be like? How long will it take for us to recover? What are the after-effects going to be? There were plenty of questions but maybe, not so many answers, not yet anyway. I was standing at a cross walk waiting for the light to change when a school bus made its’ way past me. What a beautiful sight to see in a neighborhood and suddenly I knew the perfect person to seek out for a round of Method to the Madness chats.
It put a spring in my step as I hurried back to The Living Pen to reach out to this very special person and convince them to let me pester them with questions. Would I be successful? I knew the idea would be attractive but would my little blog be worthy? There was only one way to find out. I left a message and waited for the call back……
When the call came in I steadied myself, it could go either way and in my excitement without much in the way of small talk, I asked
“Do you think learning is an art? I mean you have done a lot of learning and teaching, right, if you heard the statement, Learning is an Art, and you were asked to describe that statement as it pertains to you, what would you say?”
There is nothing like a freight train question coming at ya at seventy miles per hour! It is a good thing that Ms. Brenda McGill knows I am a writer and that I can often be just a little over enthusiastic. Our chat was fun, long and very broad indeed and in the end, she agreed that the topic was interesting, current, might be helpful and would be really fun to share and take part in!!
The hunt was over. Starting next week, the “Method to the Madness” series will continue with the topic “The Art of Learning”
Our guest, Brenda McGill, has BA in Psychology from Providence College; a Teaching Certification from Georgia State University; a Master’s in Counseling from Framingham State University; and a PhD in Behavioral Science from the University of Rhode Island. She has forty years in adult education and twenty years in higher education. Brenda has been the Instructor in College Success courses, Introduction to Psychology courses and courses in Developmental Psychology. According to The URI digital commons readership report, Brenda’s dissertation, The Impact of a Student Success Course on Developmental Student’s Retention, has been downloaded 869 times since 2016, across eleven countries! It is now being considered as a part of a U.S. Department of Education initiative, What Works Clearinghouse.
But the most amazing thing about Brenda McGill, is that, when one meets this friendly, easy going, positive person, without knowing the above remarkable resume credentials; one is immediately impressed by the knowledge she holds and her bold willingness to share and help. My first interaction with Brenda was one of those incredibly mundane moments in life when by chance you meet someone. I knew at that moment that I had met someone who was like a fountain of water and if I found myself confused, dry or lost, she would be there to clarify, inspire or direct. The above credentials I learned only recently when I asked her to send them to me to share with you.
I hope you join me for the new Method to the Madness topic “The Art of Learning” as I ask the questions that we always wanted answers to, but had no one to ask.
Blu