I got this idea from Adiwena (like many Indonesians, he has no last name), a student who responded to the Spiral Model I presented with his own Web of Learning, a model of learning in which the learner is at the center, engaging with a variety of teachers and classes, each of which offers something potentially valuable. The learner has to find the best way to learn in each context, making the most of resources available, and weaving the various courses into the web or pattern of learning s/he needs or desires.
This activity asks learners to imagine teachers as tools hanging on their workshop wall, in their box, or hanging from their belt. What kinds of tools do you have? What is each tool good for? When and how do you use each tool? Are there any precautions you need to take when using them?
The flow:
Make a list of teachers in your life right now.
Choose one teacher and write a description of the teacher as if s/he were a hand tool. Describe what the tool is meant for, how it is commonly used, the basic design, essential parts, different uses of the tool, precautions to be taken for safe and effective use, effects of the hammer. Describe how you use the tool, what you can make with it -- also what you can't -- and how you feel about it.
Repeat.
It may be interesting to then describe your learning as a piece of furniture, or a house. What are you building? Why? What types of tools do you need?