Why is it that I can get 1 continuing ed credit for sitting in an hour-long presentation by an obviously biased cooperately employed presenter and not engage myself meaningfully in the topic at hand but for an hour of reading and meaningful career related reflection in my PLN I get nothing institutionally recognized?
via Carl Anderson
I think Carl meant "corporately-employed"... Great question (tough logistically, though)!
I'm planning my 2010 conference agenda this week and realised there's a great online event still to go in 2009, and that's K12 Online. I've joined the network in Ning. I've signed up on the "Frappr" map (can you find me?), posted a badge (see above), and provided a link to the list of archived pre-conference events (LAN parties that show parts of presentations from years past).
K12 is all about forging connections without having to leave home. It's all about leveraging the power of internet tools to help educators learn from each other and figure out how to move their work with online tools and resources forward. This blurb from their website says it all.
As you can see, this thing is huge! I love the way it's spread over several months giving you time to try out one new tool or approach before you go to a session on another. As well, you can dialogue directly with presenters and other audience members over time to get help as you try to put these ideas into action. The sample session I'm showing below is called "Kicking it up a Notch: Games in Education." Hosted by Dean Shareski (who hails from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan), this presentation by Sylvia Martinez makes a compelling case for using games as a motivational tool in classes. I particularly like what she had to say about simple games -- not specifically subject related -- being interesting ways of getting students to think about concepts. Using games that don't have specific subject connections takes more work on our part, but especially in math they become a metaphor that gives students the task of making a connection that will be memorable to them and leave a lasting 'neural imprint.' [Note if video below does not work, please use this link: http://dotsub.com/view/937f0dcc-da25-477a-b00b-d6ac691baf90.]
This year's conference strands include:
If you're a first timer, there's a wiki just for you that covers everything from how to navigate through the K12 Online conference environment to how to obtain professional development credit for hours in attendance. They've thoughtfully provided a map (show below) in the wiki page to help with time zone conversions. The one thing I'd add is that a USB mike and headset are really helpful. Sometimes when people connect to sessions using their computer sound system and then try to talk, there can be a lot of feedback or echoing. If you're going to attend more than one session and think you might want to dialogue online, this piece of equipment is worth the purchase price. TTFN from the Pacific time zone. I hope to see you at the conference.
100+ Google Tricks That Will Save You Time in School - http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2009/10/25/100-google-tricks-that-will-save-you-time-in-school/
If you’re a Google user, you will definitely find some great tips here. Learn how to generate better search results, use Gmail and Google Calendar to organize your life, and tips on using Google services on your cell phone.
SMART Board Thanksgiving Resources - http://www.teacherslovesmartboards.com/smartboard-thanksgiving-holiday-resources.html
Interactive Thanksgiving timelines, Turkey stories, Notebook files, and primary games related to Tom Turkey Day.
Teacher Training Videos - http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/
This is another nice site with video tutorials mainly covering web 2.0 applications and open source software. Some of the applications covered are PBWorks, Audacity, Jing, XTimeliner, Podcasting, etc.
100+ Google Tricks That Will Save You Time in School - http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2009/10/25/100-google-tricks-that-will-save-you-time-in-school/
If you’re a Google user, you will definitely find some great tips here. Learn how to generate better search results, use Gmail and Google Calendar to organize your life, and tips on using Google services on your cell phone.
SMART Board Thanksgiving Resources - http://www.teacherslovesmartboards.com/smartboard-thanksgiving-holiday-resources.html
Interactive Thanksgiving timelines, Turkey stories, Notebook files, and primary games related to Tom Turkey Day.
Teacher Training Videos - http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/
This is another nice site with video tutorials mainly covering web 2.0 applications and open source software. Some of the applications covered are PBWorks, Audacity, Jing, XTimeliner, Podcasting, etc.
