MAC Wk 4 Wimba Post

I prefer SKYPE over the IM softwares, but I have both equipped if necessary. It seems there were a lot of issues with WIMBA during the session. I had not read Oprah's "Secret" or the "Power of Positive Thinking", so I would have to prefer "The Art of Possibility". I believe it gave insightful advice to our approach to everyday life that will benefit us as well as others.  My favorite chapter in the book was a hard choice. I love Rule #6, Leading from Any Chair, Lighting a Spark, but the most beneficial for me, not necessarily for my students, was Being the Board.  This chapter helped me to come out a of a funk that I am presently in and reevaluate my position, not as merely a pawn, but as the "controller" of my universe, outside of God of course. I will continue to view my life from the standpoint of being the board and rewriting the rules of the game to help me deal with every situation I encounter.  I will also remember Rule #6 as a life philosophy that will definitely provide some levity on this journey.  Finally, I will seek to make more decisions from my central self and identify the instances when my calculating self is keeping me from making the best choices for everyone in situations, not just myself.

I also received the information on the Leadership Project Recap. I had my project evaluated by my peers and placed that information in my week 3 Wimba post, so I was covered and I will make sure to submit my publication request for Month 12 to complete the Leadership Project.

Do No Relax. We're not finished just yet.

MAC Wk4 Leadership Post

My educational leadership role model is my mother, Debra Bishop, PhD. Throughout her career she has excelled, many times in the face of direct opposition, in improving the educational climate at every institution to be graced by her presence.  She began a high school biology teacher and moved to become an assistant principal at Lake Air Middle School. After a few years there, she became the principal at North Waco Elementary. Her work at these two schools did not go unnoticed as she soon became the Director of Curriculum in Waco ISD.  After serving dutifully in the administration office, she was asked to return to a principal position to restructure the magnet high school, A.J. Moore Academy.  While there, her uncanny abilities of problem-solving, innovation, and leadership turned A.J. Moore Academy into the top-performing high school in Waco and garnered it recognition from the POTUS. She is currently retired, but is still on the forefront of education and technology through serving as a consultant for NAF, National Academy Foundation. I can only hope to achieve as much as my mother has in her career, and I know that whatever path I choose to take in education, I have an excellent source of knowledge and expertise to guide me along my journey.

MAC Wk4 Blog Response - Debbie Patsel

MAC/ Week 4, Reading: The Art of Possibility: WE, US, THEM, oh MY!

As I finished reading this book, I was struck by the WE story. That is one of the current problems in my district. WE do not have a contract and WE are being picked on and bullied by OUR governor. WE are going into our third year without a contract. WE are state operated and final control lies with the governor that hates teachers. WE try to sit down and negotiate terms of the contract, but THEY won’t play with US.

WE won an award for back pay because THEY violated the block-scheduling clause in the contract. Now, THEY have to pay thousands of dollars in compensation to US.  THEY won ‘t let that go and are trying to find new language to change that part of the contract while holding up 3200 other people in the unit.

HOW do THEM, and WE get to US? WE have hired a mediator, again. Every contract year the union needs to do this to move the district to action and to develop a contract. The district has been state run for 22 years and it only gets worse. It is no wonder we are a failing district, although I believe all districts throughout the country were expected to fail under NCLB because of the business of charter schools and big business.

OUR children are the ones who are suffering. WE ask, WHERE are the parents? WHY aren’t THEY screaming foul when THEM, (the district), fired ALL world language teachers, art and music teachers, librarians, tech coordinators, and academic support teachers? ALL of US, do the downward spiral, yet WE are blamed. WE are held accountable and evaluated by test scores that are a poor judgment of how and what children really learn.

So, how do WE become US? At this point in time, WE don’t. THEY won’t let US be. What has happened here? How did it get so out of control? There is no happy ending here right now. THIS has to be played out with mediators, arbitrators, and patience. US, THEM, WE, OUR, I, it doesn’t matter, THEY are all unreasonable and ALL of US suffer. Oh MY!


Debbie, 
You could only write a blog post like this if you truly understood the WE concept.  I am sorry that the situation seems so bleak in your school districts. You are right of the push for charter schools and the privatization of education.  Some places are trying to get public education to fail, no matter how it hurts current students or the students who will not be able to afford the education later. I hope they THEY will get with Y'ALL (sorry, I'm from Texas) and the US can move forward to find an educational solution that will benefit everyone. 

