Week Four: Blog Post - Presentation/Leadership Feedback

In sharing my project idea with a classmate and colleague of mine, I was very pleased with the opportunity to share with someone who had seen my ideas, and someone who was hearing and seeing it for the first time as they had different opinions and focuses to share with me.
The feedback to consider that I found most helpful was to include more visuals to help convey the information. As we discussed the possibilities for sharing the presentation, if I could add video that could be uploaded to WordPress, that would be great to share a mini example of what a video podcast could do as a "Math PD on the Go!"
I really like that idea and am going to see if I can add the video without having to pay WordPress to upload a video.
Secondary feedback was to extend the slideshow to organize it more by the outline of the suggested components which I think makes more sense from an organizational perspective.
Content feedback is very positive and seems to reflect a learning cycle that my colleagues think is clear and concise and resonates with their personal feelings about their own math professional development experiences.

Week Four: Blog Post - Project Update

I have been pretty concerned about all the different ways we have been asked to share our AR project.  I am not sure the need for the Leadership piece which seems to be another way to say the same thing.  I see and feel the value in doing action research however, the rigidity of the webpage design has been stifling to me and I feel as if I have had to sacrifice the process to suite an inflexible time frame for due dates that clearly interrupted the cycle of data collection.
I would suggest to use a backwards by design method for creating a process that takes into consideration the school calendar when asking for tasks that don't consider the time of year etc.
That said, learning is never a "done" process, so here's to learning what we can!

Week Four: Reading Post: Chapter Twelve - Telling the WE Story

Well, its over!  I feel like to some degree the idea of WE used in this practice speaks to the possibilities now that we are coming to the end of this program.  There are clearly possibilities ahead and choosing to take advantage of them with a stronger sense of confidence, is certainly something we are poised to do.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and appreciate the practices outlined.  I now hope to be able to integrate them into my own life and choose my destiny.

Week Four: Reading Post: Chapter Eleven - Creating Frameworks

Inventing the frameworks that define the possibilities of our lives is yet another nice connection to the previous practice.  It is a sense of empowerment that we have a role to play in all aspects of our lives particularly in counteracting the pull of a "downward spiral" with the "force" of possibility.
It is actually a great mantra to aid in building self-esteem and living a healthy life that puts the focus on the possibilities.  I really like each chapter more than the previous which is very surprising to me!

Week Four: Reading Post: Chapter Ten - Being the Board...

This book continues to engage me in a lot of self-reflection. I very much enjoy the style and examples used by the authors throughout the book.
I found this chapter to be really about the fact that life is about making choices and we are all ultimately responsible for the choices we make.  We choose whether we have a "good day" or not by the messages we send ourselves. We choose the way we want to be.  I liked the connections to ourselves being the "framework for everything that happens in our lives."

Week Three: Blog Post: DB Comment 2

Week Three: Blog Post: DB Comment 1

Week Three: Reading Post: Lighting a Spark

 Practice nine, Lighting a Spark revisited a familiar focus of an earlier chapter by thinking about how music can ignite a passion and move people to action.
Music does play such a significant role regardless of genre in people's lives.  It has the ability to lift spirits, restore hope, put a voice to fear, quiet the soul, redeem, excite, and console.  Music is a spark that can be instrumental in changing lives.

Week Three: Reading Post: Giving Way to Passion

Often we hear the phrase, "just let go."  This notion suggests that we are aware of what we are holding on to.  I am not convinced that that is true.  Recognizing what is right in front of us at anytime seems to be very subjective and therefore, letting go, is as well.
This chapter focuses on two steps to giving way to passion that do entail noticing what is holding you back and let go and allowing yourself to be a channel to shape your passion into a new expression for the world.  These ideas make me think about the bottom line that "you choose" your attitude and therefore, your destiny.
Being able to be reflective and responsive to your own needs is a life skill worthy of attainment.

Week Three: Reading Post: The Way Things Are

Chapter 7 provides an interesting question centered around how we think about the way things are around us.  This question may seem ambiguous at first, but as you read the chapter it becomes more clear that it is actually quite a provocative question.  As the authors continue to do in this book, the obvious questions are have not so obvious answers.  Thinking about how you respond to the situations that present themselves and whether or not you see them as an advantage or disadvantage to your day, is totally up to you.
I enjoyed the examples from the movie, Babe to illustrate the point of the chapter.

