BP 38 Wk4 The Art of Possibility -Chapters 10-12

Chapter 11-Creating Frameworks for Possibility: how do I make insight into a daily thing and share it with others?

Hmm. The word 'Insight' is a noun meaning "the capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing." It is of Middle English, probably lower German in the sense of inner sight, mental vision and wisdom.

So the way I am able to gain a deeper understanding of a person or thing is to study it in various ways, environments or situations. This is can be considered a scientific skill since that is the nature of science to study or observe for greater understanding. So, to answer the question, I use insight for our assignments by reading the components and additional or tangent information thoroughly (sometimes very time consuming), asking questions of my professor and getting feedback from my classmates when I want to check for shared understanding. With people, I usually watch, ask questions and over time can formulate some better insight into who they are for that particular shared environment. I have sense of my classmates for who they are in this class. I have more insight about my long term cohorts in this program since we have shared the most time, throughout a variety of situations and circumstances and time which has allowed me to experience them in many facets of their lives as our schooling can greatly overlap into our personal lives. Some as far as knowing their families from the many iChats.

There has been times when I have put forth the effort to share my 'insight' about one cohort with another when disharmony has shown up in group activities. I was only able to do that because I had spent more one on one time with the other person and had the chance to get to know them better. That was very helpful in maintaining the group cohesiveness and focus on the goal at hand. I thought it was the standard that all groups got along like ours, but maybe not. Insight- don't leave home without it!

BP 37 Wk4-2 DB Quickies:My Dream Teaching/presentation Environment

"What stands in between you and your dream job? Why do you deserve to work in a dream job environment? what do you bring to the table? Be specific." This is a great question as well in that it encourages us to think to the next stages after completing this degree. I know I came into this program with the idea of equipping myself to move out of the classroom and into a role of leadership with curriculum/people development. Now let me explain THAT! The Wordle picture above is a collage of self-descriptors of who I am, evolving into sprinkled with words from two appropriate quotes I love: "Above all, remember your humanity." -Sir Joesph Rotblat and "Above all things get wisdom and understanding."- The Bible

My dream job is to be an umbrella company/think tank so to speak that helps to support, inspire and model and assist others in creating/becoming their Best Selves and live life full out- however that looks to them. An organization that encourages kids to dream and teaches them how to become empowered to make their dreams a reality. It is more of a mission and passion that it would be called a job. I already have the framework for this and a few ideas and supporters showing up. It makes me very excited to know and be able to use my gifts of vision, idea development and helping to assist others discover their passions and reach their dreams for themselves, not the ones that others may have told them were the right ones, safe ones. My motto is helping others be their best selves in life! I would have a facility where (I cannot tell my entire idea until it is copywrited- lol!) all of these great things would happen and in the midst, people would be required and compelled to pay it forward.

I deserve this job/career because I am passionate about it, have the skills, drive, know how and dedication to make it happen and it's my idea! I deserve it because I asked for it and it will benefit more than myself. I bring to it a host of skills and experiences from educational, life experiences, community service and passion along with the ability and willingness to make the connections and do the research to ensure it's success.

My ideal career is one that will help develop more 'kid-prenuers' than 'workers' as research shows kids are most likely to stop dreaming between the ages of 9 and 10 because the people in their environment start telling them to grow up, get real, and life is hard. Life is what you make it. Why not make it something you are passionate about?

BP 36 Wk4-1 DB Quickies:My Dream Teaching/presentation Environment

Briefly share what your dream teaching or presentation environment would be like, be specific about what such a place would include (beyond just the tech toys).

That is a fine question! It would not be so much a physical space such as a building or room as much as it would be a element or methodology or way of doing things. The ideal environment for me would be one where I have flexibility and freedom to move around from site to site teaching and training teachers how to use the tools that they/their schools have for that department (ideally science) and how to utilize the space and environment best. I would love to take the standards and help the teachers organize, review and divide over the calendar. Next, help them develop lesson plans and activities, that include hands on and 21st century Web 2.0 tools so as to take away the fear of learning/failing and that age old battle of no time. Being able to travel about in a county for a certain amount of time, then move on to the county, district or company as this would work for educational companies as well.

This environment of mine would include a support team that gives me access and provides help where I need it so that these traveling trainings would be successful. I would get to spend time on site teaching and training and some time back at an office doing curriculum review and writing to make sure supplemental material is most useful. All this being done in four day work weeks. This way I would get to combine my science and research background, corporate training and education expertise to have to ultimate service profession.

