Wk 4 Publishing_Presentation Project

Our Chosen Conference

So, Jen and I presented our rough draft presentation Tuesday evening.  It went over well, all things considered.  We have decided to submit our proposal for the eLearning Guild conference in Orlando.  We are under a tight time constraint, as proposals are due October 14th.  I think that we will be able to pull this together with a little bit of work.  The great thing is that we have been working together since month 1 and we both know each other and our work ethic, taste, projects, etc.  A huge bonus is that if we are selected we get one free admission into the conference and then we can split the cost of the other admission fee.  Plus, since both of us are within commuting distance to Orlando, we won't have to worry about booking a hotel room or airfare.

The response to our presentation was mostly positive.  We were advised by several people to change the color scheme, so we are going to work on that next.  We also will be adding and ice breaker activity, a resource page, a contact info page and one other collaborative activity.  I think that if you look at the project you can see that we both contributed to the presentation and that this isn't the case of one person doing more work than another.

Week 2 Think Aloud
Week 3 Think Aloud

Publishing Presentation Draft 1

Wk 3 Response to Daniela

What's your passion?
Microsoft Clip Art Gallery

Daniela wrote:

While reading the Art of Possibility I kept thinking the book was talking directly to me…corny I know! I have been having a difficult time reaching my new class this school year, they are unmotivated to learn and unwilling to take responsibility for their actions. I have attempted just about everything I have up my sleeve. I have had to take a step back and re-analyze my job. As I was reading the statement “how much greatness are we will to grant?” (p. 73). It is my job to inspire and bring out the best qualities these kids have, as the book said I am going to have to speak to their passions. I am going to have make connection with them. These chapters made me feel like I can still go in a make a difference. I have been feeling a little defeated and needed something to give me inspirations. I think this was it. I am looking forward to making a change!


My response:

Daniela,

I have been there with the class that seems so hard to reach.  It is not a great place to be.  I think that you have the right idea in thinking about seeing what they are passionate about.  Sometimes it is hard to find passion in the uninspired, but once you do that you will have them for life.  My advice, sit back...take a deep breath...and listen to them as they talk...their passion will reveal itself to you!

Heather

PS:  I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought this book was written for them.  It is such an awesome feeling to find a book that speaks to you!  I've been reading excerpts to anyone that will listen to me!!

Wk 3 Response to Christine

Like my mic??

Christine wrote:

Practice 5: Leading from any chair

This practice was a great reminder for me.  As parents we often forget to let our kids lead.  As mom, I am the director.  I call the shots, but I also cook dinner, do laundry, pay bills, play counselor, supporter, protector, chauffer, and on and on.  While reading this practice I was reminded that like any good director I should sit back and let me kids lead.  My youngest son Alex who is 12 reminded me the other day that I have told him several times that he could cook dinner, but in his words “it never works out”.  He is right on that.  I would like to say it is because he has other things to do, but often it never works out because of me.  I have either been to distracted or found it easier to do it myself.  In either scenario from the tone of his voice he has been left clearly disappointed.  I am so glad to have read about this practice.  It was the reminder I absolutely needed.  Alex and I are going to plan a night where he can “lead from any chair” and make dinner. 

Practice 6: Rule Number 6:  Don’t take yourself so goddamn seriously! 

This practice made me really laugh!  I think this is great for EVERYONE!

I know I definitelty take myself too seriously!  This will be my new Mantra!

Practice 7:  The Way Things Are:

With every chapter I read I fall more and more in love with this book.  I am a strong believer in things happening for a reason and timing being everything.  In general I would say I am a positive person.  However, in the past several weeks my stress level has increased and I have found myself more and more frustrated with the way things are.  Usually, I can find peace and acceptance with the way things are and am able to continue moving forward.  However, recently I have found myself being more frustrated than usual and less patient.  These feelings leave me feeling overwhelmed and disheartened.  Neither of which I like feeling. While I was reading this chapter, I began to see these changes.  I am so glad that I have read this.  The reality of life is that things are the way they are at times and it is at those times that we have to take a deep breath and remember it’s the way things are today but not necessarily the way they will be tomorrow.  Finding acceptance today gives you the power to accept tomorrow. 

Practice 8: Giving Way to Passion:

As I was reading this chapter, I was aware that this is one area I must work on.  I have no identifiable passion.  Perhaps that is because I have yet to participate.  I can think of things I enjoy and those things I would like to do, but I am the master at ignoring or discouraging myself from participating.  For example, I like to sing.  I don’t have the confidence.  I have been told I have the ability, but when it comes to it I am afraid.  As I was reading this chapter I stopped and asked myself, “What am I afraid of?” The answer was not being good enough or failing.  As I made this realization it occurred to me, that I may or may not be good enough, but unless I participate I will never know.  I liked the concept of BTFI.  Beyond the Fuck It is where I need to go.  I need to hold my head up high, and sing if that is what I want to do.  This is a chapter I will definitely read again!

