What Called You Into Teaching?

j0409048.jpg As part of my Leadership studies, I’ve been reading a book called Leadership and the New Science. It’s a book that will blow your mind! Seriously, if you want a paradigm change, add this to your summer reading.

Here’s a little sample that applies to our work (my emphasis):

I’ve worked with some college faculties torn apart by the availability of technology. The more technologically eager faculty accuse the reticent ones of being out-of-date and resistant to change — they berate their colleagues for not climbing on the technology bandwagon. I always suggest that a different conversation is needed. What if we stop assuming that technology’s value to a teacher is self-evident? What if we stop assuming that anybody who doesn’t adopt new technology is an antiquated Luddite whose only interest is to stop the march of progress? If we gitve up those assumptions, we can begin a different conversation, one that helps us connect to one another and learn more about how we each see the world. We can step back from the technology issue and ask one another what called us into teaching. We can listen to the aspirations that are voiced. What we will hear is that most of us went into teaching for noble purposes — we wanted to make a difference in the lives of students and to advance human wisdom. 

If we have this conversation first, we can discover one another as colleagues. Then we are reading to talk about technology. How might computers assist a professor to be more effective at his or her craft?

How might videoconferencing be used to meet goals that teachers find meaningful? (like helping students understand the world?) What do you think? Start by answering this question yourself. What called you into teaching?? Now think about asking a colleague the same question when you get back to school…. Prepare to really listen to their story….

Leadership and the New Science

Here are some notes & thoughts on reading Leadership and the New Science. Google has this book in it’s Books feature, so you can skim through it if you want to check it out before buying it or getting it from your local library.

Social Networking & Blogging
It’s amazing to me how much this book made me think of the organic, non-linear, unstructured blogosphere community! Here’s some quotes to tease your brain:

A living system is a network of processes in which every process contributes to all other processes. The entire network is engaged together in producing itself. p. 20.

There are no familiar ways to think about the levels of interconnectedness that seem to characterize the quantum universe. Instead of a lonely void, with isolated particles moving through it, space appears filled with connections. p. 45

Sound like social networking and Web 2.0 to you? Flickr, Del.icio.us, blogging, etc?

I have learned that great things are possible when we increase participation. I always want more people, from more diverse functions and places, to be there. I am always surprised by what people can create as they explore the webs of relation and caring that connect them. Finally, I no longer argue about what is real. We each construct reality, and when I become curious about this, I learn a great deal from other people. I expect them to see things differently from me, to surprise me. p. 46

Yes!! This is why I want others (in my field) blogging so I can learn from them!

We all have to learn how to support the workings of each other, to realize that intelligence is distributed and that it is our role to nourish others with truthful, meaningful information. Fed by such information, everyone can more capably deal with issues and dilemmas that appear in their area. p. 102

Yes, I have a drive to share information, and want others to also share so we can all learn together.

The organization then needs to support people to reflect on this unsettling or disconfirming information, providing them with the resources of time, colleagues, and reflection. p. 108

Do you have colleagues and time so that you can reflect on the influx of information you are bombarded with daily?

State Testing
Another thing that tickled my brain was the comments about measurement that made me think of implications for state testing and No Child Left Behind.

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle (quantum physics). We can measure the particle aspect, or the wave aspect — either location or movement — but we can never measure both at the same time.p. 36

Once the observer chooses what to perceive, “the effect of perception is immediate and dramatic. All of the wave function representing the observed system collapases, excpet the one part, which actualizes into reality” (Zukav 1979, 79). p. 37.

Since fractals resist definitive assessment by familiar tools, they require a new approach to observation and measurement. What is important in a fractal landscape is to note not quantity but quality. How complex is the system? What are its distinguishing shapes? How do it’s patterns differ from those of other systems? In a fractal world, if we ignore qualitative factors and focus on quantitative measures, we doom ourselves only to frustration. p. 125.

Jazz
The 123VC workshop I’m involved in is also affectionately called “Jazz.” We probably need to think more deeply about how that metaphor truly captures the way the workshop evolved and is collaboratively presented. Listen to this….

Those who have used music metaphors to describe working together, especially jazz metaphors, are sensing the nature of this quantum world. This world demands that we be present together, and be willing to improvise. We agree on the melody, tempo, and key, and then we play. We listen carefully, we communicate constantly, and suddenly, there is music, possibilities beyond anything we imagined. The music comes from somewhere else, from a unified whole we have accessed among ourselves, a relationship that transcends our false sense of separateness. When the music appears, we can’t help but be amazed and grateful.

Maybe more thoughts later….

Narrative Notes

Just a few notes from the session on Family Stories & Narrative Today.

  • If we know our story we can listen to other’s stories.
  • If you can’t express/extend/tell what you value, you can’t be an effective leader.

Suggested Reading: Dr. Baumgartner made a wishlist on Amazon.com for us with these books.

