MAC Week 4 Publishing_Leadership Project

The following is a link to my publishing leadership project that describes how I demonstrated how my students used technology appropriately to enhance retention.  I have in my presentation a few examples of the end product of my student’s project-based activities.

 https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AahKsVTuDmuMZGZ4eGNud2tfNTFwN3NuNDhncA&hl=en_US&authkey=CKXjjuYH



Publishing/Leadership Thinking Outloud Blog #1

http://joannethegogetter.blogspot.com/2011/05/week-4-publishingleadership-project.html



Publishing/Leadership Thinking Outloud Blog #2

http://joannethegogetter.blogspot.com/2011/05/mac-week-4-publishingleadership-project.html

MAC Week 4: Publishing_Leadership Project Part 2 of 2

logo from: NCTM website

My first choice is to attend and present at the Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics (FCTM) in Jacksonville, FL this October, 2011.  My second choice is to attend and present in Atlantic City, New Jersey's  National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) this October, 2011.  I chose these locations because I feel it would be a privilege to demonstrate my different project-based examples that I had the chance to show my students.

logo from: FCTM website

MAC Week 4 Publishing_Leadership Project Part 1 of 2

I want to present my publishing leadership project because I really think it is very important to explain why I think I should be able explain how I had the privilege to demonstrate to my students with my only Mac Brook Pro how to use technology appropriately.  Also I would like to share why it is so important to use technology to enhance retention.

MAC Week 4: Blog Post 4: Free Reflection

Wk4 Reading: Art of Possibility Chapters 9 – 12

Photo By: Rellie Manl Photo

Brenda McGee’s Blog Post

In my reading this week two chapters really stood out with me which were Chapters 9 and 11. In Chapter 9, the catchphrase “Being the board”…is my new focus and understanding that I am the framework for what happens in my life. “If I cannot be present without resistance to the way things are and act effectively, if I feel myself to be wronged, a loser, or a victim, I will tell myself that some assumptions I have made are the source of my difficulty”. Working to avoid questioning all of the bad things that happen but accepting that, it is a part of life will return the control back to me. Letting go of the past because I have no control over the past and being the board rewards me with self-respect. If I try to exhibit courage and compassion, I can move forward.

Chapter 11 discusses removing the “me, me, me” and replacing it with “we, we, we” and everybody wins, everybody moves forward. The world has moved away from “we” and this has caused a downward spiral in the world. Our kids have not learned how to respect, share, love, or have compassion for each other. I miss the village because it appears to have disappeared from the concept of rearing children. I try to leave a mark with every child I meet. I leave them with positive words of wisdom and a feeling that someone cares about their existence and they do matter.

JoAnne Green’s comment to Brenda McGee’s Post

Brenda you are so right when the “board” example gives you self-respect.  I also inform my students to leave the past behind you and let my students know that life goes on and we do learn from our mistakes.  The challenges life brings our way can be achieved when I encourage my students to be a leader and not a follower. I tell my students to stay motivated in spite of and I tell them that once we learn from our mistakes it also keeps us stronger.

MAC Week 4: Blog Post 3: Peer Reading

Wk4 Reading: Art of Possibility Chapters 9-12

Meghan Basset' Blog Post

Lighting a Spark

This chapter reminded me to let my kids go with flow a little more. I’m an art teacher, as most of you know by now, which means a few things. Number one, I have to give some set of instructions to make sure students are learning what they need to learn from my curriculum. However, sometimes I make them do a few specific things, but leave the rest up to their creativity. For example, we do two clay projects a semester in my class. The first, I require the students make a rattle. This is so they learn a few basic techniques like slipping and scoring to attach clay, how to create a hollow shell without letting the clay explode, and how to form objects out of clay. I have a few students that ask me to make certain objects that aren’t hollow, and I usually shoot them down. This is to try to keep everyone on the same page and make sure they are learning the same things. In reality, I should probably hear them out, see what they want to make, verify they know how to do what they are being taught, and let them run with their ideas. Let the spark of passion come and flow!

Being the Board

I like the idea of this chapter more than I comprehend its complexity. It is much harder to say you’re the board and to take responsibility for everything that happens in your life than to actually do it. At the end of the day, it is easier to point fingers than to accept that you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. A good thing to try, but I’ll admit, going to be tough to implement and remember.

Creating Frameworks for Possibility

I like the quote, “She vowed not to say anything that she could not stand as the last thing she ever said.” I love the notion here, but in the heat of the moment how hard is it to live by? Setting a framework for possibility seems more of a change in mental state than something you think about. I liked the story of the teacher who shaved her head. Instead of trying to get the kids to stop making fun of the little girl with cancer, she made the baldness something she owned instead of lived with.

