Wk 4 Comment2: Cynthia Madanski

Cynthia Madanski's Week 4 Blog post can be found HERE and below:

Week Four: Leadership ~ Teachers are Leaders

The prompt for this post is "reflect on leadership role models whom you respect and whose example you would want to follow. Look at individuals or organizations that you admire and spell out what it is that attracts you and how you might incorporate this into your own leadership style."

In a school setting, few people in the public think of the teacher as a leader.  If asked who leads the school, almost every parent, school board member, and citizen will say automatically "the principal".  Many teachers themselves will reply the same two words as the answer to that question.  I am the exception to the rule as I disagree.  I don't feel that the principal leads most schools.  Teachers do.  That is not to say that there are not some amazing principals that develop a great relationship with parents and their staff who work hard to make their school a great learning environment.  But teachers are the ones who have a direct, personal relationship with students.  Teachers are the ones who know their students' strengths and weaknesses, and what motivates each of them personally.  Teachers are the ones who make a difference to individual students every day.  

I have been recommended each year for the past five years for an administrator cohort in my district.  The district will pay for an administration degree for the few recommended teachers, and these teachers are then expected to go into administration for a minimum of 5 years in our district.  While it is an honor to be invited, it is something I have no interest in.  A principal has to see the forest, teachers see the trees.  A principal must make decisions that benefit the school as a whole. A teacher has to make each individual student in front of him or her feel Important.  Priceless. Powerful.  Smart. Valuable.  No tree in my classroom is ignored or sacrificed for the better of the forest.  I would much rather be a leader in my classroom and have a direct impact on each student daily, than a leader in a more general setting and make decisions that trickle down to students, yet don't impact them on a personal level.

With that said, role models to me are teachers I have had in the past and teachers I have worked with.  Teachers like my high school Latin teacher Mrs. Pawlowski who taught me life lessons.  Dr. DeBruin who taught me as an undergrad to make Science hands-on.  Mr. Birr who taught me how an intervention teacher and classroom teacher can work together to make the most powerful learning environment possible.  Mrs. Rusgo who taught me that kindness is as important than knowledge.  Teachers are Leaders! Even if I eventually decide to leave the classroom after Full Sail, I will never forget the impact teachers have.

My comment on Cynthia Madanski's Week 4 Blog post can be found HERE and below:

Cynthia, I really enjoyed your post and your story of the districts constant battle to pull the best teachers out of the classroom and put them into administration. Too many great teachers are tempted to flee the classroom for the higher pay out of administration, but your reflection on the impact these administrators have on the students is dead on. Administrators are on orders from the higher ups to increase test scores for the many different groups and sub-groups of students they have stored on their district computers. Many of these administrators, who once used to be teachers themselves, have forgotten that these names are actual people who need nurturing and care at the classroom level. I applaud your character to refusing these invitations and I wish many other great teachers around the nation would follow your lead.

Wk 4 Comment1:William Harris

Bill Harris Original Week 4 Blog Post can be found HERE and Below:

Week 4 Leadership Role Model Reflection

TechHelper's EdTech Hero: Meg Ormiston

Meg Ormiston
Published with permission

I met Meg Ormiston about six years ago at our annual conference and workshop, Week of the Young Child. The conference is conducted and hosted by the Middle Grades Department, College of Education, at Armstrong Atlantic State University. Each year the conference is held for pre-service teachers or teacher candidates to be introduced to a myriad of educational and academic related topics. One year we invited Meg as our Keynote Speaker and boy did we get a KEYNOTE speaker!

Meg is passionate about transforming teaching and learning thorough the power of digital tools. She is a high energy, animated, and motivating speaker captivating everyone within the sound of her voice or mesmerized by her podium presence. She addresses large and small audiences with the same enthusiasm. I have seen and auditorium with over 200 participants engaged in learning activities as though they were in a small group activity. Participants with eye wide-opened, hands flying up to indicate acknowledgment or an answer, and adults flying out of their seats in anticipation of a correct response. Her keynotes are full of content, examples, and information. No one that I know has gone into her workshops and has not come away with something useful in their own personal teaching library.

