Week 4 - Publishing_Leadership Project

I have found two conference that I would like to present at. The ISTE 2012 conference is intriguing because of their expanding horizons motto that catches the spirit of the EMDT program. I saw that SMART technologies was one of the larger booths at the exhibit hall and a supporter of the conference. Since my AR project used SMART technology, I think it would be good to communicate with them on a professional level. Maybe they would have some insight into how I could develop the progression of my project even more into the use of SMART technologies to develop PLE's for student engagement.



The second conference I would like to present at would be the EDUcause Midwest regional conference. The proximity of its location in Chicago (hour and a half a way) gives me a good chance of actually being able to go if accepted. This conference also is asking for proposals at this time.


Think out loud post 1

http://mathmediamentor.blogspot.com/2011/08/publishingleadership-thinking-outloud.html

Think out loud post 2

http://mathmediamentor.blogspot.com/2011/08/week-4-publishingleadership-thinking.html

Here is the link to my Keynote presentation:

Kramer_Bruce_PubLeadProject

Week 4 Blog Comment #2 - Marcos

Marcos post

Sometimes people feel the need to have everybody agree with them. This especially happens to people in authority who are accustomed to having everything go their way. The problem with this is that even though people do what you say they do not do it willingly and it is demonstrated in their attitude and demeanor. If you truly want somebody to participate actively in anything you do you cannot make him or her do it; you have to have them want to do it. The only way to do this is by enrolling them and making them feel like they are an essential part of what is going on and that without them things would not be the same.

If this does not work then we have to begin to assume responsibility for our actions and we have to take control of the situation. The only way that we can control the situation is by becoming the board. When we become the board, we no longer point fingers or put excuses. We do not let the circumstances dictate our actions but we use the circumstances to further our purpose.

We have to not only be open to possibilities but also inspire others to do the same. When we change our frame of mind others can be inspired by what we are doing. Like Nelson Mandela said, what we fear most is what we are truly capable of. Many times we underestimate ourselves and close the doors of possibility because we are afraid of what might happen. We are scared of the success or the responsibility of achieving something could bring to us. If we would take down our barriers and strive for everything possible then maybe we would be in awe of ourselves instead of scared.

When we do this we have to be aware that we are not a one-person army and that we do depend on others to help us along the way. Whether we are the leaders or we are not we depend on each other to make our collaborative dreams possible. When we fight on our own our strength wanes quickly, but when we have others working together with us we can make miracles possible.


My response

Your post reminds me of the night and day difference of what our district is going through from last year to this year. We have a new interim superintendent that in his start of the school year keynote invited us into enrolling our selves in to the interdependence of working together to make our schools the best we possibly can make them. He called us out of the past that we can not change. The past two years of bullying that the past superintendent was known for and lost her lock on the school board majority because of a monumental election process that had the whole community get involved because it became quite obvious that if something didn't happen fast the district would have suffered terrible damage that would take a decade to over come. As for right now we can turn things around in five years now if we work together hard for those gains.

Week 4 Blog Comment #1 - Sabrina Vega

Sabrina Vega's post

Have you had the pleasure of lifting a teammate, student, stranger up enabling them to realize their dreams and exceed anything that you could have imagined?

“Sometimes the road we take in the Universe of Possibility leads us in unexpected directions and to unimagined destinations.” A few years ago I had the pleasure of lifting my friend up and enabling him to realize his dream of becoming an educator. I was offered a position to teach at a school in South Korea. It turns out, through sharing experiences in my day to day, my friend realized parts of himself and his love for teaching during our conversations. A few months later, he landed a job with my same company and he is still teaching in Korea to this day. It’s really great catching up and hearing how fulfilling the experience has been for him and his growth as a teacher. Sometimes it is hard to see what others see in you. It’s a great feeling to have people around you who support you and offer a sense of accountability to be a better version of yourself and realized your talents. I am glad I could be there for him as he had been there for me over the years.



My response

This has always been the draw to education and it is the sustaining power of staying in education. To help colleagues or students to reach their full potential by giving them a hand up. It is where all the possibilities lie. All of the inspiring stories in this book have been about people and how they have broken through and grown. It is best to be accountable to that kind of change in your life.

Week 4 Reading – Art of Possibility Chap 9-12

The two concepts of chapters 9 and 10 really intrigue me as to how they could be utilized in my classroom. They seem to me to come from opposite ends of the spectrum but are trying to achieve the same goal. The approach of enrollment instead of persuasion seems to be a more effective approach because it invites the student into the process of education where they walk in freely. Of course when this doesn’t happen then the practice of being the board where all the rules are changed for the purpose letting things happen by taking a new approach. I am not sure how this will happen but having these two approaches available in creating the educational environment for my students will create new possibilities. Much more thought will have to go into the implementation of the practices.

Week 4 - Publishing/Leadership Thinking Outloud Blog #2

I have found two conference that I would like to present at. The ISTE 2012 conference is intriguing because of their expanding horizons motto that catches the spirit of the EMDT program. I saw that SMART technologies was one of the larger booths at the exhibit hall and a supporter of the conference. Since my AR project used SMART technology, I think it would be good to communicate with them on a professional level. Maybe they would have some insight into how I could develop the progression of my project even more into the use of SMART technologies to develop PLE's for student engagement.

The second conference I would like to present at would be the EDUcause Midwest regional conference. The proximity of its location in Chicago (hour and a half a way) gives me a good chance of actually being able to go if accepted. This conference also is asking for proposals at this time.

Publishing/Leadership Thinking Outloud Blog #1

To publish in a journal or present at a conference that is the question. Tis it nobler to suffer the typing and editing of outrageous writing or to go forward and speak to my colleagues in hopes of helpful critique. I would say to prepare a keynote of engaging content to support the findings of my AR project is the way to go for me. To search for the right conference is the task at hand now. So off to the websites of conferences I go on a quest is where I will take my stand. Onward I go.

Week 3 – Free Post

Spent a week in Romania at a youth camp. We had plenty of fun with the 65 campers playing soccer and games, hiking and other activities. A good amount of the time was spent singing, listening to messages and discussing in small groups. They would sit attentively for about two and a half hours in the morning and two hours at night. What struck me about this was how well behaved they were because they were engaged and not easily distracted to talk or text or anything else. Oh they had their cell phones and music but didn’t always need to be using it. They were able to show restraint.

Why I am bringing this up is because it was eye opening to me to see youth be engaged in activities and relationship without a constant need for technological support even though it was present. Much of what we are trying to achieve at Full Sail EMDT program is to better train ourselves to design education that utilizes technology more and more to present curriculum. As much as I see this as being necessary in our culture here in America I am not too sure it is necessary in other areas in the world.

With this in mind, I ask the question what if we are becoming too dependent on technology to present an engaging learning environment. What might be some of the down sides to that in the future? Will we create a large gap between our youth and the youth of the rest of the world in their ability to relate to each other? Or will there be ways found to use the technology to bridge the gap? We will need to keep an eye on this and see what develops. Now to look at it from another perspective, four American youths went on the trip also (one being my son) and two of them were able to interact very well with the Romanian youth without the use of technology. The other two stuck together early on and didn’t venture out of their comfort zone until much later in the week after a stern directive by their parents to interact.

So with this said, I think as we pursue the integration of technology to enhance more and more the delivery of education we should make sure that we incorporated a focus of basic human interaction as an underlying goal of the technology use. Making sure we use technology to bring people together instead moving people into seclusion bubbles while people are available around them to interact. We can’t forget this and I think Full Sail’s program does a good job of doing this, but more could be done.