NOTICE: (Updated March 5, 2010)

Beginning December 19, 2009, Books 'N Border Collies will be posting but only intermittently while I pursue personal goals. I plan to share some reading I'm doing, but there will be no reviews. I will, however, be sharing my exploration of vegetarian cooking and the cookbooks and websites I use to educate myself. I hope you enjoy it!

Lezlie



Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Great Accidental Find!


I have been getting some really great feedback on my Lifetime Learning Project. I'm so glad you're enjoying following along, and some of you are even making Projects of your own. If you do, please let me know so I can visit often and cheer you on!

I have a recommendation for those who are interested. I unexpectedly had to bring my car in to be worked on yesterday, and the only book I had in my bag was one I had picked up at the library on a whim. It's called Writing To Learn by William K. Zinsser.


I never had time at an auto-repair place fly so quickly! I'm only maybe 1/3 into it, but I'm loving this book! He talks about the "Writing Across Curriculum" programs at colleges, how they got started and what they're trying to accomplish. It's not a "how to" book, but includes many examples of good writing from various disciplines outside of English/Literature and discusses how writing about a subject helps you to learn it more clearly and can help you overcome fear of unfamiliar topics or topics you feel you're not smart enough to "get".

His greatest point is that writing is not something that can only be done well by "writers". The inability to write well is a manifestation of an inability to reason. The ability to write thoughtfully and clearly is an important life skill that can be accomplished by anyone who is willing to learn to think in an orderly manner.

I'll post my thoughts once I'm finished with this book, but as of right now it's got me all fired up to extend my future Learning Plans into areas I wasn't considering before. Like I needed more ideas for things to read, right? :-)



5 comments:

Serena said...

this sounds like a great read and a fantastic way to think about learning and how we learn and how we can improve how we learn...wow that was a mouthful.

Jo-Jo said...

This sounds like a very interesting book as learning should be a lifelong continual process for all of us.

Lezlie said...

Serena & Jo-Jo ~ I can't wait to get back to it! It has the wheels turning yet again.

Lezlie

Literary Feline said...

How interesting! I look forward to reading what you think of it when you finish, Lezlie. This sounds like a very useful book.

Lezlie said...

Literary Feline ~ I'm hoping to finish it up possibly this weekend. Even if I don't quite make it that soon, you won't have to wait too long, I promise!

Lezlie