Learn Loudly
Brian paid me about as high a compliment as you can pay. I have spent years developing the philosophy that knowledge is meant to be shared. Those memories of starting out as a young teacher, and being told who “shares”, and who doesn’t, are front of mind still, years later. If you think that unit binders and Powerpoints are proprietary material-I don’t live in the same world as you. It’s 2017.
I have set out to share as publicly and widely as possible. “Learn loudly” is a good motto, in 2017.
That said, nobody should deal in absolutes in this day and age either. I used this slide to get teachers to consider their own learning needs in any session.

Some of us who are introverts, prefer to digitally “‘learn out loud”. Give us processing time, let us take away the learning, and watch the tweetstorm later!
So our working definition of “loud” is not about volume, or having things to say in large group sessions. Learning loudly is about sharing, in the ways that we know how. Emailing something we’ve created to a few colleagues. Posting to Instagram. Participating in a Twitter chat. Blogging. (This last one is a bridge too far for many teachers, but I strongly believe we should all at least consider putting our writing out to the world.
Tie your personal stance on learning and sharing to your beliefs about knowledge construction. How is knowledge constructed and shared? How do YOU construct knowledge, and when to need to share. Some of us need to wait for a “brainwave”, “eureka”, or full moment of “gestalt”.
Me, I push thoughts out into the world, and let them boomerang back to me, amplified, enhanced, and changed. That’s what I like.
So the motto for visible learners in 2017 could be: “learn out loud, in whatever way you feel is best.” Learner, know yourself.
