Wk2 Comment - Kim Bathker

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My Comment:

Kristen_McKerninMay 12, 2012 11:03 AM

Kim,
I too found the story of the shoe marketers to be inspirational. Your belief in the power of attitude has really shown over the past 11 months. You work more hours than any person in our group, yet you never have shown that you are overwhelmed and always get everything done in a complete and professional manner- I'm still learning! :)
We all know that I am not good with Science but when I read the part that you pointed out as your second gem, I had thought of you as well. I knew that it would interest you! I have done a lot of self-analysis while reading this past week and I am glad you have found some likes as well! I cannot wait to see what come next week!
Kristen

In Response To:

Friday, May 11, 2012

Week 1 reading post: Art of Possibility chapters 1 to 4

I’m finding the Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander to be filled with tiny gems. The first, which appears both in the text and in the TED presentation given by Benjamin Stone, is the story of the two shoe marketers sent to Africa; one perceives the inhabitants’ lack of shoes as a sign of hopelessness, while the other sees a completely untapped market! I’ve always been a firm believer in the power of attitude, and I was delighted to find this little parable that illustrates the point.

The next gem was the story about Albert Einstein’s conversation with Werner Heisenberg about the nature of a scientific theory. I’ve long been fascinated by science’s transition from one paradigm to the next. One of the most famous transitions was from Newtonian mechanics to Einstein’s treatment of the speed of light as a universal “speed limit.” Then after that came the shift to quantum mechanics—a paradigm shift that Einstein himself vehemently opposed. His observation that the theory “decides what we can observe” is entirely true—in both a scientific sense and in more pedestrian circumstances. For example, before scientists considered that atoms might be made of charged particles, they could not possibly have observed those particles, because they would not have known how to look. No astronomer who truly considered the Earth to be the center of the universe would have thought to construct a telescope, because everything else in the universe was considered to be of lesser importance. In a more everyday sense, we do not see what our minds are not prepared to find. This goes back to my first gem, the story of the two shoe marketers. A marketer with a fundamentally pessimistic outlook will not see the opportunity staring him in the face…even when it comes in the form of millions of bare feet!

Zander, R. S., & Zander, B. (2000). The art of possibility [Electronic]. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Wk2 Blog Post - Art of Possibility (1-4)

This week I decided to do something a little different.  
This book is very inspirational and actually has reminded be of a lot of influential people that have helped keep me motivated throughout this journey.  I actually ordered two copies of this book this morning as "thank-you" gifts to pass on after graduation. 
I am huge on quotes- I have them tacked on post-its all around my house, screenshots have taken over my iPhone photo library, and I post them daily on Facebook almost every morning.
I have been sick for the past three weeks and I got started on this reading late.  But when my mom came over to fix up my garden, I joined her by placing a camping chair in the middle of my front lawn along with my laptop and a cup of green tea and read this weeks reading.  I can only imagine what my neighbors and the passing cars thought, but I found myself typing these four quotes into a Word document as I read and really got me reflecting on my own life...

• "Every problem, every dilemma, every dead end we find ourselves facing in life, only appears unsolvable inside a particular frame or point of view.  Enlarge the box, or create another frame around the data, and the problems vanish, while new opportunities appear." (14)

Throughout this past year, I have found myself on multiple occasions being so overly consumed by stress that I wanted to give up just to catch a break.  And every time, there was always someone around me telling me to push through it.  Why I thought it was a great idea to buy my first house and start graduate school, all while working full-time with a brand new administration, I have no idea.  But now that it is almost over I have so many accomplishments to look back on and have filled my life with tremendous, genuine people. 

• "…Every story you tell is founded on a network of hidden assumptions.  If you learn to notice and distinguish these stories, you will be able to break through the barriers of any 'box' that contains unwanted conditions and create other conditions or narratives that support the life you envision for yourself and those around you." (14-5)

Having being in grad school and having "adult" responsibilities such as having a mortgage and keeping up with a house has tested many of my relationships.  I have truly found out who my real friends are and those who just have not gotten to this point in their life.  I have built a giant support system in my life and have really figured out what I envision my life to be for the future.  I have determined key characteristics in myself and others that I want around, and those that I do not want and could not be happier for having making this discovery.  

• "This A is not an expectation to live up to, but a possibility to live into." (26)

I LOVED this chapter.  It really made me think of my work and personal life.  Since working in special education I think I have always had this mindset.  My students may function at a low cognitive level, but I always think of their successes and accomplishments first.  I focus my whole curriculum on what they CAN do and not what they cannot.  The atmosphere of a positive learning environment has allowed myself and my students to have a more meaningful experience than I could have ever imagined.  
On the other hand, I have realized that I need to give more "A's" in my personal life.  This chapter made me reflect on many situations that I was left disappointed.  After reading this chapter I have looked back and realized that maybe I wouldn't have felt this if I didn't hold each of these people to certain expectations.  I actually read this chapter twice and will probably read it plenty more times to remind myself that if I give them the "A" in the beginning, the outcome could be so much more positive.  

