The Tao of Kel

Change = Growth

Wed, 3 Jun 2009 06:46:59 -0600

Cross-Posted at theeducationalmac.com

I have had several discussions over the past few weeks both online and face to face about change. So the topic has been on my mind a lot lately.

“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.” – Karen Kaiser Clark

Sometimes we choose change, sometimes change is thrust upon us. Sometimes we resist change, yet it still comes. Sometimes change happens and we don’t recognize it for awhile.

In the past 7 months there has been a lot of change in my life. I gained a new daughter-in-law that I wasn’t expecting. That was a good change. In January my mother passed away unexpectedly. That was not a good change. In March I chose to make a job change. That was a great change. Also in March I found out that I will become a grandfather again, twice. That will be a great change, twice.

As I think about the changes that have come about in my life over these past months, I ponder about the growth that has come about because of the changes. Have I grown and will I grow through these changes?

With respect to my family, my mother’s death has brought me closer to my siblings. We certainly were not estranged, but 3 of the 4 of us live within a 3 mile radius and we seldom saw each other. I can truly say I am grateful for the time we have spent together as we have grieved my mother, and worked together to take care of her affairs. I have often heard tales of siblings being ripped apart during these times because of greed or jealousy. It has helped our family to grow closer.

Gaining a new daughter-in-law has been a delightful experience as well. I am so grateful that my son found someone to love and who reciprocates that love. Now they will bring a child into this world and share that love with him/her (we’ll find out in about 3 weeks). I don’t think I have mentioned it in these writings, but I love being a grandpa. My oldest daughter will have her 3rd son early in September. She and her husband are such good parents. My grandsons are the funnest. When my 1st grandson was born I wasn’t ready for that change. However, the moment he was placed in my arms, my heart grew. I worried that I could never love another grandchild as much as him. But as my granddaughter and two more grandsons have joined the family my heart expanded plenty enough to love them as well.

What does this have to do with education or educational technology? Well I think it has a lot to do with it. If you dislike, loathe, or despise change, then education is probably not the best field for you. Getting involved with educational technology or technology in general with make change loathers cringe. For me though, my involvement in education has caused me to grow tremendously.

When I changed jobs recently, many people questioned why. It seemed to them a lateral move. What I saw in the change though was a new opportunity for growth. The Canyons District is providing and will provide a great deal of change to allow growth among all of the stakeholders. At this point I would like to focus my thoughts on the teachers in this new district. Right now they are finishing the school year as employees of Jordan School District, an entity that has been around for over 100 years. On July 1st they will change and become employees of Canyons School District. Some will feel that it is an opportunity for growth, others will feel that it is just change that has been thrust upon them. For those that resist change, the changes may be very difficult.

I don’t know that teachers in general, are any more or less resistant to change than people in other professions, but it feels like it to me. I often wonder if it is true, why that is. I have seen up close the past few weeks great resistance to change on the part of some. It seems to me that without change, growth is actually stunted. That doesn’t mean that everything has to change, but we have to be willing to accept needed changes and use them as opportunities for growth .

I am excited for the teachers that will be a part of Canyons School District because I see such opportunities for growth. I will work this year on helping them to see those opportunities and that in turn will help me to continue to grow. I love working with the people that I am working with as they are willing to change and grow. I am so looking forward to the next few weeks as more people will join us. In fact, about 3,000 of them. For those who welcome the change it may be easy, for those who the change has been thrust upon them it may not, but through the change for all, growth will come, that I am sure of.

It is exciting to be a part of change and to have the opportunity to grow, personally, socially, and professionally. In the end that is why I made the change.

The Times They are a Changin’

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:44:52 -0600

This photo is of my elementary school. It has since been replaced by a new South Jordan Elementary, but the building still stands for now. South Jordan Elementary is a part of the Jordan School District. This is significant to me, because of my 49 years 33 of them have been spent in Jordan School District as a student or as an employee. Beyond that someone in my family has worked for the district for nearly the past 70 years. That has made the decision that I have been struggling with for about a month all the much harder. I have decide to resign from Jordan School District and take a position with the new Canyons School District that is being created because of the split. I have talked about the split here and other places for awhile. I still struggle with the fact that the split is happening and the causes of it. However I have determined that the best place for me is in Canyons, so I have accepted a position with the new district. I look forward to new challenges and the opportunity to help build this new district.
There are many who may feel and believe that I am betraying Jordan by going to the other side. School board comments indicate that is the perception from the highest levels of the district. I have struggled with that myself particularly with my history in the district and the fact that I live in Jordan. In the end, I had to choose what I felt was best for my family and my career. So it will be onward and upward.
The uncertainty of the past couple of years with the prospect and now the realization of the split has in many ways kind of frozen me in place. With the decision made I feel that I can again move forward and am ready to take on the challenges that helping to build the Canyons School District will bring. I will be leaving behind many people who have had a great impact on my life; Principals, supervisors, fellow teachers and specialists. You have all given me so much more than I could hope to return and I am grateful for it and for you. So while this may seem a little melancholy, I am so excited for the upcoming challenges and am ready to face them head on.
Still it is hard to believe that in little more than two weeks I will be leaving JSD. I do look forward to continued relationships with those who remain in Jordan and am grateful that I am able to make an astonishing change in my life without having to leave any of my life behind.
In other change news, those who follow me on Twitter or Facebook know I have been on a rather extreme diet. The extreme portion ends on Tuesday and we start into a more moderate phase. But I have lost 35 lbs. in 30 days and it has been an amazing experience. I have learned a lot about myself. I have spent the last 15 years spiraling out of control with my eating habits and lack of exercise habits. I have used every excuse in the book to avoid losing weight. I have been on several diets, but just could not stick to one.
When my wife presented me with this diet plan, my first reaction was the same as always, no way. But as I thought about it, I realized a lot of my habits were based around my own selfishness. I also realized that I am getting to the stage in my life where if I don’t make a change I am going to cause myself serious health problems. I had gotten into a habit of not really checking my weight, so when I started the diet and got on the scale I was even a little surprised. I had thought I was hovering around 280 lbs. When it read 289.5 I was a little shocked, I really knew it was time to go after this.
This phase has been hard, but it hasn’t been as hard as I expected. When you weigh every day and you are seeing results it makes it a little less hard. (Note: I didn’t say easy!) The diet has made me a little tired and a little weak, but as I go into the next phase I am looking forward to getting into a regular exercise program and losing more. My goal weight right now is 200 lbs. by the end of the year. Right now, despite the diet restrictions I do feel better than I have in years and I look forward to feeling even better as I get through Spring and Summer.
I know I will need to feel better to face the challenge of helping to get this new district up and running. A challenge I look forward to.
Finally, some changes we created some are heaped upon us. This will be true as far as the most fun change comes about this summer. My first daughter and my daughter-in-law are both expecting. So by the end of September I will have two new grand-children. Now I love my grandsons, but I would love to have a couple more granddaughters to even up the score at 3-3. Actually it doesn’t really matter, I will be excited either way. I love my grandkids, and I love my kids. I don’t tell them often enough. That needs to change as well.

