MAC Week 4 Reading - The Art of Possibility, Chapters 9 - 12

Photo by Flickr user t0msk

This week I was hit smack dab in between the eyes by Chapter 9, "Lighting the Spark." I've been burning the candle at both ends with work, the EMDT program, and the school musical, which opens next Friday.  On top of the Publishing and Leadership Project, I had grades due on Wednesday, and tech week rehearsals.  Needless to say, I'm about ready to flame out, especially since the kids in the cast have been flaking out and missing rehearsals.

I've grown very frustrated with them for over-committing themselves and with myself for poorly managing my time.  To top it all off, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer last week as well, so my stress level was at an all-time high.

Now, I'm not telling all of you these things so that I can have a pity party.  My purpose is to illustrate why I may have lost sight of my passion recently.  But, when I read this chapter, it reminded me of why I do the things I do, and that means all the things I do.

The steps for this chapter's practice were outlined on page 126 as:

1. Imagine that people are an invitation for enrollment.
2. Stand ready to participate, willing to be moved and inspired.
3. Offer that which lights you up.
4. Have no doubts that others are eager to catch the spark.

I've been so self-involved lately that I've only been doing step 3, offering what I'm passionate about to those around me.  But I've learned that when you do that without the readiness to be inspired by others or with the expectation that you are among a hostile audience, then you will burn out rather quickly.

I love what this chapter has to say about approaching our students.  I know that I'm very much different in my presentation style when I teach to one of my classes that is not as receptive to my subject that I am in one of the others that has students with more enthusiasm.  And the students recognize these differences as well. This leads us to feed off of each other's energy in a vicious cycle that only leads to frustration.

So, with this in mind, I'm heading out this week to begin a unit on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, put the finishing touches on the Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, and kick start month 12, all with the expectation that if I sparks a fire in me, others will soon catch the spark, too.

MAC Week 2 - Comment 2

Screen capture from Danielle Miles' post, "Leadership Project Continued"

Danielle's original post:

As I try to wrap my head further around the idea of presenting at a conference, I have been doing a bit of surfing and searching of the web.  My goal was to get a feel for what types of conferences are available, what sort of timeline I am working with in terms of applying and scheduling of details, and to see who these types of conferences are geared toward.  I came across some pretty valuable information and thought that I might share. 

I found a site http://www.theconferencecalendar.com/  that offered the following information:

Media Literacy, Greening the Classroom & Designing the 21^st C. Classroom

San Antonio Texas

June 20^th-24^th

http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/Workshop_Schedule_Location.htm

The San Antonio Summer Institute is a five day event that combines our Media Literacy, Greening the Classroom and Designing the 21st Century Classroom workshops into a seamless, relevant and comprehensive learning experience.

Summer 2011 Teaching with Technology Workshops

Cambridge Massachusetts

June 23^rd-August 5

http://www.edtechteacher.org/workshops

Inspiring Technology Integration Ideas with Acclaimed Education Technology Leaders

Breakthrough Strategies to Teach and Counsel Troubled Youth

Lake Oswego, Oregon

October 13^th-14^th

http://www.youthchg.com

Learn how to involve troubled and challenged youth in learning. This class explains the challenges

that children can face, and how to effectively teach and assist those youngsters. Participants will discover how to best integrate challenged youth.

33^rd National Media Market

Las Vegas, Nevada

October 16^th- 20^th

http://www.nmm.net

The National Media Market (NMM) is a non-profit organization that brings together 
content providers and professionals involved in the use of media in teaching and 
learning. From K12, to public libraries, to colleges and universities, NMM and the 
participating companies support the development of all types of libraries as 
learning communities of the 21st Century.

So all in all I am off to a good start.  I am still a bit nervous about the process particularly with the actual proposal.  But as always, when I let go and let our very capable and informed professors guide us through the process, I do just fine.


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My comment to Danielle:

Okay, Danielle, looking at your "Free Choice" blogs for the past two weeks makes me feel very, very behind on the Publishing/Leadership project.  But, thanks to your posts, especially this one, I now have some resources to start working with.

Thanks for sharing!