Wk3 - Reading Activities - Response to James McPeek

Jame McPeek Wrote:

Photo from Microsoft online clipart

The Art of Possibility chapters 5-8. My football coach in Junior High School said something to the effect of “... you get injured when you worry about getting injured.” I believe these words echo the themes of the chapters we read. The way I played football was everything I could give and all out — all fun. At the same time I was just starting to seriously pursue being a pianist. I played football into High School and enjoyed trouble free piano playing during that time. People commented “don’t you worry about your hands?” I did not worry about my hands and the coach’s words seemed to serve me well. I was fortunate enough to receive grants and scholarships to go to college for piano. During that time injuries never seemed to hinder playing the piano. I attribute it to the similar themes from our reading: standing as partners not traffic cops (telling when to halt), not taking yourself to seriously, being in the moment with possibilities, and letting go “all out” of what you have- your passion.

Photo from flickr

Last week I made comments when writing about chapters 1-4 that I have been intrigued by individuals that always seems to be positive. “I have marveled through my life at the individuals that are always positive, cheerful, and strong daily leaders no matter what. There are people that are resilient and have that capacity. Yet there are many that develop and choose to make that their contribution to others and themselves over time.” This weeks reading hit some of the explanations of that capacity and some of the reasons why it can be missing. Over the past few weeks I have reflected that the book “Art of Possibilities” has counterparts that tell a similar story, really multiple books or stories exist that express many of the same ideas. (Unfortunately, I am not well read and can’t name them…) I do believe this book does create a range of ideas and offers interesting contrasts to either debate or ponder.

My Response: 

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Jim there is a saying, by James Allen author of As a Man Thinketh -  “The aphorism:  ‘As a man thinketh in his heart so is he, not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life.  A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all of his thoughts.”   This says to me that “Whatever man believes he can achieve.”   These quotes fall directly in line with your Junior High School football coach’s words - “You get injured when you worry about getting injured.”  You see my oldest son is a musician (acoustic/electric bass) and I used to worry about his hand when he played basketball.  True to my thoughts -- the day before he was to play at the Eastman School of music with an all Black Symphony Orchestra playing Beethoven’s 5th or 4th Symphony he broke his finger playing street ball.  Needless to say, I was concerned about his finger but more importantly I was truly upset because he did not listen to me.  Did my worry set in motion an action that caused an injury to him?   Is that what we sometimes do to ourselves by “fretting” about life?  It’s true; sometimes we need to “let it be.”  This week’s reading made that loud and clear.

I also agree wholeheartedly with your comments about the many facets of the theories presented in “The Art of Possibility.”  Sometimes while looking through life’s window we see the expressions of others and rate them comparatively with ourselves             `as either positive or negative.  While putting the icing on other people’s cakes, we sometimes leave our own without frosting.  The elements introduced in chapter 7 -- the calculating self and the central self -- gave me an opportunity to look not only at myself -- but at life as well -- in a different way. 

Wk3 - Reading Activities - Response to Thomas Turner

Newfound Gap, TN  Photo by: Tom Turner

Thomas Turner Wrote:

The first thing that I thought of when I saw the title of Chapter 6 in "The Art of Possibility" was a saying on a t-shirt that my wife owned when we first met. After all these years it has stuck with me. The slogan was "Life's a Journey, Not a Guided Tour."

This slogan is right in line with the theme of Chapter 6 and its suggestion that we all need to "lighten up" (Zander & Zander, p. 80). As I walk around campus I encounter teacher after teacher who is stressed out. Stressed out because of poor student performance on standardized tests. Stressed out because of mandates passed down from administrators. Stressed out because of what seems to be a lack of support by a government that doesn't really understand what teaching is all about, yet continues to try to reform it.

I myself subscribe to the "Life's a Journey, Not a Guided Tour" mentality. Life's way too short to get worked up over stuff that I have no control over. I've resigned myself to the fact that the state legislature is not going to be calling me for my opinion any time soon with regards to education reform. That doesn't mean I won't do what is necessary to try to exact change.

I also subscribe to the premise that part of my job is to provide a little levity to my campus. It is my belief that a happy and jovial workplace is a very good place to work. All too often people get too wrapped up in what they are doing and forget to see that their stresses can be relieved with a joke and a smile. I know the students that I taught were always appreciative that I ran my classroom in a way that learning was peppered with humor.

