A Note of Thanks

Tool Chest DSC_0557 by El Cajon Yacht Club on Flickr CC BY Another day, another online learning community. For EdX 11.133x Implementation and Evaluation of Educational Technology, I was asked to create a tool to use when evaluating technology to use in the classroom. This is something I've thought a lot about and give some suggestions in my presentations. But I've never formally put together a "tool".  I submitted my assignment, but I also wanted to post it here to see what feedback you had. I'm looking at this from a K12 perspective. What else would you include? Where is the line between thorough and oppressive? Do I include data privacy at this level, or should that be later in the process? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Assignment 2.1: Tool for Selecting Educational Technology I see this tool being used by an Integration Specialist or Technology Coach to create a conversation with a faculty member around a technology they ar...

Forbidden Planet, Bill Lile CC BY NC SA As part of an online course/learning community on student and faculty engagement, I've been introduced to the idea of improvs. Similar to ice breakers, these improvs get students (and faculty) to think differently about something common, such as a frisbee or language. You learn something about the others in the activity based on their choices. This second improv was fascinating for me because I love words. I love choosing just the right word to express exactly what I'm thinking. I love stringing words together to become something melodic, in meaning and structure. It doesn't always happen, but I get giddy when it does. With that in mind, here is the activity: Improvisation Activity You have been chosen as part of a small team whose mission is to colonize a new planet. The ship you are traveling in is small, as are the consequent space and memory allotments for each team member. You are allowed only the minimum baggage n...

Trafficnight by Thomas Hawk CC BY NC This is the eigth post in response to question prompts in Seth Godin's Freelancer Course,  found on Udemy . Please feel free to include your answers to these questions in the comment section. This assignment again makes me feel inadequate. If I were truly a freelancer, this would be one of those flashing red lights. A sign that tells me I need to do something or do something else. Luckily, for my sanity, I don't need to have that heart-to-heart conversation. But this assignment is still a chance to be introspective. How many people would complain if you didn't send out your newsletter blog post and Twitter updates? Very few. Family members and former co-workers are the only ones I know who have subscribed or are frequent readers. I do think the idea of the weekly thank-you note is quaint enough to fill a niche for inspiration. Given a little more time, perhaps I will have more people listening. For now, though, my blog is m...

The Wyndham Historic Hotel has been my home away from home for the past five days. I've left a tip for the housekeeping staff each day, just in case the person taking care of my room each day was not the one taking care of my room the day I check out. Yesterday, I got a note back. It was unexpected and delightful, and a nice reminder that even though you don't always see them, the people behind the service appreciate thank yous, too.

I'm not very good at keeping in touch with friends. After writing Christmas cards one year and realizing how little I had seen people -- and how long my updates were because of it -- I started putting reminders on my calendar for monthly check-ins with close friends. That's sad, I know, but it's what's keeping me from feeling like a total schmuck. Holidays and birthdays always give me an opportunity to think about individuals whom I sometimes take for granted. Instead of simple Happy Birthday greetings, birthday cards give me the chance to let them know how much I appreciate them and the things they do. In the way that most parents know their (grown) kids appreciate what they have done for them, my dad knows. I make a point to say thank you when he invites us over for dinner, or takes us out for breakfast, or lets my son hang out with him while I'm out of town. I get him (what I hope are) thoughtful presents for Christmas and his birthday. But often it...

Summer is starting to mean an opportunity to learn and make alongside other connected learners in CLMOOC. We are encouraged each week to disassemble preconceived notions and try new tools to reassemble our learning. This first week is about introductions, logically. But instead of the standard name, role and resume, how can we present ourselves in a new way? In a way that encourages interactivity, or at least mentally putting pieces together. Some suggestions included creating a puzzle or kaleidoscope from an image. Possibly a Mad Lib or a crossword puzzle.  I'd been interested in playing around with Thinglink for awhile, having seen it used to create something dynamic out of a standard image. So here is my CLMOOC introduction using Thinglink and a few of my favorite things.

