Today was a first. It marked the first time I had the opportunity to sketch the same keynote address again.

Teaching to the Human Core, 11/15/15, Solano GAFE Summit

In November, at the Solano GAFE Summit, I had the opportunity to sketchnote Roni Habib’s keynote on Teaching to the Human Core. Besides the sketchnote shown here, it was also captured via stop motion animation.  Fast forward to February with a similar keynote address and final product that looked quite different.

Teaching to the Human Core, 2/6/16, Roseville GAFE Summit

Why the difference? It’s about learning and growth. The first sketchnote represented an attempt to capture ALL the information. The result was a very crowded page. Even though the recording heightened awareness of the individual choices I was making, the big picture was lost. That’s reflected in the completed sketchnote.

Today, I prepped my page by giving myself a “container” of sorts that restricted the space available for my notes. This constraint ended up making the process more metacognitive as well but with the big picture in mind as opposed to individual choices. Now, armed with background knowledge about the topic as well as self-imposed space constraint, it forced more mindful choices of what to include that would enhance and support the theme and message.

 It’s like re-reading a great book. Each time you experience the text, you learn something new not only about the content but about yourself. Any text that can accomplish this fulfills the criteria of a great book. I believe this criteria can be extended to keynotes such as this. If I have the opportunity to be present at this keynote again, I look forward to learning even more.