Unleash Your Energy

Do you agree that focusing on the positive can give us the energy to fix what's not right? I do believe in the above statement. Or, do we need to concentrate on what's wrong if we want to fix it? You do need to identify the problem, but dwelling on it does not do any good. By being positive and looking for problem solving solutions is a better use of time. Do most people you know tend to focus on the positive or on the negative? I would say most look towards the positive. Some I would say identify the problem and are stuck there. It is harder to get on board with change when you are negative. Do you seek out one type of person or another? If so, why? I try to surround myself with positive people, otherwise it stresses me out too much.

Look for the Possibilities

Think of a time when you were able to find a new answer to a seemingly no-win situation. This does not need to be an earth-shattering discovery. For example, perhaps you left your slides behind when you went to give a major presentation. How did you make things work? I usually try to stay flexible and model problem solving with the kids. A lot of times the kids will come up with an answer. I am currently working through that right now. We have had a lot of challenges with our kiln not working. It will not get fixed until the summer so we decided to transport all the work to the Elementary school! The kids helped package the work and even helped transport it at times. We pulled together to get the work where it needed to go both with students and with staff. Did you take away any lessons that you have been able to use since? The more people there are to help the easier it is to get the job accomplished. Step 2: Do you agree with Dewitt's observation that the opposite of scarcity isn't necessarily abundance, but possibility? I think when you can see the good in things it makes everything more positive. Even in negative situations positives can be found and lessons can be learned. Why or why not? How does this connect to your classroom? How does it connect to the Spring Conference. I think both in the classroom and at the conference that not everything goes as you plan, but there is always something that can learned from the experience.

The most!

A lot of my assessment reflections would fit under the "The Most" category. The questions on the assessment are examples such as: 1. What did you like the most about the project? 2. What part of the process surprised you the most? 3. What would you change if you did the project again? 4. What did you find to be the most difficult? The other questions are very similar to these. These questions give insight to the students thought process and problem solving skills. It is always interesting to see how they maneuvered problems and what they would change in the future. This give them an opportunity to analyze their work and reflect.

Recognizing Abundance

How do you reconcile Dewitt's contention that fear and scarcity reflect an attitude more than a reality, with the fact that life often can seem like a zero sum game? For instance, if one person is going to win a promotion, aren't those who don't get it losers? Those that do not get the promotion are just not at the right point in time to get it. It doesn't mean that there will not be another opportunity to get a promotion. Maybe they need more experience and time to grow. This promotion can not be the end all in their eyes. If there can be only one valedictorian, spelling bee champ, etc., what about the rest of the market? I believe there is a place for everyone. Everyone has talents and people need to adapt to the growth mindset that everyone has something within. As much as we are all different we should also strive for different things. I don't think everyone strives for the same goal, because we are all not the same. Even if everyone had the same goal ones that do not achieve that one spot might need to re-evaluate and try for a similar, but different goal. When a team does not win the super bowl they don't all quite. They try harder, reflect and try again. Do we need to broaden our definition of winners? It think we could broaden what successful looks like, but if everyone is a winner then there is less to strive for. That is, while someone may not get one promotion, they may get another or find a new job. Yes, someone maybe devastated that they did not get the job they wanted, but it could be a blessing in disguise and there true calling may appear.

Behaving Intelligently-Habits of Mind

I am going to focus on trying to learn something new everyday. The new thing that I am trying to learn about now is my kiln. Being that one of the coils, I now know is called an element has sprung outside of the brick casing. Apparently this is bad. So, now I am researching and investigating the alternatives of fixing this problem. I am working with the maintenance men in my building and the Principal to come to a solution. We will see what we come up with as a result. It has been interesting to get different perspective with the men I have been working with. After talking with the above I then tried Applying past knowledge to novel situation with my class. This unfortunately has happened before. Luckily, there was not as much items as in the past, but still two class project so about 45 pieces. I talked with my class and explained the situation. We talked as a class about how we would need to package everything up together and transport their work to the Byron Elementary School. Luckily, I work with a fantastic team that really helps each other out when needed.

Leadership update- Art Club

When I have worked with the students about creating a power point to present I will update withe presentation and after that the response from the school board. At this point there is no news to update to the leadership plan, except that we have sold almost half or more of the tshirts that we designed for the school district!! It is a lot of work to design, tweak, tweak, tweak some more, mock up, presale, order, and then get kids to take their time to sell the shirts. It has been a really good experience and it is raising money for the club!! Until further updates.....

My Leadership Plan

So, to continue along with the rest of my leadership blogs my plan relates to where I am at with the Art Club. I am focusing on number 10. Building community. I feel that Nicole has established or maintain a great bit of unity in her community through art. I would love to share as much art in the community as she has. Right now we are starting small. We have a few murals going up in town and have designed a tshirt for our district. This also gives the kids an opportunity to get their work seen by the community and outside of the school walls. I had a plan of starting an Art Club this last fall. It was approved by the school board. Since then we have done so much. We Elf-ed the school giving quotes to the teachers, participated in the Byron Community Showcase, ZED Travelling Art Show, HVL Show and upcoming MSHSL Visual Arts contest in April. The students have also been working on having their own show out at Oxbow. We also helped design a shirt for the Senior Elves and design a district shirt for young and old to wear. We are also putting murals out in the community. Two girls are doing a painting for the local grocery store and the other is for Project Kids in Byron. We may even have a third mural as well. We have been working really hard to raise money for our group. We also had an art sale to raise money to. My plan now is to have the President speak to the school board to get Art Club an official Team next year. The students would get points and would be able to letter in art!! We have done the work and now we need to present it well to the school board so that we can continue Art Club or Team next year. We hope that they believe in the work and community we have build through our art.

