Week #4 Publishing/Leadership Project

METS and TIES


After doing some research I found two conferences that would be good venues to present my research.
The first conference is the Midwest Education Technology Conference held in St. Louis February 13 -15, 2012.   They are accepting applications for speakers until August 30, 2011.  The theme of the conference is Motivate, Engage, Transform, Connect.  They are looking for speakers for several different strands.  My research would fit nicely into the Mobile Learning strand.

A second conference that is accepting applications is the TIES EducationTechnology Conference in Minneapolis, MN.  The conference is December 10 - 11, 2011 and applications are accepted until August 15.  21st Century leaners and learning environments sounds like a strand where my research would fit nicely.  The descriptions says sessions should promote instructional strategies and tools that contribute to improved student achievement.  My research indicated that text messaging could be an effective tool for study.

Publishing/Leadership THINK OUT LOUD Blog Post 1/2

Publishing/Leadership THINK OUT LOUD Blog Post 2/2

Publishing/Leadership Project - Presentation

Week #4 Publishing/Leadership THINK OUT LOUD Blog Post 2/2

Where to Present?

After several attempts to find conferences with a call for speaker during June and July I finally found two potential conferences where I could share my research.   The Midwest Education Technology Conference is being held in St. Louis February 13 -15, 2012.  TIES EducationTechnology Conference is in Minneapolis, MN on December 10 - 11, 2011.  Both conferences seem like good venues to share my research but they involve travel so I hope they will not be cost prohibitive.  I know I came across a conference that allowed you to present from a distance through technology.  I am still trying to find that information again.  MACUL, the largest technology conference in Michigan is not accepting applications for 2012 yet.  I will definitely apply to  speak at MACUL when they open the application process.

After giving an abridged version of my presentation during WIMBA this week I have a good idea how I want my presentation to look.  I received some suggestions for moving around the order of a few slides and I need to clean up my presenters notes a bit.   It was exciting to hear about all the research conducted during the EMDT program and helpful to see other presentations.

Week #4 Response to Richard Maldonado

Wk4-Reading

As I read through the chapter, lighting a spark, motivation of my students comes to mind.  I think about how they way, my body language, voice, comes across to my students.  I think about what I would do next time, and openness, the language to “enroll” my kids into the program, really see their need to do the work that was necessary to accomplish lesson goals.  I would say emphasizing the purpose of the lesson. 

The next chapter, being the board, taught me to reassess myself rather looking at others to blame.  The story of Cora was truly impacting, because he took the road of analyzing his situation and seeing what he could have different as a person involved in the trying situation. This taught me with my students and even people that I have a responsibility in the way I react and treat others.  I may not have control of what they do, but what I do is always in hands.  

Week #4 - Response to Sharon Clay

MAC Week 4: "The Art of Possibility"

Lighting a Spark: Since my universe of possibility includes reaching the lives of others by igniting a spark I must remember to enroll myself as much as possible into the lives of those seeking passion and engagement. Sometimes I find myself unwilling to participate because of past fears or my inability to see pass personal limitations. My most valuable contribution can be to relinquish my judgments and accept those who may be reaching out to light a spark inside of me.

Being the Board: Living my life as the board puts me in control of all of the things, which come into my playing field.  I decide what happens when things get moved around. My response determines what possibilities are available to me.

Creating Frameworks for Possibility: Climbing out of the downward spiral is the key to taking full advantage of the possibilities available to me. Recognizing that division feeds the spiral will help me change how people respond to me.  I want to that teacher who makes the abnormal the status quo.  Like the second grade teacher who shaved her head I want to take a flash of insight and change it into a possibility.

Chapter 12. I would like to think that I have been able to tap into my inner power and use it to make a substantial difference in someone’s life. I just do know for sure if that is the case.  I have played many roles including mentor, teacher, mother, and friend.  I would like to believe that I have had a role in helping some of the people I have known realize their dreams.

Week #4 Reading - The Art of Possibilities - Chapter 9 -12

Telling the WE Story

The Art of Possibilities was a great read.  This week I enjoyed reading about The WE approach.  So many times we operate from fear and don't consider the good of all involved.  The story of the couple troubled by the woman's need for revenge and the story of Roz and her sister were reminders of how we can get stuck. It is important to reach out and take risks in our relationships.