• "In fact, I actively train my students that when they make a mistake, they are to lift their arms in the air, smile, and say 'How fascinating!'" (31)

I really like this quote.  At my job, I hold many hats, and often times I make mistakes or things lapse my mind.  I always admit my mistakes and fix them, but I think I might try this line... It might add a smile or a laugh into my routine!


Hope you enjoyed!  See you next week, I cannot wait to see what I can learn from this book next week!

My Morning Mirror Reminders

Wk1 Comment - Tricia Slechta

Link to my Comment 

My Comments:

Kristen_McKerninMay 4, 2012 11:18 AM

Tricia,
All of this copyright information was so overwhelming for me, I cannot even imagine having to deal with it EVERYDAY and being responsible with sharing the rules with others. I should have gone to YOU in month 1 when I thought it was okay to accompany my welcome video with a popular song! Ha- I sure know better now! I really liked the way that you set up this blog with a personal introduction/relation and then your best takeaway from each key component.
Good luck with your students!
Kristen

In Response To:

Friday, May 4, 2012

wk1 reading: copyright issues, parts 1 - 3: information overload

Copyright issues are very confusing and very controversial.  As a teacher-librarian, it is an issue that I deal with daily. Perhaps it is a little strong to say that I live in fear of 1) violating copyright or 2) teaching students the wrong way to use information.  Even though this may be an exaggeration,  I do worry about it a lot.  I am constantly reading material, asking questions, and attending conference sessions about copyright, creative commons, and fair use.  I remember one discussion that I had at a school library conference with a fellow teacher-librarian concerning fair use:  I was arguing for students on behalf of fair use, their use of media in productions as long as the students changed it, mashed it up, made it their own, and give credit to the owner -- then all was good. The other teacher-librarian was arguing that unless they had permission from the owner of the material they could not use it.  At one point during our discussion she was looking at me as if I had three heads!  I was probably looking at her with pity for her poor students who are probably creatively frustrated.  After watching Larry Lessig’s Ted Talk I felt like we were the chicken farmers arguing against the supreme court concerning trespassing.  In this case I was the Supreme court that says “common sense should prevail,” instead of totally restricting use of materials we need to let them use materials; but understand the 11 flavors of creative commons.  Students need to respect the rights of the owner. Owners of different media need to let their material be used freely  thus allowing it to be changed and therefore allowing creative growth of our youth.

My take away from watching several hours of copyright movies is this:

1.     I am glad that I could watch movies regarding copyright rather than reading about copyright.  I am hitting that age that when I read legal information it seems I have to read the material about 20 times before I actually grasp the content.  The videos provide visual examples that help with comprehension. For example, what isn’t copyrighted the sock puppets and a song or a dance that has never been recorded in some way. As you stated in the intro video of copyright issues,  Part 1 copyright is a gigantic topic! And I would rather watch videos about the topic then read about the topic.

2.      The Good copy/Bad copy was entertaining, confusing at times (with the language and subtitles), informative in the sense that it was good to view perspectives from different parts of the world.  I feel that the take away of this movie is that the material is there for the taking, and it is going to be taken so are we on the cusp of copyright revolution? Should we be on the cusp of copyright revolution?

3.     Copyright Issues Part 2 were an eye opener for me in regard to the Martin Luther King film.  I thought that documentary producers would always have access and use of historical footage without cost because it was for educational purposes, pretty naïve huh?  I could see why film producers, especially documentary film producers, would jump for joy when Fair Use was defined and put into practice.  Since documentaries are not a high profit industry, purchasing rights would make it difficult for them to produce their documentaries.

4.     Copyright Issues Part 3 was by far my favorite for two reasons:

1.     The eleven flavors of creative commons were totally new to me.  Again I am going to show my ignorance, but in all of my reading and pursuit of copyright knowledge I was never aware of what all those symbols meant!  If artists would make more of their materials available and use the different creative commons symbols and students were taught how to recognize those symbols and to use materials responsibly, wouldn’t this be a perfect world!

2.     Larry Lessig’s samples were awesome!  I laughed over and over at the "Jesus Christ Survivor" clip!  And it is those samples that he provided in his presentation that is my biggest take away! 

Larry Lessig’s samples reinforce my philosophy on copyright law.  As I stated in my opening, I feel that students should be able to take available media and mash it up and create something that is brand new.  That is the strength of this generation of youth is creative regeneration, rather than calling them pirates. I say we embrace and enjoy the end products.  Remember fair use is not a right but a defense.

Wk1 Leadership Blog Post

To publish an article or do a presentation at a conference?

This has been a hard decision for me to make and I have gone back and forth everyday since reading the assignment.    
I have worked really hard on my Action Research project and would like to share my results regardless.
My thoughts:

• Presentations are my strong point, I have been giving one at every months professional development day since I started working at my school.
• This project has been like an experiment, so writing a "professional" academic paper would be really neat.

