Presentation Introduction

Media_literacy_georgesiemens_emerging_

The top two choices for presenting my Challenge Base Research Project at would be the Georgia Educational Technology Conference or Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education.  My reason for choosing the two specific conferences is because they both deal with using technology in education.  I feel this is a gap that needs to be bridged in the educational environment.  Most teachers feel more comfortable in the traditional style of teaching and the world is changing.  Technology has become a large component in the domestic environment of our students.  Their interest is on techno gadgets.  In order to reach the new generations of students, teachers have to become more involve with technology and how to use it to educate the students.  The two conferences discuss and present ways to use technology in the classroom and what types of technology that works to educate our newly tech savvy students.

Think Out Loud Blog Post

http://rchanda3.blogspot.com/2011/09/think-out-loud-ppp-post-ga-educational.html

http://rchanda3.blogspot.com/2011/09/week-2-think-out-loud-ppp-post.html

CBR Publication Presentation Project

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AbC5k5O80MoSZGZ0MjZjM3NfMTlnaG14c3hjag&hl=en_US

Response to Pam's Blog

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

Week Four-Telling the 'We' Story

GNU Free Documentation License.

Have you ever started a request with "Well, what do 'we' need to get started….." and the person you are speaking to says "We, you have a mouse in your pocket?"

"Telling the We Story" really spoke to me this week. I am approaching my 21st anniversary this December. As relationships roll through time there are definately ups and downs and curves and smooth rail. Recently, it seems that that my marriage is rolling through a dark tunnel filled with turmoil. Where the question seems to be "What do WE want to happen here?" "What's best for US?" and "What's our next step?" At this momemnt the questions remain unanswered, because it seems I have to adopt the idea of 'Being the Board' and recognize what stumbling blocks I am putting in the way of our future. I am trying to focus on what I want which is to grow and change together instead of running negitive tape in my head "If only YOU would do…." We have begun to see a counselor, so hopefully with her help we will be able to improve our communication skills and build a new framework.
Posted by Pamela King at 3:55 PM
Email This
BlogThis!
Share to Twitter
Share to Facebook

1 comments:
 Chanda Robinson said...
Hi Pam,
I am sorry to hear about the issues that are occurring in your marriage. I truly believe that you will get through any problems that are existing and things will work out for the best. I am really glad to see that you truly recognize the stumbling blocks that are hindering your life. Your testimony will help someone else in their crisis or problems. This was a very inspirational blog post that truly in a real life situation described the meaning behind the chapters in this week discussion. Thanks Pam. Great Job!
September 25, 2011 4:36 PM 

Response to Lori's Blog

The Art of Possibilites Ch. 9-12 Wk4 MAC

This video that I watched in a counseling course this week reminded me of the Art of Possibilities.

9. Lighting the Spark – The authors give the example of needing 50 cents to pay buy air to inflate a bicycle tire order to get to a museum. Today someone asked me at a gas station for 50 cents to get to Orange County. I gave him the $3 dollars I had. He said, “Sweet!” and thanked me. It was an interesting story of trying to find solutions and that can sometimes seem hard to do when faced with needing to negotiate. This week I began observing a severely disabled student in a classroom to find a solution to some undesirable behavior. I was concerned that the classroom aides may be unwilling to cooperate fully.  The student demonstrated the behavior immediately which was useful and a few minutes later he tried again. This time he was unsuccessful in his attempt. The interesting part was that he communicated (though he is nonverbal) to the aide that she needed to mark on a tally sheet that he had made the attempt. When I mentioned after class, that I believed the tallying might inadvertently be reinforcing the behavior, the teacher immediately responded by moving the sheet from the student’s line of sight. By just being there I have changed the environment, the aides began discussing the behavior openly which led to the revelation about the tally sheet. It made me think about how every environment we enter is changed by our presence, hopefully for the better.
10. Being the Board- a somewhat difficult concept but not so much if you have faith. When you have faith, you have to believe that what happens in your life has meaning or leads you to where you may not have planned for yourself. I already know I am not in control of my life and trying to understand the world from my experience is an important part of realizing that. When difficulties arise then it is time to accept that you need to change.
11. Frameworks for Possibilities – this chapter speaks about stating visions. I had to write mission and belief statements this week for a model school counseling program. They included such things as: all students are worthy of love and respect and deserve to be cherished, and all students have the ability to achieve. I agree with the authors that a broad vision opens things up to possibilities and helps give us a direction.
12. Telling the We Story- I am always aware of the “we.” Groceries do not magically appear on shelves and roads are not paved by magic. We are intricately dependent despite the lone cowboy mentality that drives our country's identity. I almost laugh when I deal with people who believe they are independent. That is just not the truth. Understanding our interdependence is key to compromise and seeing the greater good.
Posted by Lori Buder at 7:19 PM  
Email This
BlogThis!
Share to Twitter
Share to Facebook

