Today is the first day of 2012...the day to make promises of self improvement that usually last to the end of the week and are forgotten by the end of the month. I think making a resolution for the new year is a great idea. (notice there is no 's' on resolution....blowing one doesn't sound as bad as blowing 10) A Great Idea just needs a well made plan to pave the way and my plan needs baby steps. These are tiny little increments that get you from point A to point B. Completing each little step helps take the guess work out of it. I know how far I've come and how much farther I have to go to keep that promise. Sounds easy....but wait until you see the list of steps that I call a Task Analysis.
What do I want to change this year? Well, Yes...I need to lose weight....isn't that the first one on most everyone's list!!! I need to exercise more. I need to work at being better organized. I need to do a better job cleaning house...... This list is beginning to depress me. Notice these all start with "need to". How about adding some "want to's" to the list. I want to finish some of my unfinished projects that I have started. I want to master using my quilting machine. I want to plant a small garden. I want to try to rediscover some of the excitement from oh so many years ago. Now this is a little more like it!
To make my resolution/promise/task more attainable, I will pick one from each group....one from Need To....and one from Want To. I will break them down in tiny steps and practice them every day until it becomes second nature.
Stay tuned!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Making A Difference
To appreciate, one must be deprived. In all fairness I can't say that I was deprived of technology when I was a youngster in school. Technology as we know it today didn't exist then. We entered the first day of school with a huge stack of text books, and by the end of the school year had memorized and regurgitated enough from their pages to earn that 'P' for Promoted to Next Grade on our report cards. I was fortunate to have earned that coveted 'P' every year. Some were not that fortunate. Seems that no matter how hard they tried, their efforts fell short of their goal. I remember seeing the pain and disappointment on their faces turn to hopeless expressions with each 'F' that shouted at them from their attempted assignments.
Somewhere deep inside my heart I know that the tech tools we have now would have made a big difference for them. They could have been measured for mastery by means other than a pencil and a piece of paper. Somehow those hidden strengths would have surfaced reducing the odds that were stacking higher against them. Some would have mastered the use of these tools and would have found successful ways to use them when they were no longer in a classroom. I'm not sure exactly what transpired in my life that has made me appreciate and believe so strongly in the use of technology in education. Was it knowing what a difference it could have made with some of my classmates, or perhaps knowing what a difference it has made for me? Guess it is both.
Somewhere deep inside my heart I know that the tech tools we have now would have made a big difference for them. They could have been measured for mastery by means other than a pencil and a piece of paper. Somehow those hidden strengths would have surfaced reducing the odds that were stacking higher against them. Some would have mastered the use of these tools and would have found successful ways to use them when they were no longer in a classroom. I'm not sure exactly what transpired in my life that has made me appreciate and believe so strongly in the use of technology in education. Was it knowing what a difference it could have made with some of my classmates, or perhaps knowing what a difference it has made for me? Guess it is both.
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