MAC Week 3: Publishing Ideas

While writing my own literature review I looked through many different journals and the following two sites were constantly on my list.

My first choice is Edutopia.  I was very impressed with the articles that I found.  They were very uplifting and powerful articles to me.  I remember wanting to make my classroom like those I read about.

My second choice is ISTE.  I like how this publication is about the use of technology in the classroom.  I think that an article about my CBR project would fit in with this publication.

MAC Week 2: Classmate Response #2

Below is my response to Jonnie Williams's blog post:

Week 2: To Present or to Write?

Calling All Educators!!

     To present or to write an article is the question. I have pondered this question for many hours. This week has actually been a good week to discover my answer. Last Friday night the school I where I teach provided a free Science Fun night for the students and families. There was 275 students that showed up with their families. The presenter was from the company "Mad Science". After the big science presentation, students and families split up and went to the different science station. I volunteered to conduct one of the science stations. I was given a paper that gave me a high school rendition of the experiments and a 10 minute training. I quickly put together a lesson plan and decided to let loose and have fun. That is exactly what I did. At 9:30 pm, I finished up the last rotation of students. I received many compliments on my presentation from students, parents, and administration. I took that information and thought about when I conducted professional development. I realized that I love presenting. Therefore, I will present my CBR project.

Here is my response---

Stephanie WaldnerMar 11, 2012 05:24 PM

Jonnie,
Wow, great for you! I am very jealous that you are comfortable enough to stand in front of people and present. And what a way to find out how much you enjoyed the presentation aspect. A science fun night...my favorite subject! I would love to be a part of the audience that is there to hear you present your project. I've always enjoyed listening to your ideas in class.

Good luck!!!

MAC Week 2: Classmate Response #1

Below is my response to Doreen's post on her Leadership Project:

MAC_Week 2: Leadership Role Model

Discussion with students on
boardroom critique

My first response is “Do I have to?” I’ve enjoyed the process and have learned so much during my time here at Full Sail; I would encourage anyone who wants to explore new ideas in education and to have the ability to be as creative as they wish to come here for their degree. Okay, let's think . . . I need to figure out what I will do, when I look at myself I see an introvert when it comes to presenting my ideas, especially outside of the graphic design world. I do well sharing one-on-one or maybe a small group but a conference, don’t think so. Not comfortable with the idea that I am an expert in the field as this point in time and that’s how I see presenters at conferences.  It’s enough that I have surprised myself the last four years when I jumped out of my comfort zone to teach. I believe the reason I can teach is because I am teaching aspects of the field I am passionate about – Graphic Design. I am very confident that the presentation itself would rock as I’ve created many for bosses and clients, but getting up and presenting myself . . .  (thinking) . . .(thinking some more ). . . not happening. Now let me look at submitting an article. 

Writing is not my forte either; I’ve always said I’m a designer not a writer. However, I’ve done a pretty good job of it for my CBR project and feel I can finish it off easily for a journal. So think this is my first choice.  Yes, I’ve decided I’ll write an article for a Journal and then maybe later, as a plan B, I will create and do a presentation when I get brave enough to step out of my comfort zone.

Stephanie WaldnerMar 11, 2012 09:08 AM

Doreen,
I feel your pain in this area! I to do not do well in a presentation setting. I never even thought that this truly isn't in an area where I am very comfortable. As much time as we have spent on our CBR projects, I still feel like I need to know more. And good for you for wanting to brave out of your comfort zone in the future.

MAC Week 2: To Publish or Present?

When I first read this assignment and heard it talked about in the first Wimba session: I do believe I had heart palpations.  What!?! I have to either write another paper or I have to stand up in front of people and present!  Neither option sounded like one I really wanted to partake in.
However, after my heart stopped with the extra beats and I took a couple of breaths...I thought about the possibilities.

What if I publish?
The thought of writing a 2000 word APA paper is very daunting.  The perfectionist that I am, pouring myself over the paper making sure that each word is correct.  On the upside, write a paper is an individual task.  I would work on my paper at home and talk about it with my classmates.

What if I present?
I believe the idea of standing up in front of my peers and talking actually terrifies me.  I have never been any good at that.  I've talked at a faculty meeting and you could hear my voice shaking.  Once, I had to talk at a school board me and I could see myself shaking on a recording.  So that right there is a very large CON to presenting.  On the other hand, this program has taken me out of my comfort zone and forced me to look at and do things that I've never done before.  Presenting would be one more push to make me step outside of myself and work harder.

What is my decision?
As much as I would like to push myself to try something different with presenting, I believe that I am going to choose to publish.  I need to work on speaking in front of smaller groups of my peers before I move onto a conference type atmosphere.

