If you ever met Chris Karel, me, on Linkedin, then you are familiar with my bio infused with Star Wars, storytelling, and a love of education. In this post, we go deeper inside the “Learning Carton” to get to know me on a personal – if not a bit quirky – level. All links are for your reference. I hope you can relate to something in this post and reach out to connect with me.
Let’s go!
Unicorn or Rhino
The haircut sitting my 6-foot-5-inch frame is colorfully described as the Rhino or the Unicorn. Haters offer their hair product burns, but they can kiss off into the air. I stand behind the “corn” or “rhino” as a coiffure that makes me happy.
Which one do you prefer? The Rhino or The Unicorn.
The Baby
I am the sixth of six kids, the baby, the sixth model, generation 6; or as I like to say to my siblings: the one they finally got right and stopped trying. They usually see it differently and offer retorts like: You mean the mistake that ended any future mistakes. You are adopted.
Ouch is right!
I’m totes comfortable being the baby. I wouldn’t change my birth order if given the chance. I was born on my sister’s sixth birthday. She hated me for stealing her youngest-child status, but now we are besties.
How about you? Are you an only child or one of many?
Fried Chicken
My current obsession with fried chicken is pharmaceutical. I feel fortunate about this one. What if I told you that I could create a desire inside of you that would be so strong that the tiniest quench would release endorphins. This is what fried chicken is like for me. Just a little taste is like mainlining drugs.
I’ve always liked fried chicken. I remember going to Geauga Lake (Six Flags) back in the day. An adult would drop a group of us tweens outside the gates. We would walk across the street to Mr. Chicken and buy a bucket of delicious fried chicken. On our way over to the park, we’d down a leg or a wing. Once inside, we’d stash the bucket with our beach towels. Throughout the day, we’d return to that not-so-illicit stash to quench our pre-pubescent hunger. Damn! I can taste that sweet, salty, crunchy memory right now.
Current rank: Raising Cane’s, Popeye’s, Any Nashville Hot, Chick-fil-A, KFC
What do you love about fried chicken?
Sweet Teeth
The Grammarist defines the idiom “sweet tooth” as someone who has a “craving or strong fondness for sweet foods. The term sweet tooth was coined in the 1300s, using the word tooth to describe tasty or delicious food.” I take this a step further and say I have sweet teeth. One tooth is simply not enough. I guarantee I have more dental work in my mouth than the next five people near me.
In no particular order, I love:
Creme brulee, Good & Plenty, Reese’s cups, Mr. Goodbar, Cherry (anything), Pie, Cake, high-milk-fat ice cream (Mitchell’s, Velvet, Graeter’s, Haagen-Dazs, Ben & Jerry’s), Sweet Designs: dark chocolate nonpareils, Voortman’s wafers, Fun Dip, Twizzlers, chocolate chip cookies, macadamia anything, Lindt truffles, Peanut Butter M & Ms, Whoppers, Raisinets, Kit Kat, Take 5, Twix, Whatchamacallit, Summit, Skor, Goobers, mud pie, hot fudge, caramel, Hi-Chew, Sno-Caps, pumpkin roll, bear claws, cake doughnuts, milkshakes, seven-layer bars, butterscotch brownies, Linzer tart, Linzer cookies, Springerle, nut roll, palacinky, swiss cake roll, Choco Taco, Smores, K & B Confections: Macarons, Nilla wafers, brownies, cookie dough, Nutella, Biscoff butter, Speculoos, and more.
Do you have a sweet tooth? What’s your fave now? For me, it’s ice cream and wafers.
Authoring “Selection”
Little known professional fact, I am authoring a young adult novel. This was a non-paying side hustle before the term side hustle was a term. It’s close to publishing! 2021 will be my year!
Blurb
We’ve never been alone, we just feel like we are. Some of us are selected for something far greater than we’d ever imagined. Kian Offtenmiller wanted what every tween wants: to be accepted, loved, and feel safe. Love was all he had!
Everything changed that night in Firehole Canyon. Gravity seemed to change in the zipped-up tent. The camp host proved to be hiding something indeed. And then there are the teachers at Washington Elementary! Are they even teachers or part of some secret society sworn to protect the “Selected”?
Would you read this book?
PS4 Gamer
I have been playing games from the first time I got my hands on a computer. The last game console I owned was a Nintendo. Fast forward 23 years, I am now the proud owner of a PS4 and I love it. Online gameplay is amazing. The graphics, storytelling, and haptic interactions make my Ready Player One fantasies a reality. Current game crushes: COD Black Ops, Rocket League, Control
Do you game? What do you love to play?
Trading Cards
I grew up obsessed with trading cards, sports cards mostly. My mom loved baseball and even collected cards as a kid. Sadly, she does not have any of hers anymore. She was my champion during my collecting days. She drove me to Holiday Inns, malls, and convention centers in search of the next good deal. The thrill of finding cards at a garage sale was almost as great as rapidly searching through a new pack for the best card. For a brief time, my sons shared the love of collecting. Now, trading cards are a stored-away pastime until little ones show up in my world again. Plus, disposable income has different needs nowadays.
Hip-Hop
I love hip hop. Kurtis Blow’s “Basketball” was my anthem as a kid. Growing up in a family that revered basketball made this an obvious choice for me. Family games were a right of passage for new boyfriends/girlfriends in my family. I spent more hours in the driveway with my boom box than I did any other activity in my formative years. Let’s just say one neighbor, in particular, did not share my love of hip hop and rap. For me, this added to my love of the genre. It wasn’t until I went to a hip-hop exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that I realized how much I loved the genre. DJs, break dancing, beatboxing, the break, and the flow, or poetic delivery, still live in my creative expression and musical desires.
Who’s your favorite hip-hop artist?
Current Books I’m Reading
It’s All In Your Head by Russ
Rhythm: How to Achieve Breakthrough Execution and Accelerate Growth by Patrick Thean
Launch by Jeff Walker
Made To Stick by Chip & Dan Heath
Recently Streamed (Netflix-Prime-Hulu-HBO)
Avatar: The Last Airbender
The Legend of Korra
New Girl
Current Stream
Current podcast:
Conan Needs a Friend – every Monday is better with this dose of fun!
Conclusion
To understand your learners you must first understand yourself. I live by this mantra. I’ve followed the habit: seek first to understand, then to be understood since I first learned it as a high school teacher in the late 90’s. My sincere hope is that this post of things most people don’t know about me will help you relate to me as a learning creator. Reach out and connect with me. Let’s learn together. Peace.
Ever since I used a popcorn bucket to defend the galaxy against the dark side of the Force, I’ve been obsessed with visual storytelling. Cartoons, sitcoms, dramas, and even commercials brought me joy. Then I found interactive storytelling. I used joysticks and direction pads to discover plot twists and adrenaline-fueled battles. Movies, TV, videogames, I couldn’t get enough, but my heart was drawn to the lifestyle of the teacher.
I wanted to learn the ways of my father.
I chose education over communications and earned my way to Master Teacher. Leading teams of teachers, parents, and of course padawans, I furthered my quest. I learned that many of the “truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” My POV changed. Returning to the ways of the Jedi, I chose to embody the adage: “Do or do not, there is no try.”
I became a Digital Storyteller. Writing, producing, shooting, and editing, I found my Road Back. After sharpening my skills to a position of leadership, it was time to leap.
Today, my passion is finding ways to help people learn how to use video for learning purposes. Story is the Force. I use Story to improve knowledge, teach skills, affect behavior, and occasionally entertain.
Send an email to chris@learningcarton.com and we can add to each other’s quest.
