Week Three - Thinking out loud

Wimba's have become frustrating for me because for some reason, even though my signal seems to be strong, the connection flutters and I hear every other word. This past week, I stayed on anyway, because I felt that half was better than nothing. I watch the archive as a back up, but there is nothing like the live session for getting in touch with the vibe of the course, professor and my peers.

This week was particularly important because we spoke about the abstract and final presentation for our AR project. I get intimidated when I have to write formally, and the more I know the better I feel. The abstract will be easy I think. But, I am scratching my head about the final presentation and the publishing! OMG, is it that time already? As I remarked in a prior post, I heard myself saying, "Oh no! I don't want to be published!"

I was kind of taken by surprise at the fear about this since I've knew about it from the beginning of the program, and have been working all along with publishing in mind - why all of a sudden do I feel like backing out? No reason, other than it's real now, and I am worried that I have not done enough, or well enough, yadda, yadda. So, this downward spiral thinking goes.

But, I see the genius in having us read Zanders now. I am sure we area ll going through similar thoughts and feelings and Zanders is so up beat, positive and so generous.

Thank you Full Sail for working this way to calm us down and feel confident into the course requirements. In fact, I have found the program tone exceptional in that regard. I value creativity and I have found another layer of my voice in this program because creativity is cherished here. Brava for EMDT, FullSail, and for all my peers! Brava!!!

Week Three - Blogger Response 2

Week 3 Wimba Archive

Until watching the Wimba session, I was sailing along pleasantly basking in the warm waters of Rule No. 6, even giggling every now and then at the preposterous entirely "invented" assumptions being thrown at us at this teaching conference. Then knock, knock..."Hello?" "Landshark" the voice answered mockingly then, revealed his true identity, "It's your calculating self." The panic that set in as I talked myself through all the negative scenarios surrounding the very idea that I need to submit a presentation proposal to a conference by next week. What? Here I thought I was doing so well; doing everything ahead of time so as to enjoy some semblance of a vacation NYC at the end of this conference. Please don't see this as blamescaping, it is all me, often ill-prepared. I sometimes feel as if the bat mobile is driving in front of me. I wonder what button Batman has his finger hovering over next? Will it be the oil-slick? "Oh, hi, calculating self, my old friend. Sit down."
Besides the mercurial change of my inner calm, this session did also yield some practical information that will carry me through the process of rebuilding my confidence as I approach the task of publishing. I suppose you will read more about this in my two "Think Out Loud" posts to follow.
I did not know about publishing specifics. I had no idea that publishers can turn you away if you've submitted to other publishers. I guess it makes sense that they would want the one-and-only go or "first publishing rights" and so we should only submit to one Journal at a time.
I will have to go to some websites and look for applications for presenters and then see what they wish for me to submit be it 100 words some slides or what have you.
The most immediate and pressing task at hand is to create a first draft. What will my presentation look like? I will need to prepare 5 slides with about 1500 words (300 words per slide) though it was mentioned that we could make a presentation of 24 slides (15 words per slide). I would rather not prepare a "death by powerpoint."

As for the delivery of this work, it was suggested that it would be better to put our words in google docs and share the URL with our peers. This is important as some publishers view work on websites as being "published."

I'm trying to remember to focus on the possibilities rather than focusing on the limitations of "publishing" my presentation.

I'm still unclear as to how we PROVE that we've submitted an idea for presentation at a conference. Please answer that in your comments to me.

I did enjoy the fact that Dr. Joe did voice his annoyance the chapter on "giving an A." I hope that I'm not making an assumption here, but I too felt this chapter was giving us conflicting information. I like the advice but the example of having the kids write why they deserved an A is not the same thing that the "practice" is telling us.
I have recently received a note from my mentor Joe Huber, who said that since reading the Zander book, he has started to give all of his kids an A and that none of the work has suffered as a result. I think of the act of giving an A as more of a metaphor for making the assumption that we are all equal and in this together than a physical grade. Luckily as I teach little kids, the "A" grade does not enter into our dialogue.

Week Three - Blogger Response 1

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Wk 3 Reading-Rule Number 6

Chapter 6 resonated deeply with me this week. I realized that I take myself way too seriously. Goals and expectations fill my life. My calculating self takes over and creates fear of failure, anxiety, and scarcity. I am also in an environment focused on downward spiral thinking. Everyone around me discusses pay cuts, benefit cuts, issues with students, etc. It is very difficult not to fall into this trap. With the beginning of the school year looming, I have decided that I do not want to participate in this type of thinking. My personal goal is to rise above the circumstances of my present through observing Rule No. 6. In making an effort not to take myself so seriously, I have realized that I am more at ease and generally happy. I made a Rule No. 6 sign to hang in my classroom. Yesterday, I told my students the story about the two prime ministers and Rule No. 6. We proceeded to have a discussion on the benefits of Rule No. 6 in reference to creativity. Many students are nervous to take an art class. Past students told me they worry about their own artistic talent to the extent that they think they will not pass. I told students that I did not want them to worry about making mistakes since that is where you learn the most. The students seemed very perceptive and interested in the concept. I am looking forward to seeing where this will lead.

