Greetings All!
Ben, Peter, and Beginner's Mind
In honor of Ben Rimes, who so generously gave his ideas and expertise from the field, I wish to share this short reading from Zen Mind: Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki read by Peter Coyote. I know from Ben's blog that Coyote's voice is important to Ben. So, Ben, if you can read this, and All, please enjoy...
At a (much) earlier time in my life I earned a tenth degree black belt in Sanchin Ryu karate. Tenth degree is the beginning of black belt degrees in that style. At that time I was pretty good at getting to the place of beginner's mind. Today I feel like I have monkey mind, or easily distracted mind, because I am immersed in so many wonderful experiences in learning with all of you through our ed tech program. There is so much with which to deepen my understanding! Peeragogy, entrepreneurship, hacking, design thinking, edupunks, and gaming--I feel like it could take years to really get to know each of these ideas--yet, I don't have years! And these ideas are in a constant state of change! I decided at the beginning of this degree to jump in with both feet. I'm in--and I love it :-) Now I must change my monkey mind to beginner's mind again...and again...as many times as it takes to allow this learning to show me what it needs me to do with it.
Gratitude
At this moment of reflection I am grateful to all of you for your contributions to my learning and for doing this with me. Here is a virtual group hug-love to you all. I sincerely thank you for all that each of you has given to me in this space and beyond. I appreciate and respect each of you!
Best and May We Meet Again
May your lights shine brightly! May you be always loved. I will miss our particular meld of shared inspirations and experiences. I look forward to seeing you again!
~Danna
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Ben Rimes: Thanks for Taking Our Calls
Hello Everyone!
Remi, thank you for bringing Ben to us through our course, and Ben, thank you for being a fun, intelligent, and active resource for us.
I've read most of your blog, Ben, read your interview about your online book club, and explored your district's website a bit. You are a busy guy!
It was a pleasure to meet Ben at the the iiE Gathering.
Ben, as you coordinate, collaborate, and lead in your district, how much do national and state standards come into play in your activity? And which standards are you using? There are so many now. I know many are adhering to Common Core.
As I write visual arts curriculum for our high school I look at so many standards! I try as hard as I can to meet as many cross-over standards as possible. There are the 21st Century Skills Standards, the Michigan Visual Arts Standards, National Visual Arts Standards, the ISTE Standards, Language Arts/Science/Math standards, STEM...
I wonder about your experience as the ed tech coordinator how standards come into play.
Thanks again, Ben! I have enjoyed your artistry and playfulness as well as your obvious grasp on tech tools :-)
~Danna
Remi, thank you for bringing Ben to us through our course, and Ben, thank you for being a fun, intelligent, and active resource for us.
I've read most of your blog, Ben, read your interview about your online book club, and explored your district's website a bit. You are a busy guy!
It was a pleasure to meet Ben at the the iiE Gathering.
Ben, as you coordinate, collaborate, and lead in your district, how much do national and state standards come into play in your activity? And which standards are you using? There are so many now. I know many are adhering to Common Core.
As I write visual arts curriculum for our high school I look at so many standards! I try as hard as I can to meet as many cross-over standards as possible. There are the 21st Century Skills Standards, the Michigan Visual Arts Standards, National Visual Arts Standards, the ISTE Standards, Language Arts/Science/Math standards, STEM...
I wonder about your experience as the ed tech coordinator how standards come into play.
Thanks again, Ben! I have enjoyed your artistry and playfulness as well as your obvious grasp on tech tools :-)
~Danna
Response to Kellie's App Smasher Video
Hello Everyone!
I will post questions for Ben very soon. Here I want to make a quick comment on Kellie's App Smasher idea. Can anyone else here remember when it was nearly impossible to work across programs? How did we ever live without all of this cool digital technology?
:-)
Danna
I will post questions for Ben very soon. Here I want to make a quick comment on Kellie's App Smasher idea. Can anyone else here remember when it was nearly impossible to work across programs? How did we ever live without all of this cool digital technology?
