EMDT613 Week 3 - Think Out Loud #1 Present or Publish?

image from creative commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimileek/

Present or publish ... the question has been plaguing me for weeks now. I never look forward to speaking in front of others, although I have found that I become quite impassioned about my topic and can easily forget myself and lose my self-consciousness. I'm like that when I teach. I am also not too fond of professional writing because of its ability to be very impersonal. These dilemmas have confronted me before in the form of job interviews. PLEASE don't interview me! Come watch me with students and colleagues to see who and how I really am! I just want to be me, not try to sell myself. I know that sounds corny, but that's how I am. Back to this month and which direction to go. I've reflected on this out loud with a classmate. Part of my inhibition is feeling that my project wasn't Earth shattering in its magnitude or result. But, that wasn't the point of the AR project to begin with. What this was about was posing a question and then seeing if I could do something that had an impact at all. I did that. It wasn't a big thing, just seeing if using music in teaching math could improve knowledge retention. And it did. Very straight forward and simple.  Some journals I'm considering are: The National Association of Special Education Teachers  http://www.naset.org/799.0.html. They take up to 14 days to notify you of receipt after a submission for publication is made, so I need to get a move on! I would also submit to Edutopia http://www.edutopia.org/

Logos are screen shots from my desktop

EMDT613 Week 3 - Reading Chapters 5-8

There were many sections of this week's reading that hit home with me.
"What would have to change for me to feel completely fulfilled?" (p. 83)  What do I need to do and how will I look at my world to feel completely fulfilled? The onus is on me, the only person I can actually change, rather than pointing fingers at those people or things outside of myself. Take responsibility for yourself rather than bemoaning what you cannot change. I don't know how the situation here in WI will play out with our governor trying to take away collective bargaining rights, but ... I am a good teacher and this is the situation that is at hand. Whatever happens, I am still a good teacher.

The father and son communication problem was another point I am reflecting on. When there is no attempt at communication, it is easy to feel shut out and separation. Someone has to initiate the talk,  even if not right on point and difficult, it is a starting point. Here again is a parallel with bargaining rights being taken away. How will teachers feel if they have no voice? Shut out, alienated, dismissed and of no value. I also am reflecting on it as I am dealing with a soon to be 15 year old and his struggle for independence and finding out who he is as an individual. These are things he needs to discover and they often create dissent, but they are hard to handle as a parent. I think I will be re-reading the section of the two businessmen and how they worked through their issues with each other as I go through the next few years with my son.

Notice when you are holding back ... participate fully ---> Give Way to Passion (p. 114) How often do we hold back in our lives? How often do we say no to a child, student, partner to emphasize the power we have even though saying yes would not be detrimental to the event at hand? Do we look for a way to say yes, utilizing communication to see that both parties gain from it?

"Mom, can I go to Sam's house?"
"No, you  have homework to do."(I am the parent, with absolute power.)

From creative commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragnfly78/

"Mom, can I go to Sam's house?"
"Yes, as soon as you finish your homework. Do you need any help with it?"  (I am the parent, but I respect you and  want to help you succeed and be happy because I love you.)

Which  conversation holds back, or participates and shows the passionate love we have for our children?

EMDT613 Week 3 - Abstract Project

This post is a reflection of my thoughts as I write my abstract. Creating my abstract is daunting! I don't want to have a piece that does not convey the essence of my research, yet 120 words is such a small number with which to contain this essence. After all, I'm not condensing soup that merely needs water added back in to become whole.

This is about information and ideas. Take each section and condense to one or two sentences. OK, but in order to do this and have it work, I need to settle into myself and determine what I want people to know about my research that will give them a reason to go beyond the abstract and want to know more. This is not about cutting out words, but determining what the words are really saying. Can the essence of the full project be conveyed through the abstract?

... I'm adding on as I've finished my abstract. Bare bones. It was still difficult to do because I'm so used to adding in details, wanting to give a clearer picture of whatever it is I'm discussing. It was a good exercise in determining what the most important pieces were to share. I was able to do it in 119 words and was happy with the result. Like this picture of my hands, does it pique an interest in knowing more? How did this come to be or where will it lead? 

EMDT613 Week 3 - Comments Post #2

Diane Milton posted ...

The seventh practice, "The Way Things Are" was a great reminder this week for me to view things in a different light. I am the world's worst at getting frustrated when things don't go the way I had planned or hoped they would be. I have come a long way in this area of my thinking, but it often becomes a conscious effort to look past my frustration and make the best of the moment. The author gave reference to the movie "Babe" and the reactions of the cow and duck when Roseanna had become the evening meal. He stated that they were hopeless and resigned in their reactions. I think it is safe to say that is the reaction of the majority of people. We view our situations as hopeless like the cow and walk toward our presumed destination, or we resist like the duck and fight our way to the presumed end. The author stated that, "being present in they way things are is not the same as accepting things as they are". When you are being present and not resistant you can then see possibility before you to make choices on how you want to move on. The key to me here is that you are moving on and not spiraling downward in your thought process to get stuck where you are. 

 

My response ...

