(2nd attempt. That's what happens when you try to write up on a mountain in Tahoe and lose service.)
I've been intrigued by Lincoln since I was a very little girl. My parents kept my Value Tales always updated and I remember having one of the books about Lincoln. Of course, they did a good job of portraying all of the chosen role models in a positive light. Still, he always stuck out in my mind as a kind and hard-working man. I appreciated that he was not a perfect man and yet was able to accomplish so much. He was [seemed...] strong and I appreciated that. These qualities were ones I wanted to possess. In fact, as a young girl, I wanted to be the first woman president (until a peer threatened that he would assassinate me, and as a 5th-6th grader, I thought, "Well...nevermind, that doesn't seem worth it.") At Disneyland, still do this day, I'm awe-stricken when I see his performance. Something in his voice and the way he spoke was capturing. What an experience to see him in person during that time.....
So many lessons to learn from him, but here are my three:
1. I appreciate that Lincoln could inspire people to do their best. That's always what I've strived to do, even when I was a little girl. In 1st grade I was so advanced in Math that I became the class tutor. I was very proud of myself as I always wanted to be the best (perfectionist and A-type that is also a demon), but what I really enjoyed was helping my peers succeed. I was always sad when they wouldn't succeed. With Lincoln, though, it wasn't just that he wanted people to do their best, he managed to inspire them to do their best. It takes quite a leader and influential person to actually get people to follow through on that. I see that people are influenced to do good - run faster, read better, know more, be nicer, work harder, etc. - when they see others do the same and they admire that quality abut the person. They must have believed that Lincoln was the best, or at least doing his best. In fact, one of his own enemies and cabinet members said it, "The president is the best of us." That says a lot about a person. I constantly strive to be better at that. I want to be able to inspire others so that we are all performing at our best, and thus, our organization will be the best it can. This always seemed so much easier in the classroom than it does now as a leader. Though in my last position, I was succeeding in creating a strong team where everyone really was doing their best. I felt horrible leaving them and when they expressed the same, I knew I had was leading as best as I could.
2. Lincoln established a culture of learning in his administration. This, too, is quite a challenge. When we open ourselves to learning, we understand that we have room to learn and grow, that we don't know everything, and even, that we'll make mistakes. This isn't always easy for people to do. He managed to humble the entire admin and get them to be open. That's a hard task because there are so many individual battles inherent in that process. For those who aren't open, it can be a true battle to steer them the other direction. I've known many a stubborn person who were very hard-headed and refused to admit space for learning (and educators!) I believe his style of communicating with others was likely one of his strongest suits in accomplishing this. I must keep that in mind as I continue to work with people I am trying to help grow and learn, to make them feel constantly supported and reaffirm what they already know.
3. What I can really appreciate about Lincoln is that "he knew how to stop listening and make a decision". I have a difficult time with this. Usually, when I am able to do so, I'm at a point of frustration where I just don't want to hear any arguing anymore. I know that is not a healthy spot to be in, so I want to continue getting better at it. Often, I just don't want to cut anyone off, wanting to ensure that everyone has been able to share their piece and be satisfied that they were able to do so. Unfortunately, when there's any type of disagreement, this usually does not happen as people want to continue arguing their point to win, instead of even trying to listen. I really appreciate that Lincoln knew when to draw the line, make the decision, and move forward. It's something I've been getting better at. I just have to be careful as I can often come off as having an overpowering personality and I don't want to come off as "bossy", just a good, strong leader.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Communities of Practice
I've always had a special CoP from both my undergraduate and graduate years. In my graduate years, this group grew exponentially as I was working towards a Master's in Education, with an emphasis on Urban Education. I didn't know them as a CoP. They were my friends. They were activists I admired. They were people I called "my own". In our second year of grad school, a group of us left our sites of Student Teaching (where all of us had been offered jobs) and went en masse to the first new public school in Los Angeles in 30 years. We covered our bases - there was at least one of us to cover each academic course. Opportunities like this - to open a brand new school with a core group of people who believe in what you do and who share the same work ethic - rarely come along, so we took it. I worked with these people for the greater part of a decade, the greatest years of my career. How blessed was I to have a job that I adored and to work with my friends, my family.
And then I moved to San Diego.
And became drastically alone.
I struggled for quite some time to find a niche, to re-build a family. To find a group of passionate, activist educators. I didn't find it at the first job I landed...nor in my first program (though there were some wonderful individuals).
Now I'm in a different doctoral program and share in a cohort of 13 people, what I now label as my Community of Practice. I miss my L.A. CoP (which I never called them, nor still do...but understand that is who they are. I continue to call them Family.) But I have a greater understanding of who they are, and even what a CoP is, because regardless of distance, we still work together. True, I rarely see them. Yes, they still send me pictures of my old classroom and reminisce on all the good time. But, yes, we also still e-mail, text, and call regarding advice on teaching and resources; we reach out when trying to network with someone else; we share articles and new tools. A couple others have been in other programs or are now, so we continue to share what we find. They will remain my CoP for life.