Meg travels nationally and internationally empowering educators through her dynamic presentations focused on creating positive change in the classroom. She has researched how curriculum aligned to the common core state standards can be delivered through the use of visual images, simulations and multimedia, coupled with real-time assessments. Meg has authored five books with the most recent winning the prestigious Book of the Year 2010 award. Its title is, Creating a Digital Rich Classroom: Teaching and Learning in a Web 2.0 World. What’s more exciting is that she is developing online professional development to engage staff anytime and anywhere.

In this blog post I wanted to look at individuals or organizations that I admired and spell out what it is that attracts me and how I might incorporate this [attraction] into my own leadership style. I did not have to look too far or hard. Ever since I met Meg and seen her every time thereafter I have admired the work she does using her talents to make her positive mark on education. That’s what attracts me to her. I desire to use my talents with that same burning passion to ignite teachers and educational leaders to “think outside the box” when it comes to technology integration and adoption.  To quote Meg, she says, “I’m not about technology, I’m about teaching and learning” and to it I add my personal phrase that I’ve said for years, “I’m not a techie. I’m and educator.” Meg inspires me to be a passionate educator in using my technology skills and I'm proud to know someone like her.

 

Week 4 Comment on Bill Harris's Blog  Post can be found HERE and below:

Bill, your blog post made me wish I could hear one of Med Ormiston fantastic speeches. Every year I attend and present at the California League of Schools annual conference, and although we have had some great keynote speakers at this event, none of the speakers have really touched on the benefits of using technology in the classroom. I was recently asked to teach an emergent technologies elective course at my school based upon the experience I have gained through the EDMT program, and I think Meg’s book on Web2.0 tools will be a fantastic read for me as I create my course over the summer. Thank you so much for introducing me to such a fabulous woman, maybe I can convince the CLM coordinators to book Meg in next year’s conference.

Wk 4 Wimba: The Art of Possibility

In this week’s Wimba session we were discussing the book The Art of Possibility and compared the meanings of the book with the Power of Positive Thinking.  To me the book The Art of Possibility takes the idea of thinking positive and asks you to do something about it. We do have to think positively, but it is our responsibility to take action on these positive thoughts. This can be done by thinking positively in your workplace by making a difference in your workplace by taking on roles in which you can make your environment better to work in, rather than hoping that your work environment will get better. The key Idea in The Art of Possibility is that we must take action on our positive thoughts and spread the possibilities to those that we have a chance to influence. When asked which chapter meant the most to me I was torn between our discussion in chapter one about the African shoe salesmen and the chapter about rule #6. The shoe salesmen story really hit home because it allowed me to relate the problem they faced of selling shoes to people without shoes, and teaching students who don’t want to learn. It allowed me to see that those who don’t want to learn probably were never given a chance to experience the joy in learning, so as teachers we have the opportunity to introduce something new to students which they never knew existed. Rule # 6 reminded me so much of my grandpa who passed away this month. So much so that as I read this chapter I could not help by joyfully cry in comfort that my grandpa lived his life in correct fashion.

Thank you so much for the recap of the  Leadership project and for giving us a preview/rundown of what to expect during month 12 of our EDMT program.

Wk 3 Wimba Sharing Sessions

This week I was able to gather some great feedback from many fellow students and a few past course directors to help me make my Leadership presentation the best it can be. If you have not had a chance to view my presentation you can view  my speakers notes HERE, which also contains links to my Prezi and supplemental webpage for the presentation. 

My first E-Mail conversation was with Dr. Siegel from my GMS course:


> From: Siegel, Daniel [dsiegel@fullsail.com]
> Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 1:31 PM
> To: Joe Marquez
> Subject: RE: Leadership Request
>
> Hey Joe:
>
> What is the purpose of this speech?  What is your goal?  What do you want the
> audience to leave knowing?
 


On 5/14/12 10:37 AM, "Joe Marquez" <JoeMarquez@fullsail.edu> wrote:

> The purpose of the speech is to get teachers to not be afraid of using
> technology in the classroom. I want teachers to know that there are ways to
> use technology which will not take up an extreme amount of time on their part
> to learn and implement in their lessons. I have given this speech before, but
> now that I have evidence that it works from my AR project I wanted to
> incorporate this information at the front of the speech to get my audiences
> attention. By the end of this speech I want teachers to leave with the mind
> set of "I can do that" or "I would love to do this stuff." I included a link
> to a supplemental web page I created in order to supply those in attendance
> with help and support in their journey into technology.