Week Two: Blog Post: DB Comment #2

Week Two: Blog Post: DB Comment #1

Week Two: Reading Post: Rule Number 6

Out of this entire chapter, the phrase, "its own pure expression," stands out as the big idea for the chapter, if not the book. I liked the definition of the calculating self as it relates to the part of us born out of the "measurement world." The calculating self as a part of the whole is that part of us that is actually ill-prepared to be measured, compared, over-looked, disappointed, ignored etc. although society tries to convince us to the contrary.
I think the point of this chapter is more about deciding on the "who" we are as it relates to us, not so much as it relates to others.  We ought to be guided by our own pure expression, the true essence of who we are.  The game that was shared "The Best _______ Ever," is a very interesting exercise in defining what the "best" means to us individually in whatever context we decide to make it.  This idea goes along with the previous chapters in terms of being self-aware and defining yourself.

Week Two: Reading Post: Leading from any Chair

Leadership is born out of inner greatness.  Everyone has inner greatness.  True leaders do not need to lead from the head of the table, but rather can sit in any chair and by empowering others, leads behind the scenes. It is indeed a skill to both recognize others strengths and let go of the need to be the "one" who knows.
In this chapter, the example of the author's experiences with being a conductor of an orchestra is an effective illustration of leading, empowering, supporting and all from a place of recognizing that by building up others, it elevates the entire team no matter the context. I believe that being a true leader means you can indeed sit in any chair.

Week Two: Reading Post: Being a Contribution

I continue to really enjoy this book.  Being a contributor is so important in all aspects of your life.  The distinction between the degree of, or scope of, a contribution is not as important as being a contributor to your own life and lives of others.
I resonated with the authors idea of "tasks ahead of us to accomplish and landmarks to achieve." This is a statement reflective of spending too much time in thinking, talking or deliberating about the obstacles that we fail to make progress by moving at all.  A connection between this chapter and the EMDT program is that each course has been dependent on individual contributions that have evolved into group cohesion.  Building a relationship that has an expectation of contribution encourages and invites collaboration and helps to feed what makes us all feel like a contributor.

Week Two: DB Post #3 - Podcasts

Week Two: DB Post #2 - CD Ownership etc.

Week Two: Blog Posting #1: CD Ownership etc

Week One: Post: Comment to Margaret

Week One: Post: Comment to George

Week One: Reading Post: Giving an A

I loved this chapter! I have always questioned the letter grade system used in our educational system. With my 4th graders, I refused to give letter grades on their report cards after I had done a great deal of research on the effects of letter grades on learning. The author uses a great example in the opening of the chapter by asking about the hardworking student's reaction to be give a C in what appears an arbitrary process in the example. I have followed the work of Rick Stiggins, Anne Davies, Tom Guskey, and Alfie Kohn who have all contributed to my current belief about grading. I do not believe that we do teaching or learning justice by summing up a collection of work by attaching a letter grade to it.
I am a huge proponent of formative assessment. I believe that descriptive feedback that is timely and provides the receiver with what was noticed that worked well (met criteria) followed by suggestions on how to address areas that did not successfully meet the criteria and provides the learner time to use the feedback to modify their work.
I really enjoyed this chapter and am very excited to read the next!

Week One: Reading Post: A Universe of Possibility

Again, I am drawn to consider that this book is speaking directly to the paradigm shift happening as a result of access to information. So much more is possible today then even 10 years ago due primarily due to access to information. It is not so much about the gadgets that allow access as the fact that within minutes we are able to communicate, research, discover, invite, see, hear etc. on any given topic which broadens knowledge and supports learning. The possibilities are endless and are ever-changing given our drive to continue to expand our collective access to information. I enjoy the writing style of the author in this book. It really encourages reflection.

Week One: Reading Post: It's All Invented

Living outside the box. That is an expression I have heard a lot and used myself in different contexts. As I have been reflecting on this program and in response to chapter one, I am trying to decide what the "box" is? In order to live outside the box, it would be important to be able to define the box itself. While this may seem deeply philosophical, I do think it is relevant due to our changing society.
Media technology is changing the box. I propose that there are now many boxes that we may each live in depending on circumstance and we may try on different boxes in order to determine what box is the best fit before finally choosing our box.

Week One: Blog Posting #2 - Classroom/Presentation Solution

As the owner, operator and chief operating officer of Math Matters 2, my consulting business, I have had to purchase all of my own equipment. Most recently I purchased an Epson wireless projector which I absolutely love. I am now awaiting my iPad!

Week One: Blog Posting #1 - Classroom/Presentation Solution

As posted on FSO:

I have had the unfortunate experience of not having the correct connector for the laptop to connect to the projector. This caused quite the panic and if not for the fast thinking of the school’s IT person, I would have been really stuck! I prepare now by having a copy of my presentations on my mobile me account to be able to pull onto any other computer.