:-)
Danna
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Interesting Attribute of Google Blogger
Hi All!
I have read lots of blogs in the past, and even started one a while back, but I didn't really know what to talk about, so I didn't keep up with it.
In our coursework here in 632 and in 631 I am learning so much about ways to collaborate and communicate online. Last week we talked some about Google Analytics in 631 (thanks, Kellie) and I discovered, probably later than most of you, that Google Blogger has interesting analytics within the Blogger tools :-) I am fascinated by looking at the types and amount of info this analytic aspect of Blogger collects! I could see things as interesting as which type of computer accesses my blog :-) I find this so interesting to know the percentage of types of systems that have accessed my blog (more PCs than Macs.) I do not know how or if I will use this info, but it amazes me that I can know it if I want to!
I also wonder what Google does with this information.
~Danna
Hi All!
I have read lots of blogs in the past, and even started one a while back, but I didn't really know what to talk about, so I didn't keep up with it.
In our coursework here in 632 and in 631 I am learning so much about ways to collaborate and communicate online. Last week we talked some about Google Analytics in 631 (thanks, Kellie) and I discovered, probably later than most of you, that Google Blogger has interesting analytics within the Blogger tools :-) I am fascinated by looking at the types and amount of info this analytic aspect of Blogger collects! I could see things as interesting as which type of computer accesses my blog :-) I find this so interesting to know the percentage of types of systems that have accessed my blog (more PCs than Macs.) I do not know how or if I will use this info, but it amazes me that I can know it if I want to!
I also wonder what Google does with this information.
~Danna
Fuller Response to Horizon Reports for Higher Ed, 2012 and 2013
Hello Everyone!
Summertime Summertime Sum Sum Summertime
I feel like I got stuck in the mud a bit with regard to clear thoughts for you all during the last two weeks--so many life events happening! I go from grandma mode-- to support for close friend mode-- to artist painting portraits for a hall of fame presentation (sixteen portraits in a week to be exact!) ---to weddings and open houses...---to helping students make a little artist money during the summer-- to (trying! to focus) grad student....--not to mention that the kids will be back in school in about a month! No excuses--with my mere understanding of my human brain I have created a construct called "time constraints." I am looking forward to the day when I believe that I have all the time in the world for each task. :-)
from: http://www.soulseeds.com/fb-inspiration/2012/10/seed-of-hair-raising-optimism/
Response to the Higher Ed Horizon Reports
I saw that we were to read the 2012 version of the HR-HE, and was curious about whether the 2013 was available--it was. I read both.
First, I am thankful for the HR. It is a great tool in that it provides examples and resources to illustrate how tech is already in use and where to find more answers. There is an app for the Horizon EdTech Weekly--maybe you already have it. It's 99 cents.
The two most striking things that I noticed was how much things have changed in one year, and how things from the 2012 report are already common in 2013. Rather than explain each, I copied and pasted from the contents page showing a brief summary from both 2012 and 2013. I've explained only those that I didn't clearly understand before reading, starred below:
2012:
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less
> Mobile Apps
> Tablet Computing
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years
> Game-Based Learning
> Learning Analytics
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years
**> Gesture-Based Computing
***> Internet of Things
2013:
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less
> Massively Open Online Courses
> Tablet Computing
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years
> Games and Gamification
> Learning Analytics
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years
> 3D Printing
> Wearable Technology
**Gesture-Based Computing
-I learned that this is swiping, tapping, etc, all the way to a great experience that we had at the iiE Gathering at UM Ann Arbor where we went into a lab room and were able to put on a headset that allowed us to see in 3-4 dimensions and control the images based on our movements. Very cool stuff!
An iiE participant from Egypt experiencing the Virtual Reality Cave at the Duderstadt, UM
--I feel badly that I can't remember her name!
***Internet of Things
-I learned that these are small devices that are easy to attach to almost anything, they have a unique identifier; they can hold a small store of data or information; and they have a way to communicate that information to an external device on demand. Examples of the way they are used: RFIDs (radio frequency identifiers,) sensing temperatures, and Google experimented with Google Wallet--a secure sensor/transmitting system that allows purchases to be made from phones.
