MAC Week 4 Reading - Chapters 10-12

"Your past is part of your destiny. One cannot exist without the other, no matter how good or bad the past was, it plays an active part in your final destiny"(Moore, 2007).

Instead of focusing on just one chapter in The Art of Possibility, I have decided to reflect on the entire book. The last three chapters are amazing, especially if put into light of the entire book. Everything from giving every person we meet an 'A' to the teacher that willing shaved her head to identify with the child recently having undergone chemotherapy, all comes down to connecting. Every person has a past, a present, and for an undetermined amount of time, a future. My childhood can be summed up in no less than one word, horrible. But it was that past that influenced my young adulthood and how I related to others. In my late teens, I had an uncontrollable temper. It is not something I am proud of, but it was all I knew in the modeling by my parents. As I matured and started to think about marriage, I didn't want my temper to be something my husband or children would one day reflect upon... so I started the slow and tedious process of eliminating it from my being. Many of the concepts presented in this book is exactly the ones I employed, but my frame of reference came from the love I felt from my Heavenly Father and His word.

My kids are now 28, 29 and 30... and if asked about my temper, they would laugh. The few times I did get angry to the point they would remember, they all agree they deserved it. Amongst us, there are only 2 episodes that we can remember. Changes we make to our character are never easy, but they can be done. My students at school find my class very relaxing, but disciplined. It is a safe haven for them. Would I go as far as shaving my head for a student that was be ridiculed? Probably. Do I have a Vision and a Mission? Yes, and they are easily distinguished. I have a framework of possibilities for my students, my family and myself. Do I have a Mission? Yes, but it is for me alone, as I cannot dictate the mission of any other person. We are all connected, we all have a past, a present and an unknown future. The possibilities are endless, we are the ones to create the limits. Dream a dream with me...

Moore, B. (2007). Esther; It's tough being a woman. Life's Way; Nashville, TN.

MAC Week 4 - Response - Sam Turner

Friday, March 26, 2010
Overload
Now what do you do to make yourself have major stress overload? Well first you start with major revisions to your final thesis draft that is due at the end of a week. Then you sprinkle in work where your company is starting the process of rolling out a brand new service and having a vital role in the whole process. Now for the cherry on the top of this dessert, you get a text telling you your dad is going in for emergency surgery late at night only to be awakened to be told that he died on the table. You ask are you kidding, and when your told no I wish I was he did not make it. Your life becomes a huge train wreck. Next thing you know your having to plan a funeral, finish the rewrite of the thesis and stay strong at your regular job.

I highly recommend to everyone trying this method for your own sanity. All kidding aside, if not for a strong wife behind me, I would have gone crazy. I just hope that my thesis does well upon its review.
Posted by The Precog at 9:40 PM
Labels: Death, Funeral, Job, Overload, Sam Turner, Thesis
1 comments:

rebbiej said...

I think that we all have had months in which it felt as though we were destined to fail, quit, or just plain 'lose it'. I am thankful that your wife has stood beside you and given you the needed support. It is good to be able to express all that is happening in our lives because it permits us to allow the healing to start and to put everything in perspective.

I am praying (seriously) for your family and that all our theses will accepted with no major revisions. Hang in there... one part of your stress is about to be greatly diminished!
March 27, 2010 8:22 AM

http://www.faithclipart.com/category/prayer-clipart.html

MAC Week 4 - Free Choice - Jamie Oliver

During the last 11 months, classmates have seen or heard just as many references to the My Pryramid via my required projects. I recently received an email informing me that Jamie Oliver, a famous chef in England, was awarded the TED award for his work in public schools. He is currently working with schools in Huntington, WV (fattest city in America) in trying to completely overhaul the current breakfast and lunch program. The main complaint being supplied by the schools is time preparation, finances and cooking food the children will eat. Not to mention the negative attitudes of the cafeteria workers!

Jamie goes out of his way to show the amount of sugar and fat that these children are consuming in a short period of time. While the kids could recognize pizza, chicken nuggets, etc... they had no idea of a tomato, potato or any other vegetable. Jamie goes as far as to show a select number of students what they are eating in process foods. He has a whole chicken that he cuts up, making a pile of the good meat and one of all the left overs; including skin, muscle, fat and bones. He puts them through a blender to make a paste and asks the kids which is the good meat and which is not good. They answer correctly, but the moment he puts paste into patties and covers them with cornmeal, as they watch him prepare it, he asks who would eat that stuff. Every single student raises his/her hand because it is now in a familiar shape. The work that Jamie is trying to do here in the US is to be applauded. It also adds validation to the work I will be doing as I introduce nutrition for the first time to the first graders in my district. Quite a bit to think about!