Leadership goals - Identify a transformation leader you know

Identify a transformation leader you know and celebrate with them, thank them, or share with someone else: What is a transnational Leader? "How to Become a Transformational Leader To do this, you need to: Create an inspiring vision of the future. Motivate people to buy into and deliver the vision. Manage delivery of the vision. Build ever-stronger, trust-based relationships with your people. Note: As you can see, our process doesn't map directly onto Bass' list. However, it does translate the traits that he set out into clear and actionable steps. Use these pointers to develop your transformational leadership skills. (this should look familiar.) Point 1: Create an Inspiring Vision Point 2: Motivate People to Buy Into or at least understand what you do and why you do it. Point 3: Develop a plan to deliver and implement. Tip: Clear communication is essential to transformational leadership. Take time to make sure that your communications are heard and understood, and give clear, regular feedback , so that your people know what you want. Point 4: Build Ever-Stronger, Trust-Based Relationships - As a transformational leader, you need to focus your attention on your people, and work hard to help them achieve their goals and dreams. Key Points: Transformational leaders inspire great loyalty and trust. They have high expectations, and they inspire others to reach their goals. Keep in mind that, to succeed as a transformational leader, you'll need to work on your own skills, and set aside time and space for personal development." RB2 Website When I think of the qualities above I think of Nicole Mentje's. She is the Pine Island High School Art teacher. She has been a great person to share ideas, resources and experiences with. Not only is she a great leader in her classroom, but also in the extra art activities she does in the community. Looking at the different points listed above this is where I see her as a transformational leader. 1. She is in charge of Art Scream which is the Pine Island Art Club. They raise money to go on trips and other art activities. Through the Art Scream group they are offering a trip to Italy and Greece. As I have learned this year that you need to really sell this trip and be confident about how exciting it will be to go on the trip. She created the vision by making a power point and adding visual of the places and things the kids will see and experience. 2. Nicole is very motivating when listening to her speak. She is very confident and fun. She is also very organized and has a true commitment to her people. She has already created buy in by having 12 students and 6 adults attend the trip. She also has a thriving art club. 3. Develop and delivery/implement- It takes a great deal organization to do activities, fundraisers, put art throughout the town, art shows and abroad trips. She does research that is clear to understand to help support her lessons and various activities. She is a clear and thoughtful communicator. She tries to think of issues that may arise before trying something new. She truly is visionary that can roll with the punches when things do not go her way. She can change that failure or mistake into a learning point. 4. Nicole is a constant in her students lives. She makes her students a priority. She is available after school and there are students in her room after hours frequently. She needs to have a gentle manner to be able to critique and push kids to go out of their comfort level to do their best. She brings her best to state every year at the most pieces to bring possible. She also fights for her program and what is best for the kids. She is a true inspiration.

Step 1: Post a reflection on “Believe It and You’ll See It” with the following prompts in mind: Think back to a time when you believed in something- and it happened. How much of a hand did you have in creating the outcome you were hoping for? I was incredibly prepared for trying to get an art educator job in the area. No matter how much I prepared there would be no guarantee that I would get a job in the area. I was starting to look into plan B, moving to Alaska where they need all kinds of teachers or at least at the time. Do you agree with Dewitt's claim that we need to "believe it, and then we'll see it?" I truly believed that I would be a great art teacher and was actually wanted to mainly be at Byron. I wrote all my resume materials praising Byron and the experience I had there. I had a job interview at PEM for a middle school position and did not get the job. There wasn't even a Byron opening, but then the Byron MS teacher took the PEM MS teaching job creating an opening in Byron. In the mean time I got an interview at Byron, but before I could do the interview I got offered a job in Stewartville. This is where the believe it, and then we'll see it comes in. I actually turned down the job at Stewartville and at my interview I asked if they could tell me right away, because I may or may not have a job at Stewartville and I explained what had happened. My roommate could have killed me she was so upset with me for turning down a job as a first year teacher. She went to school for education for history. In the end I got the job in Byron and they let me know almost immediately after the interviews that the job was mine. I have been at Byron ever since. It was one of the biggest risks I have ever taken, but when you do big risks there are usually big rewards. Or, do you think that you need some idea that what you're striving for is realistic; that you don't want to spend your life constantly chasing dreams that are totally unattainable. I believe it can go either way it just depends on how lofty your goal is.

16 Habits of Mind

There are 16 Habits of Mind and I will categorize them by A- Already doing it, P-A good possibility, M- A must- implement immediately, U- Unlikely -It won't fly at! 1. Persisting-A 2. Managing impulsivity-P 3. Listening with understanding and empathy- A 4. Thinking Flexibly- A 5. Thinking about your thinking- A 6. Striving for accuracy and precision- P 7. Questioning and problem solving- P 8. Applying past knowledge to novel situation- P 9. Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision- -P 10. Gathering data through all senses- P 11. Creating, imagining, and innovating- A 12. Responding with Wonderment and awe- P 13. Taking Responsible Risks- P 14. Finding Humor- A 15. Thinking interdependently- M - Need to make a plan with the other art teacher at the HS. Hopefully, the same teacher will be in the same position next year. We do PLC's, but it would be so much more meaningful to have another art teacher at the high school I am at. 16. Remaining open to continuous learning- A