Wk 4 Thinking out Loud #2: This is it!

At first I thought the best place to present my findings and perhaps spur other instructors to motivate and engage their students would be the Garland ISD District CATE Conference. So that's the one I submitted. It got shot down :~)

Then thanks to prodding from Dr. Bedard, and realizing that maybe others may want the input of a lowly masters candidate, I discovered the Texas Industrial Vocational Association http://www.tiva.org. 


TIVA is a state conference (think tank) held twice a year where instructors and business professionals from every industry come to discuss ideas, learn about new legislation, and network. So, I called and the Executive Director is sending a call for presenters to me! This should be interesting!


Wish me luck!!

Educational Philosophy = Life Philosophy

Everyone can learn! It’s just a matter of finding out HOW the student learns. But it’s also about: what happened the night before, on the way to school, during lunch/recess, in the classroom.  It’s about providing a safe zone. A place that the students feel understood. They can answer a question or offer insight without worry of repercussions. Some would argue that students have changed. They have, but not in the way one might imagine. Their vocabulary has changed. The way they dress has changed. The things they do on their free-time has changed. But they still have a burning desire to learn. Not regurgitate. Learn. They still have a burning desire to be respected. To feel understood. To feel like someone out there cares that they are here.

Wk 4 PLP: I FOUND IT!

Please take a look at my presentation https://files.me.com/jalxeller/m45ftl
let me know what you think.

[From TIVA's website] "TIVA is the professional organization for Career and Technical Educators certified in  Trade & Industrial Education. TIVA participates in activities that assist in the professional growth of our students. Teachers are kept abreast of activities that affect their lives through regular email updates, newsletters and postings at http://www.tiva.org. Two conferences are run annually in the summer and winter where workshops, specialized training, mentoring and networking opportunities are primary objectives. Advanced certifications and TEA accredited activities dominate the organized activities occurring during both of these week-long conferences. A key to the success of the conference training is the wide spread involvement of industry leaders and instructors in the training sessions and workshops. TIVA is also the proud sponsor of the Manny Contreras Teacher Scholarship and the SkillsUSA-Texas student scholarships.  TIVA is a member of the Texas Career and Technology Council (TCTC) that unites all Career & Technical teacher associations.  We are the key state advocates for Trade & Industrial teachers and sponsor several state-wide awards as well as work to promote our teachers for key national teaching recognition. One of the highlights of the year for teachers and students occurs during our SkillsUSA-Texas Day at the Capitol in Austin where TIVA arranges to have the students sit in the Texas State House of Representatives and conduct a mock legislative session."


So, I called the Executive Director, Linda Holcomb, and she has agreed to let me do a late application to the July conference. If I can't get on the schedule for this one, she will reevaluate for the Mid-Winter, January 2012, conference.

http://jalxeller.blogspot.com/2011/06/wk4-thinking-out-loud-where-would-i.html

http://jalxeller.blogspot.com/2011/06/wk-4-thinking-out-loud-2-this-is-it.html

Wk4 Thinking out Loud #1: Where would I like to Present?

I would love to be able to share all of the tidbits I have gleaned through my research regarding the positive impact Career and Technology Education has on my target audience of Title 1, high risk minority students at the District Level CATE Conference prior to school starting.

With all the budget cuts, I feel presenting to the front-line-in-the-trenches instructors that teach the various CATE programs for Garland ISD at the kick off of our school year would boast the morale of our teachers and offer positive reminder of why we work in a Title 1 district.

To Present or to Publish that is the question!

Sooo, I'm trying to decide if I present at a conference or publish to a journal. I'm actually leaning toward presenting at our Kick off the school year Garland ISD District Career and Technology Educators conference. With all of the research I have done reflecting the positive aspects of what CATE classes do for our target audience, maybe just maybe, I can spur another teacher or two to become acclimated to the idea of being the board and framework. Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could get some of the burned out dinosaurs to being a board.