BP 35 Wk3 Discussion Deeper: Video Use in Education

Using videos, streams and such in the classroom seems essential to capturing the attention of today’s audience, breaking up the monotony by diversifying the delivery method and allows for learning for all about technology in addition to the curriculum. My students enjoy the lessons and being able to interact with them (we use smart boards and lots of sites have lessons that are compatible) and get the information in a way that may work best for them (differentiation of the curriculum). Here are a few that I use for everything from lesson builders, radio broadcast/pods, writing skill building, math review, virtual labs, games, video lessons and demonstrations and research.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00stlqg/Science_Cafe_20_06_2010/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/scia/
http://dsc.discovery.com/games/games-tab-04.html
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/?location=klrn - register for your own login- sorry, can’t give you mine!
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/instructor/Mar05_websitings.htm

go to these once inside the scholastic site:
The Yuckiest

http://yucky.kids.discovery.com (middle school boys love this one)

Digital Froggie
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/frog

A Sickening Site
www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/infection

The Mysteries of Poo (middle schoolers love this one!)
www.kidwings.com

Comment to Lynne:

I too, use Edutopia but for different subject matter. However, I really like the sites you have suggested and the uses as well. This will be really helpful in the effective education area of our curriculum (this is the first school where it is truly apart of the curriculum). This is something that is needed. I am going to check out the larc.sdsu.edu/social media one for information on webinars as my students are really interested in the idea.

BP 34 Wk3 Reading: Art of Possibility, Chapters 7- 9

Chapter 9. Lighting a Spark. It’s not about us. It’s about them. What are you doing to pay-forward from your universe of possibility?

My paying forward is simple: lead my example and make room for you to develop and create opportunities and pathways for kids to demonstrate and develop their own methods and ideas about how teach or utilize the information shared. I like to always learn new things- information, methodology and the likes, not just from adults but from spending time with kids to find out who they really are, how they think and what interest them as learners. Then take some of those ideas to develop lessons that work for them and cover the material that is suggested by the standards. This also allows for students to take some responsibility for their own learning and develop some leadership skills all why becoming invested in the lesson(s) at hand.

BP 33 Wk3-2 DB Quickies: Difficulties starting new programs/breaking the norm

“At the root of all growth, we find change. Allow it to work for you not against.” Unknown

Transformation is a universal constant that affects our lives from the moment we are born until we leave earthly existence behind. At the root of all growth, we find change. Sometimes the change and the circumstances leading up to it can cause joy but more often provoke feelings of discomfort, fear, or pain. In the case of situations where we are not in supreme control (no position of authority or admin.) change is unavoidable and we feel we are at the mercy of the whims of the powers that be.

Even though it is hard, we should put forth effort to realize that it is our response to the circumstances that determine our experience more than the change itself. Truthfully, the changes will take place whether we want it or no so it is up to us to decide whether we open our eyes to the hidden blessing and lesson, even in the midst of the disorder or we chance closing ourselves off from the opportunities hiding behind the obstacles. So what should/do we do to make change work for us? We should look constructively at our situations in our schools, systems, departments, etc and ask self how we can benefit from the transformation that has or will take place. With time, you can then reevaluate your plans and goals in the time afterwards to realize that your ideas can be adapted to the new situation and find ways for you to capitalize on them.

As hard and frustrating as it may be for us as teachers, with so many changes being made on our behalf without our voice, it is a teaching moment if we choose optimism, enthusiasm, and flexibility here as there is little to be gained in dwelling on what might have been. In the short term, change can hurt or seem to but if we are willing, the impact can be transforming in all three dimensions.

Ok, now that I have shared a the Zen philosophy of embracing change, here is the meat if it:

Teachers resist change:
-for fear of looking bad, feeling bad, negative reviews
-lack of preparation or training time
-lack of support from administrators, colleagues and parents/students
-limited resources
-burnout
-lack of vision, investment or belief in the philosophy of the school and it’s direction
-individualistic mentality and plain ole’ stubbornness- selfish outlook.
Other successful organizations deal with technological changes by choosing a program that will help take their organization forward with the least amount of costs, introduce the changes and the benefits for the company as a whole and for the individual departments, give a timeline from implementation to benefits, prepare and train individual departments separately and have support in place to guide them through initial stages of change.

"Why are educators resistant to change, especially when it comes to technology? How do other institutions deal with technological change?