I have a reminder that goes off each Monday at 8:30 am. The reminder says, "Write a Thank You Note". The company I work for was a start-up in its day. A couple guys looked at an old process in a staid industry and thought, "Why not?" I've been told the culture back then was pretty awesome. Tight-knit work family. Innovative processes and ideas. Book Olympics and races in the warehouse. Maybe not the safest, but this was the '80s. We didn't wear bike helmets or seat belts then, either. Forty years and a thousand employees later, and it's hard to scale that culture. In the four years I've been at this company, I know many layers of administration have tried different things to keep the gray clouds from settling over the cubicles, with varying levels of success. This past weekend, our leadership tried to resurrect some of that camaraderie and goofiness that comes from not taking yourself quite so seriously. And because it came from the top...

I have a reminder that goes off each Monday at 8:30am. The reminder says, "Write a Thank You Note". I am a huge proponent of hand-written notes. People aren't used to getting them, so your awesome points increase immediately and exponentially. Also, I can't tell you how many times I've seen notes hanging in cubes of co-workers. Somewhat selfishly, it's a fantastic feeling that something you said touched another person enough that they want to see it every day. Or throw darts at it. Could go either way. But sometimes you don't have a physical address, or if you dig up a physical address, the first thought of the recipient is, "I need to check my privacy settings." In that case, it is absolutely appropriate to send appreciation through the channels you communicate with the other person most often. Such is the case with this week's thank you. I've been on Twitter for several years, but only truly active for the past 18 mont...

This is the seventh post in response to question prompts in Seth Godin's Freelancer Course,  found on Udemy . Please feel free to include your answers to these questions in the comment section. If you could choose an archetype, what would you want your brand or work to be known for? On the prompt, there were a number of adjectives as possible suggestions. Everything from edgy to safe, knowledgeable to innovative. Each had their pros and cons. If you are known for being adaptable, is that synonymous with a dilution of your talent based on what the client asks for? If you are known for being dependable, do you then forego being spontaneous? Does your voice, your brand, have to be singular in its purpose? Can it be known for being daringly patient or glamorously intelligent?  For the sake of completing the exercise, I would want to be known for being observant. Not only observant of the people I work with, noticing when they are engaged or when I'm putting them to s...

I have a reminder that goes off each Monday at 8:30am. The reminder says, "Write a Thank You Note". I have a friend I met in college. We worked the box office at a movie theater together. We bonded over 80s music and Harry Potter. She was always creative. She could paint. She knew how to work a sewing machine, which was -- and still is -- completely foreign to me. She made her own Halloween costumes. But always side projects. She went to school to be a nutritionist, then worked as a personal trainer and then in a hospital before becoming a stay-at-home-mom, which is what she enjoys the most. In this role, I've seen her decorate nurseries and create intricately designed birthday cakes. A few years ago she asked me to take a look at a draft of a children's story she'd written and was thinking of entering into a contest. It was a beautiful piece about a child's first plane ride. I recently had lunch with her and she has another story that she's wor...

This is the sixth post in response to question prompts in Seth Godin's Freelancer Course,  found on Udemy . Please feel free to include your answers to these questions in the comment section. What emotions do you want people to take away from interactions with you? I understand why this question is in a course on freelancing. People don't buy simply because of the product. They buy because of the people. The stories. The emotions. But these emotions, and the intent to create these emotions, shouldn't just be limited to the times when we want something from someone else. It really should be a part of who we are. Whether we are talking with our children, our co-workers or the cashier at the grocery store. This is a great question. And it should be asked by every one. In every profession. Every day. Not because you have something to sell. Because you have a story to tell. For me: Appreciated. That someone cares about their success. Interested. I've g...

I have a reminder that goes off each Monday at 8:30am. The reminder says, "Write a Thank You Note". This weekend, we had a friend come in town. On our way back from the airport, the friend arranged for us to stop by the house of some mutual friends -- his history with them went much further back than mine, but we had met several times, and I am Facebook friends with the wife, so that counts. With just four hours between the time we confirmed our arrival and when we actually rang their doorbell, this family amassed a feast fit for 20. Though with my teenage boy, their teenage son and daughter, and their friends that seemed to appear out of nowhere, it was probably about the right amount of food. Though the food was delicious and seemingly unending, the hospitality was unmatched. The wife took me into the kitchen, and though she wouldn't let me lift a finger (I think she had heard the rumors about my cooking ability), managed to carry on a conversation while peeli...