I noted elsewhere that MOOCs are already evolving! MOOCs went from not being mentioned in the HR-HE to "one year or less." We all know that MOOCs are booming right now.
HR provides examples of how these trends are applicable to the world of learning as well as general trends.
I appreciate this opportunity to examine the HR anew. I also appreciate Rachel's compare/contrast with the K-12/ HE reports. Thanks, Rachel!
How I Love the KIds! Dilemma
Choices, choices. Remi asks: what of your plans for future education? Doctoral pursuit?
How does the HR-HE report inform your future? Trajectory?
I've had this inner urging for a long time saying "pursue a PhD." I don't know if I'd call it a dream, but I have had a sense of knowing that I could "be one." I don't know if this makes sense, but I have this feeling of "already being there" with no paper to show it, as if I can feel the future, but I'm not physically there...does that sound crazy?
But I LOVE working with kids. LOVE IT-It's one of my "happiest places." What would happen to that aspect of my profession of 20+ years if I moved on to full time college teaching or "other" non-K-12...? Will I be as happily fulfilled as I am when I'm working one-to-one or with large groups of kids? I really don't know the answer to that. It may be subconsciously holding me back.
I've taught every level from pre-k to college in my career. Most of my time has been in secondary ed--which I love--mainly because they laugh at my jokes.
About six years ago (before my grandson was here) I remember volunteering in the Michigan Art Education Association children's tent at the Ann Arbor Art Fair. I had been a secondary level teacher for quite a while, and hadn't spent much time with the little ones in a long time. At the Art Fair I was delighted by my time helping five-year-olds make tulle and wire angel and fairy wings in the MAEA tent. My heart soared in the innocence of these precious beings! I can almost cry with joy at my memory of helping the little ones put on the wings: they looked directly into my eyes with such innocence and beauty--and I'd see them later floating through the crowds wearing their little wings. What a lovely memory! I highly recommend spending time with tiny ones at least once per year. I had forgotten what love springs from tiny little people-and they don't even have to try!
I love technology, too. I feel like I can't keep up with it, and there is so much happening that it makes my head swim, but I LOVE it!
Probably the smart thing to do would have been to pursue a doctorate after my first masters degree in ed leadership. To be honest, earning my first masters was motivated more by a bump in pay and the fastest masters I could achieve in the shortest amount of time while still being a great mom who attended all things and worked full time, too. My motivation was definitely NOT that I wanted to become a principal or superintendent, which is where most go with a masters in ed leadership. The best thing that came from earning my masters was that I also have established a teaching position that I love at a design college 45 minutes from my house.
I don't have to tell you that things in the world of tenure, long term public teacher pay systems, union power, evaluations, constant curriculum writing, assessment, technology and more have changed drastically during the past five years. I've had to reexamine my plan to happily continue working with kids and art until I retired at a place five minutes from my house.
-Postcards from the Edge
My love for my students is stronger than ever, but the relentless demands from sources other than kids is taking its toll on my joy in my K-12 experience. Also, I am physically dealing with some issues such as two pulled achilles and planter fasciitis that won't heal (going on four years) degenerative disk disease (metal plate inserted where my 3 of my disks were crushing my spinal cord) and heck, I'm getting older and less physically strong. (I'm sorry if I sound like I'm complaining! I don't like talking about it, but it seems appropriate to a reflection on where to go from here.) I was a runner who did 5ks every weekend through most of my forties, and now I can hardly walk down the stairs first thing in the morning! I can't stay off my feet long enough to let them heal.
My husband has always been an entrepreneur-mostly in the realms of restaurants, officiating and coaching sports, and sports in general. Except for a brief period in our long marriage I have been the only one with health insurance and retirement. To me this is an important consideration when weighing my options.
On the job at IHS I literally make thousands of pounds of clay each year, lift heavy boxes over my head while climbing ladders, run around on cement floors all day every day, and I have breathed sixteen years of clay and metal dust... and more... Is it time to be kinder and gentler to my body?
