Week 4 Publishing_Leadership Project

I will be submitting my presentation to two Association for the Advancement for Computing in Education (AACE) conferences. I have chosen these two venues first for the practical reasons that they are two of few venues currently accepting submissions for presentations and are conferences it would be reasonable for me to be able to attend physically or virtually.

Ed-Media World Conference

The first conference is the World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications.

SITE International Conference

The second conference is the 2011 Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education.

Both of these conferences attract a diverse audience in support of research to improve education with the use of technology. They have a reputation for high quality presentations with a global perspective. Although my research is focused on middle school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), I believe the things I've learned can be applied to a wider spectrum of learners.

Publishing/Leadership Project

Week 4 Publishing/Leadership Project - Think Out Loud Part 1 of 2

Week 4 Publishing/Leadership Project - Think Out Loud Part 2 of 2

Week 4 Comments - Danielle Miles

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Week 4- Reading- The Art of Possibility (cont...)

The first two thirds of the book, The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander, presented more than food for thought, in my opinion.  If the average thought provoking piece of literature is "food for thought" this book was enough sustenance to provide for a small starving third-world nation.  

The eight chapters prior have given a structure for acknowledging the less effective "thinking" or practices that we participate in and allow to effect our lives.  They also begin to layout the groundwork for what and how to change in order to live more efficacious and powerful life.

In chapter nine we examine the idea of owning responsibility for everything that happens in your life.  It is important to acknowledge the risks that we take and their importance, but also that without taking those risks, we would live without the rewards which comes with the outcome of those risks.  This chapter also speaks to the idea that we need to allow the things that happen in the pass to be processed and then left in the past rather than owning space in our present lives. 

Chapter 10.  In effort to pull all of these considerable ideas into one coherent plan of action we take in our role in laying out and carrying out a framework for which to follow. 

To sum up the book, I want to just comment on the final chapters.  The authors point out the importance of disassociating ourselves with the “us vs. them” mentality and putting focus on our ability to give concession to our connections and then go beyond and look at the places where we can foster those connections.

Life is defined by the experiences we accumulate.  I have a new appreciation for the title of this book.  There is an "art" to creating possibilities is our lives.  If we limit those possibilities than we are limiting the depth and breadth of our lives.  If we are not living life to it's fullest than what purpose are we serving.

Week 4 Comments - Tracy Bockler

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Wk4_Reading_Assignment_Blog#1

Okay, I have agreed with most of the sections of this book up until now. I have to put my foot down on the Being the Board chapter. To a certain extent, yes, we need to take responsibility for the known risks we have put ourselves victim of. Take for example you decide to build a house on a flood plain as in the example in the book, you should not be devastated and blame others for the declaring yourself an unwilling victim of a known risk. However, we cannot always foresee the future, and sometimes, bad things happen to good people. I will not twist the situation so that I will somehow blame myself for every situation. It just might be someone else’s fault.

When you are in a position of leadership and you assume responsibility for failure at some level; I get that. I am the Yearbook Advisor for the district and try to allow the students as much freedom of responsibility and creativity as possible. However, when push comes to shove, the District will not blame or fire students; it will be the teacher that will feel the conviction. I am upfront and honest with my students while they choose every opportunity to put off their chores to make sure the Yearbook is completed in a timely manner. I call myself the Queen of the classroom and it has sent the appropriate message.  Time will tell.

Week 4 Reading - The Art of Possibility Part 3 of 3

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate,

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous—

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people

Won’t feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.

It is not just in some of us: It is in everyone,

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously

Give other people permission to do the same.

--Marianne Williamson

I find these words very motivating. So many times students, and adults, settle for mediocre just so we don't stand out and make anyone else feel overshadowed. But if everyone allows mediocre to be okay how will we ever have anything better to offer anyone. Nelson Mandela & Martin Luther King, Jr. stand out as profound men who surpassed the expectations of others, not because they were any more talented that those around them but because they were willing to stand alone and help those around them dream. If we can engender this kind of inspiration among our students, imagine what could result.

Week 4 Reading - The Art of Possibility Part 2 of 3

A Young Boy Dreams Big Dreams about What Lies Beyond
by Ken Bosma

There's so much possibility in childhood that sadly often get's ground away through time, frustration, responsibilities, and disappointments. I appreciate the Zanders' idea of possibility and how broad that can be when it's applied throughout life.

After such atrocities of the South African apartheid or the holocaust, or modern terrorism throughout the world, it's difficult to imagine a world where the person is separated from their horrific actions to participate in the community, and doing this without removing any responsibility from or assigning any blame to anyone. The result them becomes discovering what it will take to move forward for the best outcome of the community as a whole.

Week 4 Reading - The Art of Possibility Part 1 of 3

Board Game Night
by Geoffrey Fairchild

The idea of being the board is one that I struggled with(still kind of do) and it's a good thing the Zanders didn't stop with the initial description because there was no way I could take it at the first introduction. The idea of being the board seemed like giving up all personal control and relinquishing others of all responsibility. But as I continued to read it became more apparent that they meant that for us to each look at the situation honestly to discover our own part in the current events. Sometimes there are things that we can change that may have contributed to the unwelcome outcome and other times it's just acknowledging and accepting the risks that lead to that point. And since we have no real ability to control the thoughts or actions of others, it's our own that we have to assess, even if the other's involved never choose to do so. There's so much freedom with this approach.

Week 4 Publishing/Leadership Project - Think Out Loud Part 2 of 2

After going back and forth, and still not sure this is the best option, I've decided to take the option that will allow for wider expression and requires more risk on my part.


I'm confident in my ability to write and present my ideas in a way that will be understood but I think that there's more possibilities through a presentation.

In looking through the different conferences to choose where to submit for presentation I choose the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education (SITE). The first reason for my choice is a practical one - of the conferences I researched it's one of the few that are currently accepting proposals for presentations. The second reason that I would like to present for this conference is the wide audience that it reaches. Although my research has been focused on middle school students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), I believe what I've learned can be helpful to students of all needs and abilities.