I've been thinking about labels a lot lately and the comfort they provide us as humans. There are the big ones -- smart, handicapped, athletic, poor -- and the subsequent effort not to apply those labels to others, especially those I haven't met. Because I recognize labels are minimizing, looking at another through a narrow lens and not seeing the whole, or worse, seeing a trait completely out of context. It denies the opportunity for growth. But what about the small labels, the boxes we put ourselves in to help us understand why we act a certain way or get anxious in certain situations? Extrovert. Poor public speaker. Picky eater. Often, I feel I need some labels to help make sense of me. To categorize my emotions and take comfort in the fact that there are others who align themselves with similar labels. For the most part, these labels give me a place to start for professional development. Okay, I don't speak well in public. That's a skill I need so I subm...

Photo credit Marc Wathieu CC BY NC This is the fifth post in response to question prompts in Seth Godin's Freelancer Course,  found on Udemy . Please feel free to include your answers to these questions in the comment section. I'll frame these questions in the context that a contact agrees to have me come to their school and provide information about digital content options to their faculty and/or administration. What is your client afraid their boss will think if they say yes? I need to effectively explain the purpose of the presentation lest they think I will: Waste their time:  This is a trainer's most inexcusable sin. Time, specifically planning time, is increasingly precious, especially with schools that are implementing wide-scale technology integration. Only promote expensive textbooks: Textbooks are the four-letter word of education. And no one wants to listen to a pitch about how expensive content is the best for students. I don't even th...

I have a reminder that goes off each Monday at 8:30am. The reminder says "Write a Thank You Note". I work in a large building, housing several hundred employees during our peak rush season. A large portion of the building is our warehouse, with conveyor belts whirring and totes strolling their merry way to the shipping stations. Within this large building, I work in an open configuration of desks and cubes in a fairly quiet area. Fairly quiet, that is, when the door to the room is closed. That door maintains the balance between concentration-enhancing white noise and a cacophony of heavy steps on concrete, snippets of conversation and the buzz of machinery. Maybe because my desk is closest to that door, or perhaps because I have the concentration of a gnat while I'm procrastinating, but my productivity drops to sloth-like levels when the door is left open by unaware (or less distraction-prone) co-workers. Many times have I looked at the door left ajar, will...

This is the fourth post in response to question prompts in Seth Godin's Freelancer Course,  found on Udemy . Please feel free to include your answers to these questions in the comment section. Compared to others who do what you do, rank yourself on reputation, knowledge, expertise, tools and handiness. Which will you invest in developing? I've been putting this assignment off for a few days. There is a lot to unpack on this question, and the answer requires airing some dirty laundry. The first part, comparing myself to others, hurts my brain, which is not a good start. I'm not sure who to compare myself to. We have competitors that do presentations like mine, or they have some really fancy marketing that says they do. I've never had the privilege of crashing their presentations so I'm not sure how I compare. If marketing is to be believed (I know, I snickered to myself too) these companies are doing all the things I hope this position evolves in t...

I have a reminder that goes off each Monday at 8:30am. The reminder says "Write a Thank You Note". My son was in a play this weekend. This was his third play, and largest role, with a local children's theater group.  When he first asked to audition with this group, I figured it was worth a shot. We had transitioned through sports, he was lukewarm about scouts and band. Why not? It didn't take long for him to decide, and me to see in his excitement for play practice, that this might be his "thing". After the second play, driving away from the cast ice cream gathering, Gabe turned to me and said, "Mom, these are my people." The first show of the first play, I was fully expecting these kids to be adorable, and maybe miss a few lines and possibly be off-key here and there. Because this was children's theater. I didn't expect to be utterly floored with the amazing talent of high school students pulling off every song in Joseph...