Labels: Week 4
5 comments:
 Christine Shikenjanski said...
Hi Lori! Your insight regarding Telling the WE story, Practice 12 was wonderful. I just had a similar conversation with my 15 year old son, who by all accounts is an wonderful young man. However, as I said he is 15. He just got his driver's permit and is wanting to drive everywhere. Unfortunately for him, he can only drive when I am in the car. He is too young to work, so there again he can only drive when I put gas in the car. He told me the other day that he couldn't wait until he was independent and could do things on his own. For him he is thinking about when he is 16 and can drive by himself and can work to have money for gas. I love his enthusiasm but I reminded him that independence is a myth. That WE are all dependent on someone for something. I appreciate your thoughts on this subject.
September 24, 2011 11:27 PM
 jH said...
Lori,
I really enjoyed reading your post. Your mission and belief statements that you mention in regards to Chapter 11 were worded very nicely. While many will instantly agree with your message, It is sad to think that there are some adults in schools that do not feel this way. It is also sad to think that the children we come across that make this difficult to do are possibly the way they are because of a lack of love and respect in their home environments. Hopefully, those that see your visions will be inspired and it will make a difference in your community. Great work! Jon
September 25, 2011 8:35 AM
 Mr.LesBrown3 said...
Lori,
Thanks for your comments on being the board and the necessity of faith. Your connection that God is some how involved really got me thinking. God may not intend for something to happen but God will use it for his good. If I could remember this instead of losing my temper or passion I would do much better.I can tell you like me enjoyed being the spark. I thinks your work is so valuable.Just your reflections here have been a spark to me. Thanks so much.
September 25, 2011 11:07 AM
 Pamela King said...
Lori,
I love the video you posted. It was so cute. Last year, we used the Fill Your Bucket as a school theme. All the staff and faculty made "buckets" out of plastic cups and they were hanging in the hallway on the way to the office. Staff was encouraged to take slips and "fill each other buckets". Then at Thanksgiving everyone was giving a turkey and people went around passing out feathers to put on it with why you were thankful for them. It definately brought around a good feeling. During summer school, one of the lessons I did with all the classes was about filling buckets. I read the story and we generated a list of ways to fill people's buckets. Then we would take time 2-3 times each week to write out a slip a fill a bucket. The children really enoyed it. The Fill A Bucket movement is spreading. Last week I drove pass the local school and the outside banner had on it: "Have you filled someone's bucket today?" For the record Lori, everytime I ichat you….you always fill my bucket! You have to be one of the kindest people I have ever met!
September 25, 2011 11:51 AM
 Chanda Robinson said...
Hi Lori,
I love your example describing how we affect the environments we enter. I truly believe that energy whether negative or positive travels around with us and affect our environments. When a situation is tense because someone is angry and you enter that environment, you began to get upset as well and it's all because of the energy released in the atmosphere. It is great how you positively affect the classroom environment. It actually helped an assistant teacher find a better way to help the student with needs. I love that response and example. Great job!
September 25, 2011 4:28 PM 

Week 4 The Art of Possibilities Blog Post

The Art of Possibility was very interesting this week.  The chapters 9-12 were very enlightening.  They discussed concepts that would help you in your profession as well as everyday life and its decisions.  Chapter 9:  Lighting the Spark, this can actually be done in a negative way or positive way.  It put me in back into the classroom.  Teachers can light the spark by negatively impacting the students to gain achievement, which doesn’t work or positively impacting the students to gain achievement, which works.  Students tend to react better for teachers who positively affect their lives.  Chapter 10:  Being the Board, discusses how one needs to not analyze life but understand and have faith about the things that are happening in their life or around their life and make the necessary changes or adjustment to adapt to the situation or solution.  Chapter 11: Frameworks for Possibilities, this discusses how visions come to realty.  If you state your visions and they are broad enough then it opens doors for other opportunities or possibilities to arrive and leads to helping us find our way.  Chapter 12:  Telling the We Story, discusses how even though we have the understanding or belief that we are independent and need no one is far from the truth or realty.  We have to understand that in order to get to the next level or the best place, we need to accept our dependence on others and compromise for the good of all.