MAC Week 2: Reading Post

Image by scottchan
Freedigitalphotos.net

I am responding to The Art of Possibility.  This is quite possibly the most intriguing book that I've read in a while.  Usually, when I am told I HAVE to read a book, I dread the task.  I'll act like my daughter and put it off until the very last minute!  I dove into this book and read the first 4 chapters like I would one of my fictional "fun" reads.  I didn't want to put it down.
First of all, just turning your attitude around to give a completely new outlook, which is invented!  Trying to think about everything being invented is a hard concept.  I liked the practice with the dots.  I never could do that problem.  I pride myself on being a rule-follower.  So I know that I impose "rules" on myself that aren't really there.  It is a hard thing to change.
The other thing that really opened my eyes were the stories that are presented in the text.  Especially in the Giving an A chapter.  I had tears in my eyes when I read the story about the Taiwanese student and his realization that he was happier with his new thought of being an A instead of number 68.  I immediately thought about what possibilities my students would have if they were given an A at the beginning of the year.  What inhibitions would they let go of and participate in the activities that we do in class.  What possibilities would a school district accomplish if students were so concerned about the expectations but instead the possibilities that could arise!
Today, I was sitting in a grade level meeting and our reading coach was discussing adding yet another reading passage that would add more rigor to our curriculum and give us a better idea of our students skills.  I thought about how my students have done so far with these passages and saw them be squashed again by another poor grade.  Another measure of how horrible they are at this reading strategy, as many of my students are struggling with their reading strategies.  I could actually see their little sad faces in my head.  It made me ache.

How can I apply this book to my classroom without going against school district policies?

MAC Week 1: Leadership Post

I had to think long and hard about who I looked to for their leadership qualities.  Before I could make a decision, I did a little bit of research and I liked the information that I found on http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html

I knew what I thought made a good leader; listening skills, delegation, and organization to name a few.  But I really liked how this site talked about the differences between a "boss" and a "leader."

I choose to look at my former principal, Stewart Maxcy.  Putting aside that he was the principal that hired me for my first teaching position, he was an excellent leader for our school.  While his demeanor was calm and laid-back, he still commanded attention with his presence.  He rarely got push-back from other staff members when he asked for a task to be done.  Even now, while he works in the county office on a project that most teachers despise (Race-to-the-Top), Mr. Maxcy can still get teachers to help out.
He always had his door open and welcomed teachers who needed to discuss school issues.  When you did have an issue, he didn't have a plan of action for you, but rather a question: What do you think we can do about that?  He included you in the decision, he didn't make it for you.  All of these things made Stewart Maxcy a leader.

MAC Week 1: Classmate Response #2

Below is my response to Berengaria Navarre's blog:

http://berengarianavarre.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/copyright/#comment-3

Berengaria's post:

In viewing the video and articles, I appreciated the broad range of materials provided on the copyright issue. One thing I noticed right away was the Stanford video on The Fair(y) Tale of Fair Use. This was created entirely from short clips from Disney movies. So this would be an example of fair use for teaching purposes? Obviously, this subject matter could be taught without using any Disney clips. We are being told that the narrow range of fair use for teaching purposes is: can the subject matter be taught without using any of the copyright material; well, mostly the answer will be yes. So how is the Fair(y) Tale of Fair Use complying with fair use? Are we being warned off for our own good from using copyright material or is Stanford violating copyright or is it a different application of fair use?

I work at a very conservative institution and all my courses have warned me away from any use of copyrighted content so I am overly careful. Personally, my views are quite different. Much of our culture has been created and sold to us by media giants. And yet, we are still humans and as the cave art shows us, stories are an essential part of who we are and how we make sense of ourselves, each other, and the world at large. We sat round campfires and told tales. Our stories come from archetypes and basic story types. How can we not remix our media to tell new stories as we sit in front of computers and connect up? I want to see the stories that others want to tell. I think the present copyright laws violate the intended purpose of the law and that if we don’t complain, the situation will only get worse as the media conglomerates pressure the government into giving longer periods of copyright.

In the meantime, places like Internet Archive are helping to keep Public Domain alive. I love the Archive and we have been using this site for years. In a recent blog post, they are trying to look into some type of peer to peer networking to speed up downloads and reduce their costs. Creative Commons is another site that is a godsend when you are looking for resources, particularly images. Their system is easy to understand and easy to comply with.

My response: 

Berengaria,
I completely understand your view on current copyright laws.  By nature, we share.  We share our ideas, thoughts, experiences.  I believe that it is important for the public to have access to these.  You talked about Internet Archive.  Did you post this on our assignment this week?  I would like to visit the site and poke around a bit.