Archive

Feeding The Monsters

Published
by
admin
on 10/12/2009
in inspiration and narrative
. 0 Comments

Always an interesting time of the year for teachers, is it not?? Lights at the end of the tunnel, and all of that stuff.

I remember reading some research indicating that the school office would be sent the most number of ‘troublemakers’ from classrooms in the 2nd last week of any term. And even moreso in the 2nd last week of the year.

Why not the last week, I thought to myself? And yet it probably makes a lot of sense. Somehow, when the end is nigh in that final week, we tend to summon up our last reserves of resilience, and cope with everything as well as possible. As well, kids will remember the last few things that were said and done, and so, we’d obviously prefer those memories to be more positive.

This following narrative has application at any time of the year; and yet I suspect that it applies even more directly to this specific time. Goes like this:

A teacher was once talking with her class, and told them about the two monsters that were always fighting inside their heads.

“So what are the two monsters?” asked one student.

“Well, one of them always looks for the best in your life, and encourages you to think about what is going well in the world around you.”

“And the other?”

“ Ah, well, that’s the monster that always looks for the worst in your life, and hassles you to think about what is going badly in the world around you.”

One student asked: “So which one wins?”

And the teacher responded: ‘The one that you feed.”

The next 5000 days of the web

Published
by
admin
on 23/11/2009
in inspiration and learning
. 0 Comments

Like most people who are a little techno-proficient, I’m into the TED talks. Some are great; some are just so-so. Yet now and again, a pretty special talk comes along. I put this one in that category. Kevin Kelly points out that the internet is now 5000 days old; and so he conjectures on what the next 5000 days may bring. Some fascinating possibilities offered here. Worth spending the next 19.34 hanging in on this.

The Ten Laws Of ULearn-ing

Published
by
admin
on 13/10/2009
in inspiration and learning
. 5 Comments

enyaAnother inspiring week at the ULearn conference over in Christchurch NZ last week. A deeply impressive place and space, for those who don’t know about it. To all of my Aussie and Asian readers especially…. I recommend it very highly. In early Oct each year. And you could even tag it on to a holiday in a beautiful place!

If you’re into outright spectacle, not much beats the grandeur of their conference dinner. Here up above is my rather ethereal IPhone snap of the Enya impersonator (and a very impressive one) who provided some of the entertainment.

As part of my ULearn contribution, I’m now going to offer to you The Ten Laws Of ULearn-ing (well… from my perspective, anyway). While you’re welcome to adapt these to your own conference / session / talkfest anywhere in the world, I have specifically drawn these up for the magic that is ULearn.

So here we go with the Ten Laws:

1. The Law Of Frivolity. You’re a teacher. You have to know how to play (or, I sure hope you do). And ULearn gives you endless frivolous opportunities. The conference dinner (see above), the entertaining sessions, the one-off conversations with interesting people.  Call it whatever you like. Fun. Zest. Excitement. Play.  It’s all there; and it makes for a fantastic three days.

2. The Law Of Insight. Insight has to come before information. The knowledge that you can gather at ULearn is quality stuff. Yet what’s even more important is that you are challenged to develop deeper insights about that info. It’s when you say to yourself: “…..Aha…so that’s how it could work for me.” It’s the insights that will enhance and reform your practice. You get lots at ULearn. I had several powerful ones this year.

3. The Law Of Chronology. You save time by attending ULearn. Wha..? How the heck can you save time when you’ve actually given up 3 days of your holidays to be there? Well, that’s the rub. Where else would you find all of this knowledge (and insights) packed into just 3 days? It would take you months to compile it all by yourself.

4. The Law Of Andragogy. Yeah…OK. It’s a big word. Live with it. It refers to adult learning (as compared to pedagogy ie child learning). It’s critical that you do lots of it. And it’s what you do when you attend a top conference. You Learn (….U Learn?!). But I’m talking about having a lust for that learning. And I mean a lust. If you don’t, then you’re a hypocrite if you’re hanging in on teaching. You have to model that learning desire to kids everywhere. And ULearn is packed with lustful learners (Hmmm… maybe I need to express that some other way!!)

