Beginner's Mind

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

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

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