Filed under: Change Agent, Modeler | Tags: cpchat, Modeler, Personal Learning Networks, Risk taking, Social Networking
On my recent trip to New York I happened to see the Naked Cowboy in action. He seemed very comfortable in only his hat, underwear and boots and he was putting on quite a show. He’s obviously quite the extrovert and performer and I could not help but think about how comfortable he was exposing himself to thousands of strangers. It got me thinking about how much I’m willing to expose about myself online with blogging and social networking tools. While I may have been timid in the past, I actually find myself becoming more comfortable exposing myself online. My thinking is that it will offer a wider audience some insight into my thinking and personal life.- Write assuming your boss is reading.
- Gripe globally; praise locally.
- Write for edited publications.
- Write out of goodness.
Filed under: Instructional Leader, Leadership | Tags: Conferences, Educon, Learning, Personal Learning Networks, Professional Development
Photo by assorted stuff
I had the pleasure of attending Educon 2.4 this weekend at the Philadelphia Science and Leadership Academy (SLA) and I was not disappointed. I went because I’m passionate about conversations on learning in today’s world and to gather ideas on how to organize a first-class learning experience. Graded will be hosting the Innovate 2013 Conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil January 19 – 21, 2013 and our planning is underway. So, why is Educon such a great learning experience for participants?
- SLA truly is a special place where all members of the community have a common vision and they are focused on learning in today’s environment. There is a solid foundation in place and they are continually working on improvement. The learning is connected to today’s world, students work on real life problems, they create for a larger audience, and the community is tight. They are walking the walk.
- Educon attracts educators who are passionate about their work to make teaching and learning relevant for today’s students. The presenters are excellent and the participants take the conversations to a higher level. Everyone can be challenged during the weekend. Pretty amazing that so many leaders in this field attend since everyone pays their own way.
- The two panels were on Innovation and they brought in a diverse group of experts to present. The fact that the first six weren’t educators was plus. Imagine hearing from the following people.
-
- Dan Barcay – Lead Software Engineer, Google Earth
- Alex Gilliam - founder, Public Workshop
- Zoe Strauss - artist, photographer, innovator.
- C. J. Taylor - Professor, U. Penn GRASP Robotics Lab
- Phoenix Wang – Co-Founder, Startl
- Moderated by Dr. Frederic Bertley – Vice President of the Center for Innovation in Science Learning, The Franklin Institute
This type of opening was much better than having one person as a keynote.
- The structure provided participants with 90 minute sessions and time in between sessions for conversations. Friday was an excellent time for visiting the school and starting up conversations.
- Participants were eager to meet new faces and to develop relationships. This is not a conference for those who want to sit alone at lunch. You have to be prepared to mingle with new friends.
I have to thank the SLA Gang for creating this wonderful learning experience and we hope that the Innovate 2013 Conference can offer South American educators a similar experience.
Filed under: Change Agent, Leadership, Visionary | Tags: change, Creativity, Future, Learning, OK Go, Personal Learning Networks, Scott Klososky, sharpening the saw, Vision
“Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.”
Walter Lippmann
I’ve had the luxury of not working this school year and It’s been the best sharpening of the saw that I can imagine. Today I’ve been contemplating creative thinking and how excited I get about letting my mind wander to create new ideas (at least they’re new to me). For people like me I have to really work at being creative and it takes time to put serious thought into something, scanning the work of others who look at things differently, and exercising the right brain.
Want a few ideas that may light a fire under you creative juices?
1. I occasionally pull out Fredrik Haren’s book, The Idea Book, when I need to exercise my brain. The book “inspires creative people to be more creative, and It teaches uncreative people how to develop their creativity.” It’s full of quotes, exercises and space to write down thoughts. Use it to come up with 50 ways to use a brick, develop a metaphor for your idea, think of 50 different solutions to a problem, invent new words in order to invent new ideas, do the opposite of what people would normally do, and much much more.
2. I wasn’t able to attend ASB’s Unplugged this year but I’ve already taken a look at Scott Klososky’s presentation on Creativity and Innovation. 
I’m somewhat familiar with Scott’s work and I love his forward thinking approach. Want some ideas on how to develop your next outstanding presentation? Take a look at his slides. He uses excellent design principles. I only wish that I was there for the entire session.
3. Tonight I watched these two music videos by OK Go with my children. My son said that he loved the video even though the music was OK. I love imagining the planning sessions that led to these two very innovative videos.
This to Shall Pass by OK Go
Here it Goes Again, by OK Go
What do you do to develop your right brain?
I want to find visuals/photos that match the motivational quotes that I’ve chosen to put on notecards that I can use in my school. This seems like a very good exercise to get the juices flowing.
Filed under: Instructional Leader, Leadership, Modeler | Tags: Educational Leadership, LeaderTalk, Learning, Personal Learning Networks
Initially posted on LeaderTalk.
If so, keep this feeling in mind while you read this post.
I love the idea of LeaderTalk and think that the group has some very talented and knowledgeable individuals posting daily. I also know that I have been focusing hard on developing my posts each month and spending very little time commenting on my peers’ posts. It seems very possible that I am not the only one doing this each month. I recently went through the last 20 posts and found that there were a total of 44 comments. When doing the math consider that one of the 20 posts received 9 and another 8. I also noticed that post are not happening daily, as planned. We all know that the small number of comments is not due to the quality of the ideas that are being shared.
I’d like to suggest that the assignment for this month (and future ones) be that, in addition to our monthlhy post, we comment on at least 2 of our peers posts. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach in her 21st Century Learning blog highlights the importance of members of the PLP receiving responses to their posts.
“As the community leader you should make sure in the practice posts and introductions that 100% of member posts get a response from you or someone else. The thrill of getting a response encourages more participation.”
My guess is that all of us can relate to the ‘thrill’ that she mentions and we can probably agree that more comments lead to more learning, excitement and a stronger learning community.
Feel free to comment!