My response:

Christine,

Getting out there and doing what you love is always a scary thing...it is intimidating to put yourself out there and see what the response is.  My motto:  This is what I love, if you don't...screw you (PG version here).  It has taken me years to get to that point, but once you are there it is so liberating! I love to sing...I am a horrible singer (smoking for a few years killed my voice)...I sing anyway.  I sing loud, I sing proud and I don't care the looks I get (I once had someone a few cars behind me that knew me who called my phone and told me to put my windows up b/c she could hear me from her car...I sang even louder).  The hardest part is HONESTLY not caring what people think, if it makes you happy.  I think that you are at the beginning of this realization and I hope you continue down that road.

All my best,
Heather

Wk 3 Response to Reading: The Art of Possiblity

Remember Rule 6
Image downloaded from
Microsoft ClipArt Gallery

 

 

 

As a teacher we are always “leading from a chair”.  I can’t make my students learn, I can’t make them succeed.  My goal is to guide them, engage them, and help them create that inner desire to succeed on their own.  I understand the idea of asking what is wrong with me if they are not succeeding, but I also think that this can take away some of the personal responsibility of the students.  Students need to also participate for the relationship to work.

I love, love, LOVE Remember Rule #6.  I totally live by this!  I vow to never take myself too seriously and try to lighten up the mood with humor whenever possible.  I have found that this helps to ease tense situations…also defusing a situation with humor often times allows both parties to leave with their dignity (save face).  I am also not opposed to their Have the best ______ ever scenario ::wink, wink::

I also found the inner battle between the calculating self and central self very intriguing.  After reading this, it was easy to ascertain which self tries to be dominant in certain situations.  While I usually stay in the central self, there are time where I find my calculating self trying to rear it’s ugly head.

The way things are is such a difficult concept sometimes.  There are times when you just want to vent, cry, scream and not accept the injustice of certain things.  However, in the end, there usually isn’t much you can do to change the situation, only your reaction to that situation.  I try to highlight this with students when we talk about childhoods and the situations in which we were raised.  I was raised in a difficult situation, where I was always in that survival mode with a drug-addicted parent until I entered the 6^th grade.  I told my students that I could have held onto this difficult background and let it guide my adult life.  Instead I chose to realize that this was the situation and that I could rise above it…I didn’t let my inability to change my past alter my future.

Wk 3 PPP Think Aloud: Presentation it is

Jen and I in Second Life working hard!

So this week it was decided to do a presentation.  Not only that, but Jen Selix and I are going to work together and make a presentation dealing with motivation in different work places.  Jen and I have been partners since month 1 and have worked on numerous projects together as well as bouncing idea off of each other for months when the work was all solo.  I feel confident that we can rock the heck out of this presentation!  Also the fact that we both live in Central Florida helps when deciding which conferences to apply for...we could easily attend the ones here in Florida together!!

Most of our projects have been in Google, so we will do something that can easily be put into a Google Doc.

I am super psyched to get working on this project!

Wk 2 Response to Jen Selix

Photo belongs to kelsey_lovefusionphoto

 

 

 

Jen wrote:

As I began the exciting journey of reading, The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life, by Rosamond Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander, I felt more than a little giddy. I had that wonderful buzz in my brain stomach that often comes with encountering something new and exciting. It reminded me of the moment in childhood, when I discovered the secret code behind Pig Latin.

While I’ve read and studied before on the psychology of the mind, philosophy, and thinking outside of the proverbial box, the humdrum of daily life makes it all too easy to fall back into the rhythm of monotony and limited perception. My brain seems to like life inside the box an awful lot. I assume because it is easy to stay within the lines and avoid the greater challenge of enlightenment.

However, there is nothing more exciting for me, than to be reminded of the infinite possibilities that life has to offer. The concept that, “It’s all invented” and that our perception of reality is what we allow ourselves to see and believe, it priceless. If I could only convince my brain to keep that concept on the forefront, to truly think about life as I live it, I believe that I could achieve astounding things.

More soon,

Jen

My response:

Jen,

Sometimes I question whether it is because of daily life that we go back into the box, or if it's because that is where we are taught to be.  Often times when you go against that proverbial "plane", you are ridiculed or some how persuaded to return to the norm.  It is often under this pressure that we conform.  This EMDT journey has taught me that there are lots of us outside that box and that it's okay to stay there...now we have a network of people for support!!