@Nancy

http://web.me.com/nmadrigal/EDM_613_Madrigal_Nancy_Blog/Week_4/Entries/2011/6/20_Wk4_Reading__Melodic_Life.html#

I love the title of this blog "Melodic Life". It is so, well, you!
Your view of how the book "The Art of Possibilities" is so uplifting. Like you, I really enjoyed the ideas that by "buying" in to the Zander's ideas will bring a more peaceful existence in not only my life but, I hope by living the example, to my students. Maybe even bring a little peace to their choatic lives.

@ Ali:

http://aliweinreb.blogspot.com/2011/06/week-4-free-choice-ron-smith-interview.html?showComment=1308616535705#c3318605723745623716

Ali,
I totally agree with the idea of creative freedom. But in order to get creativeness out of your students you also have to create a learning environment where your students feel "safe". Safe to be themselves without ridicule from classmates. A zone where everyone has the right and ability to discuss inner feelings. That is critical in our arena.
I can't wait til you get your own classroom! You, my friend, are going to be awesome!

week 4 reading: WOW!!!!!

What new fun building techniques to bring in to the classroom with the new school year!

I love the idea of being the board. I've never been a "finger pointer"; I've always tried to be an analyzer. Try to figure out what went right or what went wrong. But the Zanders put it in to perspective for me with the idea that if I "blame" something on a situation or person, I lose the power or the ability to change it.  When I truly become “the board” I not only remove any stumbling blocks in my way, I also present no obstacles to others.

I grew up in what my parents called the “Me Generation”. I used to think of it as a cut down, but what I am thinking now is that I am in fact part of the “Me Movement”. It is all about ME. I am the one on this journey. But I also have a “bus driver” that takes me down various roads. Each road allows me to grow if I open myself up to it. Which brings me to another amazing insight in that I am the framework for everything that happens in my life but there is something bigger than me that is the builder.

The Zanders are AWESOME!

This book is amazing! I love the simplicities of weaving and working around and through human nature. One take away is the idea of “conducting from any chair”. Next year, I am reworking my curriculum to include an active presence of my senior Practicum students. This year I set the bait. I already know who my Practicum kids are and took all of them aside and explained that over the summer, I wanted each of them to think about an area of Graphic Design and Illustration and the Print Imaging / Printing Center that they would like to become a Subject Matter Expert (SME). When we come to that area in the Advanced class, the SME will conduct that class as a Silent Conductor. This will accomplish two things: 1. Give them a sense of ownership in the Print Imaging / Print Center. 2. Give them a deeper understanding of what it is like to conduct a training session.

I am also going to introduce Rule #6 as a diffuser not just for my students but they will be able to invoke Rule #6 on me as well. Part of my personal goal(s) is self -understanding. I try very hard to NOT take myself to seriously when interacting with my students. Sometimes, things escalate. By giving my students the capability of telling me “Ms. E. Rule #6”, it will do a couple of things. It will give my students some needed control over a portion of their lives and keep their learning environment, at least in my classroom, a safe zone. And it gives them the ability to remind me that I am not omni-important.

I love the idea of Cosmic Laughter! We have a choice in life. We can either accept the way things currently look OR we can look beyond it and find the good in the situation. Being a teacher in a Title 1 school, I do this each and everyday.  I look past the “gangbanger” attitude and find the real person behind it. Once I’m there, awesome things happen.

@meg: You are AWESOME!

http://hippiemii.blogspot.com

@megan:

I never pictured you for a living within the rules kinda gal :~)

What I hope you took away from “Give yourself an A”, is that it means you are an awesome person. You are an ABSOFRIGGENLUTLEY wonderful teacher. My hope beyond hope is that you don’t give up on it just because of a closed minded administration!

@ali_Yeah Baby! You are dead on!

http://aliweinreb.blogspot.com

@ ali: I knew you would pick up on this one section, “Michelangelo is often quoted as having said that inside every block of stone or marble dwells a beautiful statue; one need only remove the excess material to reveal the art of work within.” And your summation mirrors mine so well. That is what I get out of teaching. Being able to see my students the first day of class and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that by the end of the year, I will have seen a block of granite turn into the beautiful statue hidden within the gruff exterior.

Wk2_ Project of the Week: Really Cool Website! I think.