The Art of Possibilities 4-8 Week 3

The Art of Possibilities gets interesting as the chapters continue.  I am so amazed at how this book tends to lead or guide into my own personal soul searching.  I often analyze myself after reading each chapter to see what I’m doing and if I can change some things for the better after getting insight from the chapter. 

In chapter 5:  Leading from Any Chair discusses how everyone can be a participant or the leader of the group.  It empowers everyone to view themselves as leaders.  This helps you as an individual to display leadership qualities at all times.  From the viewpoint of an educator, it is important to allow the students to become leaders in the classroom.  I have found that some students learn better from other students.  I tend to have peer-tutoring session in class to allow a concept to be taught by a classmate who understands that particular concept better.  This strategy has proven itself to work.  It also builds self-esteem and leadership qualities of the students.

In chapter 6: Don’t take yourself so seriously, discuss how we over analyze ourselves and tend to become overly serious about minor issues.  From the viewpoint of an educator once again, we tend to become so serious that we break down the communication process between the students and ourselves.  Once this happens learning cannot take place.  This harms the students more than help.  I feel that we should be firm but fair and allow our students to know we are human and we care about them and their education.

In Chapter 7:  The way they are, discuss how we over analyze things rather than seeing them for what they are.  We tend to not stick to the reality of what things are but try to make more out of things, which then leads to problems.  As teachers we often overanalyze things such as pre-test scores.  We often feel that this is the marker that shows our students haven’t learned anything from the previous years or lessons.  We then began to over work ourselves and students rather than seeing the picture for what it is and not what it could be.  We as teacher must learn to relax and teach according to our students learning styles and abilities not test scores.

Chapter 8: Giving Way to Passion, discusses how we should try new things that are apart of our passion.  Most of us hate to try new things whether we are interested in it or not.  We often want to stick to the same things to avoid failure or hurt.  As an educator, I noticed that teachers love to teach but hate to try new ways of teaching to reach their students.  Most traditional educators want to remain traditional despite the growing changes in our society.  Technology is one thing that most traditional educators want to avoid; even though, they love to teach.  We have to learn how to take life by the handle and enjoy it and its new experiences.

Week 3 Response to Dena's Blog

Week 3 Art of Possibilities

Any Chair
 Leaders sit in all types of chairs.  We have leaders of our country, of our schools, of our communities, and of our organizations, just to name a few.  So the concept of any chair does apply.  As educators our job is to lead our students in the right direction to prosper into life long learners.  Some types of leaders were mentioned in this chapter that stood out and one was the insensitive management type leader.  These types of leaders may take us further down in the reading when we meet the wall.  It also brings to mind the two types of self.  The calculating and the central.  The calculating is the more dominant one and I think that is where the insensitive mangement leader fits in.  I thought the statement, " A leader does not need a podium, she can be sitting quietly.  The leader maybe anyone of us."  I thought that was powerful.  People in higher positions can just supply the tools and allow the work to be done.  It would lmake the work environment a bit more pleasurable to work in.  There are leaders in everyone, it just needs to be brought out of the individual.  
Rule #6
I love this rule.  Lighten up and have a sense of humor, that helps to alleviate the stresses of life.  Enjoy life while you have it because no one is promised tomorrow.   I also agree that it is important to look at yourself in the situation and ask is it me.  It may not be you but at least you have explored the possibilities.  I also got the message that you should take the opportunity to explore your inner self.

The Way
 This concept should have a balance.  I agree that sometimes it is easier to accept things as they are rather than fuss over everything. On the other hand right is right and wrong is wrong, therefore you have to be careful of what you accept.  There were a few statements that I withdrew from the text.  " When we dislike a situation we tend to put all our attention on how things should be rather than how they are."  "A storm sweeps overhead showers and thunder only to be followed by clear patches of blue."  "Nature makes no judgement. Humans do."  These statements are so true.

The Wall
The wall is not a good place to be because communication has shut down.  If you can not communicate, you will not be able to resolve anything.  " The practice of being with the way things are allows us to alight in a place of openness where the truth readies us for the next step and the sky opens up."  I agree with this statement.

Giving Way to Passion
The message I received was get on with things that matter to us.  There were two ways:
1.  Release those barriers of self that keep you separate and in control.
2.    Allow yourself to be a channel to shape the stream of passion into a new expression for the world.

