for new members of
the Always Learning list

Always Learning is not a social network but a list to discuss what 
helps and hinders unschooling. The list exists to deepen 
understanding of natural learning.

Joyce Fetteroll, one of the moderators, described it this way:


The list is about ideas, not about people.

Think of ideas like balls and the list like a ball court. If someone tosses an idea worth discussing into the court it's going to get batted about. At that point what's going on is no longer about the person who tossed the idea in. It's about the idea and how well and cleanly it's being tossed about. (Unless the tosser keeps jumping in and grabbing the idea ball saying "Mine!")

Joyce

No one is required to post anything. If you DO want to write, consider all this:

AlwaysLearning can be a fast-paced list. Please don't post an introduction by itself. When you come to the point that you feel confident in contributing to the exchange, you can add an introduction in there if you want to. Good ideas are better for the list than introductions are.

Unless they're mixed in with a great question, a thoughtful response or a story, do not post "thanks" "me too!" "LOL" (or any variations thereon).

CAREFULLY proofread your posts. Quote only what's necessary for yours to make sense, and mark other people's words physically with **stars** or -=-hyphens-=- or something, because indentations and colors and pointy-brackets disappear.

NEW TO UNSCHOOLING? A note from Beth Danicke:

I understand that unschooling can be scary and unfamiliar for those who are new to it. I well remember joining the Unschooling Discussion list 10+ years ago and feeling like I had stumbled into some alternate universe. Everything seemed upside down because of the way I'd been raised and schooled and what I'd been taught to believe. Deschooling takes time.

Step back and read and absorb and get familiar with this new thing and WHY it works as opposed to jumping in and challenging ideas and butting heads with people who already KNOW why it works and are willing to share the secret with you.

It can be frustrating to have people come in with negative attitudes (and
 many of them seem to think that we've never heard their particular "why this
 won't work" ideas before) telling us we are wrong and that they know a
 better way…

(by Beth Danicke, one of the list members)

Read here before posting on the list:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AlwaysLearning/

About posting to the list

Information on how and why the group is intended to work: Notes on the AlwaysLearning List

That might take you half an hour, but it's a good investment. Those who post inappropriately take hundreds of man-hours from the collective lives of the 2000+ members of the list.
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