Sometime during my reexamination of my goals period I got a simple (magical?) postcard from UM-F Ed Tech. Being a very busy person, I skimmed it briefly, and put it into a pile of "later" documents.
---Later---Sifting through the "later" pile I saw the card again. I thought about it, and decided that spending more money on education would not be a good return on investment (ROI) based on my past experience, so I threw the postcard away and moved on from thinking about additional formal education.
Somehow the postcard reappeared. It was in my pile of papers again. "How did it get there?" I wondered briefly, thought I tossed it, moved on again.
This happened several times: I thought I discarded it, it reappeared in piles of paper or by floating to the floor at my feet. Finally, I paid attention and made an appointment to talk with Jeff Kupperman to ask a host of questions about the program. He answered all of them with the "right" answers (for me.) Next thing I knew I was accepted into the program and here I am, working on a second masters.
-Teaching at Kendall
I share mostly about my full time job at Ionia High School. I also have a job at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids. I absolutely LOVE teaching at Kendall, too. It's LIGHTYEARS easier than teaching at the high school for three reasons: 1) The students choose to be there 2) I teach the same content (Adobe CS software with upgrades, of course) year after year and 3) there are no rigid/crazy demands for proving that I am "making" my students learn. It's a very different beast at the college level. I love, love, love it!
At Kendall, like K-12 public, budgets are a concern. If they can get away with hiring many adjuncts as opposed to full time tenured profs, why would they make a fiscal decision to do the more costly option? Not to mention that there are less headaches with adjuncts with regard to politics, etc. I am pleased, though, that I have been able to teach at the college level with a mere single masters degree! YAY! Teaching at the college level was long a dream--a dream that came true.
-PhD?
The thought of working toward a PhD is exciting. I know I would love the intellectual challenge. I LOVE the people I meet in grad school. I LOVE learning and growing along with other people who also want to learn and grow. However, I am still paying off my student loans from my first masters degree and here I am, collecting more debt for my second. I am a dreamer by nature, but I have been forced to learn to have a foot in reality. It costs a lot to earn college degrees, even if one is fortunate enough to get scholarships or grants. I am in my fifties. I am the only one (along with my husband) who has ever paid for my schooling, and paying back student loans--and I am still thinking of working on a PhD! What a nut.
Most of my time is spent supporting other artists in their art making and learning. I have only rare times when I myself can make art. Through this ed tech masters I have been afforded unexpected and lovely opportunities to be a MAKER again! How I have LOVED using technology combined with my artistic abilities! It is so much fun--I am PLAYING again with being a MAKER of art. I didn't realize how much I missed and was starved for art-making myself. Always--my art-making experiences since I became a full time teacher have been related to becoming a better teacher OR I was doing commissioned work.
I have felt real JOY in the MAKING of things for my ed tech courses. I am so thankful for this, and it helps me to understand where I might go next.
-So...Where To for Danna?
I have talked with Jeff K and with the Dean of the School of Ed Services, Dr. Barnett, at UM-F about the possibility of a PhD. Dr. Barnett said that they don't offer an ed tech PhD at UM-F, but that they do in ed leadership. No thanks to the ed leadership, though that would have been the logical trajectory for most people with an ed leadership masters.
I am now thinking that whatever I do from here I would like to be involved in the MAKING part. I am in the developer track of the program. If there was an ed tech PhD, I might consider it.
I am excited about the possibilities. I am so excited for those in the program that I've seen move on to jobs in the ed tech field. Rachel, for one! I am so excited for her and love to hear what she is doing. How lucky for those folks who hired her!
Remi is an inspiring teacher and leader, too! I love your style, Remi, and appreciate all of the support you give to all of us. And you seem to be having fun being passionate as you teach and pursue your PhD.
When I graduate from UM-F in 2014 I will be very close to the 20 year mark at my current full time position at IHS. I am considering the fiscal rationale for all of what I intend to do in the next two years. I want to be smart about the retirement investment I've made for all these years teaching in Michigan public schools.