My favorite story from Telling the WE Story was the one about South Africa and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).  I have heard of the great works of Nelson Mandela and the Rev. Desmund Tutu.  I had not heard about the TRC.   Learning that a government used this approach to begin healing relationship after apartheid was incredible.  That kind of relationship building is exactly what we need in the United States.  It is hard to believe what is true and what is not in American government.  The media seems to have its own agenda.   The US seems to be creating more distance between the classes rather than building the nation as a whole.  We have also done a lot of damage in our relationships with other foreign countries.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to have elected officials who ALL approached governance by telling the WE story.  Maybe then all citizens of the world could meet their basic needs and  have access to basic human rights like affordable education and health care.  The possibility is there.

Reading The Art of Possibility made me think of the song Imagine by John Lennon.  Imagine all the people living life in peace.  Reaching out to others, not taking ourselves to seriously, and realizing everything we need to make the world a better place is already here are the messages I will take from this book. They are the messages I will take with me as I graduate from Full Sail and move into a new phase in my life.  

Week #3 - Free Choice Blog Post

Week #3 - Free Choice Blog Post

Oh the Possibilities if I Only Remember to Aim High

If I were to wish for anything I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of what can be, for the eye, which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible.  Pleasure disappoints, possibility never.  And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating as possibility?  

- Soren Kierkegaard, Either/Or

Over the past four years I have been guided to books that teach me about possibility.  Some might say it is a coincidence that I keep happening upon books with a common theme.  I, however, don't believe in coincidences.   

I had been looking for an educational technology master's degree on and off since the early 1990s.  I started one in 1995 but soon dropped out after I realized our school district technology was more advanced than the university's.  Sixteen months ago I saw an advertisement for Full Sail's EMDT program on the PBS web site.  I had just gone through a divorce after 19 years of marriage and needed a new focus so I sent away for information.  I received a beautiful color catalogue along with information on the EMDT program.  I looked over the information then I looked at the tuition cost and promptly threw the information in the trash.  Paying $30,000 for a masters degree was not in my realm of possibility. A few weeks later a representative from Full Sail called me and told me about a teacher's scholarship they were giving that would make it possible for me to attend Full Sail.  I still needed to get the okay from my human resource department because the degree I was seeking was non-traditional.  Within a month I received the okay from  human resources, filled out the FASFA, received my enrollment papers and received my Launchbox.  Next month I will finish the program and return to school in the fall with a masters degree.  A year and a half ago I did not even consider earning a master's degree by Fall of 2011 a possibility.  

After graduation I plan to look for a house.  My kids and I have been leasing a house for the last two years.  We've had a lot of water and mold problems in this house so I want to look for a place to move as soon as my lease is up.  I began thinking about a small, older condominium complex that met my requirements.  It never occurred to me to look for a place that far exceeded my expectations.  Then, recently I came across a listing for a new condominium complex a few miles away. After reading the the Art of Possibility the past two weeks my sites are set on something bigger and better as a possibility.  Tomorrow I am going to tour the new complex.  Oh, the possibilities!

Week #3 - Response to Drew Clausing

Week 3 Reading | Art of Possibility

 

The most important take away from the reading this week is that it is good, even necessary to step outside of the box to reach kids.  And I hesitated to say, “nowadays”, but realized that this was true generations ago as well.  People/kids haven’t all the sudden changed to require their “fun jar” to be filled.  But I do think that the mentality has been to do things the way they’ve always been done, even if it isn’t necessarily the best way.  Maybe it’s an ego thing...something like, “well I turned out alright and my classes were all lecture and no games.  Why do kids need them nowadays?”  I’d like to say, “suppose you had a fun teacher or one who helped you enjoy class.  Imagine how much more you would have loved your education?”

My final comment also speaks volumes, I think, to the way we need to meet kids where they are and be fun and enjoyable.  I taught at a school where things had been done a certain way for years and all the teachers were set to do things exactly the way they had been done forever.  I came in and, oh no!  I..wait for it... played with the kids on the playground!  In fact, I was called into the principal’s office more than once to tell me how unprofessional it was to play on the playground with students during recess.  Eventually, not being tenured, my contract was not-renewed.  Among other things, I think this story tells a lot about the way people of a more traditional mindset have on education.  Needless to say, the kids absolutely loved how I would do things with them that they were also interested in doing.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Saturday, June 18, 2011 - 11:19 PM

Karen Gearns

Drew,  You are so right that we need to meet kids where they are and make things learning and enjoyable.  Before Full Sail I took some graduate classes through a local university.  The classes were 8 - 5 everyday for a week.  Every day students brought in snacks and we had a small buffet that we could munch from throughout the day.  We had an agenda for the day and if we finished early we were allowed to go home early.  I have often thought that if my students could snack when they are hungry and leave early when if their work is done they would be much more motivated to get things done.  