First thought: I enjoyed subbing for the orchestral strings band of KIS. Mr. Kvam joined the 6th grade trip to Jejudo, so I covered two of his C block classes. I have attached a couple of music files of the students playing. When I came into the room to sub, I suddenly thought to myself, "We should record it, so he can listen to it when he returns." We all know the big fear about having a sub in our classroom -- nothing will get done. This way something productive came out of the subbing that can be used. When Mr. Kvam returns, he can listen to the music and he will be able to comment on the playing. He will know exactly which sections the students are still struggling with. Some times the best ideas come right before class, eh?
I really wanted to give you something good today. Some blow-your-mind-from-left-field piece of prose that knocked you straight out of your socks into next week.
But, alas, it's Tuesday night and I haven't managed to give you a thing. I apologize for that. Apparently last week's challenge wasn't enough, and so this week I had the pleasure of playing IT & super-site-saver since early Sunday morning. No, I'm not complaining. It's all in a day's work as a senior developing small firm project managing dev-seo-marketing-web-wizard. And I do love what I do.
I am also still human.
So after three days of restless fighting with some damn-nasty-catastrophic failure; in between swearing, finger-crossing, fighting with backups, sifting through raw data, and digging into the magic top hat on my desk... Three days later this Swiss Army dev has been reduced to a mere pile of blinking, drooling, barely keystroking, mush.
This time last week, after I had wasted almost six hours of my life diligently enriched my skillset cramming my brain with code I may never need again - I at least had the motivation afterward to put my conclusions and story morals into words. I formed (at least what I think was) a semi-coherent piece for you from that camel-back-breaking straw of an experience. But, no. No, that is not the case right now.
Right now, today, in my post traumatic stupor, I am pulling some glowing morals and wisdom from the embers - but nothing is quite lucid.
I'm pretty sure I want to tell you about how it's ok to ask for help. Not just in the obvious "hey I can't lift this piano myself" sense, either. But the kind of help where you offer your clients everything without having to do it all yourself. That's the most important help you can get when you know how to get it right.Now I don't mean hiring cheap, faceless, unaccountable labor from who-knows-where. Well, do what you will, but that's not what we're talking about here. I mean building strong, symbiotic relationships and making the right choices that allow you to profit while strengthening your pool of resources and offering your clients the full service they're asking for. I *also* mean knowing where that balance is and further knowing what "full service" means for you. I mean using all that's available in today's almost over-connected world to your best advantage.I mean running lean like a small firm should, but being mean like a big firm can. Not bad mean. Tough mean. Flexible. Capable. Indisposable mean. It is fortunate that over the past year I have worked to establish policies and procedures with this team while continuing to move forward with new builds and projects. To show where it's ok to get that sort of "help" and still build our business internally. I work every day to help us achieve that balance, and the end result was an issue whose damage was minimized to a fraction of the catastrophe it *could have* been. Yes, there were a few heart stopping moments. Yes, it is unfortunate that similar practices weren't there in the first place. But, it's something we'll recover and move forward from. And, it is what it is. And what it is is something I've seen before many, many times. And that's fine because it's also something that can be fixed. (!!WARNING SELFISH ASIDE!! It's also fine for me because helping teams become lean, strong, indisposable mean is one of the things I do best.) As my brain finally begins to reboot here, I'm finding inspiration to talk more about those things you can do to be mean like that. I'd like to follow up with more details, insights, and recommendations: I just don't have it in me to do it now. So let me leave you with this: Success, especially these days, isn't determined by size nor is it fostered by greed. Sure it goes against a lot of stodgy old conventional wisdom, but it is possible be everything to your clients without having to do it all yourself. It's not just acceptable to ask for help - it is in the greatest interest of your sanity, your strength, and your livelihood to embrace that notion. To reach out in pursuit of perfecting that balance. As I hope you will see, the benefits are endless.I wasted almost five hours of my life this morning because of the (what I consider to be) poor choices of the person in my position before me.
