Week Four - Thinking Out Loud " Oh Irene!"

http://www.weather.com/weather/videos/news-41/top-stories-169/irene-floods-out-the-catskills-21726

I live in Chicago where the skies have been clear and blue and Lake Michigan crystalline and calm. But, that's not what I was experiencing watching the news of Irene's path up the east coast. You see, I am from a local suburb of New York City, only in Chicago for three years, so watching the news was just like being home because hurricane made the Northeast local news to everyone in the county. CNN, the Weather Channel, MSNBC etc, all had correspondents on the scene - many scenes I am very familiar with. I was glued to the tube, especially as it hit Philly, Jersey, Manhattan, Long Island and Connecticut, all home turf. I wondered what my old neighborhood would be like, and what I would be doing. I think I would be disobeying out somewhere in the storm - hopefully safe, experiencing Irene first hand. Watching TV, I actually had a few Twilight Zone moments when I looked out my living room window and saw sunshine, traffic and pedestrians idling by - what? Oh yeah, Im in Chicago, doah!

I had the same desire to experience a disaster first hand - don't get me wrong, I am not an ambulance chaser or an accident gawker, but when something really big happens, I want to the there; and in New York City, it's a pretty good bet that something big will happen at anytime and you might just be in the midst of it. I had a almost paralyzing desire to be at Ground Zero as soon after 9/11 as possible. It took three weeks, but I got there as a volunteer one midnight shift, in the pouring rain. It was an experience of shock and awe indelibly written in my mind, heart and even my bones. There was a resonance to it, a sound, an eeriness, it was way too big for me to digest. The whole event was too big to grasp, that's why I had to get there, witness it my self with my own eyes so I could metabolize this most horrific event in my lifetime...well it not over yet, lets hope worst has come unlike the best.

Anyway, Irene flooded more than streets and buildings, it flood my senses with its spectacle, with awe and my feelings for home. I wish I were there right now.

Images from The Weather Channel http://www.weather.com/

Week Four - Blogger Response 2 to Ctina

Chapter 12. Telling the WE Story: I told you it wasn't about you. Have you been able to tap into the power of combining your expertise and passions with someone equally gifted? Have you had the pleasure of lifting a teammate, student, and stranger, enabling them to realize their dreams and exceed anything that you could have imagined?

I’m so fortunate to work with someone who held my hand through many of the “experiments” of the past year. He and I have adjoining classrooms and our kids constantly intermingle, roaming freely from my room to his and vice versa.Christian is a gifted educator and always willing to share ideas as we develop something with our students, that is both magical and full of possibility. It is because of our own-shared vision that the incredible things, which have graced the pages of my blogs, AR tangents and daily life, have been achievable. There are a number of other people including my professors, my classmates, my critical friends, and my boyfriend who accepted the invite to the WE story. I’m better equipped to frame possibility because of their graciousness and can only hope that I’ve add to their growth as well.

CODA: What’s next?

Well the possibilities are boundless, no?

Sources:

From a Little Spark Bursts a Mighty Flame Image by Mykl Roventine available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/myklroventine/3689364622/

Layers on Layers Image by Mykl Roventine available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/myklroventine/3733194129/in/photostream/

Overhung Image by Mykl Roventine available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/myklroventine/4007603690/in/photostream/

Monochrome Drops by Mykl Roventine available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/myklroventine/3956788033/in/photostream/

Week Four - Blogger Response 1 to Sheri

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Wk 4 Reading

The reading his was insightful is a few different ways. In chapter 9, Ben Zander describes the story where he went to meet the cellist to ask him to play to ask him to play in the concert. The cellist agreed because Zander went in person to ask therefore avoiding the secretary who claimed the cellist was too busy. Though technology has changed the way we interact with each other, I think it is still important to do things in person.

As part of my job as the yearbook adviser, I am responsible for organizing and planning picture day for the entire school. I work closely with the school photographer to organize the event. We have to manage where, how, and when to get 3,600 students through five picture lines. A time saving measure is the use of preprinted sit cards. The sit cards are given to the teachers to pass out to students. Students take the card to the photographer who scans that card and takes the photos. This makes the lines move quickly since it only takes seconds to take the photograph and identify the person. In order to get the cards printed, I am required to submit a listing of all students in the school by name, grade, teacher, period, and student id. In past years, I have had the list within an hour after the request is made. However this year, the district has changed the major computer database for storing student information. The new system has numerous possibilities but no one on campus is comfortable with the new system yet. I sent my customary email asking for the list to the attendance secretaries. After two days, I still had not had a response. The photographer had been contacting me for the list so my stress level was soaring. I decided to go down and discuss the list in person. I spent a few minutes discussing the situation with those in the office. Those were the most important moments. I came away from the conversation with a plan and a solid understanding of the situation. It turns out that no one knew how to make a list using the new system and the office had been swamped with students entering and withdrawing. I explained why I needed the information and explained what I did with it. I felt that we had come together to solve a problem. Taking the time to discuss the situation in person made it possible to see beyond the words written in an email. So much of communication is body language and voice inflection, in which both get lost through an email message. I got the list two days later. Right after the list was sent to my email, I got a call from the one of the secretaries asking if the list was what I needed. I had the opportunity to thank her and tell her how much I appreciate her work. I think it sounds better when spoken versus typed.

