When I began thinking about my project, my son had started going to Vision Therapy to help with his ADHD and Dyslexia. At that time, Vision Therapy was new to me and something I would call a bit "out there." I had a lot of questions that needed to be answered. As I began researching, I found that vision accounts for 80 to 90 percent of all information a person takes in daily. As a teacher, I have studied about Multiple Intelligences and how each student has a different way of learning. So, learning that vision is where the majority of our information comes in was a new concept and one that I wanted to learn more about. This past year I have been working for the same doctor that my son was going to for Vision Therapy. The doctor was an invaluable source for my research. I began asking myself what would happen if there was an alternative way educators could help students with learning difficulties become more successful. Therefore, I created a Prezi presentation, Vision: The Missing Link to Learning, to help bring about awareness of vision related learning problems.
In my Week 1 Leadership Post, I wrote about my thought process in deciding why I want to write an article instead of giving a presentation. In my Week 2 Leadership Post, I contemplated which two journals I would submit my article in hopes of being published. My Leadership Document brings all of my research together in one document.
It is my responsibility to awaken the possibility
in other people. I like the way that sounds! I find that I have certain people
I go to when I need encouragement and just someone to listen to me express my
thoughts and feelings out loud. I am pretty sure that I have friends that come
to me when they need the same thing. Listening is very important to help others
see the possibility right before them. I get very excited when I get the
opportunity to do just that. But, shouldn’t I be doing that with everyone I
meet? Do I do that? If I am being honest, I will have to say no. The first
people that come to mind are my children. Are their eyes always shining? Do I
awaken possibility in them? No, I don’t always. Why? Because I take my desires
and myself too seriously! Downward spirals are everywhere at times. I need to
start saying, “How fascinating!” every time my children/people and I make
mistakes. I need to begin to use the words – How about? What if? What are we
looking for? What’s next? More often! Zander says, “The leader is the one who
can distinguish the downward spiral and then has the power to take people from
the downward spiral to radiating possibility.” That is my new goal for this
year! I want to empower people to radiate with possibility, to have a vision.
How do I do that? I will use Zander’s key:
1.It’s
all invented.
2.Standing
in possibility.
3.Rule
#6 – Don’t take myself so seriously.
I watched an interview with Roz and Ben. This is
what Ben said at the end:
“Possibility
is always only one sentence away. Whenever things get tough or difficult or the
mountain seems too high climb, remember that possibility is always only one
sentence away. So, come up with a sentence and think what it is we can say and
physically manifest that will take us into possibility. It can be something
very simple. It is always there. You can never fail to find it.” Zanders Art of Possibility Introduction
The Art
of Possibility: Transforming Professional & Personal Life
This week's Wimba Archive for MAC was a great summary session on all the readings and videos for copyright and fair use laws and guidelines. As I took the quizzes, I had to really read to make sure I chose the correct answer. Some were tricky in the way that they were worded. Out of the videos, the Disney video explaining copyright/fair use was my favorite. This review really helped solidify some of the points on which I was shaky.
The leadership portion of Wimba was very helpful in giving me guidelines and lists to follow to make sure I am completing everything I need to do for next weeks Wimba session. The best advice was to look at other articles within the publication to see the style in which articles are written. This will be a great help as I continue to write my article for submission.
Chapter 1. It's All Invented: How can we think outside the box we live in? What assumptions are we making that we're not aware that we are making? What might we invent that would give us other choices? The connection I’m able to make from the information here is the practice that I use frequently in my classroom. I ask students to think, to dissect, to analyze, to interpret, and to question. I ask them to not immediately assume that they know the answer, just because they’ve read it on the Internet or heard their parents or peers verbalize it. I ask them to question, to pick things apart, to be curious, and to try to see things from many different angles before they form their own opinions. As you might guess, this is a challenge for many adults, not to mention eighth graders! Chapter 2. How are your thoughts and actions a reflection of the measurement world? Because we live in the “measurement world”, it is sometimes difficult to step away and view things in a different light. Personally, I struggle to view things in the black or white, the right or wrong, or inside or outside of the boundaries. I think the thing that saves me is my mantra: I don’t have to have an opinion about things that don’t concern me. That doesn’t mean I don’t have an opinion about important things – it just means that I don’t have to get overly excited about things that don’t directly impact me. It makes my life much simpler! Chapter 3. Giving an A: Giving Yourself an A. There are many messages to be taken away from this chapter. So many, in fact, that I’ve been struggling to decide which is the one I should record here. Reading the stories embedded in the chapter has given me cause to reflect over some past relationships, and come upon some realizations of my own. Without going into personal detail, suffice it to say that I could relay a similar story to nearly every one in the chapter. I love the concept of giving yourself an A (maybe it’s recognition, maybe it’s forgiveness?) and moving forward with your life. This is a concept I want to practice! Chapter 4. Being a Contribution: How will I be a contribution today? I shared this story at some point with a previous instructor, but will share it again, because I think it is a great example of touching one person, of being a contribution to the greater good.
