Thursday, July 25, 2013

From Prose to Poetry and Back Again

We Are Educators
By: Christy Wilson 7/25/13

We are Educators.
We are conflict.
We are growth.
We ponder priorities.
We form measurable outcomes from mission statements. 
We nourish passion.
We are growth.
We are conflict.
We are Educators.

We are changing.
The world is changing. 
We ask why a lot.
We ask why not even more.
We have wings.  
We are airplanes with precious cargo.
When we land, we do not stay grounded.
We seek another destination.
We are brave. 

We are Educators.
We are pilots.
We take off.
We empower.
We are passengers.




This attempt at poetry was inspired by our class discussions as well as from the book:
Creating Innovators by: Tony Wagner--Here is a summary of key concepts and quotes:

p. 7. “In the midst of the growing demand for more innovative people, studies tell us that our children’s creativity is on the decline.” 7/2010 Newsweek Title--”The Creativity Crisis”

p. 8. Defining Innovation--Sir Andrew Likierman--”I don’t define it technically because it’s a term of art. It’s about the process by which...new things take place.”

Wagner's 7 Survival Skills:

    1. Critical thinking and problem solving
    2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence
    3. Agility and adaptability
    4. Initiative and entrepreneurship
    5. Accessing and analyzing information
    6. Effective oral and written communication
    7. Curiosity and imagination

Be Curious
”Questioning allows innovators to break out of the status quo and consider new possibilities.”

Qualities of Design Thinkers--According to Tim Brown:

Empathy--Imagining the world from multiple perspectives
Integrative Thinking--Ability to see all aspects of a problem and breakthrough solutions
Optimism--Assuming that no matter how challenging the problem, a solution can be found
Experimentalism--Willing to embrace the process of trial and error

Innovators and divine thinkers listen, observe, ask good questions and make associations.

Innovators are collaborators. Innovation comes in many forms.

Innovators have expertise (technical, procedural, and intellectual knowledge).
p. 24. “You cannot innovate from nothing.”

Innovators have passion--an intrinsic motivation for doing things. They:

Explore
Learn
Understand deeply
Master what is difficult.

Lessons from Drive: Daniel Pink-Autonomy. Mastery. Purpose.= Essential human motivations
He distrusts the word "passion" suggesting it is emotion-driven, fleeting, and as positive as it is negative. 

p. 29--"Pure passion, by itself, is not enough to sustain the motivation to do difficult things and to persevere--in love or in work...passions evolve through learning and exploration into something far deeper, more sustainable, and trustworthy--purpose."

Lessons from a high school drop out who helped develop the first IPhone--Kirk Phelps:
p. 32--"What you study is not that important. Knowing how to find those things you are interested in is way, way more important."

Innovative Culture Qualities:
Teamwork
Interdisciplinary problem-solving
Intrinsic incentives
Exploration--Experimentation--Unafraid to try new things
Play--Consider how...and what
Empowerment

--Ed Carryer--Director of the Smart Product Design Lab--Empowerment.
p. 50. “To me, empowerment means students can go out and apply what they’ve learned to the problems that they’ve never seen before with parts they’ve never used before.”

p. 239. Annmarie Neal--Cisco Systems--

”Another important element...is teaching executives how to be reflective. If you are going to develop yourself as an executive, some of that is about learning more, but much of it is also about reflecting on who you are as a human being.

p. 250--Olin College Professor--
“I want my students really to learn only one thing from me and that is how to teach themselves.”

Learning to learn was the theme of each interview. “They are unafraid to fail because they see it as just a step in the process of learning.”

Closing Quote:

p. 251. “What makes this generation of innovators unique, and what ultimately gives me faith about their future, is that no matter what they encounter in life, they will find a way to figure it out.”





Shout Out

Hey Tech Friends--

Thank you for all you've added to this class by your thoughtful comments, insights, and skill sets.
I love hearing your stories and ideas during our "Center Court" moments. I feel rich for getting to be here and for the opportunity to gain from you. The FEELING of wealth is as lovely as the reality...I think...Actually, I am not sure. Lewis and Clark would know. They have all my money. :)

However, information is power and innovation equals excitement. Thanks to you. I've got both.