Do I think I'm up for the work of a PhD? Absolutely. Is it a wise financial investment in my family's future? I don't know. Do I intend to stay in teaching as I move forward? I don't know!
I love the times when I've been allowed to be an artist so much! I wonder if it is time to move in the direction of MAKING again and BEING an artist. Who gets paid :-)
This is what I do know: I am not ready to retire! I can see myself doing a whole new full-time career after retiring from K-12. In fact, I am energized every time I think about what's next.
I know I still have a lot to give.
I hope to find a quiet space in August to use the design process on my future as a working person. When I have results, I'll share :-)
-What I Won't Be Teaching
"How to be succinct when writing a blog."
Love to all,
Danna
Hello Everyone!
Summertime Summertime Sum Sum Summertime
I feel like I got stuck in the mud a bit with regard to clear thoughts for you all during the last two weeks--so many life events happening! I go from grandma mode-- to support for close friend mode-- to artist painting portraits for a hall of fame presentation (sixteen portraits in a week to be exact!) ---to weddings and open houses...---to helping students make a little artist money during the summer-- to (trying! to focus) grad student....--not to mention that the kids will be back in school in about a month! No excuses--with my mere understanding of my human brain I have created a construct called "time constraints." I am looking forward to the day when I believe that I have all the time in the world for each task. :-)
Response to the Higher Ed Horizon Reports
I saw that we were to read the 2012 version of the HR-HE, and was curious about whether the 2013 was available--it was. I read both.
First, I am thankful for the HR. It is a great tool in that it provides examples and resources to illustrate how tech is already in use and where to find more answers. There is an app for the Horizon EdTech Weekly--maybe you already have it. It's 99 cents.
The two most striking things that I noticed was how much things have changed in one year, and how things from the 2012 report are already common in 2013. Rather than explain each, I copied and pasted from the contents page showing a brief summary from both 2012 and 2013. I've explained only those that I didn't clearly understand before reading, starred below:
2012:
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less
> Mobile Apps
> Tablet Computing
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years
> Game-Based Learning
> Learning Analytics
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years
**> Gesture-Based Computing
***> Internet of Things
2013:
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less
> Massively Open Online Courses
> Tablet Computing
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years
> Games and Gamification
> Learning Analytics
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years
> 3D Printing
> Wearable Technology
**Gesture-Based Computing
-I learned that this is swiping, tapping, etc, all the way to a great experience that we had at the iiE Gathering at UM Ann Arbor where we went into a lab room and were able to put on a headset that allowed us to see in 3-4 dimensions and control the images based on our movements. Very cool stuff!
--I feel badly that I can't remember her name!
***Internet of Things
-I learned that these are small devices that are easy to attach to almost anything, they have a unique identifier; they can hold a small store of data or information; and they have a way to communicate that information to an external device on demand. Examples of the way they are used: RFIDs (radio frequency identifiers,) sensing temperatures, and Google experimented with Google Wallet--a secure sensor/transmitting system that allows purchases to be made from phones.
I noted elsewhere that MOOCs are already evolving! MOOCs went from not being mentioned in the HR-HE to "one year or less." We all know that MOOCs are booming right now.
HR provides examples of how these trends are applicable to the world of learning as well as general trends.
I appreciate this opportunity to examine the HR anew. I also appreciate Rachel's compare/contrast with the K-12/ HE reports. Thanks, Rachel!
How I Love the KIds! Dilemma
Choices, choices. Remi asks: what of your plans for future education? Doctoral pursuit?
How does the HR-HE report inform your future? Trajectory?
I've had this inner urging for a long time saying "pursue a PhD." I don't know if I'd call it a dream, but I have had a sense of knowing that I could "be one." I don't know if this makes sense, but I have this feeling of "already being there" with no paper to show it, as if I can feel the future, but I'm not physically there...does that sound crazy?