I used to teach at an alternative school in Seattle, grades 6-12. Students were required each year to complete a community service project. One eighth grade girl, Whitney, struggled to find a passion, a project, and a placement. We went back and forth with ideas for weeks. After one particularly frustrating discussion with her, I was on the ferry, on my way home. I happened to sit beside a woman who had a guide dog with her. The dog was really a pretty playful puppy, who I tried desperately to ignore. With permission, I petted and played, and conversed with the woman. She told me about the guide dog program she ran, and how she was having trouble finding people to raise dogs until they were ready for guide dog training. As we departed the ferry, I really didn’t give our conversation much more thought.
The next time I saw Whitney, I was braced for yet more “I don’t know”, and “I don’t want to do that”, and “I don’t like that” conversation. We were sitting near a window, and a woman walking some sort of puppy happened to walk by. Whitney immediately smiled and pointed and started talking about puppies. The light bulb went on in my head, and I mentioned the conversation I’d had on the ferry with the woman about guide dogs. Whitney immediately and excitedly wanted to know all about that type of program. We looked online, found a contact number, and sent her home to talk to her mom about the possibility.
In the weeks that followed, Whitney and her family attended informational meetings about raising guide dogs. “Laurence” was delivered to them about a month later, and became a permanent fixture in our classroom. He attended school daily, and Whitney could not have been more proud and pleased to have found this service project. In the years that followed, the family raised and delivered Laurence and multiple other dogs to be trained for guide dog service.
Whitney wrote me an email a year or so ago, and thanked me for “turning her on” to guide dog raising. She recounted how difficult it had been for her to step outside of her comfort zone and actually do service for others. She told me she loved me every time her family got a new puppy to raise, how they all secretly hoped the puppy would fail training so they could keep it, and how she hated me every time they surrendered a dog for training.
In this case, I guess my contribution is showing someone else how to make a contribution. I love it when I reach in and grab students by the heartstrings!
Doing anything with an 8th grader is challenging!! But, it is great that you already have them questioning and being curious. That is the only way they will truly learn to break the barriers that they have. That is an interesting philosophy you have. I’m not sure I ever thought about it that way or that I completely understand exactly what you are saying. I asked my husband about this. He feels the same as you do. He says he can’t handle thinking about everything that is going on in the world around him because it would make him too worried, nervous, and unfocused on what he needs to do and take care of. Chapter 2 was about expanding our view and opening up to new possibilities. Your story is a wonderful example of this and one of contribution. The impact you had on Whitney’s life and the life of all the Visually impaired people is great. Even though those people may not directly affect you personally, you affected them personally.
Wk 2 Reading Blog Post: The Art of Possibility (1-4)
This weeks reading
is in regards to chapters 1-4 within The Art of Possibility and Benjamin
Zander’s TED presentation. While viewing Benjamin Zander, I was completely in
tune with what he was proclaiming. What I came away with from watch the TED
conference with Mr. Zanders is that possibilities are endless if you open up
your mind and allow yourself to be vulnerable to change. He utilized a famous
musical piece by Frederic Chopin to demonstrate how any possibilities could be
influenced by the smallest spark of imagination.
Within chapter one
in The Art of Possibility, the premise is as an individual, you must
keep persevering because you may unlock another dimension to your thinking.
Possibilities become available when you break through the barriers that have
been pre-installed into your thought process.
Within chapter 2 of
The Art of Possibility, this chapter discusses the points that the
universe is made up of new possibilities and there is not just a standard
answer for something. Everything must be reinvented because there is a
different way of looking at it.