I've really enjoyed getting into the website project. I'm pretty proud of how it is working.
If you get a chance go to http://web.me.com/jalxeller/Site_2/Welcome.html and check it out. Please tell me what you think.
All the work is either videos that I have produced or work that my students have produced. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I have the best job in the world!

Opportunity is PIP!

Perception

Interpretation

Perspective

Why is it that there are two kinds of educators?

Ones that perceive their students as the enemy? They’re out to get me.

The others perceive their students as wonderful individuals. They’re our future.

When I first started teaching, I ate lunch in the Teacher’s Lounge with my colleagues. As a new teacher, I thought this would be a great source of information on classroom management and a better understanding of our Administration. I quickly decided to eat by myself in my office. I found that the more I listened to the burnt out naysayers the more it affected the way I interacted with not only my students but my Administrators as well. I didn’t like who I was becoming.

It was like I was living chapter 1 in the book “Art of Possibilities” by the Zanders.

I was listening and watching my colleagues stuck in this jack-n-the-box persona. They stayed in their little rut (their box) and periodically would jump out and interact with their students only to go back in. I put up a poster in my room that says “Think Outside the Box”. When I get into a little funk, I look at that poster and think OK how can I turn this situation in to a positive. And you know what? It works! The green fog funk blows away and I see clearly again. I also looked at my colleagues and made some observations. One very important one that I found in the naysayers was that they weren’t willing to find out what makes our student body tick. They were letting their observations of the gangbanger style cloud their perceptions of these young people. So, again I found ways to get to know my students. And you know what I found out? Under all their brave bravado were a bunch of scared young people (did you know scared, as in I’m afraid, and scared, as in I’ve been hurt and I’m not going to let someone else in that will disappoint me again, are the same spelling. How apropos is that!)? .

So, now we look at the possibilities. These children are our future. Do we nurture them as creative, beautiful individuals or lump them into one group? I know what it’s like to be lumped into a group- the teenagers. I choose to look at each one of my students as an individual. So, when I have this student that is always thoughtful, respectful, do anything he can to help stand up in class after an assignment has been made and tell me in no uncertain terms where I can put that assignment I can look at him and know that he is hurting and lashing out at the one person he can count on to love him unconditionally. I could have chosen to call security or given him the understanding that he needed. I choose the later. BTW, that student came to me the next day and asked to talk to me. We went out in the hallway. He started crying (this young man is nose guard on the high school football team) and telling me that the night before, he was trying to protect his mom and little brother from the mother’s boyfriend who was beating the mother. He didn’t know why he lashed out at me but he was very sorry.

@ Ali:

http://aliweinreb.blogspot.com/2011/06/wk1-reading-copyright-issues-part-1.html?showComment=1307074032211#c2612744007404737331

Ali,
I'm a bit surprised that you don't have a problem with people pirating music but you do with branding. Isn't it the same thing? You talk about the problem in NYC about the purse/wallet ripoffs and how you can understand how the designer and the branding company should go after the street vendors. I guess that's your graphics background coming in to play. I wonder how someone like Charlie would feel if someone pirated his music without attribution or restitution.

@ Megan:

http://hippiemii.blogspot.com/2011/06/week-1-reading-copyright-issues.html#comments

Megan, I agree with you up to a point. However, there are people out there that are remixing and using bits and pieces of movies and images for a profit without giving proper attribution. I describe it like this to my students. One of my students makes a really awesome piece in Illustrator and I put it up on a site. A Creative Director is surfing and finds this piece and decides to use it in an ad campaign. After all, it's just a lowly high school student that created it who would believe the student vs a successful CD. Then you have the remixing going on in Brazil. They say the "artist" doesn't make a profit. I don't know to many people that are going to spend that much time on something just to share at a concert that has 5,000+ people attending.

Wk1 Fair Use: When, where, how????

As a teacher in the CATE area of Graphic Design and Illustration and Print Imaging, Fair Use is a subject I've always wanted clarification on. And the summary of "Fair Use, if you are teaching a unit, can you teach the unit without the copyrighted material" was an eye opener.