But I LOVE working with kids. LOVE IT-It's one of my "happiest places." What would happen to that aspect of my profession of 20+ years if I moved on to full time college teaching or "other" non-K-12...? Will I be as happily fulfilled as I am when I'm working one-to-one or with large groups of kids? I really don't know the answer to that. It may be subconsciously holding me back.
I've taught every level from pre-k to college in my career. Most of my time has been in secondary ed--which I love--mainly because they laugh at my jokes.
About six years ago (before my grandson was here) I remember volunteering in the Michigan Art Education Association children's tent at the Ann Arbor Art Fair. I had been a secondary level teacher for quite a while, and hadn't spent much time with the little ones in a long time. At the Art Fair I was delighted by my time helping five-year-olds make tulle and wire angel and fairy wings in the MAEA tent. My heart soared in the innocence of these precious beings! I can almost cry with joy at my memory of helping the little ones put on the wings: they looked directly into my eyes with such innocence and beauty--and I'd see them later floating through the crowds wearing their little wings. What a lovely memory! I highly recommend spending time with tiny ones at least once per year. I had forgotten what love springs from tiny little people-and they don't even have to try!
I love technology, too. I feel like I can't keep up with it, and there is so much happening that it makes my head swim, but I LOVE it!
Probably the smart thing to do would have been to pursue a doctorate after my first masters degree in ed leadership. To be honest, earning my first masters was motivated more by a bump in pay and the fastest masters I could achieve in the shortest amount of time while still being a great mom who attended all things and worked full time, too. My motivation was definitely NOT that I wanted to become a principal or superintendent, which is where most go with a masters in ed leadership. The best thing that came from earning my masters was that I also have established a teaching position that I love at a design college 45 minutes from my house.
I don't have to tell you that things in the world of tenure, long term public teacher pay systems, union power, evaluations, constant curriculum writing, assessment, technology and more have changed drastically during the past five years. I've had to reexamine my plan to happily continue working with kids and art until I retired at a place five minutes from my house.
-Postcards from the Edge
My love for my students is stronger than ever, but the relentless demands from sources other than kids is taking its toll on my joy in my K-12 experience. Also, I am physically dealing with some issues such as two pulled achilles and planter fasciitis that won't heal (going on four years) degenerative disk disease (metal plate inserted where my 3 of my disks were crushing my spinal cord) and heck, I'm getting older and less physically strong. (I'm sorry if I sound like I'm complaining! I don't like talking about it, but it seems appropriate to a reflection on where to go from here.) I was a runner who did 5ks every weekend through most of my forties, and now I can hardly walk down the stairs first thing in the morning! I can't stay off my feet long enough to let them heal.
My husband has always been an entrepreneur-mostly in the realms of restaurants, officiating and coaching sports, and sports in general. Except for a brief period in our long marriage I have been the only one with health insurance and retirement. To me this is an important consideration when weighing my options.
On the job at IHS I literally make thousands of pounds of clay each year, lift heavy boxes over my head while climbing ladders, run around on cement floors all day every day, and I have breathed sixteen years of clay and metal dust... and more... Is it time to be kinder and gentler to my body?
Sometime during my reexamination of my goals period I got a simple (magical?) postcard from UM-F Ed Tech. Being a very busy person, I skimmed it briefly, and put it into a pile of "later" documents.
---Later---Sifting through the "later" pile I saw the card again. I thought about it, and decided that spending more money on education would not be a good return on investment (ROI) based on my past experience, so I threw the postcard away and moved on from thinking about additional formal education.
Somehow the postcard reappeared. It was in my pile of papers again. "How did it get there?" I wondered briefly, thought I tossed it, moved on again.
This happened several times: I thought I discarded it, it reappeared in piles of paper or by floating to the floor at my feet. Finally, I paid attention and made an appointment to talk with Jeff Kupperman to ask a host of questions about the program. He answered all of them with the "right" answers (for me.) Next thing I knew I was accepted into the program and here I am, working on a second masters.