Telling the WE Story

The idea of telling stories and looking at everything from all angles and looking out for the best interest of all people involved is tough. I teach in the South, and my students still fly the rebel flags and talk about the South vs the North in the Civil War. It seems ridiculous to me that so many people want to put a gap between us, but also making everyone else feel like an outsider. Being from the North, I get comments about being a Yankee and trying to make everyone think like me. I think it would be beneficially to try to see things from all perspectives here. What can we do to get over this gap? Why do we all feel the need to keep this barrier between us?

JoAnne Green’s comments to Meghan Basset’s Post

I enjoyed the Being the Board section the most.

Meghan you are so right it is easier to point fingers, however if our student’s parents would start teaching their children at a young age, around 3 or 4, to be responsible for their own actions and be like the metaphor, chess game board, then when their children approach primary and secondary school, we as educators would constantly reinforce responsibilities with examples to our students.  As a result, this may not be so challenging for our students to be responsible individuals.

MAC Week 4: Blog Post 2: Peer Reading

 Wk 4 Reading Activities Post 1

Tom Turner’s Blog Post

The one thing that stood out to me in this week's reading has to come from Chapter 11 "Creating Frameworks for Possibility." The reading revealed three main areas for a person to create the frameworks needed to make change happen.

1.              Making a new distinction to help reframe the current one.

2.              Become a part of the framework around you.

3.              Distinguish what is part of being off-track, while remaining on-track.

This chapter describes the very reason I became an educator. I usually get laughed at when I refer to teaching as being an art form. It truly takes a special being to become one. It's become open season lately on teachers. Yet despite all the pounding we take, we trudge on because we know what is at stake.

Each day we walk on campus we MUST check our egos at the door because something more important is at stake. I strive everyday to instill the desire in my students to look introspectively and make decisions that will positively impact their lives. Unfortunately, success is not 100% and I'm not naive to think that I will ever be 100%. It's like I hear football coaches being interviewed on television saying that they put their players in the best possible position to win. Very few football coaches are successful at accomplishing this, as history has shown, this has only happened once. This fact does not stop me from trying my hardest every day though.

This endeavor goes hand in hand with the third area. Part of making or reframing the current possibilities of life involves distinguishing between right and wrong. I, like the example given in the text about the orchestra in Sao Paolo, Brazil, was faced with something similar when I was playing high school baseball. We took a trip to New Orleans for a tournament. Our last instructions were to NOT go down to the quarter. When 16 to 18 year old young men are faced with being told not to do something, we chose to do the exact opposite. Our coach took a similar tact as the orchestra leader. We did not get the beat down reaming that we all probably deserved. Although we did not win the tournament, we went on to play some of the best baseball we had played up to that part of the season. Rather than playing for someone who we resented, we were playing someone who we felt we understood.

JoAnne Green's comments to Tom Turner's Post: 

I had a similar story when I was younger.  I attended the same school where my mother taught and I was at a Saturday afternoon carnival. My mother told me to stay in the car until she returned because she had something to do first before we actually went into the carnival.  I chose not to follow her direction and I just got out of the car for a few minutes outside the car door and stood there.   In minutes, I was covered in ants because I was standing right in an ant bed.  Instead of being yelled at by my mother, my punishment was getting bitten by the ants because I chose not to listen. 

This is a prime example of rules are every where, whether is a small or a large rule.

We all have rules to follow and when we are off track while staying on track, following rules the best way you can be a benefit.

MAC Week 4: Blog Post 1: Art of Possibility Chapter’s 9-12

photo by: google images

Chapter 10. Being the Board: It’s not them. It’s not the circumstances. It’s me. It’s my choices. Now what do I do?

I enjoyed the reading “Being the Board” the most, because it reminded of the many occasions when I have told my students that whatever choices we make, we as a human race will have to live with our choices. Also I talk with my students about being responsible leaders and taking responsibility of your actions.  I tell them we all make mistakes and that none of us are perfect.  As positive leaders we live and learn and life goes on everyday. I not only teach Algebra and Geometry, but time after time, life skills on occasions have to be embedded into the lesson.

For example, I always stress to my students to be a leader and not a follower. These high school classmates that they think are their friends right now are just acquaintances and after high school, more than likely, they will never meet again.  Keeping our students encouraged to take the positive leadership role, “being the board”, would motivate others to emulate and become positive role models/leaders also. With even more temptation that our youth face every day even more so that I had to face 30 years ago, I reinforce to them that they still can make a success story out of themselves.   It will be very challenging, however, not only that it can be accomplished, but also by using the proper resources for the road to success, if it is worthwhile it is more difficult to achieve.