Sunday, June 26, 2011
Week 4: Publishing & Leadership Project
My CBR project is somewhat unique, because the department I work is related to educational technology, but mainly deals in customer service. Therefore it was a bit of challenge to find a Journal that would be a good fit for publication. My top two choices for publication are Educational Technology Magazine, and Converge Magazine, because while they both focus on technology in education they're broad enough that my article would be of interest to them for publication. Also for both of them I was able to find the information needed to submit my article, which is super helpful.
P&L Thinking Out Loud Blog #1
P&L Thinking Out Loud Blog #2
Maya's Publishing Leadership Project
Week 4: P&L Think Out Loud #2
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I have spent most of this week working on the final draft of Publishing & Leadership Project article, and I have to say that I have had a lot of trouble writing it. Part of it is that while I enjoy writing as an avocation, I do not have a lot of experience writing articles. I keep looking at the Student Example, and trying to get my article to fit the same mold and just end up frustrated.
That is until Mr. Bustillos' email last Wednesday in response to Melany's question, his answer helped tremendously. I realized that I was making things more complicated then they needed to be, and all I needed to do was keep it simple. So I scrapped pretty much everything I had written and started rewriting. Now, I have what I consider to be a pretty strong draft. I still think it needs a little work, but is any writer ever truely satisfied?Week 4: P&L Think Out Loud #2 or KISS
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That is until Mr. Bustillos' email last Wednesday in response to Melany's question, his answer helped tremendously. I realized that I was making things more complicated then they needed to be, and all I needed to do was keep it simple. So I scrapped pretty much everything I had written and started rewriting. Now, I have what I consider to be a pretty strong draft. I still think it needs a little work, but is any writer ever truely satisfied?
Week 4: Comment #II
After reading the requirements for the Project/Leadership publishing assignments, I thought it would be best that I working on publishing an article for several reasons. One being that I had surgery and the time constraints left me just made it more appropriate for me to present. I have been looking into several journals in which to submit and did not realize just how simple it is to have my work published. As I continue researching, I am narrowing my search down to computing and learning journals for educators.
@Marsona
I also decided to publish my project as an article. While it seems easier to put a presentation together, in the end an article doesn't require as much work, and it doesn't require any sort of travel. Good luck with your project.
Week 4: Reading the Art of Possibility
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For this week's reading assignment we read the last four chapters of The Art of Possibility. As we have read the book in class I have tried to apply the practices (at least the ones I think are useful) to my own life. It is extremely hard, to open yourself in the way that the Zander's suggest, but the thing to remember is that change is never easy.
One of of my best friends has a son who is two, and the thing that he has the biggest problem with is change. No matter if it is going out, or coming back home. There are always tears, at least for a little while. This resistance to change is never leaves us. Even I at the age of 32 have problems with change. That is because it is endemic of the human condition. This week the chapter I most resonated with was Chapter 10. As I have discussed previously in this blog, I am a big fan of meta-cognition, and the practice of being the board seems to be another mediation on that. I am also believe that it is important to look at the way your actions have helped to create the current situation, and then if you want the situation to change than you must change your actions. This is also a hard practice to follow if only because it is hard to view your actions objectively.Week 4: Reading The Art Possibility
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One of of my best friends has a son who is two, and the thing that he has the biggest problem with is change. No matter if it is going out, or coming back home. There are always tears, at least for a little while. This resistance to change is never leaves us. Even I at the age of 32 have problems with change. That is because it is endemic of the human condition.
This week the chapter I most resonated with was Chapter 10. As I have discussed previously in this blog, I am a big fan of meta-cognition, and the practice of being the board seems to be another mediation on that. I am also believe that it is important to look at the way your actions have helped to create the current situation, and then if you want the situation to change than you must change your actions. This is also a hard practice to follow if only because it is hard to view your actions objectively.
Week 4: Comment # I
Chapter 9. Lighting a Spark. Lighting a spark seems like an easy enough task but I've been in a relationship for over 15 years and can not light a spark underneath my love even if it was a camp fire. In my professional life, I have lit tons on sparks. I have given words of encouragement to many coworkers. Talking to my students in ways that bring them to think, say and do things they could never have imagined. What was truly poignant in the chapter was the idea of enrollment. The story of Ben's influence and spark on the children of Eastlea Community School was very powerful. If you give people a chance to connect to be the person they can be without your judgements then maybe you can light a fire under a them to see a world beyond their imaginations. Change comes from being changed.
Photo by: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Chapter 10. Being the Board: It’s not them. It’s not the circumstances. It’s me. It’s my choices. Trying to imagine a life where someone doesn't blame someone else seems extraordinary. But the concept and the task seems like one that will put a spark of life into a relationship I desperately have been trying to save fro quite some time. Taking responsibility for your part or lack there of in situations is a wonderful tool to not feeling fearful or angry about most situations. Knowing that life is life and that your place in it is owning who your are and what you do. Sometimes the worst part of learning about being the board and all the endless possibilities is that you're alone. The fear that people exude is usually about being alone and the fight to not feel and be that way and utopia of knowledge kind of puts you in that place. How can being the board help me out of that?
Photo by Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Chapter 11. Creating Frameworks for Possibility: The story of the little girl returning to class after chemotherapy and after laughter of having a bald head the teacher comes to class the next day with no hair giving the impression that it was the in style thing to do. It gave the incidence a new framework/spark than the previous one. It is those stories and the idea energy comes from the individual and that they can pass on to others. The goal is to make yours positive ones. Even the story about the students after a concert becoming to unruly and how Ben handled it with punishment or leading the situation into a downward spiral. Understanding that if you create a way for others to see the responsibilities of their actions through the framework of the possible positive action to be or already done than there will be no need to make them feel guilty about what has been done.
