EDU 653 Week #7

Entry #1 Twitter Deck Revelation

About three weeks ago I was asked to be one of three teachers at my high school to attend several training sessions of Marzano's Art & Science and Teaching.  As a future mentor teacher that will have to explain our district's new observations processes, I was a little hesitant to accept the invitation for two (pretty good) reasons: 1) my wife has a scheduled c-section on Monday and I am hustling to have this class and my other Masters class wrapped-up before child #2 arrives; and 2) I find myself a terrible student when it comes to sitting in 8-hour session with my lap top in front of me.  It is said that teachers often make the worst audience.  We chat, we grade, we lesson-plan, we update our planners, we make lists, we text, we check our email.  We do just about everything except focusing on the task at hand.  Knowing these two incontrovertible facts about my own lot I accepted, knowing full well that several day-long sessions at Marzano conferences were not only good for me, but also good for my students.

The thing is, I know I'm always going to get something out of such events...It's just the fact that it's summer vacation, I have other big commitments and I'm not thrilled about sitting still for 8 hours (especially if it's 80 & sunny).  For the non-educators that say, "hey - toughen up, we work everyday all week long."  To them I reply, "you chose your profession and it's perks, and I chose mine."  Either way, I accepted the invitation and somewhat reluctantly packed up my lap top for a day of being "professionally developed".

I was lucky enough to be seated next to one of my mentors and former coaches.  This is a guy that has his stuff together.  He's a fifth grade teacher, runs triathlons, travels all over the country with his over-achieving soccer-star daughters and manages to run a very tight ship in the classroom.  I respected him as a coach and I have the utmost respect for him as an educator.  After about two hours of diligently sitting & learning and soaking-up the content we were given a ten minute break.  Instead of getting up immediately we instantly began sharing ideas that had popped into our heads during the training.  I shared a few neat little websites like Read/Write and Addicted2Success and he shared with me the benefits of the Chrome Store and finally "TweetDeck."

As aforementioned, I was a reluctant passenger on the Twitter train.  Once I got on, however, I have been addicted to it to say the least.  However, I was not getting the most from my social networking and interactions as I was to find out.  In our ten minute break he showed me how TweetDeck allows you to see the features you otherwise cannot see all at once on your phone, iPad or just the regular Twitter website.  You can view your home timeline, you interactions, your messages and activity all on the same "deck".  In my view, the deck is a living, breathing and constantly updating resource.  From one spot now I am getting updates on wrestling events (I am a varsity wrestling coach and fanatic), world news, education articles, updates from family & friends, links to quotes & interesting articles and of course the musings of such people as Bill Gates, Wes Moore and Joe Scarborough.  All the while I can see instantly who "favorites" or "retweets" my content AND what other activity is going on in the "twittersphere".  It is incredible tool that I look forward to exploring and will extol the virtues of any time.

Thanks Matt!

Entry #2 Four Things To Learn from Tech
A Response to Addicted2Success blog by Ryan Greives
(Click Here for Link)

One of my "go-to" sites right now is Addicted2Success, a very forward-thinking and introspective site that provides daily motivational quotes, inspirational articles and tips from all kinds of professional big-whigs.  I love it.  I follow Addicted2Success on Twitter and nine times out of ten I stop to read whatever they post.  It's usually short and sweet and provides a "punch" of inspiration.  

The latest article by Ryan Greives, "4 Things That Tech Can Teach us About Success", is a brief yet very interesting article.  Greives uses experiences we all have with technology to address and apply to our own success.  

He contends that like the iOS/Windows/Android debate, we too must "identify our own belief system" and then move forward.  He asks the reader, "Have you selected your belief system?" He even lends a few biblical quotes for the reader's ponderance.  Then, he states in regards to "Big Data" that the reader should "assess your current habits and results".  Greives states that to get where we want in life we must look at what we're doing and find out whether it is moving us toward our goals or away from our goals.  He relates "Outsourcing" to "focusing on your strengths".  One could relate such a notion to 'delegation' which may be one of the toughest qualities to adhere to as a leader (or aspiring one).  Lastly, he equates "Apps" to "don't wait for an opportunity, create one".  He quotes Lincoln to drive home his point, "The best way to predict the future, is to create it." 

I am obliged to say I enjoyed the tech comparison considering my involvement in my educational technology pursuits.  Beyond that I can relate the four-part lesson to my own life.  I believe in constant reflection.  In practice, after each marking period (9 weeks each) I reflect upon what has worked and what has not.  After wrestling season I sit down for dinner with my coaching staff and we bend our elbows and reflect upon our season - what did we do well, what can we work on?  The end of the year is perhaps my most in-depth self-reflection as I spend a day or two thoroughly thinking about and looking at my performance and my student's performance.   I actually plan out my next year (loosely) during the first few days after school.  

And so, doing things like "identifying my own belief system" and "assessing my current habits and their results" are all a part of the development process.  "Focusing on your strengths" and "creating opportunities" are part and parcel to moving forward, inching towards your goals.  Navigating the waters of life, making the journey, requires many things and among those are the aforementioned strategies.  Doing so, recognizing the need for such strategies, is just a cog in the wheel of forward motion.  

Greives suggestions for what we can learn from "tech" is an apt distillation of important life lessons.  Reading about said lessons, and reading them often, is helpful indeed.