Christina Carboni:Teachers are resistant to change because:
• It is really nice in their comfort zone.
• Time is a commodity one does not have extra of.
• Intimidation.
• Afraid of being embarrassed that their tech skills are subpar.
• Fear of the unknown.
• Implementation is not taken seriously or enforced.
• Administrators do not make it a priority.
• It is not part of their yearly evaluation.
• There is no immediate monetary or personal gain.
• Training usually occurs on your own time and many times, paid for by you.
• Equipment is not readily available, accessible or they lack proper training on it.
• No regular support for troubleshooting problems.
• Slow servers and bandwidth issues.
• Access to Internet is limited and/or sites blocked.
• Constantly having to fight for technological freedom that they just give up and don’t bother anymore.
• Tenure
• With so many other things on a teacher’s plate these days, they just get so burnt out that to think about spending time having to learn new technology or anything else for that matter, simply puts them over the edge.

Other Institutions deal with technological change by:
• Offering incentives like raises or promotions.
• Mandate attending training.
• Offers financial assistance for tech education.
• The top of the line technology is usually available for efficient and effective businesses.
• Training is part of the workday and state of the art.
• Support staff for tech is usually part of the workforce team.
• Tech issues are handled within the company in a timely manner.
• Technological change is built into the budget.
• Part of their culture.
• Grow or stay in a dead end job.
• You need to keep up otherwise the technology will over run you, and your learning curve will be so great that you will not be able to catch up any longer.
• They deal with change very well!

My Comment to Christina: Christina, you make a lot of great points here and I think you have covered them all. I think that if teachers and educational systems adopted the philosophy of other institutions and made training mandatory, they would first need to make sure that they cared out time in the workday or week to accommodate the teacher so that it would eliminate the stress of feeling overwhelmed. Even a monetary incentive when your days and weeks are full are not enough.

BP 32 Wk3-1 DB Quickies: Difficulties starting new programs/breaking the norm

Briefly share any experiences you’ve had when you’ve had a part in introducing a new program or a new way to do things at your job site. Please share any triumphs or frustrations you’ve had trying to improve the system or when you’ve pioneered or piloted some outside the norm.

Five years ago I was apart of the conversion group known as the “Science GPS Dream Team”. This was a conglomerate made up of K-12 science teachers from throughout the county. The teachers were volunteers who were also recommended by their school administrators. Our task was to take the GPS (Georgia Professional Standards), unpack, review, revise and organize them in the best way possible to meet the needs of the state, county and most importantly our children’s needs. We started meeting for a week in the summer to break into groups by grade level and review the standards so that we could come up with a plan of action. With a great leader at the helm, we started on an exciting adventure. There was a lot of positive energy and knowledge shared. We again before school started and monthly during school to continue the process. When all was done, we each took the standards back to our respective schools and began training our departments on them, as was the role of the Science Contact. This is when the fight started! The acceptance at each school was varied. Lots of veteran teachers were not happy with being ‘told’ how to teach and what to teach. Other teachers were happy to see a standard way of teaching with a format that everyone was using. The problem was that even though it was a state and county mandate that we start using the unpacked standards, all administrators were supportive or cared enough to make the time or ensure that all science faculty attended training and carried out the recommendations in their classrooms. This caused a lot of friction between the faculty, added stress and increased frustration. A lot of teachers felt it was one more thing they had to do and others embraced the change. I addressed the challenges at my school by meeting with the administrators and getting support ( my vice principal was a former science teacher and great support), then developing a training program that worked for our school and addressed the concerns and challenges that our science faculty expressed (technology challenges, lack of time and understanding of curriculum, inexperience with more hands on lessons, etc) by creating folders for each grade level, training once person per level individually so they could help me train and support the others. All and all we had more buy in than resistance. That cannot be said for other schools as I learned when I transferred to a new school this year. Teachers were referring to the standards but no all were adhering to the guidelines.

Kim Heumann http://online.fullsail.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=assignment.main&itemId=178051

Two summers ago, I took part in Social Justice Training. I would say that basically it is an anti-racism training, but that really do

esn’t do it justice. My training was a very intense 2 day overnight training. I was not paid to go, but was asked and accepted. The theory is that those staff members who have been trained will “mentor” other staff members, and try to encourage others to attend the 2 day training.

This past year, my principal brought in a group of teachers from a different district to facilitate a day of “Social Justice” with the thought that the two of us who had already been trained would be a part of the day.

It really didn’t go as expected. Instead of getting staff members fired up about the training and program, it did just the opposite. Even though we tried to explain to the trainers from the other district that we were the only people who had been through the actual training, they assumed that everyone had, and proceeded to insult and infuriate the rest of the staff. I spent the day trying to do damage control. I was really not very successful.

Comment: @Kim,

I know of the Social Justice Training to some extent as I have a friend who has facilitated and participated in them. Even though he was a trainer, he too, thought that the training was not as effective as it could have been. It is so unfortunate that the trainers were not open to listen and show that they were proficient in social justice, rather than forge ahead just to complete an agenda. Talk about being an oxymoron.