Cross-Group Assignment complete!

Well our group has been meeting at couch #5 in the Zone faithfully each Thursday, after the first Sunday meeting. We have now completed our Vision statement. The wiki we used came in very handy. Most did a great job with the contributions. We basically combined information for all grade levels to make one uniform statement. Although we don't feel that we need to meet anymore, we decided to keep the wiki active since some had found information that they wanted to add. We also left open the option of meeting if someone feels that it is needed for the presentation/assignment for the class.
Our group:
Group 5 Members
1.Diane Guelzow EdL Cohort 16 dg74695@appstate.edu (middle picture above)
2.Matthew Coloton MSA Forsyth Add On colotonmd@appstate.edu
3.Carney, Roslyn F. MLS Buncombe carneyrf@appstate.edu
4.Wilson, Heather L. MLS Catawba wilsonhl@appstate.edu (3rd picture above)
5.Lisa Moody, MSA Forsyth add on, lm18148@appstate.edu
6. Kim Loye, MLS Yadkin, loyekh@appstate.edu

Our vision:
Empower each child to become a responsible, respectful, and lifelong contributing citizen of their school, community, state, country, and world, encouraging collaboration and challenging all students to use their minds while providing them with the creative curriculum, instruction, support, and technology needed to allow them to explore and experience the many outlets that teach them the diverse facets of human life.




Vision:

Tough weekend got worse today

I have one set of grandparents that I am close to, and they still live in Thomasville, NC. "MawMaw" Foley hadn't been feeling great, complaining of not being able to use the restroom for a couple of weeks now. Two of my aunts took her to see a doctor last week, and on Friday I was told a tumor was found around her pancreas. Her doctor recommended that she see an oncologist right away and be tested. She went yesterday to register at Forsyth and had to return this morning for testing. They discovered it is cancerous and has spread rapidly, already in her lymph nodes. She has until tomorrow to decide if she wants to have surgery. According to the surgeon, without surgery, she has at most 4 months to live. With surgery and chemo, 6-12 months. She wants to live longer, so she'll probably have the surgery. But her system may not be able to take the 4-hour surgery, as she is very weak from not eating. If she decides to follow through, the surgery will take place on Monday. Yes, she is 75, but I am still not ready for this. Who has time to think about another job? Please pray.

Cross Group Project

Our group meets every Thursday at 5:30 in Chit Chats in the Zone to discuss our Vision for 21st century goals. We have been adding websites, etc, along the way to a wiki. Our homework that we came up with for the week is to come up with a Vision statement that we think encompasses every aspect of a 21st century school. Our wiki can be viewed at http://asucollaboration.wetpaint.com/.

First Job Interview: Monday, June 15

I had expressed interest in a library job that came open, not knowing for sure if I was truly interested at the time. Everyone that I have talked to has said that I would not be happy there, so I backed off a little. The Principal called and requested an interview. He then let me choose the time slot, so Monday at 4:30 would be the moment of truth. I explained to him that I didn't know how interested I truly was, but that I wanted to at least talk to him about the job. I informed my current principal of the interview about an hour before I was scheduled to meet for the interview.
When I arrived, the Principal lead me into his conference room where I was greeted by the Assistant Principal, a teacher, and the Media/Technology Director. The first question he had for me was where exactly my interest level was at this point. Of course, I told him I wasn't really sure. The interview would probably answer some questions for me; and, of course, it would be good practice for me if nothing else. He told me some background information on the job, and then proceeded to explain the interview process. The questions would be in a round-robin format, where 10 pre-formatted questions would be asked. At the conclusion, I would be allowed to ask any questions that I had about the job. From there, I would be escorted to the library with an activity consisting of two components. The first part would be a short quiz on some 21st century tools and the second a writing exercise.
I was not nervous for most of the interview, simply because I was not sure that this position was the right one for me. The ten questions were easily answered for the most part. I brought up some important terms that I have learned through the course of this program at ASU. Collaboration, 21st century learner, the role of playing the change agent, increased student achievement are just a few that come to mind. The interviews we did for this class provided me with some good ammunition for one of the questions. When asked how I was going to build relationships with the faculty and students, I responded with the fact that I want everyone to know my name and what I do. Purpose means more than a title. I declared that I was out to redefine the role of Media Coordinator, and that whatever school I work in, one thing is for sure-they will know what I do! After the formal questions, they asked me if I had told the Principal that I was going to be interviewing for a job, and if so, when. I refused to lie and informed them that I told the Principal just a couple of hours before the interview. As a matter of fact, we were at our Faculty end-of-year picnic when I asked him to have a seat so we could chat.
In the library, I had to identify four parts of an Active Board. They consisted of the Board itself, the slate, the document camera, and the clickers for the students. For the writing portion, I opted to type on the computer and print out my response, since that was stated as an option. I took the information to the front office as instructed and noticed it was raining profusely outside. Waiting until it slowed seemed to be the best option. As I was walking out the office door, the Assistant Principal called me from behind. He was coming from the conference area. When he saw the rain, he offered me an umbrella. I told him it wasn't necessary, that it would probably end soon. The sunlight was trying to peek from beyond the clouds and rain. He asked me if I had come to any decisions about the fit of the job. Honesty is the best policy, so my response was that I was still somewhat unsure. The Principal then came from the conference room. He offered to walk me out and I told him not to worry over it. The Assistant Principal then proceeded to get the extra umbrella that he had offered me earlier. I thanked him and told him I would circle around and drop it off because I had one in my car. He stated that there was no hurry, that he was quite sure that he would be seeing me back around there real soon.
The interviews were supposed to take place Monday and Tuesday. So maybe I will hear something soon. Of course, I called my husband on my way home. He informed me that my current Principal and the Principal with whom I had just interviewed were best friends. So my principal probably knew about this interview last week as soon as I scheduled it.
I guess at this point I will wait to see if I get offered the position. Am I interested? I am not certain, but I do feel better about it having gained some specific knowledge of the job. Time will tell.