One of my student's favorite projects is an introduction to Adobe CS5 Photoshop and delving in to possible career paths within the visual arts industry. For this unit, I take a head shot of the student. The student has to find a picture of someone doing what he/she would like to do within the industry and find another picture where they would like to do this career. They have to combine all three images in to one single seamless image. One that the viewer would look at and not be able to tell that someone didn't just happen along and take the picture. At first glance, a copyright advocate may look at this unit and say that the two pictures the student finds on the Internet are infringement. In my mind, I think that I can not send the student on a scavenger hunt to find a person doing what they would like to do when they graduate. Nor can I send a student to wherever they would like to do this career. So, am I safe? The student is using a partial of two different pictures plus one that I took. AND it is for a teaching assignment where the student is not going to make money off of it.

One of the resource videos that we watched really made me sad. It also brought home the point that some Fair Use, specially in the preservation of historical events is necessary!

Wk 1: Free Flow

What an amazing journey! I have made it to month 11, almost unscathed. It has been a hugely fast paced, eye popping experience.

What I have been truly amazed at is the way each of the Course Directors has maintained a sense of community in an online class. Part of my CBR project is looking at ways I can use long distance learning (LDL) to promote engagement and motivation for my students. Some my wonder why would be a viable option in high school. My thought is, they have never been involved in the lives of Title 1 students. For clarification, in Texas, a Title 1 school is made of high risk, minority male and females where at least 70% are on free or reduced cost breakfast and lunch. For most of my students these are the only meals they get each day. On the weekend, I shudder to think/know what/if they are eating. I have approximately 90 students in my program. Of those 90, some are mothers and fathers. Some work from 10:00 pm - 6:00 am then come to school. Others are in jail. I view LDL as a way to keep those KIDS, yes they are still 14-19 year old young adults, connected to me which equates to being able to engage and motivate them to graduate from high school.

I really look forward to taking what I have learned, the experiences I have had and incorporating them even further in to my curriculum.

MAC wk 1 reading: To Copy or Not To Copy?

That is a big question in today's society. Teaching the "instant gratification, I'll-take-what-I-can-get-without-ramifications" generation Graphic Design and Illustration is an interesting task. And Copyright Infringement and Fair Use is a big part of that equation.

One of the first units I teach my students is about Copyright, Fair Use and Plagarism. My students come to me with the idea that it's already been done so I'll just take it redo/remix it and call it mine. Which sedgeways' into an eye opening discussion that starts like this. Pedro, what would you do if Luciano pirates $1,000.00 from you? Pedro says Luci wouldn't pirate from me. And I tell him, you know that flow you came up with in class the other day? Pedro says yeah. Man, that was some nice work. And I told him you know I was surfing on YouTube and I saw Luci and his posse doing the same flow but added a couple of beats to it. Your name isn't anywhere on the video as the original musician. Now, Luci tells me a record producer saw it and wants him to do it on a CD. The Producer says he's going to make Luci rich. Now, did Luci pirate $1,000.00 from you?

This takes us down a journey of understanding by determining who owns what. If we create it we can protect it. Why do we want to protect it? Because it’s money in our pocket! It doesn’t matter if it is a flow made in class, an illustration made on the computer, a play written for English class. If you create it and someone wants to publish or buy it, you should get compensated. I then ask my class, how many of you have CD/DVD’s you got off the Internet? Naturally, most raise their hands. I then explain that by pirating that piece, you have now committed a crime. You have stolen money or the livelihood of that Artist.

Dan Glickman of the MPAA boiled it down to the idea that the founding fathers of America wanted to protect creator’s rights. If you create it, if someone else wants to use it, you should get compensated for it.

The Internet has opened up a whole new arena for theft. The Pirate Party in Sweden would have us believe that the sharing of information should be unrestricted. That this sharing of information doesn’t hurt anyone. I can agree with that mantra to a degree. However, when that information is a piece created by someone else AND the hosting site is making money off of it then restrictions should be in place to protect the creator and the production company. The bottom line of piracy is that it is affecting the bottom line. The video “Good Copy Bad Copy” really brought this home to me when they stated that annually, $7 billion dollars and 1,000s of jobs are lost because of piracy. I think next year, I will add this little tidbit of information to my discussion. Of course giving full credit to the video.