 

Diane, your post hit home with me pertaining to a philosophy I've developed, or more correctly how I've developed. I spent years trying to force certain events to happen, one being to have a specific teaching position in a certain school, and to avoid other events from happening, one being teaching special education and teaching in the middle school grades. While I held that thought pattern and was focused on my calculating self, I never was able to accomplish the goal. Try as I might, it never worked out. And believe me, I tried HARD! I purposely did not have a full minor in my bachelors program of Elementary Education (Not Special Ed) so that I couldn't teach beyond grade 6. I ended up not being able to find a teaching position and went on to do other, unsatisfying, things. When a teacher convinced me to reactivate my teaching license, it turned out to be through taking special education classes and adding that to my license. Now, I am a special education teacher IN a middle school! When I finally let my central self guide me, I found myself where I feel I am suppose to be. Calculating couldn't avoid it. I let my central self keep me open to the flow of finding my path to where I needed to be.

EMDT613 Week 3 - Comments Post #1

Gregg Eilers

Wow! As I read through chapters 5-8 in "The Art of Possibility," I couldn't help but think of two things: 1) teacher-talk in the staff room, and 2) the power of student- to-student learning. Allow me to explain.

The whole concept of the calculating self vs. the central self completely changed my thinking about how I view certain aspects of the teaching profession. I asked myself, "Self? Am I a person that tends to take things too seriously to where it effects how I interact and lead my students?" Fortunately, the answer from my "self" was a resounding "No!" But what my inner self was convicting me of was how I can somehow be effected by how others relate themselves to the calculating self analogy. In other words, I can at times get sucked in to a conversation at lunch with other teachers that revolves around the common complaints of standardized testing, state standards, decisions by administrators, micromanagement and a plethora of other topics that educators seem to find the time to rant about. I discovered that I will listen to these conversations and walk away wondering what good did that just do for any of our students, other creating a free therapy session for these teachers at my expense? My point is, and I think this is what Zander was getting at, was the fact that there will always be something to disagree with, something that doesn't go the way we want it to, or someone that doesn't do things the way I would do them. But the question is whether or not I choose to stay stuck in that rut or way of thinking, or do I choose this presence without resistance approach? Do I let the obstacles stand in my way, or do I allow myself to say that is the way it is and allow myself to be creative and open the pathway for possibility? Obviously my goal as a teacher is to do the latter, but I know I am guilty of allowing my calculating self shadow the central self and the possibility it can unleash.

Secondly, the whole idea of students teaching other students kept running through my head. After reading the story of the Cuban and American orchestras teaching each other how to play different and difficult pieces, I started thinking about how much power students have when teaching other students. I use this strategy in my own classroom to a certain degree, but this concept of the "silent conductor" really highlighted my thoughts on how I can enhance the learning by disappearing from the lead of the room, so-to-speak, and let the kids lead their own learning with each other. Automatically, my head began spinning with different ways to approach some of my lessons and how to implement a more centralized learning environment to where I enable or give students the freedom to learn from each other. By doing this, I think the dynamics of my classroom would completely change, and if nothing else, a great social experiment for my 6th graders who are mostly English Language Learners!

My son and a friend ... Let's not forget that we can learn from them also!

My Response:

Gregg, once again I find myself really connecting with your post. Both of your scenarios hit home. Teacher lounge talk is so often negatively focused, with complaining about students, administrators, and testing. Often I do as Andrea commented and don't go there for lunch so as to avoid getting pulled into it. Negativity breeds negativity far faster than positivity. I'd rather keep my focus on the big picture and realize that everyone, students included, operates from a perspective that I probably don't know all the details of. It is far better to not take the situation, my control (or lack thereof), or decisions too personally. Remember Rule #6. Lighten up. When there is a really tough day going on that threatens to become filled with negative controlling thoughts, I try to think to myself, "It's going to be a BEAUTIFUL sunset tonight!" Realizing that this to shall pass, whatever the situation is, and life will go on with better/positive implications has been helpful for me. Your second comment about students teaching each other, like the Cuban and American Youth Orchestras, also hit home. Peer teaching is wonderful and can accomplish more than we may think it can. It has germinated some ideas that I'm anxious to share with a team-teacher.

EDM613 MAC - Week 2: AR Site

Endless Possibilities

Here I am in month 11, with only 6 weeks until graduation. A house has been rented (Thanks, Beth!) and my flight booked. It's so hard to imagine that this journey is almost over, until I look through my action research web site and review all that I have posted there. Do I have everything on the site that needs to be included? Have I double checked all my posts? I want to jazz it up, but also want to keep it straight forward and to the point. Is that ok? There are some days when I feel that I have not done enough. However, the cycles tell the whole story of my research. I'm happy with what I found, and see many possibilities for ways in which to continue in the years to come. The project has taught me HOW to see what I do with students in a whole new light. It's shown me that the cycle truly is the journey, and it never needs to end. One finding leads to a new thought or question, into a new cycle, with results to ponder and tweak as I begin yet another cycle. Who knows where it will lead. I feel as if my eyes have been opened to deeper reflection. My results are not nearly as important as having learned the process. It will help me to be much more of a reflective practitioner that I previously was. My students will benefit even more than I will.

Wisconsin has a new governor, and many are fearful of what he has planned to take away from teachers. I worry about this also, but now I have all that I have gained through Full Sail to open endless possibilities, should I choose a new direction.