5. The Law Of Community. If you could scroll through all of the attendees, you’d find people who could give you the answers to any professional question you’d ever need to ask. So just ask around, and create a learning community. It might end up just being a 5-min learning community; or a lifetime one.  It’s the new time management. Find someone else who’s already done it, and pick their brains. It saves you having to search for it yourself. You can create these immediate learning communities at breakfast; in the lift; on the dance floor; on a bus ride. ULearn is packed with people who want to share. Get 2gether with them.

6. The Law Of Twitter. Or whatever other online networking environment that takes your fancy during and after ULearn. The point is, it just makes life easier when you network online. Oh yes it does. If you’re still lamenting about and longing for the good ol’ days when everyone just talked to each other in real life, then you may need to get over it. Just take the plunge, and you’ll see how easy it is to source ideas when you need them. It’s what we call Collective Intelligence; and it’s very important that you align with that global intellect.

7. The Law Of The Young. ULearn strongly involves students all through the conference, and because they are the focus of our work, we must pay deep respect to their needs and their future. As well as being super-helpful to the attendees, these young people are a constant reminder of what teaching is all about. And that is: To create inspiring learning experiences for them!

8. The Law Of Consumption. I don’t care what anyone says. If a conference serves up stale sandwiches with spray-on chicken, it’s missed the opportunity to be sensational. The ULearn food is first class. As is the mind food; and the soul food.

9. The Law Of Adulation. For the organisers, that is. Core Education do a brilliant job with this conference. I assure you that the hours stretch endlessly into the distance when they’re getting it altogether. Just bow deferentially the next time you walk past one of them. And it’s the same for anyone who devotes so much professional energy and time to co-ordinating these events. They deserve adulation, because their efforts support quality professional learning for you.

10. The Law Of Returns. Savour your return upon the following year. Expectation is good for the heart and soul. Just looking forward to something is magic in itself. It has deep spirit to it. As you savour that next ULearn experience, keep thinking: which speaker will inspire me to lifechanging action? Which genius will I meet on the bus? What’s the strangest outfit that someone will wear to the dinner? Looking ahead also challenges you to ponder: What will I accomplish between now and then? Now there’s a thought! What will you create between now and then?!!!

Zest Practice

Published
by
admin
on 05/10/2009
in inspiration and learning
. 0 Comments

Ever heard of Zest Practice? Probably not, because I just made it up. I’m seeing it as a subtle yet distinct advance on Best or even Next Practice. It’s basically a no-holds-barred exhilarating immersion in your professional work.

Let me build up to this.

Ever heard of ‘best practice’? Who hasn’t? It tends to go along with ‘raising the bar’. Whatever that means. Probably refers to the fact that you’re working so damn hard that you need to drink even more to cope with it all.

World-best practice? There’s nothing inherently wrong with this concept. If you want to develop practice that is of astonishingly high quality, then this is a good thing. It’s just that the term gets bandied around so much these days, and it’s then difficult to know what it really means.

Some advances on ‘best’? Have you ever heard of Next Practice? Best is now, Next is whatever will be the best up ahead. Has been championed by the Innovation Unit in the UK, although first proposed by C K Prahalad, author of The New Age Of Innovation. Here’s a succinct comparison:

Best cf Next

Derek Wenmoth over in NZ has mentioned this in an earlier blog as well. A good summation on Next Practice here from Derek.

Just for the heck of it…. I’d like to propose a further advance on Best and Next. Let’s refer to it as Zest Practice. Why Zest? For starters, it rhymes with best and next. It also indicates that it will focus on spice and energy… which is surely what education needs to be about.

Zest also has intimations of Zen. Given the relentless pace that too many people experience in their lives, they’ll all need a touch of deep spirit and revitalisation if they’re going to thrive through the next five years.

Some key points about Zest Practice??

* It would compel people to turn up. They would want to be there, because they would experience inspiration through the experience. Zest Practice would become a lodestone, a magnet, for inspiring practice.

