Transition from EMDT Month 11 to Month 12.

What an amazing difference I am noticing in my stress levels moving from month 11 to month 12. I felt so stressed over my AR project in month 11, yet as month 12 is starting, I actually feel like the amount of work I still need to do is possibly greater, but I am not feeling as stressed (at least that is how I feel right now) as I did at any point in month 11. I think most of that stress is stress we put on ourselves, and to that I must remind myself and all who might read this to remember rule #6. Yes the work needs to get done and it needs to be done professionally, but just remember not to take yourself so seriously. Relax, loosen up a bit and have fun with it. This ride we are all on has been long and challenging, but a lot of fun as well. We may be approaching the end of this particular journey, but it doesn't mean we have to stop enjoying it, nor does it mean that a new one doesn't lay ahead.

Wk4 Publishing_Leadership Project

Below you will find a link to my Google presentation for the week 4 Publishing/Leadership project. This is just a first draft, and is intended to be more for establishing talking points. The next version will include an overview video introducing the audience to World of Warcraft. Iw will also be drastically revised with a lot more graphics and a lot less bullet points. I also plan to drastically trim back the remaining bullet points much more. My goal for this presentation will be to present it at the SITE ( Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education) conference in March 2012.  My presentation can be found at https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AcwoYzE8DIGHZGY3aGJ4d21fMjRkYjk0MnR4OQ&hl=en_US&authkey=CNHP0sgG

MAC Week 4 - Post 3 Response to Jamie Steele's Blog post.

Below you will find a copy of Jamie Steele’s Week 4 reading blog post, followed my response to it. The his original post can be found at http://jamiejsteele.blogspot.com/2011/05/week-4-reading-lighting-spark.html

 Every time I think I have reached the pinnacle in this book, I am again amazed by the words that I read and seem to enlighten me. “Lighting a Spark” really spoke to me this week. The story itself is something I will revisit right after Spring Break every year from this point on. Why? It’s inspirational core. How it speaks to the idea of enrollment and “having no doubt that others are eager to catch the spark” (pg. 126). The faith that Zander put in his audience and the musicians he conducted to capture said audience, is not the norm. This behavior gives us a glimpse of what is possible when we have a passion for something and invite others to share in this emotion.

It also brings up another interesting point. I personally don’t believe that anyone can create such a transformative experience as we read about in this chapter. Everyone has gifts and Zander seems to have a gift of creating these types of experiences in those around him thanks to the experiences, he himself has taken part in. Thankfully, he is gracious enough to share his ideas with the rest of us so we can try and learn some of the techniques to enhance our own learning environments, whatever they may be.

@Jamie,

I agree, this is one of those books that once you read you/me/us/we should reread annually if not twice annually, there is just so much in it that you want to keep it fresh in your mind always. I also suspect that it is one of those books that one might come away with deeper meaning from the second and possibly third time through. I am finding that some of these ideas I need a daily reminder of. To the point where I am toying with the idea of getting WE tattooed on my wrist of just how important it is to keep that basic concept in mind.

MAC Week 4 - Post 2 Response to Thahn Kirby's Blog post.

Below you will find a copy of Thahn Kirby’s Week 4 reading blog post, followed my response to it. The his original post can be found at http://emdttkbach.blogspot.com/2011/05/week-4-blog-post-1-reading-ch-9-12-art.html

Week 4: Blog Post 1: Reading Ch. 9 -12 Art of Possibility

I really like the ending of the book, especially how it ties all the practices together in the sense that the theme that runs through these chapters I believe are about establishing and being part of a community.  One of the major themes we have learned discussed and practiced in this program is the idea that we are better together than as one.  It only makes sense that we read about this type of theme in a book such as this.  Chapter 9 is a continuation of the thoughts and lessons of 7 and 8.  Chapter 9 however speaks about extending those ideas to the point that everybody has the potential to be creative.  To see growth in our own potential we need to think that every interaction with others is an opportunity to help others find their possibilities.  I found the story about the at-risk school in London very heartwarming and a perfect example of this concept.  Just providing the opportunity to create music for those students opened a new experience and potential musicians.  This idea is not new and it brings to mind Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Drive Life.  By making connections with each other, helping others to find their own potential, we expand our own potential.  Another analogy I see in this idea is the Internet phenomena.  We’ve seen rapid growth in many areas of society in recent years because the Internet has allowed individuals to share ideas and concepts easily and more rapidly than ever before.  Connections with other individuals have opened up exponentially because of the Internet which can explain the reasons for the rapid growth.