Last year I started teaching Accounting again after not teaching it for 20 years.  I did a lot of direct teaching while I was relearning the materials.  This semester one of my students suggested I turn the class into a game where someone was an owner and another student is a salesperson, a third is a creditor.   This summer I plan to work on that simulation so next year my students can act out transactions instead of just recording them.  It will be a lot of work but I hope it will allow students to grasp more information in a smaller amount of time and remember the information as one concept builds upon the next.  I may even record their role play on video and post it on my LMO for students to study from.  Hopefully this  will make the class more enjoyable for the kids and also for me.

Sunday, June 19, 2011 - 06:57 PM

Week #3 - Response to Kathleen Stalnaker

Week 3 Reading: The Art of Possibility Chapters 5-8

Friday, June 17, 2011

 

Chapter 5, Leading from Any Chair, really struck some chords with me. When Zander asked, “How much greatness are we willing to grant?” I really thought about how that applies to the classroom. When you allow students the opportunity to shine they generally do. Give them the chance to show what they know and help support them in their learning and they can do wonders. I know I have mentioned the iPads my district is getting for all students in grades 7-12 before, and here I am mentioning it again. But I think our iPad initiative speaks to this question. Today I spent my day listening to Apple reps and teachers who use 1 to 1 programs in their districts as well as using podcasting to teach and reinforce lessons and what they were saying and demonstrating really gelled with the reading. It might sometimes be scary to grant that greatness because it puts more of the control in the hands of the students and less in the hands of the teachers, but in the long run I think it really is a better way of doing business. And we do this by listening, as Zander suggests, for passion and commitment. 

I found the Rule of Number Six really fascinating partly because it reminded me of when I was student teaching (eons ago). The Rule of Number Six tells us not to take ourselves so seriously and when my supervising teacher evaluated me for my professor he talked about how I had a great sense of humor and didn’t take myself too seriously. He illustrated this pointing out a particularly tough day with the kids, when by the end of the hour I’d run my hand through my hair, which left it standing on end in an unintentional way...and I just carried on...looking bedraggled but determined to get things right.

Another thing that really stuck with me from the reading has do with approaching what you do with passion. I truly believe that if you are passionate about what you do in the classroom the students will be too.

Karen Gearns

Kathleen,  It will be interesting to see what exciting things come from giving students more control over their learning with the iPad project.  It reminds me of Randy Pausch’s last lecture when he calls his mentor because his students had just blown him away on their first project that he had no idea where to go from there.   Giving students more ownership of their work will allow them to set the bar at heights we never dreamed they would reach.   For so long there has been talk of teaching moving from the sage on the stage to the guide on the side.  Tools like an iPad for every student can make that more of a reality than ever.  I think it is an exciting time to be in the classroom.

Sunday, June 19, 2011 - 06:37 PM

Week #3 - Reading - The Art of Possibility Ch. 5-8

The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander just may be the best reading I've ever  been assigned to do for a class.  It is the type of book I would choose to read for pleasure.  The stories are uplifting and delightful.  Reading it reminded me of many stories and experiences.

Chapter 5, Leading from Any Chair, reminded me of different people I have worked for over the years and their styles of leadership.  In high school and my early twenties I worked for very supportive people who wanted to teach me as much as I could absorb and take me as far as I could go.  My boss, Donna, one time told me she saw it as her job to help me get where I wanted to go professionally.  At the time I was in my mid twenties and did not realize how rare it was to have such a supportive supervisor.  In my thirties I quickly learned how to survive in an organization where a micromanager pitted employees against one another.  Reading chapter five made me think of the differences between these two extreme leadership styles.  I think the big difference was fear.  My first boss was confident in her abilities to do her job and had the support of her superiors.  The second boss was  insecure in her own ability to lead and it created a very unhealthy work environment.