-Teaching at Kendall
I share mostly about my full time job at Ionia High School. I also have a job at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids. I absolutely LOVE teaching at Kendall, too. It's LIGHTYEARS easier than teaching at the high school for three reasons: 1) The students choose to be there 2) I teach the same content (Adobe CS software with upgrades, of course) year after year and 3) there are no rigid/crazy demands for proving that I am "making" my students learn. It's a very different beast at the college level. I love, love, love it!
At Kendall, like K-12 public, budgets are a concern. If they can get away with hiring many adjuncts as opposed to full time tenured profs, why would they make a fiscal decision to do the more costly option? Not to mention that there are less headaches with adjuncts with regard to politics, etc. I am pleased, though, that I have been able to teach at the college level with a mere single masters degree! YAY! Teaching at the college level was long a dream--a dream that came true.
-PhD?
The thought of working toward a PhD is exciting. I know I would love the intellectual challenge. I LOVE the people I meet in grad school. I LOVE learning and growing along with other people who also want to learn and grow. However, I am still paying off my student loans from my first masters degree and here I am, collecting more debt for my second. I am a dreamer by nature, but I have been forced to learn to have a foot in reality. It costs a lot to earn college degrees, even if one is fortunate enough to get scholarships or grants. I am in my fifties. I am the only one (along with my husband) who has ever paid for my schooling, and paying back student loans--and I am still thinking of working on a PhD! What a nut.
Most of my time is spent supporting other artists in their art making and learning. I have only rare times when I myself can make art. Through this ed tech masters I have been afforded unexpected and lovely opportunities to be a MAKER again! How I have LOVED using technology combined with my artistic abilities! It is so much fun--I am PLAYING again with being a MAKER of art. I didn't realize how much I missed and was starved for art-making myself. Always--my art-making experiences since I became a full time teacher have been related to becoming a better teacher OR I was doing commissioned work.
I have felt real JOY in the MAKING of things for my ed tech courses. I am so thankful for this, and it helps me to understand where I might go next.
-So...Where To for Danna?
I have talked with Jeff K and with the Dean of the School of Ed Services, Dr. Barnett, at UM-F about the possibility of a PhD. Dr. Barnett said that they don't offer an ed tech PhD at UM-F, but that they do in ed leadership. No thanks to the ed leadership, though that would have been the logical trajectory for most people with an ed leadership masters.
I am now thinking that whatever I do from here I would like to be involved in the MAKING part. I am in the developer track of the program. If there was an ed tech PhD, I might consider it.
I am excited about the possibilities. I am so excited for those in the program that I've seen move on to jobs in the ed tech field. Rachel, for one! I am so excited for her and love to hear what she is doing. How lucky for those folks who hired her!
Remi is an inspiring teacher and leader, too! I love your style, Remi, and appreciate all of the support you give to all of us. And you seem to be having fun being passionate as you teach and pursue your PhD.
When I graduate from UM-F in 2014 I will be very close to the 20 year mark at my current full time position at IHS. I am considering the fiscal rationale for all of what I intend to do in the next two years. I want to be smart about the retirement investment I've made for all these years teaching in Michigan public schools.
Do I think I'm up for the work of a PhD? Absolutely. Is it a wise financial investment in my family's future? I don't know. Do I intend to stay in teaching as I move forward? I don't know!
I love the times when I've been allowed to be an artist so much! I wonder if it is time to move in the direction of MAKING again and BEING an artist. Who gets paid :-)
This is what I do know: I am not ready to retire! I can see myself doing a whole new full-time career after retiring from K-12. In fact, I am energized every time I think about what's next.
I know I still have a lot to give.
I hope to find a quiet space in August to use the design process on my future as a working person. When I have results, I'll share :-)
-What I Won't Be Teaching
"How to be succinct when writing a blog."
Love to all,
Danna
Friday, July 26, 2013
Ha! I see from the Horizon Report 2013 for Higher Ed that I had it backward! Downes and Siemens originally created the cMOOC and it evolved from there. :-) I'm learning, learning, learning! ~Danna
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