@Thahn,

Thank you, I just took away a new perspective of the book that I should have grasped, but didn’t. You are absolutely right when you say “One of the major themes we have learned discussed and practiced in this program is the idea that we are better together than as one.  It only makes sense that we read about this type of theme in a book such as this.” I hadn’t thought of the book like that, but it completely makes sense. And that my dear friend, is half the reason, or so I believe, that they want us to be doing these response blogs. 

MAC Week 4 - Thinking out loud. Publishing/Leadership Project #3

After exploring the conference websites for CCUMC and EDUCAUSE, I tried calling both, I left a voicemail with CCUMC inquiring about presenting, only to later find a FAQ that mentioned that they would be finalizing the list of presenters in late May, and talking to someone at EDUCUASE who said that they had already finalized their presenters as well. The moral of the story being, keep in mind how far in advance conferences lock in their presenters. I am now looking into NERCOMP, which has yet to put out a call for presenters, nor announced their dates or conference location. That leaves me with the conference I think I will ultimately apply to present at, SITE (Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education). This conference is scheduled for next March in Austin, TX and is currently accepting proposals to present. Many of you might remember this as the conference that Dr. Siegel and Tom Lucas presented at this past March, in Nashville.

MAC Week 4 - Post 1 Reading

Regrettably, I am not sure how much of this weeks reading really absorbed as I am feeling a bit of mind meltdown from working on the Publishing/Leadership Project in addition to a busy week at work. But I did do the reading. I really liked the idea of "lighting a spark" and getting people enrolled. The way Ben was able to get those kids to enroll in themselves, when the media was declaring them a failure before he had even stepped foot into their school was amazing. I wonder where that 10 year old boy who conducted the orchestra is today? I wonder how many of those children followed through on there education, when the previous norm in their community was to drop out at the first opportunity?

For me "being the board" was the toughest idea in the book to comprehend, just as they said it is for most people. I am still not sure whether I actually understand it. I think that I might understand it on the most basic level, but there were many parts of the chapter that felt just out of reach for me.

"Creating frameworks for possibility" on the other hand very much had the felling to me of being basic logic, the only part that had that ah-ha feel to me was when they wrote about vision. The HP example shows exactly how one basic idea or vision can act as a spark, and how a spark can become a raging wildfire. As much as we can fall into that downward spiral, one spark can be life changing.

"Telling the we story" really hits home for me, it shows as I mentioned before just how much of an impact a little change of perspective can have. It also serves to remind me that I need to remember to think in the WE and not in the I, like many other things in life this is such a basic concept that has a tendency to slip away from us. Just weeks ago I preformed a wedding ceremony for friends of mine who I dearly love. In looking back at their relationship I noticed that so many of the difficulties they have faced have been a result of one or the other thinking in the I and not the WE of their relationship. As a result as I wrote what I wanted to say in the ceremony I kept that in mind. I wanted to remind them that as a married couple that they needed to embrace that WE thinking. The very next weekend I found that I too needed to embrace that same thinking in my own life. This like "remember rule #6" is one of those thing that I need a sign over the door for, or maybe a tattoo on my forehead.

MAC Week 4 - Thinking out loud. Publishing/Leadership Project #2

So I have been giving publishing more thought, and feel as though my AR project better lends itself towards being presented at a conference. Coincidentally I happened to run into my departments director, who started asking me about how things were going with grad school and she then asked me about my AR project. I filled her in on the Publication/Leadership project and a few hours later after she had an opportunity to investigate my AR website we talked more on the phone and was told that presenting at a conference would definitely be an option, she even went on to recommend several conferences to look into as possible places to look into as possibilities for presenting at such as EDUCAUSE, NERCOMP, and CCUMC. I have briefly looked into all three and CCUMC looks like it might be a good fit with my AR project. I am really excited about this prospect. I still need to look into what I would need to do to apply to be a presenter. The conference is in early Oct. in South Padre Island, TX. I think my decision has finally been made, now I just need to get my presentation made.