To loosely quote my new friend, Jared, "You rule like a pizza supreme."
Jared--Are you related to Jack Black?   :)

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Final Project...When They Were Young...


Potential...Possibility...Hope!

Having G Bundy here was inspiring!  It was exciting to think about what is happening and what can and will be happening. His presentation and our class has escorted me from a place of hesitation and uncertainty to a place of wonder and imagination.

Sometimes inspiration is more powerful than information.

I am excited to share Student Source with our staff! I am excited to explore so many additional ways to use Google docs!

Look out world! The Hippie Chick is becoming a Hippie Chick Techie...one baby (and exciting) step after another.  :)


Fiddling Around Leads to Learning

After writing my Final project plan yesterday evening, I was inspired to fumble my way around IPhotos in hopes to learn a thing or two. To my shock and amazement, I came out with an actual product. I used photos I had to make a slideshow. It is simple and basic, but I was proud because I worked my way through it without any assistance. I think I even exported it correctly! However, I got the disco ball of death when I tried to upload it to this blog. So, among other things, that will be today's job.  :)


Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Tuesday's Learnings

I made my first IMovie!!! One hour of navigation and exploration resulted in 30 seconds of footage!

A half hour later, I figured out how to save it.

Today was a reminder of the possibilities of technology...also an exercise in overcoming the frustrations.

Working with technology is like working in a black hole. It's like a time vacuum and a whole new universe of potential and wonder and discovery.

The chapter we read on Educational Technology reminded me how quickly things move (and become outdated). The arguments for and against the limitations and potential of technology in education made me wonder if our parents and grand parents had similar discussions about Rock and Roll.

There is no going back--we are ever-evolving and expanding. Rock and Roll is here to stay...and it opened doors to limitless new genres and musical geniuses.

A quote from the reading that struck a chord (no pun intended): Things that make you go Hmmmm:

"There won't be schools in the future. I think the computer will blow up the school. That is, the school defined as something where there are classes, teachers running exams, people structured in groups by age, following a curriculum--all of that..." "Nothing is more ridiculous than the idea that this technology can be used to improve school. It's going to displace school and the way we have understood school...I think that the very nature, the fundamental nature, of school that we see in this process is coming to an end."--(Seymoour Papert--A visionary professor from MIT--1988)



Monday's Class Learnings

EDAD536 Day 1 Reflection

I appreciate thinking that rocks the boat, not for the sake of "rocking the boat", rather for innovation's sake, for progress, for transformation of thought. The TED cast with Sir Ken Robinson did just that.

Choice Quotes:

"Life is not linear, it is organic."
"Education dislocates people from natural circumstances."
"Reform improves a broken model...we need to be transformed."
 "College does not begin in kindergarten."
"A 3 year old is not 1/2 of a 6 year old."
"Fast food is standardized...standardized education destroys our mind the way fast food destroys our body."
"Our children spread their dreams beneath our feet...tread lightly."

My Thoughts:

Evolution happens for the sake of survival. We adapt to stay relevant and alive in our environment. Transformation is change that seeks to enhance life verses to simply avoid death.

The quotes from Abraham Lincoln struck me (as so many of his quotes do) because he was a man who suffered a public cause on a personal level, a man in the midst of conflict, leading a movement to outlaw what 1/2 the voting nation had become dependent on. He spoke of "the dogmas of our quiet past", how "we must rise with the occasion...think anew, act anew...become dis-enthralled."

This was true in the 1800s and it is true now.



Response to Video 1

We have complex resources at our fingertips. Educators must use these resources in innovative ways.

The issues to consider and/or obstacles to overcome are:

Teacher willingness to learn, change, and use it
Varying student access to it (poor kids will be most impacted by this shift)
The gap between the have and have nots must be noted
The learning curve for staff, while already having an intense, time-consuming job
Student safety and education around how to use tools at their fingertips
Teacher training on how to respond to the rapid info

From a behavioral standpoint, a lot of police and DHS involvement at our site has stemmed from technology. Suicide threats, death threats, etc. Something to think about.

Question:
Is our "off and away" policy doing 12-15 year olds a favor or a dis-service? 

Tennis

Work it. Own it. But don't "push" it.
 

Running

How is it possible to love something
so hard that causes pain and makes you sweat?