Five hours of playing IT-for-free when I could have been doing my "real" job building a billable web project. Five hours of learning about something that, although related to my day-to-day, doesn't serve me as much more than a tertiary bullet point on the laundry list of my career goals.Five hours that skewed the day so badly it was hard to accomplish anything relevant in the afternoon. Five hours of pain I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Not even that person-before-me who ultimately made today possible.And while I'd like to discuss all the events that led to today's debacle - I'm focusing my first Don't Be Stupid Tuesday post on what I think is the most important point of the lot because I think it's the easiest to accomplish. And, that's the importance of appropriately documenting your project for future reference and maintentance, whether its for you or whoever comes along to take care of it next. This isn't the same-forever-only-2-people-know Coke Secret Formula. This is a live build that real, normal people need to use in every day situations. It needs to be adaptable, fixable, and understandable. I shouldn't even have to say this, but the number of issues I hit with things I didn't build - issues that would have been moot with the right notation - issues that are normal concerns of someone in my position, managing the care of 100+ sites, and building new constantly ...I don't know how to stress the importance of taking that little extra time to DOCUMENT YOUR SHIT. Comment your code. Provide a README or similar notation. Tell someone else where you keep your list of passwords. I'm not saying publish it to your Facebook - be smart about it. And whatever it is, consider the person that may be fixing it later: a PHP file may need some commentary to suit another developer, but a mail server may need some direction in layman's terms in case the IT is out of the office. Point is, whatever you've put together, you're not going to be there forever to take care of it. And even if you are, who's to say there won't be a day some catastrophe hits and you're not there to troubleshoot, or maybe 3 years go by and you plumb forget what you did in the first place. It happens.I mentioned earlier that this was the easiest to avoid of all the causes of today's mess-i-wouldn't-wish-on-anyone, and I stand by that statement. Stop leaning on excuses, and start breaking the bad habits.
I'm not just asking for my own sake as the "person that fills your shoes next." Do it for your development as a professional. As someone who cares about being a Senior This, a Lead That, or simply a hard worker who is seen as a competent, accountable whatever you are. I know when you stop and think about it, you'd hate to be in my shoes: wasting time, keystrokes, and sanity on things that could, and more importantly SHOULD, be much less stressful.I'm even willing to bet you've already been there once or twice before.Self confidence plays a vital role in any young women’s development and as a result can affect the decisions you make and the path you follow. When we graduate from school and enter the working world we are forced to put ourselves in a position that sets us up for challenges, questions our abilities, analyzes our strengths and weaknesses and creates a competitive and overwhelming experience. Finding that perfect job, determining your career path and figuring out how to gain experience is all part of the journey. However, as we set into this journey we are unaware about what to expect and can often be met with much disappointment when things don’t go as planned. These let downs can have a negative affect on our confidence levels and as result we become more and more negative with ourselves and the world. Whether it be job searching, fitting in your organization as a young player on the team, figuring how to move up in the company or perhaps starting a new business, our self confidence plays an important part.
Here are 10 tips to help you improve your confidence and further develop your professional and personal successes:
Programming has two goals.
One goal is to do something, of course: calculate an amortization table, present a list of updated feeds, snipe someone on Ebay, or perhaps smash a human player's army. This goal is focused at a computing environment.
The other goal is - or should be - to transfer knowledge between programmers. This has a lot of benefits: it increases the number of people who understand a given piece of code, it frees a developer to do new things (since he's no longer the only person who can maintain a given program or process), and it often provides better performance - since showing Deanna your code gives her a chance to point out where your code can improve. Of course, this can be a two-edged sword, because Deanna may have biases that affect the code she writes (and therefore, what you might learn.)
Nice reminder of one of the big goals of programming in my mind. Developers often get so busy that we furiously code with an eye only to the short-term end goal, while neglecting the longer-term goals of the development team as a whole. Deadlines may get met this way, but it's damaging over the long haul.