> From: Siegel, Daniel [dsiegel@fullsail.com]
> Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 9:11 AM
> To: Joe Marquez
> Subject: RE: Leadership Request

>I would not take the argument "It won't take up more time"
>
>Why?  Learning it will take time.
>
>I would take the argument "Your life will be better.  Your learners will be
>better.  Here is how.."


My Next E-Mail conversation was with Cheryl Jones-Gage from Team Quizknows

Cheryl Jonesgage cheryljonesgage@fullsail.edu	May 17 (3 days ago)

Hi Joe. I looked at your presentation tonight. It is extensive and I learned a lot going through it. Based on what was said in class during the presentations, I would suggest that you cut back on your speakers notes. You only need 1500 words and you have over 2300 words. The professor never commented on any presentations being too long, so I don't know if he will take points off for the length. Just something to think about.

Your prezi is very well done. I would suggest fewer words on some slides, also, I think although they are great, there are way too many movies included. I take a very long time to see the entire thing if you watch all the videos in their entirety. The content of each video is great, just too many. 

Good luck Joe!

My third E-Mail Conversation was with Mary Wilson also from Team Quizknows:

Mary Wilson mary.wilson515@gmail.com	May 11 (9 days ago)
to me

Joe 

You did an amazing job. I havnt had a chance to look at your prezi but the notes look great. I would love to attend your presentation you inspire me. I will email you again once I have looked at your prezi. 

Mary

Sent from my iPhone

 

Mary Wilson mary.wilson515@gmail.com	May 11 (9 days ago)
to me

Oh and the website is great. I never know how u have time to do all the great things you do but keep it up!

Sent from my iPhone

 

Mary Wilson mary.wilson515@gmail.com	May 11 (8 days ago)
to me

ok I finally got a chance to look at your prezi, are you using the prezi to present? or will you be presenting some other way? If you are using it to present i think it is good but I thought some of the individual frames had too many words on them, maybe if you scaled back the words on each frame it would be better. if you are not using it to present, its great. I learned so much fro the prezi and your notes, I will definitely refer back to it for help!

 

My last E-Mail conversation was from Molly Eide,  Marketing Director for a Lawfirm here in town:

Molly Eide molly.eide1@gmail.com	May 14 (5 days ago)
to me

The Prezi looks great! Before it started, I was notified that one of the graphics had trouble loading. I am not sure what graphic it was...

 

There are a few spots that need grammatical edits (removing the "s" after a word, un-capitalizing and capitalizing a few words, comma and period usages), but the content is fantastic. 

 

These same comments apply to the google doc of lecture notes.  There are a few minor edits in terms of grammar, but again, the content looks great! Very informative.

 

I enjoyed that you are implementing the 5:1 rule that you are telling your audience to use. Love the videos!

 

 

 

 I hope to take some of these suggestions and complete my presentation very soon.

Wk 3 Comment2: Amanda Rhymer

Week 3 Reading by Amanda Rhymer. Original post found HERE and below

MAC Week Three: The Way Things Are, and don't forget Rule No. 6!

As I read the next four chapters in The Art of Possibility this week, I couldn't help but reflect upon the discussion board topic that we were also give for this week.  I'm pretty sure Dr. Joe knew what he was doing this week.  Our discussion this week had to do with the barriers to integrating technology in the classroom.  We were supposed to discuss, from our experience, what it is that keeps teachers from embracing new technology.  Our answers varied from time commitment to fear of failure, lack of PD to lack of support from Admin. Since most of us are classroom teachers, we hit probably the top ten roadblocks, easily.  But after the reading this week, my eyes are open to some new possibilities!

In the chapter, The Way Things Are, the authors discuss our tendency to see the negative in a bad situation, instead of seeing it for what it really is...just another situation.  They also discuss the tendency to express problems as a downward spiral, I hear this all the time in the Teacher's Lounge!!  The same teachers who balk at integrating new technology are typically the same people who express their frustration with "these" students, who are always the worst students ever, and Oh! Just wait! The class coming up is the worst EVER!! It's so frustrating, and disheartening, if you buy into all that talk.  Why would anyone ever want to dedicate their lives to teaching? It's much more encouraging to think of these kids as being different from previous generations, not better or worse, and to think of ways to reach them that weren't available in previous generations.