Image by Sheri Brinkerhoff

Week Three Reading - The Way Things Are

The Way Things Are.

This is a subject dear to my heart. I bought the medallion above about 2 years ago and carry it with me precisely to remind me of this very idea: always be where I am, and that takes discerning and accepting 'the way things are'. Being mindful is a tough practice whether I am really busy involved with work, or just the opposite, sitting in space, just doing nothing. I have had quite a lot of practice having to accept where I am because I have felt the frustration of powerlessness many times in my life. Like the Serenity Prayer reminds us, it takes awareness and wisdom to understand what we can change and what must accept.

I have had to find this balance most strikingly over the past 5 years. My meddle has been tested to the max by the housing downturn, economy and general drying up of work in my profession, which has resulted in successive job loses and the long list of the other losses that go along with that. I have free fallen, hit the ground, and bounced around. I have given myself time to heal, and tried my best to move forward. Being a student at Full Sail is part of this moving forward, proceeding with the skills and experience I have and hoping to translate them in the new world of education.

The other side of that medallion says, “Take the Road Less Traveled”. This has been my mantra since I was a teenager believe it or not. That idea excited me and propelled me to do untraditional jobs that I have been fairly successful at. This mid-life crisis, thrust upon me by the real world of economics, has been the most difficult time in my life to find the acceptance of “where I am”, and the powerlessness of it has been the most devastating.

Until I found this medallion, I had forgotten how much this idea meant to me so long ago. I realized that "Taking the Road Less Traveled" still holds promise and excitement for me. It means living in possibility, once again. The flip side, “Be where you are”, has helped me connect the difficult times, the dark dots of my life, with those youthful bright dots of idealism, and feel that it was all worth it and still can be. It helps me accept and stay in the here and now. The medallion keeps me aware of the continuum of my life's possibilities, and helps me strengthen the threads connecting up living a whole life in possibility.

Just before I started this post, I was perusing the job openings in higher education that I might be qualified for with my past experience and my new EMDT credential, because, once again, I am unemployed. This afternoon I have an appointment with a career coach to help me re-frame my experience toward this new job market. So today, I will be acting upon and living in the possibilities of a new career, step by step on the road less traveled.

Free Choice - The dead are rising - huh?

Huh? Right.
I'm visiting with my sister and her son Matt who is 11. He has been sharing with me the joy of creating combo weapons to destroy zombies in a number of settings in the XBox game DeadRising2.
I have to admit, I rather like seeing the already dead explode, split in half, or be mercilessly ground into bits of rotten flesh in a shopping mall setting by the good guy.

Seriously, I would have been totally appalled by this game and Matt's eager playing before I took the game course at Full Sail. Now I am in it with him, asking him questions about leveling up and what is going on, while appreciating his dexterity, and the unbelievable memory he has of the setting and the creativity to combine weapons and how to use them. I find that part the best and so does Matt. Combining a double Kayak paddle with chain saws with duck tape and running after marauding zombies makes me giggle. Then he runs into a utility closet to make another combo, a Halloween mask with a car battery attached to stick on the head of a zombie to electrocute him. I giggle again as I watch that zombie dance around like Shrek on crack.

When my brother came to visit a few months ago, (we all live in separates states) big uncle had to convey his grown up wisdom and disdain about Matt's video gamming. When I arrived, I heard Matt give me a run down on the hours and limits of his playing. He was guilty about his love and engagement. Well, I just joined him, Matt, not uncle Bob, and I think this is a better way to impart some real values and humor into the horror if these games than to prohibit them all together.

I can just see Matt being a 30 year old man, sitting somewhere controlling similar virtual realities with his hands and mind. That thought makes me feel glad that he now knows how to run around a virtual mall and make pitchfork shot gun.

week 2 - Response to Blogger - 2

Week 2 Reading - Art of Possibility

As I cracked the text, Art of Possibility by Rosumund and Benjamin Zander this week, I was reminded of the first time I ever did a sun salutation. The advice of the authors seems to correlate well with the practice of Yoga and balance. In Yoga, the teacher often reminds us to plant our feet solidly on the ground to gather positive energy equally from both sides of the body and the earth, then breathe it back out in equal measure. I've experienced moments when it seemed as if this breathing transformed the energy in the room and all participants smiled as they basked in the brightness of the "sun" we saluted. If you are not ready for me to wax hippie, it is time to stop reading.

The Zanders pinpoint some key limitations to common thinking in their book, Art of Possibility and ask us to remove ourselves from the game, reminding us that that it's all invented. Speaking from a point of awareness, they emote "Life appears as variety, pattern and shimmering movement, inviting us in every moment to engage." How easily could we shed the constraints of our measured world if we reflected this attitude to everyone we met? The authors answer my query "...resources are likely to come to you in greater abundance when you are generous and inclusive and engage people in your passion for life."