But this new CoP of mine, my cohort, is so meaningful in another way. I love that I have found a group I can continue to learn from, with people whom I admire, who even serve as mentors. They support my growing professional learning network, connecting me to whom and where I need to go.
Our Domain: A cohort of educators dedicated to making positive, progressive, and sustainable change in all levels of our educational system. We're all educated, experts in our field, and active in our daily work towards making these goals true.
Our Community: Not only does our cohort, our CoP meet for regular class sessions, we support each other through sharing articles, blogs, and research, over distance and time. We support each other in networking and job acquiring. :) We serve as sounding boards for one another, to bounce ideas off, and give backing when having to make difficult situations. We spend necessary time to support each other's research and to develop ideas and plans for improving our organizational systems.
Our Practice: All members of our CoP are practitioners - administrators, teachers, counselors, directors, curriculum developers, mentors, and more. We continue to hone our expertise, collect data and knowledge, and share those resources with others for the continued improvement of our field. Everyday we work together in varied ways, whether directly, or indirectly through sharing information via the virtual world. The bottom line is, we work together, support each other, and never stop learning, all for the shared purpose of improving education.
I'm grateful for my cohort, my CoP, a necessary professional network that provides a support structure for both my work and school arenas. The implications are far-reaching. The model of a CoP can show students how working together with common goals can benefit them beyond the classroom. Small Learning Communities encompass this by trying to group students by like interests, allowing them to share in multiple classes and learn together. This model can serve for great direction to teach students how to work together, that there is strength in numbers and that collaboration can strengthen communication and social skills. The growth in social capital can show students that a Community of Practice can enhance their learning and living.
Now that I am at a school for Independent Study, I hope to work with the Administration to implement CoP's. I'd like to see them within 3 divisions of our school: K-5, 6-8, 9-12 grades. Our students, parents, and staff could work more effectively by collaborating more often. As much of our students' learning involves home schooling, all could benefit from sharing: teaching methods and resources, struggles and concerns, knowledge and understanding. And there's no reason to stop at our school. What our groups can learn is that a CoP extends well belong home base. We can network and build with other schools, both near and far. Skyping with a classroom on the other side of the globe will open a wealth of learning opportunities!
As a Digital Learning Resource Teacher, I don't have a choice but to be open to learning available through technology. Not allow can I learn useful tools for my own research and pedagogy, but I can learn useful resources for the learning of my staff and students. I hope that I can better utilize my blog, and also continue to use Twitter and LinkedIn as tools for strengthening my global network and sharing information. I do learn everyday from reading a post on Twitter, or finding a new article to read. I cannot imagine life with the Godsend of technology, nor can I barely remember life before it...how did we survive..??? Ahh....will save that one for another day. ;)
And then I moved to San Diego.
And became drastically alone.
I struggled for quite some time to find a niche, to re-build a family. To find a group of passionate, activist educators. I didn't find it at the first job I landed...nor in my first program (though there were some wonderful individuals).
Now I'm in a different doctoral program and share in a cohort of 13 people, what I now label as my Community of Practice. I miss my L.A. CoP (which I never called them, nor still do...but understand that is who they are. I continue to call them Family.) But I have a greater understanding of who they are, and even what a CoP is, because regardless of distance, we still work together. True, I rarely see them. Yes, they still send me pictures of my old classroom and reminisce on all the good time. But, yes, we also still e-mail, text, and call regarding advice on teaching and resources; we reach out when trying to network with someone else; we share articles and new tools. A couple others have been in other programs or are now, so we continue to share what we find. They will remain my CoP for life.
But this new CoP of mine, my cohort, is so meaningful in another way. I love that I have found a group I can continue to learn from, with people whom I admire, who even serve as mentors. They support my growing professional learning network, connecting me to whom and where I need to go.
Our Domain: A cohort of educators dedicated to making positive, progressive, and sustainable change in all levels of our educational system. We're all educated, experts in our field, and active in our daily work towards making these goals true.
Our Community: Not only does our cohort, our CoP meet for regular class sessions, we support each other through sharing articles, blogs, and research, over distance and time. We support each other in networking and job acquiring. :) We serve as sounding boards for one another, to bounce ideas off, and give backing when having to make difficult situations. We spend necessary time to support each other's research and to develop ideas and plans for improving our organizational systems.
Our Practice: All members of our CoP are practitioners - administrators, teachers, counselors, directors, curriculum developers, mentors, and more. We continue to hone our expertise, collect data and knowledge, and share those resources with others for the continued improvement of our field. Everyday we work together in varied ways, whether directly, or indirectly through sharing information via the virtual world. The bottom line is, we work together, support each other, and never stop learning, all for the shared purpose of improving education.