* It would be provocative to the established order. Until it became the accepted way of doing things, Zest Practice would be considered as too risky by the mainstream.

* It would be based upon deep inquiry. A challenge would exist, and the process of resolving that challenge would necessitate an ongoing model of exploration and inquiry.

* Zest Practice would require a co-evolving learning environment. Learning 2gether, participants would adapt according to the flow of learning that occurred throughout the experience

* Zest Practice would lose sight of the shore. It would be uncomfortable and unsettling, because it would not yet be a practiced part of your everyday routines.

* Zest Practice would require, and indeed, would encourage, a deeper regenerative energy. Too many of our present global structures (including most educational bodies) consume energy, and exhaust their participants. A Zestful approach would regenerate your energy because of your inspiration for accomplishing the experience.

Three questions for you:

Q. Where do you presently engage in Zest Practice?

Q. Where could you engage in Zest Practice?

Q. Where will you engage in Zest Practice?

What's Innovative??

Published
by
admin
on 21/09/2009
in inspiration and learning
. 0 Comments

IMG_1554What does it really mean to be ‘innovative’?? I hear schools often saying that they are. Can’t say that I always agree, although I’m not necessarily qualified to judge. Who can determine that anyway?

Perhaps it’s a matter of context. If nothing else nearby is a stand-out, then perhaps they are. At least, according to them.

I recently visited a Year 9 to 13 public school called Unlimited. Can be found in Christchurch NZ. Really worth a closer look. This is their foyer in the picture. Would have to admit, at least from my perspective, they’re innovative. Especially for a secondary environment. Cruise the site, and you’ll see what I mean.

I’m facilitating a session on ‘Innovative Teachers’ at the U-Learn conference in ChCh (that’s Christchurch, just in case you were wondering) in a couple of weeks, and so I’ve been doing some thinking on what to offer. Does this mean that I’ll have to make the session innovative in itself?? A bit hypocritical if it isn’t, I suppose. whew.

So for now, I’m sorting through a few examples of what might constitute ‘innovation’.

Is this innovative (Take One)?

The 2009 Open Architecture Challenge for Classrooms. Some fantastic designs here. However, I sometimes wonder just how much the pedagogy alters as a result of the new building. Basically, it too often doesn’t… unless the teachers adjust their paradigms. Which is what troubles some of us in Aussie with our BER (Building Education Revolution). Megabucks spent on new halls and classrooms (which, of course, is fantastic in itself), yet there’s no guarantee that the learning itself will be accentuated.

Is this innovative (Take Two)?

What about Plastic Logic?? There are now a number of e-Readers on the market. They’re sure going to mess up the textbook industry!! Here’s a 90-sec take on their use.

Is this innovative (Take Three)?

Had the pleasure of walking through a Leonardo da Vinci ‘machines exhibition’ on the weekend in Brisbane. Whatever innovative means, this guy was IT. How did he develop this stuff 500 years ago? IMG_1623Perhaps one of his most famous inventions was the aerial screw. The precursor to the helicopter. In his designs, Leonardo determined that it would be powered in one of two ways:

1. By four men who would push levers as they ran around the base; or

2. By means of a rope that was quickly unravelled from around the axle.

By those means, it never would have flown. However, with a stronger means of propulsion, it indeed would have taken off.

And finally (for now), is this innovative (Take Four)?!!

Google Wave

Is it ever! Google Wave will become one of the most powerful means of personal communication on the planet by mid-2010. Just imagine email mixed with FaceBook mixed with Flickr mixed with Google Translate.

Ponder this. You could be writing a message to 10 different people around the planet. As you write, they can read your text live. Not only that, those 10 people could be from 8 different countries. No issue if they speak and read and write in a different language. Google Translate will instantly translate it for them. And when they reply in their language, it will immediately be translated back into English for you.

More at http://wave.google.com/ The video goes for 80 mins. However, you can get a fair sense of it in the 1st 8 mins or so. As you watch, ponder what you’ll be able to do with this!