Cross Program Group Project (Sunday June 14)

On Sunday night, four of our group members met online for a discussion of our goals. There was some confusion on where to begin. We first discussed what it means to be a 21st century learner. Then we described what is going on in the schools that we each represent. Since our county has implemented a plan to have Active Boards in each classroom by 2010, I mentioned that we have several classrooms in the building slated to receive them this summer. I really thought we were behind the times in Rockingham County, but it appears that we are actually in the forefront of most schools. We then talked about the tools of the 21st century learners and I pulled up a website for everyone to follow me to. The information was very helpful. It gave a mission statement, or a vision for the future, for a particular school system. At this point, the four of us had been online for over an hour. Lisa decided that perhaps we needed a tool for collaboration that we could add information to for each other to view. I volunteered to construct a wiki at wetpaint.com. Once we concluded the meeting, I worked on the wiki for a couple of hours and added some information that I had found. From there, I sent everyone an invitation to make changes to it. Hopefully this will be a success. You can view the website at http://asucollaboration.wetpaint.com/.

Finally Found my Gmail Account Email Address! (Entry for Friday June 12)

Well I had a stressful night last Thursday! When I tried to log on Friday to blog about it, I could not remember the gmail account that I had created to participate in Blogger. As I was looking back through my notes today, I discovered that I had actually written it down...thank goodness.
So let me recap last Thursday night.

First of all, as of last Wednesday, my Cross Program Group had not replied to an email that I sent out a couple of weeks earlier. I was beginning to worry. On Thursday, June 11, however, I received replies from two different people stating that something had come up and they would not be able to meet online later that evening. "What meeting?" I replied to all. Within a few hours I received more than one reply stating that the group had decided to meet in the Zone on Thursday evenings from 6:30-7:30 pm (or as late as needed). How had I been left out of the conversation? Though I should have been relieved at that point, I had progressed to a state of panic. Theresa and Sherri were planning to meet me in Chit-Chat's that night at 7 pm for discussion of the draft goals. Immediately I emailed them both and asked that we move the time back to 7:30. Of course, they wrote back that this would be fine.

I knew I would be tied up with graduation practice activities all morning on Friday, and my grades were due by noon that same day. So I decided that I should finish entering my grades before leaving school. I finally finished around 5:50 pm. I rushed home to log onto the Zone for my first meeting. I had already downloaded the upgrade to the Zone on my fairly new laptop, so I connected the earphones and mic and proceeded to open the AETZone program. Well, all of a sudden my laptop would not open the software. Though I tried to be patient, I was losing my temper. From 6 to 6:40 pm, I struggled to get the program open and finally gave up and went to my old desktop. So I downloaded the upgrade edition and signed on. The first name I saw that vaguely looked familiar was Lisa Moody. She yelled out "Hi, Kim" in all caps, and seemed very excited to see me. The reply that I sent back explained that I was having technical difficulties. As soon as I sent the message, my old desktop locked up. I had to restart and log in again. By this time, Lisa had left chit-chats and was headed somewhere else. As I scrolled up the message board, I noticed that she had said, "Kim follow me, it is too crowded in here." Then I noticed Theresa was on early and had said hi. I told her my Windows Vista was not cooperating with the new software so I was forced to work on my old desktop. In the meantime, John reads my message and instructs me to "Open as administrator" since I had Vista. First I needed to explain all of this to Lisa. So I went to the tabs menu, found Lisa Moody, and tried to join her. Well, once again the old desktop locked up. I was devastated. Tears were choking me, as I was crying so hard I could hardly breathe. I certainly don't want to give anyone a bad first impression of myself.

Back to the laptop I went, open as administrator, and finally I was in...at 7:15 pm. The only problem was that Lisa was now gone. I was totally disgusted with what had happened. Tears were streaming out of my eyes. Stressed out over grades and graduation, this little Zone episode had sent me over the edge. Theresa and Sherri did their best to calm me down. Theresa had downloaded the goals that we needed to review, so we went through them one at a time until we had made our way through them all.

After we completed our assignment, I decided to email everyone about my complications in the Zone. Lisa had sent an email to everyone in the group stating that she was there and no one else was. I immediately replied to all that indeed I had been there, but was having technical difficulties with the computer. At the same time, I politely reminded Lisa that I had spoken back to her in the Zone and that John was offering me some assistance. Sunday had been mentioned as a make-up date, so I informed the group that I would be able to make it on that date.

If I can just make it through....

Do you ever feel as if you wish your entire life away? My favorite phrase is, "If Ican just make it through Thursday, I'll be okay." Then Thursday comes and goes, and all stays clear for a few days. All of a sudden it starts all over again, "If I can just make it through Friday." Lately it has been, "If I can just make it through this high school graduation." Does this ever end?

The Change Game

Playing the Change Game was fun and educational at the same time. I can only imagine the hours that someone put into developing that game. The lessons we learned were invaluable. So many times I felt as if we were going in circles, making the same mistakes over again. I can see this happening in school systems in reality as well. You really have to think things through before proceeding to the next step, and it is important that you not get ahead of yourself, or your staff, for that matter. Make sure you know your people. Do as much talking as possible to get the word out before you try to further implement any stage of change within a school, and make sure you are talking to those whom others will follow. Last, but not least, make sure your Principal is on board first.

Excited to be Back!

It is so nice to be back in the care of Dr. Nita! Blogger and AETZone have certainly been missed too. I am looking forward to a super summer session!