Looking forward to the wonderful things you will accomplish! 

Wk 2 Response to David Burch

Photo from Creative Commons. 
Creator:  Nicky Rowbottom
nicky@jml.net

Dave wrote:

"Congratulations!  As of today, you are designers!  You are MY people…OK, that sounds a little weird, but it's true!  From this day on, I will look at you differently.  Every time I see you in the hallway, or on the soccer field or at the McDonald's around the corner, I will see you as one of US.  By the end of this class, 45 minutes from now, you will be a different person, with new skills a new attitude and a new future.  When you need me to help you, I will, because you are fellow designer.  When you need to use the awesome equipment that we have in this lab, you can, because you're a designer.  If I have a computer open, the seat is yours, because you're a designer, like me.  We designers help each other.  We're part of a team, a super-selective group, an exclusive, talented, secret-society of creative-minded individuals that cooperate to make the world a better place.  No matter where you go in life or what kind of career or job you have in the future, you will be part of this group, because you are a designer.  You will be better at everything you do, because you are a designer.  You'll be better at your job than the person in the next cubicle.  You will be a more desirable employee than the guy next to you waiting to interview for the same position.  Any door will be open to you because you are a designer and I am honored to work with you.  Alright, now I'd like to get to know you.  When I call your name, tell me what else you're good at…"

That rather long diatribe is my opening salvo.  This is how I greet my Introduction to Graphic Design students for the first time (more or less - I'm not one for reading my comments, so I may get creative and ad lib a bit, but if I were reading it, that is what it would sound like).  I want my students to know right away that they have stepped into a new world and are full-fledged members of that new world.  They instantly have all the privileges and access they need to do their job and that I am there as a guide, a cohort, a colleague.  I tell them 2 other things before allowing them to leave that first class;  "Please don't go back to your other classes and look at your fellow students with an arrogant "I can do something you can't do" attitude.  Know it in your heart, but be generous with your knowledge or at least friendly with your comments.  You will be able to do that illustrative book report better than they will, but the grade will show that, you don't have to."  The other thing I share is equally important to teenagers.  Knowing that they have the skills to be the best is one thing, but how will that help them? The next thing I say is that I am going to teach them how to take their new skills and make money.  Now, compared to the first statements I made, this seems blatantly capitalistic, self-centered and shallow…and I agree.  I think that's all there is to say about that.  If offering the occasional self-serving capitalistic lesson is wrong…how interesting!

I wanted to share this bit of teaching, because I think it demonstrates the corn/husk or marble/statue mentality discussed in our reading.  "I already know you are great (I can taste the buttery goodness now…), I just want to help clear away the chafe so we can see the essence.  I am Giving an A to my students without them having to lift a finger, memorize a vocabulary word or prove anything other than they can show up, plant their butts in one of my chairs and honor me with their presence.  I think that being positive for positive's sake is an awesome self-motivational tool.  I can always choose NOT to be anything; glum, depressed, bored, tired, ill, successful, etc.  No, I'm not eschewing modern medicine, I'm just saying a positive attitude goes a long way, and when used correctly can be almost as powerful as a pill or vitamin.

As long as I can get my students to label themselves "talented" or "skilled" or "part of the team", I have gone a long way toward encouraging their success.  I fight less battles in the classroom and they fight less battles with the subject.  As teachers, you and I must believe in success!  We must assume that our students will shine.  We must assume that they will teach US and make sure that it happens.

We don't need no stinkin' boxes.  I can see the box, but I don't fit in it.  My talents are so great that I can think around the box.  I can use the box, but I won't be limited to the box,  In fact, I wonder what's really in this box?  If I wind it up until it pops, what surprise comes out of the box?  Wouldn't it be great if we could get all of our students to think that way?  Wait until they realize that it is merely themselves exploding out of the box.  They will be emerging from the norm.  They will be inquiring.  They will ASSUME that they can fix the world, and just need to experiment with it until they discover the answers under the husk.

Image Credit: http://www.art-photograph-gallery.com/image-files/pictures-of-corn3.jpg

My response:

David,

I love your opening "speech" to your students.  What is so wonderful about this is that often times you have students who are dying to fit in somewhere...be a part of something.  You are providing that opportunity for them.  I think you absolutely are building them up for huge success.  I also like how you talk to them about being humble and generous.  I think these are traits that are slowly disappearing from today's youth.  When watching "mentors" on t.v. they are bombarded with trash talking, bragging and other negative behaviors.  It is great to have a positive male figure to look up to.

Amazing job!