I think that my final decision is to write an article to publish.  My main reasoning for this is because it is something new to me and I would like to take the challenge.  
I am already in the process of coming up with a presentation to present at a conference with a coworker, also a former EMDT graduate.  Her and I go to these yearly TechTalk district conferences and although we love them, there is never anything "good" pertaining to special education.  Both being EMDT graduates, having learned so much and having to modify it to our environment, we want to share.  


This way decision I will be getting the best of both worlds in the next coming months post graduation!


Best of luck to my fellow cohort peers!
Kristen

Photo by aaron schmidt via flickr

Wk1 Comment - Katie Ross

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My Comment:

Kristen_McKerninMay 3, 2012 02:12 PM

Katie,
I am glad that Full Sail is so serious about copyright laws. I am glad that I got a chance to learn about them, but wish that we were introduced to them in Month 1. My school nor I ever took them seriously. I have to create all of my own curriculum and trying to do that without "borrowing" from everywhere and anywhere has been impossible. I catch myself now always thinking about how "I'm really not supposed to be doing this, but it's in the best interest of my students." My students need authentic learning and often times that is capturing an exact image of something, such as a grocery sign, so Google has always been my friend.
I guess I might feel differently if someone was taking something I came up with, but I haven't gotten there yet!
Kristen

In response to:

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Wk1- Reading:Copyright Issues, Parts 1-3

I feel like at this point we should all be well aware of what is copyright and what is fair use.  I know my industry (education) and my company takes both of these subjects very serious and frowns upon anyone who violates the policy.  As an educator if we don’t uphold the rules regarding copyright and fair use why would our students want to uphold the same policies?  I love that my place of work takes these 2 things very serious and even holds continuing education classes about these 2 topics to keep all of the staff and faculty up to date on the rules.  So this in not a topic that just gets swept under the rug in my environment, and no one turns their head and looks the other way if they see another teacher breaking the policy. What is it like in your environment?

Photo from opensourceway's photostream via flickr.

Another reason why I think the company I work for takes these policies so seriously is because we have a lot of material that is copyrighted and we don’t want anyone else to try and steal our copyrighted material, such as our school logo, which is very unique to us.  We always say in my office “ we have to protect the brand” whenever we our designing something that would require us to use the school logo.

One thing that I think is a growing concern is the ReMix culture. Don’t get me wrong I love some of those videos on YouTube that are remixed. I get a kick out of them, I post them on Facebook for other people to view, maybe I shouldn't be doing that. I also think, as the presidential election gets closer we will see more and more of those types of videos being created.  At some point we will have to decided how far is to far, what is the time limit one can use a video clip to remix something. 

Very interesting food for thoughts!

Katie Ross

Wk1 Blog Post - Copyright

Although I am happy to have covered this subject, again I am questioning the order of class sequence along this journey at Full Sail.  I knew what copyright was and that there were some rules, but I never really knew all that entailed until embarking on my Full Sail journey.  I was first made aware of it when I made my introduction video, Week 1 of Month 1, when I had looped the introduction to a Darius Rucker song as my background music.  I had JUST used iMovie for the first time, the music files wouldn't show because I was missing an update, and my iTunes library was nicely showing right there.  Since then, we have been been constantly reminded of the rules of using your own photographs or making your own clip art.  It wasn't until Full Sail that I was introduced to Creative Commons, a site that I now use often.  Since I have to make up ALL of my own curriculum, I used to always just do a Google search for images and use those throughout my lessons.  Now that I have been made aware, I always try Creative Commons first.  Maybe it is just me, but I think that this lesson and the lesson on iMovie would have been INCREDIBLY helpful in month 1; I had to find out with a marked down assignment.

Photo by ecstaticist via flickr

The one movie that really stood out for myself was Good Copy / Bad Copy.  I found it very interesting and immediately emailed it to all of my friends in the music industry.  It really got me thinking and on more tangents than one.  I compared it to my classroom.  People often ask why I do not have many rules in my classroom and I always tell them, the more rules, the more they are broken.  This is a similar comparison to what this documentary showed.  The United States has so many rules and laws compared to each one of the other countries shown, and guess who seems to have the biggest problem with them being broken?  The United States

This movie really showed that America really does focus on making as much money possible, either independently or as a company.  All of the artists/actors in Nigeria, Brazil, and Sweden didn't focus on the direct income of money from their work, but sharing something with others.  I think that really is a value that our nation has lost, it is always who can get the furthest with money.  I especially liked the idea in Brazil, where the artist is okay with not making money on the direct sales of their tracks, but those tracks bring people to the artists' events, where they do make money.  In the end, the artist makes money as does the street vendors.  The culture and passion of each of the people in these countries really stood out and it was really neat to see.  They tried to show that same passion by showing the GirlTalk story, but had to show the realization of what he is doing is basically a crime.  

I am really glad that this documentary was included because it really showed the real-world aspect of copyright.