MAC Wk4 Blog Response - David Sholiton

MAC WK4 Art of Possibility

There is so much to say about this weeks reading and Steve Jobs speech. Taking responsibility for ones actions and outcomes is something I do not believe most people live by or teach their children. In fact I did not learn about this lesson until I was around 24 and working for a very large finance company. I was being trained by one of the companies top sales manager and most of the sales staff thought he was very rough around the edges, this is putting it in PG terms. What he was was intense and straight forward. He called it like he saw it. I remember him sitting in with me while I was helping a client and something started to go wrong. When I say wrong I mean something that the customer thought they were getting but the paperwork said different. I remember starting to sweat and get nervous. My manger jumped in and helped fix the situation just with his words. To make this short and sweet he fessed up to the client and told him this is 100% our fault and we will fix it. I know this seems simple to admit when your wrong but believe me it doesn't seem to be best practice for most. My boss called this falling on your sword. I find this works very well when in the working world. Even if it hurts and is embarrassing to fall on your sword it seems to work out better in most situations. Ever since then I try my hardest to live by this mantra.

I really like how Steve jobs explains connecting the dots. It is so true trying to connect them looking forward is very madding and will drive the ordinary person off the ledge. At least for my life and my wife’s there are so many to connect I could not begin to understand how they connect looking forward until something comes together and bam that magical moment happens and it all makes sense. 

Really sucks at the end when Steve is talking about his brush with death and how he hoped he will not have to deal with that again at least for another 10 years or so.

 

David,

It looks like in terms of taking responsibility, your trainer was able to light a spark in your life and got you to enroll into his ideas. Although others were looking at him from the outside, you were able to see past his "roughness" to the truth that he guided himself by. Sometimes people can't handle straightforwardness and call it rude or harsh, but the truth hurts.  That's why responsibility is sometimes hard, you have to own up to choices, good or bad, and some just can't handle it.

MAC Wk4 Reading Blog Post

In this week's reading of The Art of Possibility, the chapters that spoke to me were Lighting a Spark, Being the Board and the WE Story. The concept of enrollment given in Lighting a Spark provided me with an entirely different attitude about engagement.  By deciding not to take a "no" or negative response personally and continuing forth with the unbridled enthusiasm deserved for an endeavor embarked upon we can light the spark under any person and achieve what many deem impossible.

The chapter on Being the Board inspired my on a personal level. I sometimes get down when I look at circumstances I am facing, and tend to appropriate the causes of my unhappiness to them. By taking the opportunity to be the board, not only can I change my outlook on situations once deemed unchangeable, but I can influence the attitudes of others in those situations and hopefully be a light of hope for them.

Finally, the WE Story is something that I already live by. I learned from my family upbringing that we are always stronger together and the source of that strength is being mindful of the needs of others around you. By being sensitive to the needs of others and genuinely caring for the fulfillment of their wishes, whether attainable or not, bonds of trust are formed that provide a solid foundation upon which anything can be built or attained.

MAC Wk 3 Wimba
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend Wimba this week. I had circumstances that required my attention, but I was able to read the critiques others received on the feedback page and found team members to critique my leadership project. The feedback I received from my peers was insightful and will help me to complete a polished project. Some feedback reminded me of the structure I needed to maintain from the requirements. I strayed away from the model, but I will try to my changes to make it fit the model provided better. There were also minor comments on grammar that I believe were spell-check changes that did not fit the agreement of my original sentences. These will also need to be changed to insure my project is publication worthy.

MAC Wk 3 Leadership Project Post

The premise of my leadership project is to show innovative ways to approach biblical education through the use of virtual learning environments, web 2.0 tools and brain-based learning. By providing a literature review of each of these tested approaches, coupled with my own action research project, I hope to change the way the Bible is taught, not taking away previous methods, but providing new ones to help enlighten the new generations to the Word of God.

Here are the journals I am applying to be published in. I chose them both because their requirements fit my research perfectly. The Journal for Research on Technology in Education looks for original research, which I believe my project falls under, and the Journal of Interactive Learning Research specifically looks for research with virtual world based learning systems, a method that was researched approach in my project.

Journal of Research on Technology in Education

Journal of Interactive Learning Research

Here are my Week 1 & 2 Leadership Posts and the link to my Leadership Project

Week 1

Week 2

Leadership Project