The other thing that I thought about wen reading Chapter 6 was CBS show "NCIS". I know, it seems a little silly. One has little to do with another. But as a NCIS junkie I've taken to living my life by some of Gibb's Rules. Many of the rules revealed through various episodes of the show have no bearing to real life. It seems a bit funny that the Gibbs Rule that I subscribe to the most is also #6: Never apologize, it's a sign of weakness.  The way I interpret this particular rule is to live my life with no regrets. The decisions I make in life I need to stand behind with confidence. 

My Response

Thomas Turner,

Bravo, bravo your analogies and resolutions to situations as they relate to the chapters for reading this week are so in tune to the way I feel -- that Bravo is only fitting.  In the district I work in -- I too see the same stresses you mentioned.  Recently, I said similar words to a colleague, “You can’t do anything about things you cannot control” I then went on to say, “ What you can do is pull up your boot straps, regroup, get back on the saddle and figure out a solution that will work for you.”  I appreciate your classroom philosophy and bet you will live a long life with a peppered humor. 

Wk3 Reading: The Art of Possibility Chapters 5-8

In chapter 5, Zanders’ reference to his mistakenly shouting at his percussion section then apologizing as he determined he had made a mistake, is a gesture that is made by people who have a heart.  A gesture that is made by someone who generally cares and respects those he/she works with.  A true leader does not need to play the role of tyrant or egotistical maniac.  A true leader  -- influence by example.  Surprisingly, that saying, “You get more bees with honey...,” is so true, but many in administration, corporate, and just plain old friendship relationship -- is in need of this lesson to learn from life.

Just as music is said to soothe the savage beast, a smile and kind word can diffuse many otherwise “tight” situations.  We all have our demons and dragons to deal with every day -- instead of visualizing these beasts, why not picture a butterfly instead?  As a child we use whatever works to get and hold, another person’s attention.   As we grow older, we develop a sense of empowerment by our emotional growth and accumulated knowledge.  This causes us to want to be “recognized” and given attention -- we become too serious.  The  “calculating self” - is far reaching in that it requires self-evaluation. What do we think of ourselves? or What do we think others think of us?  In the case of June “The Best Sex Ever”.. we are shown that we tend to become intolerant of anything or anyone that does not fall within our frame of reference of what we want.  We need to learn to “let our hair down” and stop being afraid to open up -- we think we are protecting ourselves in this way -- but we usually wind up “missing out” on life’s hidden treasures just as June almost did.  CHILL OUT!  As we reveal more of ourselves -- and the world sees that we have more to offer than what is shown on the surface -- others will do the same. This opens the door for unlimited possibilities in personal relationships as well as in corporate maneuvers  The “central self” keeps us in check -- it teaches us that as long as you know the nature of the beast you can walk through the jungle free of fears, anxieties or other emotional chains that hold you back.  Free your mind .... let the real you see the truth that will reveal itself and when it does.. take it light.

The statement that transcended to my present teaching situation was clearly: “Presence Without Resistance.”  I think of myself in a position which I personally would not have chosen on my own. I came into this position kicking, screaming, and yelling.  I did not want to be here.  Once I found myself stuck and settling in this situation, a statement was made to me: “Oh, I see you’re liking this after all”  I responded,  “I am a teacher no matter what, and I would never short change children that have nothing to do with the parlor-tricks of adults.”  I don’t want be one of those people who trample over others because I want only what is best for me.  I am an educator only second in my life -- I am a mother first.  When I found myself surrounded by eager, wide-eyed children who were left in my care, my motherly instinct jumped in.  Now, I looked around and thought:  I’m here -- whether I liked it or not --  I decided I was going to do the right thing by these children.  Once I made that decision, like the authors indicate, possibilities opened up. I did not stay “stuck on stupid” (SOS) -- I did what I had to do.

Finally, in chapter 8 when thinking about giving way to one’s passion:  My son Phil said to me once, “When I am on stage, I perform and do what I do on stage by watching you.”  He said more clearly another time:  “I play music the way you commentate your shows.”   When reading this chapter you have to open your mind and relive the passions that have brought excitement and fulfilment to your life and then look again to see how your passion has affected others.  