MAC Week 4 - Media Project

I can't believe I have completed the FSO journey to the end of Month 11 and am about to start on Month 12. I was so nervous about my Media Project... the topic, what it would entail, how would I create it, etc. But with it completed, and knowing that I will be actually submitting the link to the Springfield School Board members within the next week, shows me the journey has been worth it in so many ways. Meeting the needs of my students has always been my goal, and there is the real possibility that one more may be met as a result of my project! An official request has been emailed to me requesting to submit the link as soon as I am able. The intention is to supplement the current student course guide for those entering ninth grade and offer a female-only TV production course. I was concerned the district would create a Word Document course, not something as challenging as what has been hinted. My project is the deciding factor... and it all started with a request to present at a board meeting. It is a small step, but it is one that I have played an active role in initiating.

MAC Week 4 - Media Project

While my site will be quite different by Tuesday night, the URL to access it in its very incomplete state is:

http://web.me.com/rebbiej/Springfield_School_District/Welcome.html

Feedback is greatly desired... especially in the tab Titles... I can't seem to figure out the right names. These are just place holders right now :)

Week 3 - Response to Brian Cobb

Wk 3 Reading - Beware of Ice


I just read the story about skiing and trying to avoid ice. I couldn’t help but relate completely. I have learned to ski in on the East coast and there is definitely ice at times. I have mentioned in an earlier post about my experiences when learning to snowboard, and how taking hard falls affected my snowboarding from a mental perspective. Some of those hard falls were from trying to slow down on ice. We all know that ice is slippery and can make us fall. With this knowledge, our first reaction is so slow down; we try to fight the ice. Only after a few relentless struggles, do you realize that simply gliding over the ice is WAY easier than trying to stop or slow down on it. Zander (2000) says, “Mistakes can be like ice. If we resist them, we may keep on slipping into a posture of defeat.” I think this is great advice. It’s so easy to let failure keep us from achieving our goals. The important lesson is to learn that mistakes and failure is a natural part of the learning process. When I lived with my parents I was in charge of cutting the grass. When I would use the weed eater, our dog, T-rex, would try and bite at the rotating wire on the end of the tool. This frustrated me to great lengths because I kept stopping the weed eater knowing it would hurt the dog if he got close enough. T-rex was persistent, though. Every time I started it back up, the dog would attack again. My dad saw the predicament and said, “Let him bite it; he’ll only do it once.” This time I let him bite it. T-rex let out a yelp, realized his mistake, and found something else to occupy his time. My dad is a man of few words, but those words are usually nuggets of wisdom.


image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/justinbaeder/177984894/

source: Source: Zander, R. S., & Zander, B. (2000). The art of possibility (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Posted by Brian Cobb at 7:06 PM
1 comments:

rebbiej said...

Brian,
Your Dad was indeed a man of wisdom! Fighting ice is a losing battle as I found out a couple of years ago when I slipped at school, which resulted in surgery on my knee. But, I also think that sometimes we need to stop BEFORE we get to the ice and see if there is better way to handle things before they get out of control. Mistakes are only beneficial if lessons are learned. A famous Edison quote when referring to the light-bulb after over a thousand attempts, "I did not fail, I found 1000 ways it will not work". We need more of that mentality when dealing with students... to change the idea of failing, to a way not doing something, but to keep on trying until success is met. So many of my young learners do not know what it means to every succeed, unfortunately :(
March 17, 2010 5:55 PM

MAC Week 3 - Free Choice - Joe Bustillos Blog

As I was considering what topic to reflect upon, I once again wondered different sites and pages to see if anything inspired me. While some reading was interesting, mostly I read things in which I have already forgotten. Thus proving each topic was not worthy of a response. I then went back to Week 3's Blog requirement page and saw that Joe had a blog of his own, entitled, 'Education Re-Examined'. I appreciate that Joe participates in projects freely, while the majority of EDMT learners are writing for grading purposes. As I watched the different videos (Mary Screaming...she is going to get teased from me tonight on FB, the new Educatium Blog, and the now famous 'Gotta Keep Reading' video) and read several blog entries, I was impressed in so many ways.

Joe, the photography skills you possess is amazing - I felt as though I were at the school as you captured this exciting moment. Of course, I have watched the video at least 25 times, and have sent it on to my administrators (before it made onto Oprah), but there is still something to be said of a moment in time being captured in a still photo!

To view the productions of former students gave me an affirmation to the possibilities that lay before me as graduation draws nearer. I keep asking myself as May 7th approaches, "Now What?" "I will have this degree, but what can and will I do with it?" "Do I feel confident enough to talk to anyone about have a degree in technology?" "Does anyone really care what I think and how I feel?" I am finding I need to dream before the reality may occur.

If you have not checked out Joe's blog (http://joebustillos.com/category/education-re-examined/), please do... you are in for a fantastic treat!

The instructors that I have been privileged to learn from over the past eleven months boggles my mind; Michelle Haynes (2Xs), Lisa Smith, Kathy Craven, Dr. Siegel (2Xs), MLT Beth Strudgeon, Dr. Deason and Dr. Gibson, have all stretched me in more ways than I can imagine. Now to have Joe Bustillos and Sue Bedard guide us to our goal, all I can say is, 'THANK YOU'!!!