Chapter three
discusses that we as human beings must not approach and interact with others in
such a way that we judge them on our standards. Give everyone the same
justification, the highest possible grade; an A. If we do this then we are
giving that person the possibility to be the best that they can be, based on
themselves, not by our standards or anyone else’s. This chapter was really
enjoyable to read because being a first grade teacher, we as educators often
place a grade to measure our students. As a society, maybe we have this wrong.
Is it possible for educators to implement a better way of measurement that
aligns with the achievement standards in which we have set in place for our
students?
Chapter four goes
through how an individual can be less self absorbed and more influential to
those around them. Some people understand this to be important but are unaware
of how they can go about this dramatic change. For you, you must accept the
fact that you ARE a contribution, not just simple an option for someone.
We all make a difference.
It only takes a small spark to start a fire. As educators, I believe it is our job to give our students that small spark. Maybe this spark is what Zander is seeing in the shining eyes of the people in the audience, his orchestra players? Breaking through our preconceived barriers is the hardest task - speaking for some of the students I have taught and myself. Did our parents put those barriers in our heads or just being part of the world around us? Or both? That is an interesting quandary. If everyone stayed within the barriers of his/her own mind, we wouldn’t be using this Mac today or have Internet. Those individuals broke the barriers set before them and challenged themselves to see beyond what was in front of their face and what they were being told. That is exactly what all inventors, researchers, and pioneers in any field have done. I do believe there is a better way to measure the achievements of our students than the ones we use now. Like you said, how do we go about changing that? They are not going away any time soon. But, we can teach our students, children, and world around us that they don’t have to stay within those barriers. We have to show them how.
For my
leadership project, I have decided to write an article for publication in a
journal. I have searched through Dr. Bedard’s list, and I have narrowed down my
choices toJournal of Teacher Education, andJournal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. The
Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) is leading teacher education
through the 21st century with timely topics such as field experiences and
teacher education; cognitive science and critical thinking; preparing teachers
for urban schools; teachers' beliefs; accreditation and certification;
selection, retention, and recruitment of minority teachers and teacher
leadership; perspectives on leadership; professional ethics in teacher
education; and restructuring teacher education. The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy is the only literacy
journal published exclusively for teachers of older learners. Each issue offers
practical, classroom-tested ideas grounded in research and theory. Because my
AR Project deals with vision and learning, I am looking for a publication that
will bring awareness of vision-related learning problems to educators, if my
article gets published.
I had a teacher in an undergrad class that told a
story about her English class. The students were having a hard time “thinking
outside the box.” So, my teacher, with permission, took away all their desks
and gave them a box to sit on. They could have their desk back once they
started thinking “outside the box.” It took some students longer than others,
but eventually, they all started thinking of different possibilities for
writing stories or any type of work they were doing in any subject. She said
this was a very empowering tool that she gave those students. The question I
have asked myself for years is, “Who made up the standards we hold to in life?”
Why do I tend to use them to measure my success in anything? Aren’t I different
than everyone else? Shouldn’t my success look and feel different than everyone
else’s? The Art of Possibility answers all of these questions. It is up
to me to determine my success. I need to give myself an “A” and go from there.
I see the world differently than those around me and vice versa. What Zander
said in the TED video really struck a chord with me (ha-ha). It is my job to
awaken the possibility in other people, my children. What I say makes a
difference in other people’s lives. When I was teaching, I knew that I was
getting through to my students when I saw the spark in their eyes or, as Zander
puts it, shining eyes. We need to break down the barriers the ‘world’ gives to
us and teach our students that we are the ones that put limitations on
ourselves. Teach them that there is no limit to possibilities and then watch
them soar.
This reminds me of what my son’s doctor told me
many years ago. My son was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia and he thinks way outside the
box, so far that I would have to retrace his thoughts to get them to line up so
I could understand what he was saying/thinking. I asked his doctor once if he
would ever be “normal.” He told me, “How do you know that he isn’t the normal
one and everyone else is not?” Hmmm…
The whole notion of copyright and fair use has been clarified through this week's reading (3 sets of videos), but has also further muddied my understanding of what I am able to use as an educator, how much I am able to use, and how concerned I should be about using something created by someone else. There is a sense of unease that always comes with using photos and film clips and other materials that you did not create. That sense of unease frequently causes me to underutilize materials in my presentations, both for this course, and in the education of my students.