I can use this in my daily management with my students. If I take the framework that in order not to create a downward spiral I need to create a vision for my students that embodies the possibilities for them to define themselves in a new way.
Photo from Flickr picture By doug88888
Chapter 12. Telling the WE Story: I told you it wasn’t about you. I haven't had the experience of combining my gifts with someone equally gifted. I can only assume that it would be a powerful learning experience. having the ability to give and take equally with someone would be a ground shaking experience. However I have had experiences and the pleasure of lifting up students, coworkers, family/friends, and even a stranger and enabling them to realize their dreams and exceed anything that you could have imagined. One recent incident is when I saw the potential of my students writing ability. He was a male and even though there are tons of stereotypes about males and writing, he was did not fit the bill. His writing was imaginative and full of detail. I encouraged him to continue to write and through some of my projects, he has continued the passion of writing through music lyrics and short stories.
@Tria,
Thank you for your emotional honesty. It takes a lot of bravery to be so frank especially in a blog format. You are definitely a role model in this regard. I have been trying to employ the practices from the Art of Possibility within my own life and it is hard to say the least, so I wish you the best of luck.Monday, June 20, 2011
Week 3: P&L Think Outloud #1
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To that end I have been doing a lot of research about publications that would be the best choice for submitting my CBR project. You see the problem that I have is that while I work in the educational field, my position is more geared towards customer service, and technical support. Therefore a lot of the publication suggestions for the assignment are not quite a good fit. With that in mind here are a few possibilities that I have come up with:
Converge Magazine
Educational Technology Magazine (This is my first choice as of right now)
eLearn Magazine
Week 3: Reading The Art of Possibility
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However, I didn't feel as much resistance as I did last week, I don't know what it was, but a lot of what the author's talked about. I really gelled with with a lot of this weeks reading, I especially liked the saying, "There is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing." The discussion of the central self, and the calculating self was also very helpful, because I saw a lot of myself, and the way I usually handle things in those chapters. I tend to think to much, and rarely take the time to just be. So, I am now finding The Art of Possibility extremely helpful.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Week 2: Wimba Reflection
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Week 2: Comment #2
I was able to fully understand that there is now a significant paradigm shift in how I perceive things. I will no longer view my life as a limited, negative on an unclear path. I will focus on viewing past the unforeseen obstacles in order to achieve…
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@ Nancy I am always amazed at the positive outlook you bring to everything you do Nancy. No matter how hard we have had to work this past year in the EMDT program. You have always managed to put your best foot forward. It is a well known saying that no matter where you go there you are, and no matter where you go, you bring your positive outlook and great attitude which can only be considered assets. I am sure that your classroom is an excellent place to learn.
Week 2: Comment #1
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@Kathleen I found this post super helpful, I also live in Minnesota, and because my CBR project is very specific to my work environment (Educational technology but how to educate workers who support classroom technology.) and there doesn't seem to be a lot of Professional Organizations geared towards this (although maybe I am typing the wrong words into Google, you know how it is.) Anyway this gave me another option so thank you.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Week 2: Reading The Art of Possibility
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In this week's readingt the author's discuss three concepts, that will assist the reader in finding their own way out of the corner/box. They are: It's All Invented, Stepping Into a Universe of Possibility, and Everyone Gets an A. Of these three concepts I had the most difficulty with the last one, as I read it, because I believe in holding people accountable for their actions, and if you are giving people an A it seems like you are giving them carte blanche. However as I read the chapter I came to understand that giving someone an A does not mean you are giving them carte blanche, it means that no matter what difficulties you might have with them that you always do your best to work with them and understand their point of view. In general I agree with a lot of what Benjamin Zander, and Rosamund Stone Zander discuss in The Art of Possibility. I am a firm believer in the benefits of meta-cognition, or thinking about thinking for those of you who don't dig five dollar words. I am specifically talking about thinking about the way that you think about things, which can be quite difficult. I would like to think that I am more often successful than not, but it is hard to rate ones own ability at being objective.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Week I - Comment 2
Week I - Comment #2
Kathleen's BlogI think one thing that jumps out at me in all of this copyright discussion is that we need to be careful about how we use other people’s work, but we also need to realize that most people aren’t out to rip off the artists.
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Week I - Comment 1
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@Tria I agree with you the way that copyright is implemented has to change, but it is well known that fact that the media industries tend to drag their feet when there is any sort of huge technological leap forward. Did you know that when Sony came out with Betamax (the pre-cursor to VHS,) That some of the major studios sued them for copyright infringement. All because they were worried about protecting their gigantic piece of the money pie. So,What changes do you think need to be made to make copyright work in the digital age?
Week I- Reading
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The truth of the matter is that the media industries are reacting out of fear, and choking the creativity of a new generation, simply because at a basic level do not understand the way that this new generation creates. For example in Good Copy Bad Copy when they interviewed Dan Glickman the head of the MPAA when he discussed the opposition’s ideology he seemed more patronizing than respectful. I believe that copyright, and the very means of production need to be revamped to better meet the needs not only of the creators, but the consumer as well. Creative Commons is a step right direction I do not know if it is the ultimate solution, that may be a couple of decades off, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Week I ~ Wimba
Today while I was out on campus checking classrooms, I listened to this week's Wimba archive on my Ipod (Honestly if you have to listen to the archive it is the best way to do it.) I have to say that even though I watched all of the week one preparation videos it was helpful to have Mr. Bustillos discuss the assignments more in-depth.
Hearing him discuss the CBR capstone project, made me feel a little overwhelmed. I am worried that I am one of those people who is five miles behind, and I am wondering if just doing the assigned CBR work was enough, or if should have been doing more? I suppose that it is normal to feel a certain sense of unpreparedness at the end of an epic project such as the CBR project, but I really do wish that I had a better sense of where I should be with it.