The authors also offer up some sound advice for teachers in chapter 3, where they speak of giving an A. I wholeheartedly agree with their premise that grades only serve to compare students to one another and tell us little of what they can accomplish or the work they have done. "When you give an A, you find yourself speaking to people not from a place of how they stack up against your standards, but from a place of respect that gives them room to realize themselves." I'm reminded again of the gentle coaching from my yoga guru who reminds us to take stock of what we've accomplished and reward ourselves for the little gains we made as individuals while on the mat. I also liken this to our experts here at Full Sail, who give us the opportunity to pass/fail/realize new material and software and compose to our own limit without comparing all of us to a gold standard. I think back on my first panic-stricken months, looking over the work of others in awe and worrying that I'd never measure up. It was Rena Hanaway that helped me as I entered the universe of possibility albeit with trepidation. With her gentle guidance and the freely given A we are afforded in the EMDTMS program, I shed the limited view that I'd brought from the "measured world" and was better able to embrace my individual growth and strive to the best I could and share what I had to offer. That's funny, that sounded a bit like the Thurgood Marshall quote.

I enthusiastically realign my thinking and draw in my breath as I delve further into this exploration of possibility. This book promises that its practices are geared toward causing a total shift of posture, perceptions, beliefs, and thought processes and transformation of my world. And so, I move my breath to the spot needing healing and articulate my spine to a posture accepting of this new "outlook" and read on.

Sources:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lululemonathletica/5123967968/

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1 comments:

Babs said...

@ Tina,
Exactly! The balance and mindfulness of yoga is a perfect compliment to the words of the Zanders. There are the two sides of you to balance, left and right, and the mindfulness of inner and outer, and the sheer otherness of the ground below and your own aliveness of breath. In a moment, all is possible but nothing matters more than aliveness.

I think our goal in life after we get through growing up our bodies and learn to walk and talk, is to re-learn what it means to be alive spiritually. Our spirits are not our bodies, or our emotions, but can so easily be oppressed and shut down by illness, trauma, abuse, neglect, stress and emotional pain. These are the outcomes of daily life - it’s hard to get through the days for many of us - and I am sure you all see so much of this in the lives of the kids you teach.
What a gift it is to offer a space for them to find themselves so that can be a gift also to whomever they come in contact with. Brokenness is abundant but healing more so...if we know how to preserve the spirit. I think teachers have a unique and highly valuable contribution to make everyday. I agree that our EMDT professors are modeling the concepts of creativity, acceptance and place a high value and faith on our innate abilities. It is not just because in graduate school you are expected to further develop your own voice, but the Full Sail mission in general is about creativity and contribution. I really feel that the modeling we are getting is more important than the content. We are learning by being taught how to learn ourselves.

August 11, 2011 11:10 AM

week 2 - Response to Blogger - 1

Credit: Notebook Gallery Software (SmartNotebook)

This week in my MAC course I have finished reading chapters 1-4 in The Art of Possibility and WOW what a STRONG and uplifting book. It was nice to first view the video from TED because it really set the mood for the book before I started reading it. Benjamin Zander is such a strong speaker and is so methodical with his speech and writing. Both Zander’s are filled with such strong stories and examples and reflections for me as a reader that I found myself rereading each of their stories multiple times.

The chapter this week that hit me the hardest was “Giving an A”. It was such a power chapters filled with uplifting stories that constantly kept making me reflect upon my daily life as a daughter, wife, educator, and all around person. Reading these stories that Roz and Ben had to share about their lives and experiences really made me think about what I was doing towards and with others within my life. Many times we by human nature judge things before giving others the chance to prove themselves and we need to watch these barriers we put up. We need to allow the creativity flow and allow people to make their mistakes and make their judgments but ensure that we are allowing them and giving them the A they deserve. When I first started reading the chapter I thought it had to do with standards and I couldn’t warp my brain around giving all students an A…because I kept thinking…what do they have to work for or towards then…their motivational levels fall and their thought on doing their best does as well…but it wasn’t about standards and giving the A so that something was completed but allowing our learners and peers in our lives to live up to their potential and allowing them to be passionate and share their experiences with others. I was moved through these stories and examples in this chapter and I know this sounds nerdy…but cannot wait to finish this book to reread this chapter again. I already have it bookmarked to read in the months of January-February…the time of the year when our students and teachers, myself guilty of, fall into the winter blues and hopefully this will make me become more passionate and drive my students in their learning when I ‘Give them an A’.

I really want my students and peers and myself to really reflect daily on what steps have I taken that make a difference…good or bad…We all need this opportunity in our lives to be given an A by ourselves or others. Being an educator we need to open our students eyes to see what they CAN do and what they are possible of achieving...allowing them to push themselves and be passionate about the things around them and share it. We need to change our world of learning into being able to look deeper than skin deep.

Posted by helenxiong05 at 11:11 PM

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1 comments:

Babs said...

@helen,
I love that you engaged the subject fully about starting your students with an A. This is so counter intuitive to what we believe teaching and learning is all about. Trying for a good grade is a small incentive compared to a student actually already feeling empowered and free explore the unknown, and THEN be recognized too and find over time to be building upon a solid foundation of self in the real world. That esteem carries everywhere - where as "I got an A on my math final" in 6th grade,not so much...