What I better understand is the definition of copyright, and how I can use copyrighted information. I understand that in order to use material created by someone else, be it text, video, still images, music, or even dance, permission needs to be obtained. Fortunately, with fair use, I can "borrow" small portions of materials to use with my students. (I am still very unclear on what small portions really means.) I also know that it is critical to credit the original creator whenever possible. This is the biggest issue for my students - they think that if something is on the Internet, it is available for them to use. Use often translates into copy, and they really struggle to understand the difference.
Having said this, I do appreciate the last set of videos from this week's assignment. I appreciate the Creative Commons notion - that in this information rich Internet age we live in, there exist agreed upon guidelines that do carry the weight of the law.
As mentioned in the videos, Creative Commons falls somewhere in between "All rights restricted" and "public domain". If all information were clearly labeled using these guidelines, it would be less difficult to determine whether or not I am able to use the information, for example, in a lesson for my students.
This coding system will also help me better educate my students as to what information they are able to use for projects, as well as their personal uses.
Paula, As with any newly acquired information, it will take reading and rereading that information and correctly using material to learn how to efficiently use copyrighted material before we feel comfortable. I know it will take me a while to understand all the information that we have learned about this week. I don’t feel it will be an easy task. “Muddied” is a good way to explain my understanding at this time also. Although, some issues are clearly, such as what is legal and not legal to use, what can and can’t be copyrighted, and what Fair Use is about. A small portion? Does that mean less than half? I think we need more information on that one. I do feel it is very important to educate our students on copyright laws. You are correct about their mentality concerning anything on the Internet. Now I know how to show them and tell them the correct way to use any material that they did not create themselves. That is a good feeling!
For my leadership project, I have decided to write an article for publication in a journal. I have based this decision on a couple of factors: conferences for the summer have already started, and more research needs to be completed on Vision Therapy and the role it plays in learning. The chance that my article could be published would bring awareness to a wider audience. Hopefully, that would lead to more people becoming involved in researching and accepting the validity of the connection between learning and vision. I have seen first hand how important Vision Therapy is to help students and adults become more successful in school, at work, and in their everyday lives. This will not be an easy task for me, but I have found that I have a stronger writing ability that I wasn't aware of until I started the EMDT program. I will have to take it one step at a time. But, isn't that the way to do anything?
"If you can create it, then you have the right to protect it and legally claim it as your own." This is the legal definition of copyright. So, what does it mean? Well, any copyrightable materials are works such as audio, books, artwork, plays, movies and videos. Only the owner has the right to use and reuse his/her work without permission. I was surprised to learn that dance can also be copyrighted along with movies, film, and music. Are Michael Jackson's moves copyrighted? What about MC Hammer? I can think of a few others, but I'm sure you get my point. A copyright for a company lasts for 100 years and a lifetime plus 70 years for an individual owner. That is quite a long time. It seems that copyright is all about money and not about creativity. In Brazil, artists are more interested in becoming popular by allowing their music to be mixed and played at large parties and clubs. If the audience likes the music, the artist will be able to perform in a concert where he/she can make some big money. In the US, pirating and mixing music is a crime. What does that say about our country?
As an educator, we are not covered by the tag, "All images, clips, and audio captured are intended for educational use only." As stated in the videos I watched, if I can remove the copyrighted material and still teach the lesson, then that usage doesn't fall under the Fair Use umbrella. I would have to obtain permission from the original author or owner. With fair use, I can borrow a small amount of copyrighted work for teaching, news reporting, parody (comedy), and critical comment (Walter Cronkite type of stuff). Fair use is only a legal defensible position, not a right. I have to follow certain rules as with everything else. In short, how I use it and how much I use. It is very important to remember to always give credit to the original creator. Creative Commons (creativecommons.org) is a great place to look for this type of material. On this site, you can find all types of works that you are free to use as long as you site the source and give credit. Symbols of the creative commons license inform users how they are allowed to use the work. The owners are giving us permission to use their work in different creative ways instead of stifling our creativity. I really like the TED talk by Larry Lessig. What caught my attention the most was what he said about John Philip Sousa. What great foresight Sousa had about where our culture was headed, from a Read/Write society to a Read/Only society. This is so true in many areas. The kids of today are trying to tell us that they want to be allowed to have the right to be creative in any way they choose, but it is our job to teach them the correct and legal way in which to express their creativity. I feel confident that now I am able to do just that.