  • True North– authentic leadership & leading with integrity, leading from your inner core
  • Telling Secrets – reflection, leadership is a fundamentally reflective activity –
  • Leadership and Self Deception
  • Making of a Leader – Robert Clinton (he researched people who had served overseas as missionaries)
  • A Hidden Wholeness – by Parker Palmer and Let Your Life Speak – listening to the voice of vocation
  • The Call of Stories – by Robert Coles – the book that started mom on her path of stories
  • A Leaders’ Guide to Reflective Practice
  • Turning to One Another – by Margaret Wheatley
  • The Black Swan – by Taleb

Orientation Day One: Simmering New Thoughts

j0321061.jpgToday was my first day in the Leadership Orientation, an all day, all week, 4 credit beginning to the Leadership Program. Wow! What a day! Lots of new thoughts are simmering in my brain.
I loved meeting everyone in the morning and continuing to get to know the group throughout the day.  There were about 50-60 participants; representing at least 20 countries; who had lived in probably 30-40 countries; and spoke at least 10 languages across the group (data based on my rough estimate from introductions). I’m really excited about the diversity of talents and experience represented in the group. I very much value learning from colleagues and I’m thrilled with the prospect of being in community with everyone.

After introductions, we all took Gregorc’s Learning Style Inventory.  I was entertained with the idea that the largest group of participants were Concrete Randoms. It was fun to listen to everyone in that group talk about how they functioned. I’m hoping that we can all overcome our randomness enough to be able to write and follow an IDP (Individual Development Plan) to actually get done and break the stereotype of not finishing as fast as the Concrete Sequentials. 🙂 Probably not possible, but still a fun goal. Of course I should admit here that Concrete Sequential was my second highest.
Next we began the process of writing the vision statement for our IDP  by telling a family story. I really enjoyed the stories from my group – all how God helped their family in adversity. It was also neat to have class in the same room where I did my student teaching. The environment is stimulating memories simmering in my brain.

After lunch we played a game called Star Power. What an interesting game. What I found most intriguing was the ambiguity in the group of triangles and circles (basically the “low” groups). It took us a long time to make one circle. Leadership emerged and disappeared a few times. We didn’t become a functioning group really. We went with the flow and whoever talked the loudest at the moment. It’s interesting that dissatisfaction isn’t necessarily focused. We weren’t happy but we didn’t have a clear goal of what we wanted either. So we sat around and talked mostly. This is the part of the game that most intrigued me and that is still simmering in my brain. That and, what does it mean for me? what is my application? my take-away? I don’t know yet. I’m still processing…. Usually I have pretty quick opinions and things to say, but with this game I wanted to hear what everyone else thought. I’m still thinking….

Looking forward to another stimulating day tomorrow….

Importance of Prayer

I just finished reading Curse Proof, and tomorrow is the end of Operation Global Rain. It’s been a week to remind me of the importance of prayer, especially for leaders. And really, aren’t leaders anyone with influence over others? That’s all of us! Without God’s power we cannot accomplish anything! Without prayer, our work is just a pile of dust. As I start the Leadership program on Monday, I want to remember that prayer is the foundation of my learning and leading.

John 16:24 (New International Version)
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

10 Steps to Successful Videoconferencing

Jerry Steuerwald so graciously shared this in a comment this morning; so I’m sharing it again here in case you haven’t subscribed to comments on this blog. Jerry, good stuff! 🙂 Time to start your own blog. 🙂

Ten Steps to Successful Video Conferencing
Below are the keys steps that I have found are needed in order to be successful using video conferencing. This list comes after ten years of experience using the technology in education.

  1. Ownership: Equipment, network, process, communications, training, commitment.
  2. Stable Network: Bandwidth, firewall, testing, certification, problem solving, change management.
  3. Available (In-House) Technical Support
  4. Trained End Users:Equipment, VC protocol, content resources, basic problem solving.
  5. Practice: Test calls, reduce fear of technology failure, increase number of positive experiences.
  6. Advance Planning:Testing, scheduling, communications (internal/external), tech support.
  7. Locate Content Resources and Collaborate with Others: Free, paid programs and collaborations
  8. Coordinate, Communicate between In-House personnel (Tech-End User) and Outside Parties
  9. Participate in VC: Just do it! Start your learning curve.
  10. Plan for VC sustainability: Funds for programs and equipment repair/upgrades.

What’s in your “top ten” list for successful VC in education? What would you add? What do you think is the most important? Leave a comment!

10 Tips to Study Smart

Thanks to iGoogle and LifeHack.org, here’s a set of tips to study smart. The tips that really struck me today are these two about making connections:

  1. Leave No Islands – When you read through a textbook, every piece of information should connect with something else you have learned. Fast learners do this automatically, but if you leave islands of information, you won’t be able to reach them during a test.
  2. Test Your Mobility – A good way to know you haven’t linked enough is that you can’t move between concepts. Open up a word document and start explaining the subject you are working with. If you can’t jump between sections, referencing one idea to help explain another, you won’t be able to think through the connections during a test.

Top Ten Reasons Why Meetings Fail

Here’s a funny article from IVCI’s newsletter: Top Ten Reasons Why VC Meetings Fail. My favorite is:

The user schedules the meeting, invites the guests, prepares the presentation and then fails to show up because he/she doesn’t want to be seen on video!

Reminds me of my Top Ten Reasons Why a VC Gets Cancelled. What are your craziest stories?

GNG's Videos from Uganda

Most of you reading this blog are already familiar with Global Nomads. If you missed the Project UGANDA programs this past spring, check out the videos they’ve posted online. Showing a bit of this in a workshop would be a great way to introduce teachers to the power of videoconferencing.