Greenhaus Education and Other "Effects"

Four months since my last posting, which again, points to the turmoil and conflict in my life of late. In my last post I talked about change and three things to consider, since I was in the midst of some major changes in my own life.  To recap: Change is emotional. Resistance/reluctance to change is multidimensional Some changes may not be for everyone I am here to say that I have just about finished my first week of 'unemployment' because I decided to take change by the balls and do something drastic - quit my job. I gave it the old college try - 9 months of trying to adjust to the emotional and cultural changes of going from a small, education, technology driven company who's culture and approach to education I truly believed in and felt empowered by, to a large, educational corporate company, where I did not have this same sense of belief in the mission and felt at best, marginalized and insignificant.  What I learned is I am NOT a corporate girl. I want to be in...

As I wrote in my post last week, I was heading to ISTE 2012 in San Diego. I wrote about several things the conference had to offer that I wanted to explore, so I thought this would be a good time to provide some feedback since the conference is now over.  First, I was so impressed with the technology, which of course one would expect at a technology conference. But, the fact that throughout the entire conference free wifi was available was really a bonus and something that other conferences really need to consider. It allows for participants to stay connected. All the tweets and blogs that occurred throughout the day provided additional support and exposure of the conference,which I think might outweigh cost.  Second, I really felt the structure of the conference fostered collaboration and gave everyone time to see exhibits and learn without feeling torn. I know at the math conferences there are so many presentations scheduled at every time, with no breaks, so as a pa...

I was trying to find some inspiration by viewing some previous Ignite talks. I came across this one by David Elliott entitled Unpacking Beliefs at this year's NCSM in Philadelpha, PA back in April. David talks about how our thoughts lead to beliefs, beliefs lead to actions, and actions ultimately lead to improvement. In light of all the things in education we are suppose to focus on these days (Common Core, curriculum, strategies, testing, teacher evaluations, etc.), what really matters is what we believe. If we don't believe teachers can improve, then they won't. If we don't believe technology can enhance learning, then it won't. If we don't believe students can learn, then they won't. Not believing means we are never going to take the right actions that will lead to change and improvement. An interesting thought....might explain why so many things 'fail' in education.  David ends by talking about belief in our students, the ultimate goal of edu...