I'm grateful for my cohort, my CoP, a necessary professional network that provides a support structure for both my work and school arenas. The implications are far-reaching. The model of a CoP can show students how working together with common goals can benefit them beyond the classroom. Small Learning Communities encompass this by trying to group students by like interests, allowing them to share in multiple classes and learn together. This model can serve for great direction to teach students how to work together, that there is strength in numbers and that collaboration can strengthen communication and social skills. The growth in social capital can show students that a Community of Practice can enhance their learning and living.
Now that I am at a school for Independent Study, I hope to work with the Administration to implement CoP's. I'd like to see them within 3 divisions of our school: K-5, 6-8, 9-12 grades. Our students, parents, and staff could work more effectively by collaborating more often. As much of our students' learning involves home schooling, all could benefit from sharing: teaching methods and resources, struggles and concerns, knowledge and understanding. And there's no reason to stop at our school. What our groups can learn is that a CoP extends well belong home base. We can network and build with other schools, both near and far. Skyping with a classroom on the other side of the globe will open a wealth of learning opportunities!
As a Digital Learning Resource Teacher, I don't have a choice but to be open to learning available through technology. Not allow can I learn useful tools for my own research and pedagogy, but I can learn useful resources for the learning of my staff and students. I hope that I can better utilize my blog, and also continue to use Twitter and LinkedIn as tools for strengthening my global network and sharing information. I do learn everyday from reading a post on Twitter, or finding a new article to read. I cannot imagine life with the Godsend of technology, nor can I barely remember life before it...how did we survive..??? Ahh....will save that one for another day. ;)
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Visitors & Residents
I guess I would label myself as a Visiting Resident in terms of social networking. Historically, I have been more of a Visitor. I log in to get information, do what I need to do, and then slip away so no one knows I was there. I research and read, stealing knowledge along the way. Isn't that all you need it for.....? At least that was my thinking, then.
MySpace came along and that was fun...Resident Card approved! I posted, added pictures, and commented on others pages. Hello old friends! I even created a MySpace just for my students!
Soooo....that got old and time-consuming. I decided to stick with visiting; I did not visit MySpace so often. Wait, what? Facebook? Okay, let me see....hmm...MySpace, renamed. Okay, let's reconfigure. Hello, again, old friends! Post, post, post, comment, like...where's the "Don't Like" button?? Teacher Facebook - created! Sweet!!! Aaaa....no, I didn't see her post, haven't been on much lately, been busy....Resident Card put back away. Hellllloooo, again, grad school!! Blogging?? I joke about it, but I've never actually done it...do I look like I have time to read others' random thoughts? I don't even have time to write down my own! Twittering? No, thanks. I'll text people when I feel like it. No, seriously, not interested. I am NOT having my phone blown up with a bunch of people's random thoughts. I love her to death, but my friends twits things like, "Sitting at a red light for forever! Where's the green???" Pass. I like being a visitor; I take my passport whenever I go, but I don't have to stay or pay taxes.
Well, hello to you, Mr. Social Networking-Technology Genius Professorman! Wait, I can get tweets from CNN?? Well, now, that's cool! Connect with the rest of the world? Twittering is NOT just to hear celebrity nonsense? Well, that's a Twitter I just might be interested in.
I pulled my Resident Card back out. Feeling pretty excited about leaving my mark in the social world! I started a blog and website last summer for my alumni students. It was awesome while it lasted. I posted all the time and as more people added, the conversations became pretty engaging. I even gave it a school theme, naming my blogs after periods of the school day (e.g., Extra Credit, Recess, Period 1: Education). I need to get back to that. I'm still getting comfortable with using Twitter; I am definitely not where I'd like to be. I'm sure it's easy as pie, I just need to sit down and play with it more. Web 2.0 tools are hard for me to learn. For example, figuring out how to add a Revolving Map proved more difficult than I originally thought. I definitely need more patience, and thus, need to set aside more time to sit down and the computer and figure things out. Thank goodness for YouTube videos that show you what to do!
As I continue to grow in my profession I understand the need to become more visible and comfortable on the web. I will definitely get there and I am truly excited about it. Who knows....maybe I'll go for my Citizenship one day.
MySpace came along and that was fun...Resident Card approved! I posted, added pictures, and commented on others pages. Hello old friends! I even created a MySpace just for my students!
Soooo....that got old and time-consuming. I decided to stick with visiting; I did not visit MySpace so often. Wait, what? Facebook? Okay, let me see....hmm...MySpace, renamed. Okay, let's reconfigure. Hello, again, old friends! Post, post, post, comment, like...where's the "Don't Like" button?? Teacher Facebook - created! Sweet!!! Aaaa....no, I didn't see her post, haven't been on much lately, been busy....Resident Card put back away. Hellllloooo, again, grad school!! Blogging?? I joke about it, but I've never actually done it...do I look like I have time to read others' random thoughts? I don't even have time to write down my own! Twittering? No, thanks. I'll text people when I feel like it. No, seriously, not interested. I am NOT having my phone blown up with a bunch of people's random thoughts. I love her to death, but my friends twits things like, "Sitting at a red light for forever! Where's the green???" Pass. I like being a visitor; I take my passport whenever I go, but I don't have to stay or pay taxes.
