MAC - Week 4 - Final Post - Publishing/Leadership Project

I plan to submit my presentation NCAE: North Carolina Associate of Educators. Unions are actually illegal in my state, but NCAE is our closest organization to the sort. They are the largest organized group of educator advocates. I am not a member (fees are really high) but have heard of wonderful conferences and meetings. Teachers fround all around the state are encouraged to present.

ISTE is well know by many teacher techie geeks. This is a larger national group that offers wonderful conferences. I have only been privileged to attend 2 but hope to attend more in the years to come. I plan t to submit to this organization as well.

Here is the link to my presentation hosted on Google Docs:
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AdaUz9rEHwEQZGZoempua3NfODN4N3dra3dneg&hl=en_US&authkey=CIb-hc4N

MAC - Week 4 - Publish/Leadership

 

Tuesday night I presented my Publishing/Leadership project. It was not quite complete but the major points were there. I need to go back and add a few more speaker's notes and bits of data. I enjoyed hearing everyone's  projects. Some were really, really awesome and I can't wait to hear their full stories of what happened during their projects. I plan on submitting my presentation to NCAE, ISTE and NCTS. 

MAC - Week 4 Peer Blog Reply 2

Original Post by Susan Calland:

 

Don’t hold back & participate wholly!

The chapter that definitely meant the most to me was chapter 9.  I have noticed many times that the students in my 7^th & 8^th grade classes who are totally uninterested in school and completely uninspired, will give me full effort when I am my nuttiest!  They may look at me and roll their eyes, but every time I am passionate about what I do and really into it, they are definitely paying more attention than when I am just giving notes or lecturing.  It is so awesome to see that student that really doesn’t give a hoot about being in my class, study for a quiz or look at me and say, “Hey I get it!”  The crazier I am, the more I can generate a spark from them.  To get my students to remember waxing and waning moon phases, I do my Karate Kid, Mr. Miagi, stance with my karate move.  I may look like a goof, but they remember the moon phases!  I was at an awards assembly at the high school and a former student caught my eye when the speaker talked about “wax on, wax off”.  Across the gym she mouthed to me, “was on, wane off” with a big smile on her face.  She was in my class three years ago.  Those are the time that I know that if I don’t hold back, they understand and remember so much more.   They are also more willing to take a risk since I do.

My Reply:

Susan, great post. It was fun reading about your was on, wane off moment. It is such a great feeling to see the light bulb go off in a student's mind. Especially for a student that tries their best to do poorly in school or clown around. It is awesome that a student from a few years past remembered such information. Seems like you know how to connect to your students both high achievers and the ones who want you to think they are low achievers. Great job.

MAC - Week 4 Peer Blog Reply

Original Post by Monica Heaney

    “Being the Board” is something I’ve learned this year with a full time job, Graduate school, three young children, and a husband. Making the choice to go back to school was difficult, but I committed myself and here I am. If I decided not to go through with this Graduate program, I am certain that I would have blamed my husband for not being able to help out, or the ages of my children and their needs.  I don’t think it was a conscious decision to “be the board,” I needed it to be that way and it has actually benefited my family and me.  Through this crazy year, I have learned to give everyone in my family an A for helping and understanding. They have all kept that grade up. My husband has especially earned the A. I feel like this year we have all become game pieces who worked strategically to get through homework, tests, games, holidays, and special occasions. Now, I can happily say that the end is almost here, my kids are happy and well, and I think food shopping is going to be my husband’s new permanent job. More importantly, my kids have seen the value my husband and I place on education rather than just hear about it. We were all students this year and we have all learned so much. 

 

My Reply:

Monica, what great thoughts. You are such an amazing woman. I have admired you through this whole program. I had a hard enough time balancing a full time job, this program, a husband and a spoiled dog. I can't imagine having to throw 3 active children into the mix. I am so proud of you and how well you have done. Being "a board" is not always easy but sometimes necessary. I have learned doing things for your self is ok, in most cases it benefits more people than just your self. I wish you all the best and hope we stay in touch for years to come.

      

MAC - Week 4 - Reading

http://www.prscoup.com/446/why-is-csr-popular

I can’t wait to have some time…someday…to read this book again, slowly and digest all the wonderful thoughts it shares. The part this week that I really thought about was the last chapter and the WE story. Zander talks about what is best for ALL. I began thinking how this never happens anymore. The government says they do what is best for the country, but really, they do what is best for their pockets. State officials say they try to protect education, but even as I type are laying of thousands and thousands of educators due to money…we have to take pay cuts each year for 5 years, but not any superintended or state official…no, no, no, that would not be good for them. Why can’t American’s lose the evil greed monster and do what is truly best for out country, state and what is best for our children. We spread around the world trying to make the rest of the world just like us, but why? I don’t blame other countries for laughing at us and saying no way. Look how our county is in shambles due to greed. Really, why can’t WE ALL do what is best for ALL?

MAC - Week 3 - Publish/Leadership

"Death by PowerPoint"

http://www.toonpool.com/cartoons/Death%20by%20Powerpoint%20presentation_40892

I hope none of us die from PowerPoint/Keynote overload...I just thought that cartoon was cute. I made the decision last week to do a presentation for the Publish/Leadership project. This week I began building slides and adding the text to the speaker's notes. I have a few ideas of where I would like to submit my project too, but no concrete conferences yet. I will be presenting this summer for my district superintendent, professional development department and technology department but I know this doesn't count...but it will be the area that actually will be making changes based on my research (which is pretty cool). I am presenting Tuesday night in class so I hope to have 90% of the project done and have confirmed where I will be submitting. That is the goal and I feel a reasonable goal. I am very glad we got to start this project in month 11 and didn't have to wait until month 12...it's difficult to smash a years work into a little keynote!

MAC - Week 3 - Reading

 http://www.transmin.org/DevelopingPastors/InterimMinistry/tabid/44449/Default.aspx

This weeks reading was a little funky, and not as enjoyable as last week but I got the point. Chapter 5 "Leading from Any Chair" hit home more than any other chapter this week. My school is currently in a state of flux right now. The principal that has been there for over 13 years was moved our i late February 2011 to prepare for the next school year where she will be taking over a school with test scores under 20% proficiency. Since her last day at our school, we have had an interim principal that takes no leadership. We teachers have had to step up and lead. For some this was very easy but for others, it was very difficult and uncomfortable. With the principal that just left, instructions were given out like a drill sargent and everyone knew what they were to do from day 1. Now, nobody knows what to do or where to begin closing out the school year. It has been very interesting watching the leaders make way though the crowd of wanderers. The students have also felt the disjointness of the school and have begun asking much more if there is anything they can help with. Though it will be a bumpy road to June 20 when we finish the year, it has been a great experience for the students (who got to see their teacher transform from follower to leader) and for the teachers who found new skills and leadership qualities that I feel have made our school stronger...I wonder who will be hired in July to join the Mineral Springs adventure.