Wk3 - Discussion Deeper Video Use in Education

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http://pbskids.org/video/

This site offers information about subjects such as observations, senses, reading, social skills, rainbows, spending time with grandma, trains and how they run and many, many more interesting subjects for early learners.  There are subjects that coincide with our Curiosity Curriculum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1yxiHWVAro 

TMBG Kids Video Podcasts - Is a series of podcasts for children - teachers - and families.  They recite the ABC, discuss shapes, count numbers using significant visuals to increase the learning potential.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nKluwyYgok&feature=related

Stick figure English for ESL Students - The visual usage of stick figures to impart knowledge of simple English vocabulary, helps to ease the difficulty of teaching English to ESL students. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWccPqg1DbI&feature=related

Daily Activities The Simple Present Tense for ESL students

“What do you do everyday”  is a unique presentation for ESL students to learn short, quick sentences explaining present tense usage of words.  This video is also very explicit in that it also caters to students who struggle with understanding how to use Present Tense in sentences. 

http://www.wearebusybeavers.com

The Busybeavers site introduces verbs - it gives children the opportunity to answer questions using complete sentences.  I’ve used this site with my Pre-school students to promote the use of using more of their words versus one or two word responses.  There is a fee of $20.00 to get streaming access to the song videos for a 3 month period.  This $20.00 also enables the user to  download 350 worksheets, flash cards, and MP3 music.

http://wearebusybeavers.com/mainpages/subscribe.html 

http://kids.learnoutloud.com/Kids-Catalog/Science/-/DragonflyTV-Video-Podcast--PBS-Kids-Podcast/23101#3 

Dragonfly TV-Video-Podcast teaches children about real world science.  Tornados, rivers & dams, Hip Hop Dancing, Kart Racing and many more interesting subjects for children to learn about real-life events are offered on this podcast.

http://learninginhand.com/tonys-podcasts/ 

Learning in Hand features video podcasts as a learning enhancement for educators to use iPods in the classroom.  

Wk3 - Free Choice/Dr. Seymour Papert

One Laptop Per Child

Seymour Papert Interview - One Laptop per child

After watching the videos about the green computer and Dr. Seymour Papert and doing a little research I found that the two were intertwined.  The following is a brief description of my findings.

Dr. Seymour Papert is a mathematician and one of the early pioneers of Artificial Intelligence.  Dr Papert is internationally recognized as the influential thinker about ways in which computers could be used to teach children and change learning.  Papert pursued mathematical research at Cambridge University from 1954 to 1958.  This was the beginning of his extraordinary career especially when he went to the University of Geneva, (1958 to 1963) and studied theories of education with the world-renowned Swiss developmentalist Jean Piaget.  Papert has carried out edifying projects on every continent, some of them in remote villages and in developing countries. 

Dr. Papert is the inventor of the Logo Computer Language.  Logo was specifically designed for the purpose of giving children confidence to learn.  The first version of Logo was developed at MIT (1967).  What made Logo revolutionary was that it was accessible to young children, ages five and up, and designed to have a low threshold and no ceiling.  A child could learn about motion, spatial relationship, logic, and probability in a game-making context. 

As the premise in which we learn at Full Sail -- Papert/Assessment for Project-Oriented classroom or schools is the basic thought; we are in need to assess different things.  Papert wants us to measure the kids understanding, awareness, and knowledge.  We need not measure how many right or wrong answers they give on a question.  Assess the children on what they actually do.

As he bridged the digital divide Dr. Papert was the first educator to advocate computers for children.  He has worked on a project to make cheap laptop computers available to children throughout the world.  Costing only $100.00, these lime-green machines will boost wireless access to underprivileged children around the world.  To jumpstart this program Papert was able to persuade the former Maine Governor Angus King to champion the Maine school laptops initiative several years ago.

Children, computers and learning are the themes Papert interlock together in his book The Children’s Machine.  It is the revolution in technology that has simultaneously brought about the need for improvements in learning, as well as providing the opportunity to improve “learning environments.”

Wk2 - Discussion Deeper: Podcast in Education

Photo By: Deborah Sanders

As an educator I always strive to find educational mediums to enhance student learning as well as broaden my teaching spectrum.  It makes my job easier and it makes learning fun.  Podcasts are just the ticket!

http://kids.podcast.com/

This is a series of free Sesame Street Podcasts featuring all of the Sesame Street Muppets.  There is a Sesame Street Podcast for all of the letters in the alphabet and stories to listen to before bed.  Today I reviewed the letter Z. file://localhost/-http/::kids.podcast.com:show:18393:Sesame-Street-Podcast:  Great for Pre-School and Kindergarten students to learn alphabet sounds.

http://www.kid-cast.com/  

This website is for kids to publish their own Podcast for other kids to listen.  I could use this media format to enhance education and learning --students can learn from one another.  This media format is also an excellent communication tool to be shared with parents.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/ 