Where are you speaking from:

And finally, lest we all forget, remember Rule No. 6!!





{Not to give it away if you haven't read the book, but Rule No. 6 simply states: Don't take yourself so goddamn seriously!}
{PS: There are NO other rules!}

 

Response to Amanda Rhymer’s Post found HERE and below

Amanda. I absolutely can understand your frustration when you hear those negative comments about students from other teachers and their warnings about their attitude. I also know that many students who have a tough year feel that their reputation will be following them to the next grade so what is the use to try and change. Because of this I tell my new incoming students on the first day that we are all starting on a fresh slate. I tell my students That I don’t care if you won state science fair or were sent to the principal’s office five times last year, you are all starting on a level playing field. I feel that by doing this the students who feel that they have a BAD reputation with teachers will be able to work with me and work hard for them.

Wk 3 Comment1: William Harris

Original blog post by Bill Harris found HERE and Below

Week 3 Reading - Tearing Down Walls

http://social-creature.com/how-to-stand-in-the-face-of-powerlessness-for-a-new-generation

In Zanders’ Seventh Chapter of The Art of Possibility both Ben and Roz takes the reader on a “journey of possibility” by given examples and experiences that shows us how we take negative experiences and turn them into “walls” of challenges instead of paths toward our journey of possibility. The antidotal quotes and stories they use seem common sense, many of which we know. They have a way of helping you understand why it is “OK” to view the world from the “glass half-full” view instead of the opposite of half-empty. The focus of view that we should take should be on what is positive about the circumstance. In that ay we can focus on what moves us forward and not what holds us back.


I made an emotional connection as well as had an “Ah ha!” moment when reading the chapters of this assignment at two points. The first point; I teach teachers technology integration and continually hear from some teachers, “I can’t do this stuff”, “I’ll never understand this technology”, where am I going to get the time to practice”, or my favorite, “I haven’t needed technology in all these years, why do I need it now?” For most of these teachers their focus was on the “wall” or the technology. Many could not see the possibility in advancing themselves or their students through its use. Zanders’ explanation helps me to understand my role as an educational leader to reach them. Teachers often fear technology because they are afraid to make a mistake or “break” the computer. Zander says it is difficult to maintain an approach to things positively, “…in our competitive culture where so much attention is given to mistakes and criticism that the voice of the soul is literally interrupted.” This is where my leadership skills come in to make them feel secure both in training and when they return to the classroom.


The second point of encounter came from Roz Zander’s discussion of “The Wall”. In that section she talks about the “the wall” between a 16 year old boy and his parents. She addressed how the more the father talked about the wall that the boy put up the more the boy withdrew in the conversation. The only question I had when reading this section was how did Roz Zander get in my house without me seeing her? I had a mirror reaction to my now 25-year-old son when he was 15-16 years old with the same situation and circumstance. The conversations always centered on the wall and not what caused the wall or better still what would it take to fix it or tear it down. Discussions were usually “downward spirals” that inevitably led to a higher and thicker wall or as she puts it, “tend to look more and more helpless.” The long story cut short, leads to our finally remembering how much we loved each other and my realizing that he only wanted to be heard and seen as some value to the family. The wall fell down.


I am enjoying the journey.

Response to Bill Harris’s Post found HERE and below

Bill, I really enjoyed your connection of the reading into your real life application of teaching teachers how to use technology. I too have come into contact with many teachers who are afraid to try under the guise of not seeing the implications it could have in their classroom of not feeling the time spent on leaning this new technology outweighs the benefits it could have in their classroom. I have given many presentations at many different conferences around California trying to tear down this wall that teachers have built up believing that learning a new technology will take too much time or is too hard to learn. By the end of the presentation many members of my audience are excited to go out and try new things. We have to realize that many of us still need that one person to hold our hands, tell us everything will be ok, and walk us to a place which we have never gone before.

Wk 2 Wimba Post: Is this use fair?