Week 3 Response to Lori's Blog

The Art of Possibilities 4-8 Wk 3

Image from MicroSoft Clip art

Chapter 5: Leading from Any Chair- this chapter is a reminder that everyone is a participant. You contribute from where you are and empower others to contribute is an important lesson.  It reminds me of a friend who counseled youth drug offenders in a program in San Francisco. His clients were tough street-smart criminals who would have their records cleaned if they completed the program. His technique for dealing with them was to put the “badest” one in charge. That was the one person he could count on to keep the others in line and it gave him a stake in the performance of the group. Other counselors in the program relied heavily on medicating their clients into submission. He had a much smoother approach, giving them self efficacy and using the courts to back up the consequences.

Chapter 6: Don’t take yourself so seriously. Nearly every student I have worked with comments on my laughter. I have worked with a many students with serious emotional difficulties cause mostly by chaotic and violent environment. I would like to cry but laughing works much better. I take the reality seriously but try to make the moments working together as light and happy as possible. I take life this way in general. When my dog ate my wallet and credits cards, I laughed at how silly I was for not being able to outsmart her.

Chapter 7: The Way Things Are: It is true that the one thing we have in common is suffering and circumstances are often less than ideal, but that is okay. We can look at the way things are and use it to see other possibilities. I felt especially moved by the description of Jane Goodall’s speaking engagement because I actually do avoid wildlife programing due to the bleak outcomes. Often I have had to advocate for children living under duress by telling the truth about the situations but also pointing out how a teacher can help in the classroom by providing an escape. It is not always easy sticking to the reality and people want to tell the story either in the worst possible or best possible way. Being realistic changes the possibilities.

Chapter 8: Giving Way to Passion: Life is hard and trying to avoid difficulty by not trying new things will not lesson pain. I always try new things. If I don’t know it or can’t do it, it is a challenge to figure it out. True, trying to use cross terrain skates at my age led to falling on my backside, I still laughed. And I will try again on a less slick surface next time. Change is hard but we have to fight the urge to hide. I agree with the authors. Usually, if you have a strong conviction you can bring others around. If not, enjoying the experience on your own can be good too.

Week 3 Think Out Loud PPP Post GA Educational Technology Conference

I would like to present my Challenge Base Research Project at the Georgia Educational Technology Conference.  I would like to present to this conference to show educators in the state of Georgia and all over the United States the importance of using technology in the classroom.  I would like to present my experience with using different types of technology that motivated my students to achieve.  In my CBR project, I used technology to increase literacy and comprehension of my students in an English as a Second Language Intervention classroom setting.  My students were reading and performing below grade in Language Arts.  Their CRCT Reading scores were also low.  I incorporate technology to help increase these scores and believe it or not my students scores increase greatly.  They become motivated and excited about reading.  I would love to present my scores from the beginning before using technology and at the end after using technology to prove to educators that technology is a great tool to reach students.  It is a great quality plus teaching strategy and traditional teachers should attend technology conferences to get true feedback on how well it works.

Week 2 Think Out-Loud PPP Post

I am currently trying to decide what will be more beneficial for me as an educator of whether or not I should present or publish my final project.  I am the type person who love to engage with individuals in a hands on way, because of this, my best option might be to present my final project.  The only down fall or hang ups I have with presenting is that my wonderful experience during my capstone project will not be published.  There is a lot of information I want to share with others about my experience in implementing my challenge and the results I got from it.  I know that the information can be shared in both forms of the project, but which form would be more useful and meaningful to my audience is the problem I'm facing in making a decision.  I feel that I'm leaning more to the presentation of the experience because of my learning style and personality but my final decision has not yet been met.  With a little more research and analyzing, I feel that I will make the best choice for sharing my information to my audience or the world in a timely manner.
From the book, The Art of Possibilities by Zander & Zander, I'm currently viewing the world a little different and making decisions based on the new acquired knowledge.  I feel this book was a great resource for teachers and other professionals when making their mark or place in this world count but in a positive way.  I say all of this to say, my capstone project was a great experience, my students, co-workers, parents and administration were very supportive and I would love to share this information in a way that would be beneficial for others in similar professions to help reach their goal in motivating students to read and write through the use of technology.  I am open to any comments that would be helpful in my decision making.  Like the authors in The Art of Possibilities contributing to others or this world is great.  So be a contributor and give me some positive feedback.
Thanks