Sixty-Second Science
: Science news.
  This Podcast is presented in a news radio format of 60 seconds by editors of the Scientific American Magazine.  I found the Podcasts interesting to listen to even though they are not on the pre-school level.   However, for me as and educator it’s information that I can use as a springboard to teach from.  It can also be located on iTunes, or at  www.sciam.com

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/playtime 

The BBC Learning Playtime podcast has an abundance of educational resources for primary education.  This site has songs and movement activities that coincide with the Curiosity preschool curriculum.  New episodes are posted every Tuesday.  It’s free and tons of fun for early childhood learners.

http://www.wubbcast.com/

Wubbcast is a weekly videopodcast for preschoolers.  The characters and music are from the Nick Jr. show.  The characters are familiar and therefore will draw the attention of preschoolers.  While being entertained they will be educated and did I say it’s FREE!

Wk2 - Free Choice

Friday the 13th & the Mimio Teaching Interactive System

http://www.mimio.dymo.com/

Photograph By: Deborah Sanders

As I pondered this week as to what I’d write for my free choice -- this “dreadful day” Friday the 13th, 2011 arrived.  I began my school day as normal -- signed in, extracted my mail and began to sift through it.  There was a memo in my mail that would change not only the course of this day, but would forever change my classroom teaching environment.   I was going to attend a training session on the  “Mimio Teach Interactive System.”  I’d heard about this exciting tool and what it could do.  However, getting the opportunity to attend training for this equipment, was a treat. 

The training presentation was highly interesting to me especially because I have never had a Smartboard in my classroom.  Typically, I have always purchased the items needed to enhance the learning experience in my classroom (as my budget allowed).

This system was presented to a group of education professionals as an interactive system which can be mounted on a magnetic whiteboard.  This tool makes it feasible to move for storage or from classroom to classroom.  The Mimio Teach Bar is positioned on the whiteboard and the MimioHub or wireless receiver plugs into the USB port on your computer.  This makes it possible to access the MimioStudio software that teachers can use to create student-centered, engaging, interactive lessons.  During this presentation, I already began visualizing lessons using the ordinary projector visuals as I currently do, versus using this new tool to create new versions of student interactive visuals at their fingertips. 

Picture this, I’m wide-eyed and bubbling over like a kid in a candy store.   I turned to a colleague sitting next to me and asked how she liked this tool. She turned to me and responded:  “I don’t like it!”  I felt my face drop.  I asked, “why?” and she responded, “Our children need more one-on-one interaction.”  As she continued to talk, I heard her but, I was still stunned at her initial response and I questioned myself:  “How could she not see the enormous impact of this tool in our teaching?”  As the meeting came to a close, I had no idea of what was yet to come.  I was then asked to follow the secretary and to my surprise and delight, I was given a Mimio Teach for my classroom!  I returned to my classroom cradling my new tool lovingly, yet I was still pondering her comments.  I decided to return to her to ask additional questions. 

I began by stating -- I think we can agree to disagree but I’d really like to know: “Why you feel the way you do?”  She replied, “I just want to state that I’m not against technology.”   Our conversation continued and she expressed further comments regarding “touching - and instant gratification that is desensitizing our children.  Our children need sand. There are classes with no sand in the classroom.  They need to feel it, smell it and see the actual changes.  This is what forms more curiosity for our children.  I just think we need to assess the needs of the children and see where we are lacking.  Did we check to see if other districts are using this and what  improvements did they have, if any?  We need to look at how we (teachers) have treated technology in the past.  Teachers are given new technology and not enough training is being administered.  Will we have additional training?  How is this system going to align with the district’s goals.  We need to survey teachers and parents then look at this product as a group  -- then document the data.  Then we paid for a product in which the presentation was not customized to our needs.  We were shown a presentation which was meant for Kindergarten and 1st grade.  We should not have to go into their Software Website and search for pre-made lessons. This is the responsibility of the presenter before it is shown to us”.   Finally, she responded -- “We have areas that are lacking -- fix the problems that need fixing.”

Needless to say after leaving her, I felt some points were valid.  However, my passion for infusing technology into lessons was not changed and I know some of my colleagues do not share my passion.  Although I respect her insightful thoughts, I am still somewhat biased on this subject area. What are your thoughts?   Please share.

Watch the following video -- Why Preschoolers need SmartBoard!