I feel that most communication should still be done in person. Though it may take more time, I think this is important for problem solving and working together as a team.

Photo by Sheri Brinkerhoff

wk4 reading - Chapter 12. Telling the WE Story Reflection

Chapter 12. Telling the WE Story: I told you it wasn't about you. Have you been able to tap into the power of combining your expertise and passions with someone equally gifted? Have you had the pleasure of lifting a teammate, student, stranger up enabling them to realize their dreams and exceed anything that you could have imagined?

My action research is a perfect example of passions combining toward creating something new. I was having such a hard time getting the folks at my job enrolled in collaborating on my AR project. Believe me, there were many opportunities available to research how technology could impact Christian education there because I was, in fact, the assistant to the director of Education for the whole Episcopal Diocese of Chicago – that’s 127 churches with 40,000 members. We created or ran programs for every age group and the professional level too. But, being that I was new to this job and field in general, I didn’t have the expertise or the connections personally to ignite a spark ‘out there’ in the community to get hit for collaboration. The director (my boss) didn’t offer any assistance or advice, not even 10 minutes of discussion on my project. It felt like I had to poll some teeth and that didn't seem right. So, I did the best I could to formulate a plan, cobbling together ideas with my own resources and changed my mind three times!

In this process, I would talk to critical friends, and they in fact became more excited and engaged more and more as I described to them what I really had passion for and that was digital story telling in ministry. They finally saw the light I was seeing and bingo, that emergent moment happened, and it started coming together. There was no stopping us. Her student’s caught that passion too and went on to create amazing stories and will hopefully find others to ignite as they develop their careers.

I have had this experience many times, banging my head against a wall, seemingly doing all the right things, with scant results, only to find that when I least expected it, a casual conversation or interaction turns my world sideways and things start happening with no effort – abundance is right – it just keeps coming. This is a phenomenon, some people call it God, some emergence, some luck, some a mystery. I can say that even though the head banging seemed like a waste and at times heart breaking – if I had not actually gone through that time, 'practicing' so to speak, I would not have been prepared when the tipping point did arrive. So, we have to do our homework and continue to be alive in our process. You never know when the birth will come. This is what faith really is, believing in something even when you have no evidence. Did anyone ever tell you the opposite of faith is not doubt? Actually, the opposite of faith is certainty!

I have had the great and rich pleasure of inspiring and mentoring many young women in my past career. (Guys didn't seem to care, because I wan't a role model for them). This mentoring didn't happen because I tried or planned it; it happened because I was a kind of quirky individual, keeping my own train on the track so to speak, in my own sort of way. Occasionally a younger colleague would catch a spark and want to know more and be more. There were at least three that I can recall that went back to grad school because they saw that I was doing it – and at a much older age than they were, and they became encouraged to start school and the next phase of their development. Others were inspired to take on more responsibility or leave for more opportunity. One of the best was a college graduate who was my assistant. She became one of the first dot-com millionaires - she followed me to my new job and made new connections there. I encouraged her to catch the spark offered at a crazy new job before long, working on a new business that at the time had not opened, had no customers, no precedent and almost made no sense…”What? Name your own price?!!”

Priceline went public 8 months later and she worked there for 4 more years.

Final Leadership Project

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0Bw6NHY5hZTkAYzc0ZGZhNzUtYjFlYS00YTJlLWJiMTItZTRhMzgxZGI0MDM5&hl=en_US

Wk 4 Publishing_Leadership Project

WkX Publishing_Leadership project part 1 of 2:

Here are the two publications that I will submit my AR project article to:

1. Reflective Practice: Supervision and Ministry

2. Teaching TEchnology and Religion

1. Reflective Practice: Supervision and Ministry

http://www.jpcp.org/rp.htm

Reflective Practice: Formation & Supervision in Ministry is a journal that seeks to understand, expand, and promote theory learning and reflection in the practice of supervision and formation in various ministries from pluralistic multi-faith perspectives.

Reflective Practice is an annual journal containing information from Spiritual Directors, CPE Supervisors, theological field educational directors, and other authors.

Reflective Practice goals:

• To preserve and extend the field of supervision and training in ministry formation through the written word
• To encourage potential authors to become published contributors
• To enrich and expand our understanding and practice of supervision and training in ministry by including new participants and perspectives in our critical reflection on this work

2. Teaching Theology and Religion

http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/journal/default.aspx Aims & Scope
Teaching Theology and Religion is an international peer-reviewed journal on teaching, published by Wiley-Blackwell in cooperation with the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion at Wabash College. Good teaching and learning are essential for the vitality and effectiveness of departments and institutions of higher education engaged in the study of religion and theology. Teaching Theology and Religion sustains a crucial international discourse among faculty members about teaching and learning in the several sub-disciplines in the study of religion. As the body of scholarly writing on teaching and learning increases across academic disciplines, this peer-reviewed scholarly publication has become an essential forum for generative discourse about pedagogical issues specific to the field while contributing substantive, often unique insights into teaching and learning across curriculum.

Above taken from:

The Journal of Pastoral Care: http://www.jpcp.org/rp.htm

The Wabash Center http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu