Wk4 Publishing-Presentation Project

Image taken from computer screen.

Wow! I can't believe I've come this far. Graduation is really around the corner!  I'm almost done, and I am glad I accomplished one of my resolutions for this year. Well... I did accomplish more than one, but this is the most important for me. In spite of the roadblocks and unexpected situations, I feel very proud of having finished my CBR project, and better than that is to have finished my article for the Journal for of Technology and Teacher Education (JTATE). It's the whole CBR process put together in words and I love it! I hope  the JTATE publishes my article, and include it in their Digital Library (EdITLib), but if they don't,  I have decided to share it with the school district I worked for in the last six years. They have shown interest in sharing it with all the teachers in the county through their technology resources website. For those interested in reading the article, go to:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tqxLlsWt7PZHSNZe9l49X2VpdbU1TcohuVQmyfJd1vI/edit?hl=en_US
My previous "Think Out Loud" blog links are:
http://fary72001.blogspot.com/2011/10/wk-2-think-aloud-ppp-weighing-pros-cons.html
http://fary72001.blogspot.com/2011/10/wk-3-think-aloud-ppp-2-definitely.html

Wk 4 Comment #2

Sharol,
I love your sentence "...at times we have to learn not to point the finger at others but to accept what our role may have been in the situation". That's what we all learn to do since we are children: to blame someone else instead of looking into our hearts and take responsibility for our mistakes. As teachers, we are usually the guilty ones, and parents seem to support their children instead of correcting them.

Wk 4 Comment #1

Rosalynn,
In your blog you said : "A teacher's attitude can definitely play a role in the attitudes of their students", and I couldn't agree with you more. The way we deliver information is the key to a successful lesson and engaging environment. I've observed teachers that spend hours preparing their lessons, but when it comes to present it, they lack the enthusiasm they put in their preparation. I also see myself in this right now: I've been going through very tough times, but I set up my mind for success and exhibited that when I saw my middle school students for the first time this week (after I had been on a leave of absence for six weeks). They got engaged quickly and my classes ran smoothly. :)

Wk 4 Reading: The Art of Possibility (9-12)

This is the last part of my blogs regarding this interesting book...
9. Lighting a Spark: "Enrollment is the art and practice of generating a spark of possibility for others to share." As teachers, we may encounter  students who shut themselves to new learning, who let their weaknesses take over their strengths, so we need to let them know that we are giving ourselves to them and to their learning with a world of possibilities, and soon they' ll be ready to catch that spark.

Image taken from www.freedigitalphotos.net

10. Being the Board: " I am the board on which the whole game is played,  I am  the framework for everything that happens in my life". This is a hard one. I do not agree with it a 100%, but this is what I take away from it: as citizens of the world of measurement, we all tend to put the blame on someone else  instead of embracing the situation, and reflecting on how we can make things different next time. If we see it this way, we will soon be immersed in a world of possibilities, and when a similar situation arises, we will know how to face it and how to make a difference.

Image taken from www.freedigitalphotos.net

11. Creating Frameworks for Possibility: "Restructuring meanings, creating visions, and establishing environments where possibility is spoken." When trying to find a solution to a problem, it is a good idea to reconstruct the situation in  different ways, to picture it, and to create a new scenario/setting that will activate new possibilities or results.
12. Telling the WE Story: In the world of measurement where everything is divided, we see an "us" and "them", but in the world of possibilities we focus on the "WE" as a whole entity seeking to contribute to that world, to seeking to share passion, to think outside the box, to embrace the environment, to construct instead of separate, and make things fall apart...

Wk 3 Think Aloud PPP 2: Definitely publishing...

Image taken from computer screen.

My exploration of different journal sites is over. It wasn't easy, though. I checked here and there, keeping in mind the content area I teach. However, after reviewing the guidelines of the publication assignment, I noticed I had some misunderstandings. I spent a long time checking journals for language learning and technology, but my CBR target group was composed by teachers in different content areas, not just Spanish, so I had to restart my exploration, this time focusing on my CBR big idea and development of my project. Again, I came up with three possible journal sites, so I went ahead and  explored those very carefully taking into account submission/ publication guidelines, their audience, and online availability, and I finally decided to go with the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, which will also allow me to submit my article to their digital library. This way, my colleagues and everybody interested will have access to my research if they have an internet connection and will not have to wait for a physical copy to be in their hards.

Wk 3 Comment 2

Kris,

Your comments on accepting things the way they are, reminded me of our vacation in Orlando last spring, we never expected to have so much rain that week, but we decided to go with it, and we had a good time. Walking in the rain in Downtown Disney with my family is something I'll never forget, especially now...

October 14, 2011 7:41 PM

Wk 3 Comment 1

Lania,
I felt the same way when reading chapter 6. I thought of colleagues that seem to get the best out of any unexpected situation, and who always remind us at work we can't take everything so seriously. We need to find a balance, especially when it comes to our professional lives if we deal with different groups of people, and... "at the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities." (Jean Houston)

Fari