Well, hello to you, Mr. Social Networking-Technology Genius Professorman! Wait, I can get tweets from CNN?? Well, now, that's cool! Connect with the rest of the world? Twittering is NOT just to hear celebrity nonsense? Well, that's a Twitter I just might be interested in.
I pulled my Resident Card back out. Feeling pretty excited about leaving my mark in the social world! I started a blog and website last summer for my alumni students. It was awesome while it lasted. I posted all the time and as more people added, the conversations became pretty engaging. I even gave it a school theme, naming my blogs after periods of the school day (e.g., Extra Credit, Recess, Period 1: Education). I need to get back to that. I'm still getting comfortable with using Twitter; I am definitely not where I'd like to be. I'm sure it's easy as pie, I just need to sit down and play with it more. Web 2.0 tools are hard for me to learn. For example, figuring out how to add a Revolving Map proved more difficult than I originally thought. I definitely need more patience, and thus, need to set aside more time to sit down and the computer and figure things out. Thank goodness for YouTube videos that show you what to do!
As I continue to grow in my profession I understand the need to become more visible and comfortable on the web. I will definitely get there and I am truly excited about it. Who knows....maybe I'll go for my Citizenship one day.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday's conversation
Called Abel on Friday. He has just finished two and a half years at UC Berkeley, and I couldn't be prouder. Was just checking in, no specific purpose. He was currently on break at work, working as an academic counselor with a local high school.
A VERY BRIEF background: Abel was one of my first students. I can still see him in my mind on the first day of his freshman year in high school (my first official year teaching). I knew IMMEDIATELY that he was special and that I would be working hard, everyday, to make sure his needs were met, that I was constantly pushing him, that he was never bored. By the end of his Junior year, Abel was more like a little brother. We are so close that I drove him up to UC Berkeley and moved him in. I can still remember driving away with tears (pride and sadness, I would miss seeing him everyday), seeing him and Katherine (the female student who became my little sister) in the rearview mirror. As a freshman in high school, Abel wanted to be an Engineer, and I was determined to make sure he fulfilled that dream; I even took him to an MIT informational. He is now an Environmental Science major planning on becoming a teacher - my two passions. He constantly tells me I am his inspiration; ironically, I remind him that he is mine.
Our conversation on Friday was nice. I've moved from his teacher, to counselor, to life mentor, and now teacher mentor. He needed advice on how to help and work with a particular student. What a moment...I am teaching my former student how to be a teacher.
When I met Abel six and a half years ago, I simply hoped I would effectively prepare him for the next steps in his educational career, ensuring he grew as an independent learner. I did not expect him to become like a younger brother; I did not expect him to ever honor me with the title of "mentor and inspiration"; I never imagined he would ask me to drive him to his first day at the university; nor could I have possibly conceived that he would follow in my footsteps. What I do know is that we'll be critical in each other's lives indefinitely. How lucky I am to have experienced this gift.
A VERY BRIEF background: Abel was one of my first students. I can still see him in my mind on the first day of his freshman year in high school (my first official year teaching). I knew IMMEDIATELY that he was special and that I would be working hard, everyday, to make sure his needs were met, that I was constantly pushing him, that he was never bored. By the end of his Junior year, Abel was more like a little brother. We are so close that I drove him up to UC Berkeley and moved him in. I can still remember driving away with tears (pride and sadness, I would miss seeing him everyday), seeing him and Katherine (the female student who became my little sister) in the rearview mirror. As a freshman in high school, Abel wanted to be an Engineer, and I was determined to make sure he fulfilled that dream; I even took him to an MIT informational. He is now an Environmental Science major planning on becoming a teacher - my two passions. He constantly tells me I am his inspiration; ironically, I remind him that he is mine.
Our conversation on Friday was nice. I've moved from his teacher, to counselor, to life mentor, and now teacher mentor. He needed advice on how to help and work with a particular student. What a moment...I am teaching my former student how to be a teacher.
When I met Abel six and a half years ago, I simply hoped I would effectively prepare him for the next steps in his educational career, ensuring he grew as an independent learner. I did not expect him to become like a younger brother; I did not expect him to ever honor me with the title of "mentor and inspiration"; I never imagined he would ask me to drive him to his first day at the university; nor could I have possibly conceived that he would follow in my footsteps. What I do know is that we'll be critical in each other's lives indefinitely. How lucky I am to have experienced this gift.
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