Response to Jen Week 2 Think Out-Loud PPP Post: to publish or present

It is my opinion, that publishing an article on research or best practices is one of the best ways to get a foot in the door, regardless of where you are trying to go. 
In my case, I would love the opportunity to present at the eLearning Guild’s Learning Solutions conference. They hold the conference in Orlando every March, and I’ve always been impressed with the content that they provide. They currently have a call for proposals due by September 15th for the 2012 conference. I’m not sure if I’ll have a submission ready by then, so I’m thinking about writing an article to submit to the Learning Solutions magazine, with the hope that I can be considered for a presentation at the 2013 conference.
Considering the topic of my research, the motivation of adults in professional and social learning environments, I think that I may have other opportunities to publish, as well. I regularly follow the content of Chief Learning Officer magazine, and I think that my research and findings could be very helpful for other training professionals who likely face the issue of motivation and voluntary participation in company-sponsored programs.
More soon,
Jen
1 Comment 
Chanda Robinson
Hi Jen,
I enjoyed your post on the to publish or present topic.  I also feel that publishing your work leads to great future opportunities.  I feel that people take your position and job more serious and it does give you a better chance of getting your foot through the door.  It is exciting to hear how you would love to present at a large conference like the eLearning Guild's Learning Solutions conference.  This shows you have great determination and motivation to achieve your goals.  It almost relates to the book, The Art of Possibilities by Zander & Zander.  You are inventing your opportunities on how you view the world.  That is awesome.  I feel your research topic is awesome and in great need, especially for the teaching profession.  We have a lot of adults or teachers who are not comfortable with computers so any type of training or online learning that is available they tend to shy away from it.  With the world of growing technology it is almost a need to have some knowledge of technology and eLearning is a great way to start.  On the other hand, I am a presentation type person.  I love to present my ideas in some type of format to gain the interest of my audience.  Right now I am in odds with what route I would take for my final project.  I'm not so sure if I want to present or publish.  I'm currently trying to weigh my options and decide what would be more beneficial for me as an educator.  Great post!
Sunday, September 11, 2011 - 12:39 PM

Response to Lori Blog Week 2

The Art of Possibility Chapter 1-4 MAC Wk2

Book Cover

The book, The Art of Possibility by Zander & Zander, offers a new perspective on how to view the reality.  Broken into a series of practices defined separately by chapter, the married couple of Rosamund Stone Zander, a therapist and Benjamin Zander, a conductor and teacher, provide their unique way of viewing the world.

They believe our view of the world is made up of the stories we tell ourselves about what is true and if we change that story we can change our lives.  Practice one is to realize that our perceptions are an invention.  We construct meaning out of our experiences. Practice two: Step into the world of possibilities.  Since it is all invented you must ask:

What assumptions am I making, that I’m not aware I’m making, that give me

what I see?

What might I now invent, that I haven’t yet invented, that would give me other

choices?

Practice three: Giving an A.  By giving yourself and others and A you can see the potential. “This A in not an expectation to live up to, but a possibility to live into” (p. 26). This will change the way you deal with others and yourself. If you reduce the judgment you will have more possibilities.

Practice four: Being a contribution. If you think of yourself as a contribution you will not have the same perspective of success and failure.

I read along while listening to the Zanders in the audio version of the book. I found this much more rich. You could hear their voices and inflections and they included music in the transitions and some background.  I find the Zanders point of very positive and useful perspective. It is more impressive because they have person success.  I have an MS in Counseling, Child and School Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy that leads me to take a particular interest in the psychology of success.  They use a positive approach that can be easily followed.  Often changing our viewpoint can change our anxiety levels and our outcomes.  I am enjoying the many examples they use to illustrate their points. I too believe that trying to meet teacher expectations can negatively influence our performance.  In the EMDT program I found it refreshing and easier to do better when given positive feedback on work. It made me want to do better not just do the basics to get the grade. For the TMD course, Michelle always gave positive feedback.  I have always received high grades in school but getting positive comments made me feel differently. Yes, an A+ can be seen as positive but it was much different getting direct feedback.  She was the most positive instructor I have had in my decades of taking classes and it really mattered. I felt more motivated to do a good job. It did not surprise me that she was she had successfully won competitions while in the US Army training soldiers for combat. She makes you want to work for her. Similarly, I thought immediately when I viewed Benjamin Zanders TED lecture that he would be a great teacher. They say it is not the expertise of the teacher but their level of enthusiasm for the subject matter that makes students learn.  After viewing Zander’s lecture it is fascinating reading his philosophies.

Reference: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang/eng//id/286