Photo credit: Carissa Rogers  on Flickr CC BY This is the third post in response to question prompts in Seth Godin's Freelancer Course,  found on Udemy . Please feel free to comment or include your answers to these questions in the comment section. The things that are not the thing. List 10 things you deliver to your client, e.g. timeliness, confidence, a story. For this exercise, I thought of the presentations I do for our partner schools and what I hope comes across in each one. Understanding . To clearly explain the digital content options. Patience . Not only with questions during the presentation, but also exploring their story before the presentation. Simplification . The digital options aren't complicated. Just often new and different. Choice . Both in terms of the content they are adopting for their class and in how I present it to them. A smile . I have fun with it. I want them to see it, and maybe have some fun, too. Thoughtfulness ....

I put together this infographic as part of an internal training program I do for our account managers each month called "What in the EdTech". The account managers selected topics from a list of about 20 that they wanted to learn about. This is the fourth in the series, and after this one, we'll do another survey to see what else they want to learn about. Previous sessions included: Khan Academy ( and their results ), Gamification/Game-based Learning and 3D Printing .

Photo credit Davide Restivo CC BY SA I have a reminder that goes off each Monday at 8:30am. The reminder says "Write a Thank You Note". This week, I wrote a note to a former boss. I only worked for him for about a year, but I worked with him for almost four. When I joined his team, he told me that, while I was on his team, he wanted me to do the best work I'd ever done. Not because he thought I needed a reminder, but because he saw potential. When someone asked me about an interesting project I'd worked on, he wanted it to be something I was doing in this role, now. Not something I'd done years ago, or a side project not currently related to what I was getting paid to do. He recognized that doing my best work required projects that gave me new problems, required I learned new tools and asked a lot of "why not?" to both him and myself. And he gave me those projects. In the 12 plus months under his tutelage, he also encouraged my fledgling in...

This is the second post in response to question prompts in Seth Godin's Freelancer Course, found on Udemy . Please feel free to comment or include your answers to these questions in the comment section. Who do you want to change?  People who think they can't. Can't change. Can't understand. Can't find value. Right now, my scope is limited to education. Given the right lens, I think that could be expanded. How do you want to change them?  Prove that technology isn't scary. That it has value. That is can be and needs to be used in the classroom. If for no other reason than to get students to ask questions, and feel comfortable searching for the answer. I want to encourage different thinking. Show examples. Connect others. All of this is difficult because I am not in the classroom now. I've debated on whether I should go back to school so I can have that classroom experience. If I could guarantee that I would be like the great educators I follow and re...

Question 1 of 6 for the first assignment What do you want to do? Not your job, but your work, now, tomorrow and in the future? The first question of the first assignment and I'm already stuck. And this is why I need to be forced to do this introspection. I have not been able to put what I want to do in terms of an actual service but here is what I know I want to do regardless of what role I'm in. Be curious . Be given the freedom to try new things. I was thinking today about all the tools I've been able to try in my current role (perhaps a later post). Encouragement of this desire to learn, either passively or actively, is a requirement for me. Share information.  I think better when I have people to bounce ideas off of. Whether that's a responsive PLN or just a mentor relationship with a boss or co-worker, I want to be able to share what I know and what I learn, so I can better apply it. Ask questions.  Not so much in an investigative journalist kind of w...

In the few years since I let my note-card side-business fade away, I haven't had much need for this space. Matter of fact, I wasn't sure it was still here with the website gone and the email address deactivated. But through the wonder of of the Internet and the unlimited server space of Google, here it is. Constantly curious but often unmotivated, I've taken several free online courses on various topics, and even managed to complete two. I recently started one from author, speaker and all-around idea font Seth Godin . This time, it wasn't free but it fascinated me and I'm a huge fan of how Seth views work and how work should be. I'm telling you this because as part of this course, I need a public (I think my sister still reads this) space to outline my thoughts in response to Seth's prompts.  For the next few weeks, I'll be outlining who I think I am as an individual in the freelancer economy. And even though I am not a freelancer nor do I th...