As a teacher I always thought it was OK to use copyrighted material in class as long as I was using it to teach an educational lesson. After looking at the law it seems that there is a very grey area under the fair use flag where teachers can claim fair use. The Law says it’s OK to use a small percentage of the copyrighted material, but what does this actual percentage mean?  If I’m using a particular series to show my students specifics about astronomy does percentage mean I can use only a specific percentage of each individual episode, or just a percentage of the over series? I am also perplexed about the process of using media for educational purposed based upon the question pertaining to the necessity of using the video in the lesson. There are times when I am teaching where some students will understand the material without the use of visual reinforcement, but then there are other students who need the visual reinforcement to understand the material. How does one prove or disprove that the use of the media in the lesson is not needed, when every student learns in a different way? There are also times when I am using a guerrilla style of teaching where I show the students a video that at the time does not seem to fit in the lesson, but after the video is shown I am able to get my students to understand the material better by relating it back to the video I had just shown. Since I do not need the video at first to teach the lesson would this be a copyright infringement? These are some important question one must ask themselves when defending their use of the copyrighted material. I found it interesting to hear that the parody amendment to copyright was brought about by Weird Al. I saw a behind the music episode about him a few years back and it emphasized that he went to each individual artist to get their consent. I wonder if his pursuit of this amendment was due to an argument with a particular artist or as a fail safe for a possible future legal battle. 

Wk2 Comment2: Amanda Rhymer

Amanda Rhymer's original Blog post HERE and below:

In reading the first four chapter of The Art of Possibility by Roz and Ben Zander, I was struck by several interesting ideas.  First, the beginning of the book appears to be about positive thinking, and the power of positive thinking.  I recognize it immediately because that is what I was taught growing up.  All you have to do is picture yourself doing....or being...or wearing...My mom was especially good at helping you channel your wants and desires into positive thoughts.  To this day, my grown children will still call her (or me) and ask us to help "think" them into (or out of) a situation.  My mother also taught me the opposite side of this coin, be careful what you ask for...you might get it!

The second thing that resonated with me is the idea of giving all of my students an A in the beginning, to break down the barriers to learning.  Several years ago I had a very diverse class, with every level of learner and every kind of student, it was a real challenge.  There was a lot of competition, both real and imagined, between the "A" students themselves, and between the "A" students and everyone else.  I was an "A" student myself, but as a teacher I've found that I have a real affinity for those students who work hard but don't ever seem to reach that "A" level of work.  So I gave my students the assignment of bringing in a 3-D cell model, made of any material they wanted to use, as long as they could properly interpret the required parts of the cell.  I gave the class three days to present the project to their classmates, and of course the "A" students signed up for the first slots.  All of their projects were elaborately done, made with purchased materials, some even commercial grade look-a-likes.  At the end of the second day, I held two of my basketball boys back and asked them if they had gotten some ideas for their project so they could present the last day.  They hemmed and hawed, it was too much money, too much work, too much time, etc.  You've all heard it.  I jokingly said, "Oh come on guys, I could buy a 99¢ hamburger from Wendy's and present it to this class as a cell model...you two have to be able to come up with something!"  Well, the next day they showed up, one with a hamburger still in the wrapper (a plant cell) and one out of the wrapper (an animal cell) and they did a perfect job explaining how they'd arranged all of the add-ons, condiments, etc. to represent the cell.  They both received A's on their project.  Now, I thought it was a fair grade, but don't for a minute think that my traditional "A" students liked it.  They thought it was cheating, or that I was playing favorites.  I tried to explain to them my reasoning for the A, but in the end I decided that it didn't have to be justified.  According to the rubric, the two boys earned an A.  In my heart, they deserved an A.

Maybe I should try giving them all an A in the beginning and see what they can create when the grade isn't the most important thing.

Original comment by Joe Marquez found HERE and below:

Amanda, one of the hardest things as a teacher is to get some of our students the confidence to “Try”. Many students think they are going to fail so they decide not to try to so they can justify their grade. Many feel that they would rather have power over their F, rather than being told by a teacher that they have an F. Many students need a push in the right direction and they need to know that they have someone to be there if they fall. They have to know that it is better to try and fail than never try at all. Also I could picture perfectly the arguments from the true “A” students and how they didn’t think it was fair that they received the same grade as the “Hamburger” students. I have a few of those students and remind them that they should never compare their grades with others, rather be happy with the work that THEY did and the grade THEY earned.