Chapters 6 and 7, Rule No. 6 and The Way Things Are reminded me of the serenity prayers and two spiritual leaders, the Dalai Lama and Mother Theresa.  The serenity prayer says help me to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.   The way things are looks at accepting what you cannot change and looking at circumstances you can change from a different angle.  I think we do take ourselves to seriously sometimes and it causes more friction than necessary.  The Dalai Lama says that everyone responds to kindness.  I have found this to be true dealing with students, staff, and parents in my 10 years teaching at-risk students.  If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives, be kind anyway.  This is one of the lines inscribed on Mother Theresa's wall at an orphanage in Calcutta.  I love it because it is simple.  Yes, if you show kindness people may think you have ulterior motives but be kind anyway.

The Kierkegaard quote at the beginning of Chapter 8 talked about possibility never disappointing.  For the first 40 years of my life I thought I was a pretty positive person but I put everyone else first and never dreamed big for myself.  I am at a crossroads in my life right now and this chapter reminded me to dreams big.  It got me wondering if the choices I think I have are really the only choices available to me. Are there bigger and better choices that are also possible?  The future looks bright when thinking about all the possibilities that could unfold.

Week #2 - Free Choice - Fair Use Explained

Fair Use

This week's WIMBA session provided a wealth of information.  In fact, it is the first WIMBA session I downloaded for future reference.   I had never heard the interpretation of Fair Use being a legal defensible position only if your lesson cannot be taught without the media you are using.  I have been teaching for over 20 years and that is the first time I have ever heard fair use interpreted that way.  It makes sense, however, every educator I have ever had a discussion with about copyright has interpreted fair use more liberally.  After participating in the Wimba session this week I realized I think every educator I know misinterprets the education use policy regarding copyright.

Considering the nature of the use as well as the amount being used was also good information regarding copyright.  It is interesting that parody is fair use while remix is not.  It seems like a fine line between the two.  Weird Al's parodies could be considered a remix.  It seems like this differentiation is just semantics. 

Home viewing vs. educational licensing is also an area of copyright that I need to look at in my classroom.  Our building does not have a library.  That leaves the options of borrowing from the other high school libraries, borrowing from the public library, or purchasing our own videos.  Most teachers in our building have created their own video libraries with movies relevant tot their lessons.  I have purchased many videos from Amazon, Borders, Target, and Meijers for use with my lessons.  While I was aware of the home licensing message at the start of the videos, I was under the impression that because I was using the media for educational purposes that it was considered fair use.  I understand now that this is not the case.

The best pieces of advice I am taking away from Tuesday's Wimba session are the suggestion to reach out to the artist for permission or search Creative Commons for artists that have already granted permission.  It was reassuring to know that several fellow Full Sail students have successfully obtained permission of artists to reuse their work.  If there is not time to obtain permission or the artist will not give permission, Creative Commons is a nice alternative for media that can be shared and reproduced.

Week #2 - Response to Ishia Granger

Week #2 Reading Post: Inventing Possibilities By Writing Into the Future and Being A Contribution

The compelling idea that stood out in reading The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander was the assignment of having students write letters into the future as a requirement for earning an A. This activity takes me to one that I do with my freshman students:

During the final week of school, I ask students to write a letter into the future that they will read as a graduating senior. I suggest that they speak about goals, reflect on the past year, reminisce or a combination of those. I promise not to read them. The Zander activity is similar. Students write to themselves in past tense about their future. But this is where a major break happens.

Whereas, my intentions are for students to set goals to measure themselves and to reflect on past experiences for self-improvement, the Zander method challenges students to see the selves they want to become in the present. Whereas, my students assess themselves for growth and change by reading their letters from three years ago, the Zander method works as a teacher/student assessment to determine which path will exact the growth needed to change now.

This gave me pause to consider that I am expecting my students to singlehandedly invent themselves based on a set of standards, when I should align with them on knocking down the barriers that block the infinite possibilities that are before them. My assignment, then, should occur 10 months earlier with a new intent on students “inventing” themselves based on their future self – validations.

In a few weeks I will be teaching an experimental writing course for incoming freshmen. One of the things that I will try is giving them an “A” and making their initial writing assignments the “A” letter and observations on “Being A Contribution.” One of the things that I most enjoyed about Film Making Principles and Gaming class was the release of pressure I felt. Kathy would assign AAA (Absolute “A” Assignments) and Dr. Dan would just have us play games. Even without the pressure, I ironically dug deeper and challenged myself creatively. I think that this can work for my future students.