I worked with Posterous Spaces for my RILS project. I created a blog site for bringing awareness to Vision Therapy. My goal was to have several contributors that would post at least two times and comment on other posts. Adding the contributors was easy and Posterous sent a pre-written email giving instructions on how to sign up and then how to post. I asked four people to be contributors. Only one person followed through and posted once. Posterous did not make it clear that the person would not be able to see the post until I, the administrator, accepted the post. Once I accepted the post, it was visible to the public. Not having the other contributors follow through was disheartening, but I certainly learned a great deal from this experience. I had also created a Google Form to be filled out and submitted, but only the one person completed the task.
Another issue that surfaced was the fact that I wasn't aware that I needed to have written documentation to use the clinic's name on my site and that the other contributors needed to fill out other release forms besides the one's from Full Sail. WRENCH! WRENCH! WRENCH!
After discussing these issues with the Dr. and his wife, we decided that this blog site would not work for the audience I should be targeting, teachers. Therefore, I will be deleting this site and creating a new one dedicated to teachers and vision therapy awareness within the classroom setting. The sight will be a Q & A blog site where I will post questions and the doctor will answer them. Teachers will be able to leave comments and ask other questions. The doctor's wife had some great ideas on different possibilities we needed to look into. One of the possibilities is having a Webinar once a month on different aspects of vision, vision disabilities, good vision hygiene within the classroom, and many more. I have decided that I like the WordPress platform better than I like Posterous Spaces and will be creating the new blog there. I am more excited now for this new direction than I was before even though my RILS project crashed and burned. I will keep you posted on the progression of my revamped RILS.
Brief Overview: This learning scenario is designed to introduce the learner to a Posterous Spaces as a blogging site. This Community of Practice blog will be dedicated to bringing awareness to Vision Therapy.
Target Audience: My target audience will be contributors to my Vision Therapy (VT) Posterous Community of Practice blog.
Materials:
Computer
Laptop
Internet Access
Log In for Posterous site
Objectives:
At the end of this scenario, Contributors will be able to:
1. join my VT Community of Practice blog site.
2. create a presence on the site.
3. respond to prompts or discussions at least two times.
1.Ask contributors to join the Vision Therapy Posterous Community of Practice blog site through email.
2.After confirmation of contributors, email the link to Posterous site.
3.Contributors will gain access to the VT Posterous Community of Practice blog site.
4.Contributors will join the community by logging in and creating an ID and password.
5.Contributors will then respond to prompts or a discussion topic posted on the site.
6.Contributors will post their response to prompt or discussion.
7.Contributors will respond to at least two prompts or discussions.
Web 2.0 Tool:
Posterous Spaces is a personal online Web 2.0 tool for sharing. It provides a safe and easy way to privately and/or publicly share and/or collaborate any content the user desires.
Social Participation/Social Learning:
Collaboration will occur throughout the whole scenario as contributors post responses to prompts or discussions on the Vision Therapy Posterous Community of Practice blog. Contributors will have numerous opportunities to share and comment on the blog site.
Making Connections:
a)Contributors will use their experiences with Vision Therapy to answer prompts or discussions on the blog site.
b)This site will allow contributors to share relevant content and experiences with the online community.
c)This blog will be a public blog allowing local and global audiences to comment on posts.
The contributors will respond to at least two prompts or discussions on the VT Posterous Community of Practice blog site.
Assessment:
Learners will have joined the Posterous Spaces Community of Practice blog site, set up a presence within the site, and responded to at least two prompts/discussions or posted their own entry. I will also use a rubric.
Assessment Rubric:
Element
Yes
No
Joined Community of Practice blog site
Set up a presence within site
Responded to at least two prompts/discussions
Reflection:
Contributors will respond to prompts and/or discussions on the Vision Therapy Posterous Community of Practice blog site. Their posting will demonstrate their knowledge and experience with Vision Therapy. Contributors will also reflect on the effectiveness and ease of use of Posterous by filling out a Google Form Survey.
The administrator of the blog will monitor and respond to the posts and comments of contributors. The administrator will also reflect on the effectiveness of the blog according to how many contributors posted responses to prompts and/or discussions. The administrator will take into consideration the responses of contributors through the completed Google Form Survey. Changes will be implemented according to findings.
Google Form Survey
Posterous Spaces is a great tool for starting an online Community of Practice about any topic.
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