Are You Ready?

When contemplating my own level of preparedness for the plunge, the old childhood chant comes to mind:

One for the money - Two for the show
Three to get ready, and Four to go!

Photo courtesy of creative commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/d10b/

I took advantage of the holiday weekend to catch up on my RSS feeds. How desperately I need to get on a schedule to do this regularly, but 10 days in four Asian countries followed by 7 days on the west coast and ending with 8 days in India is enough to help me feel justified for irregularities in my rituals.

Irrespective of my personal wars, Janet Lee Johnson has been absolutely inspiring over the past few weeks! I enjoy following her on twitter and seeing the world of public relations and interconnectivity through her eyes, but it was downright comforting to hear her echo my friend and former colleague, Jeff Utecht, regarding strategies for increasing blog visibility. One of her recommendations rang particularly familiar: the trackback to the Technorati Profile as an absolute must.

So now I must fill out another profile. Call me lazy, but it will temporarily be a cut-and-paste from the presenter bio for an upcoming workshop at the Near East South Asia (NESA) conference in Amman, Jordan. I have joined so many networks, filled out so many profiles, and attached so many pictures, I feel as though I just came from a wine and cheese in a new position.

(image from NESA Center Gallery - Spring Educators' Conference)

I'm not complaining. I'm thankful that web 2.0 matches what Debbie Silva would call my ADD-OS personality (Attention Deficit Disor . . . . OOOOOH! SPARKLIES!!!). I can flit and float from network to network, finding what this still-creative mind craves for the moment.

Yet I wonder if I'm ready to make the bold commitment. Do I want a following on my blog (do I have one and not know it? Gotta upload that new Google gadget!). Most importantly: do I want to make the commitment to be an ongoing part of very meaningful conversations that, when done at the level of Janet's or Jeff's or my friend Andy's can inspire thought and excellence.

Yes. I'm ready. To learn.
Yes, I'm ready, to love.

To fall into the blog
To keep up with the blog
To commit to the blog
Right now.

If you can name the tune from which those lyrics are borrowed/tweaked, than your as much of a dinosaur as I am.

Let's keep it real: That which doesn't kill me will only make me stronger. Crank it up, y'all!

See you next week! Leave a thought or two.

Signs of the Season

Summer vacation is over in International Education. At the office, we might as well install a revolving door to accommodate the upcoming travels of me and my colleagues. I joking bid a co-consultant goodbye with a hope to see her in September as we integrate our Curriculum Mapping system trainings into the start of the academic year.

Recently, have been deeply inspired by an Asian International School so closely wedded to excellence, they purchased our tool. What was inspiring is that curriculum mapping was not used to create change in their school or lead toward improvement, but because the practices they have already established needed what my firm offers to maximize their pre-scheduled time focused on designing and refining their curriculum.

Although I desperately miss my husband, as my "home base" and travels currently require that we live apart, I love my job, which provides me the opportunities to travel (on this trip) to places like Malaysia, the Phillipines, Singapore and Taiwan. I am tickled to goose-bump level to see people more excited than me about designing curriculum that will improve student learning.

The seasons of my life have changed from a classroom to consulting full time. As I learned of the need to be an educational teacher-leader to become the change I wanted to see in education, I am now learning that I need to persevere as a consulting leader to become the change that others need to see in our field. I'm excited by the podcasts we're producing and the way our borders are reaching out to share best practices at the speed of change, but with change happening so quickly, how will we keep up? I know many of you have seen this video countless times, but it reminds me, humbly, how rapidly our world changes.

On the Road Again

I still marvel that I've accumulated more miles this year an educational consultant (this after 13 years in k-12 education and three as an adjunct college lecturer/performing artist) than all of my traveling years as an international educator.

Usually, I put the headphones on, tune out the world, and focus on preparations for/follow-up from the school I've gone to visit. This usually devolves into mind-numbing airline entertainment or a fast movie/TV series on the laptop or ipod. This vacation trip to Phoenix was different - my aisle mate was otherwise occupied, but once the conversation began, I didn't want to "tune out".

He too is an educator at a charter school in Phoenix. His passion for the profession was inspiring and reminded me of the good old days. However, it was his inquiry into my job teaching internationally that inspired this blog.

My friend, Amanda DeCardy summarizes it beautifully. I echo the sentiments on benefits to the family. The only addition I would make is the opportunity to meet wonderfully dedicated professionals with global perspectives and an appetite for cultural experiences and exchanges.

The world is flat, but it is through exchanges offered in international posts that we can physicalize the virtual connections available.

Tools of the Trade

What started as a comment to Andy Torris' blog turned into a post of its own. Because I know this educational leader values the opinions of others, I left it there, in the comments, but wanted to share the context with you.

“The U.S. Department of Commerce ranked 55 industry sectors by their level of IT intensiveness. Education ranked was ranked 55- the lowest. Behind coal-mining.”

Before we completely fault educators, I'd like to make a comparison between three industries in which I worked:

Higher Education:
Resident Director at a major research institution - provided with a desktop computer and access to the "BBS" (OK, so I'm a dinosaur!)

Educator:
Given the option of a low-interest loan in a payroll deduction to purchase my own personal computer. The loan amount had limits.

Consulting Firm:
Provided with a laptop computer and international mobile phone upon arrival (latest bells and whistles).

The expectations of my expected use of technology both during and outside of work hours were clear by the resources provided. Most schools wouldn't expect a teacher to walk into a room without text books (hopefully this is changing) and a teacher's manual to accompany them. We won't even name those schools whose provision of technological resources are so scarce that teachers use their own money to purchase digital projectors. If educators are truly expected to embed technology into instruction and learning, give them the tools - not just available in the classroom - that they need to do so.

There have been few changes to the expectation that educators do more with less, particularly in US public education. School calendars, expected outcomes, scheduling, even teacher training and professional development are still shaped by the industrial model of education. The changes to adapt to 21st Century learners will be implemented by educators but the really metamorphosis is at an institutional level, most critical at institutions of teacher preparation and certification.

Main point: provide educational professionals with the tools of their dynamic trade. Outside of photosynthesis and those things created to imitate the process, very little happens by osmosis.

If they made you, they can't be all bad!

A strategic planning consultant asked a reticent group to introduce themselves, sharing the last book they read or the last original thought the remembered having. We all chose books.

Jeff Utecht, through the twitter universe, led me to a 2006 TED speech by Sir Ken Robinson

An entertaining and thought provoking video, but as a former music educator - in a state-run school (since we have no "national education system in the U.S.), I respectfully disagree.

We need to stop beating up our educational system. I have had a rich life - rich in wonderfully creative experiences and opportunities, and guess what? I am a full-blown product of public education! My 3rd grade teacher nurtured my creativity in poetry while Ms. Strozier nurtured my love of instrumental music and Ms. Robinson gave me chances to sing. As I travel to different schools, I see so many loving and dedicated educators just like the teachers I have. Yet we tend to focus more on what' missing than what is or what could be.

We blame the educational system for our human shortcomings. Schools can nurture all the

creativity they want, but if parents tell kids to "cut that racket out" once they get home or farm them out to activities that keep them too tired to find the time to create, the morning has been nearly nullified.

No matter what the educational system may have been "designed" to produce, it is powered by individuals. In the paraphrased words of a former administrator, "Forget the curriculum - teach these kids to enjoy their time making music with you".