My Does Time Fly

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:06:57 -0700

Wow, some 4 months later here we are again. I haven’t been sick, I have been busy, but I have also been lazy. Upheaval seems to be the word of the year. The upheaval culminated the past Saturday as we held a wedding for my oldest son. About 10 days ago we found out he was planning on getting married. This was just before we found out he was dating anyone. SURPRISE!
Anyway, my wife with some help from sister-in-laws pulled off a great small wedding on Saturday. We welcome Tiffany to our family and are glad that Ryan is so happy. It is hard to believe it has only been about 8 months since he joined the Marine Corp. We will be traveling with Ryan and Tiffany to 29 Palms, California after Christmas. Leaving them will be have, but it is close enough to visit a few times a year. This move now seems more permanent than it did a few weeks ago.
I haven’t blogged since the cruise. It was great fun, even if not very relaxing. It is hard to keep up with 22 people all of the time. We did have a great time though. We would do it again in a heartbeat.
The upheaval continues at work as we work towards the district split on July 1, 2009. Between the split and cuts in education funding this coming year, the job feels more precarious than ever. At the least there will be a move as we will vacate our current location for the new district. Apparently we will also be leaving every scrap of equipment behind when we leave. Computers, camera, hard drive, everything. If the position maintains it will be with all new equipment.
As the split occurs, old friends will be left behind, so to speak. Some have already chosen to go work in the new district. That is something that I do not feel I can do at this time. I suppose there could be some things that would change my mind, but I can’t see myself leaving my current district.
2008 has been an interesting year and 2009 is shaping up to be even more so. I hope to survive the experience.

Fall Conference Season

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:49:51 -0600

I am really looking forward to the next 6 weeks. It is heading into my Fall conference season. The beauty of this conference season is that I don’t have to leave town to participate. Tomorrow the pre-conference for Learning 2.008 begins. The conference then goes through Saturday. This conference is being held in Shanghai, China. However, I will be able to sit here in Utah and follow the proceedings via UStream and other online means. Many of my favorite ed-tech gurus are presenting at the conference so it will be great to see them in action once again.
Next week I will be attending a live conference. It is a family conference. Okay, really it is a cruise, but the purpose is for my wife’s family to reconnect in a way they haven’t been able to for awhile. It is my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary this year and this is what they wanted from their children. To be able to get together without the grandkids and connect as parents and siblings. So Grandpa, Grandma and 10 of the 13 children and most spouses (and 1 grand child, my oldest daughter and her husband are going, but she is older than my wife’s youngest brother so it counts) are going to spend a week getting to know each other in a new way. I keep hearkening back to the thought, “That which doesn’t kill you, only serves to make you stronger.” It will be a fun and interesting week. We will be cruising the Eastern Caribbean, so have been watching hurricane season with interest. However it looks like the season is winding down and we will have great weather. There will be talking, diving, swimming, zip lining, dancing, lounging, and eating, or my goodness there will be eating.
After returning from the cruise I will have a week to get caught up at work before the 2008 K-12 Online Conference kicks off. The session teasers are being released this week and I am excited by what I have seen. If you haven’t participated in K12 Online before I would strongly encourage you to do so. It is completely online and even though the official conference time is the 3-4 weeks of October you can view sessions for months and get great ideas and motivation.
So that is my Fall conference season and I am so looking forward to it. Join in, have some fun as well.

Wouldn’t You Be Suspicious?

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 23:25:25 -0600

I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about my car before. Yes this POC is mine. I have owned and driven it for 12 years now. The 35 MPG is why I still drive it in even in the condition it is in. I could tell you stories...
Tonight’s is one of the best though.
I went to pick my daughter up at work around 10:40 this evening. She works at a local fast food establishment. I pulled into the parking lot, backed into a stall, turned of the engine and sat. Just as I turned off the engine, one of our county’s finest pulled in the parking lot, drove slowly past me and then drove around past the drive-thru. He then floored it around the front of the establishment turn on his spotlight and pulled forward towards my door, light in my eyes. I put both hands on the wheel and sat there trying not to laugh.
He waits about 20 seconds, another deputy pulls in beside him. He gets out of his vehicle, hand on weapon, but holster still clipped shut and walks to the front of my car to call in the license number. I hear from his car the dispatcher reply that there are no outstandings on the vehicle. I chuckle.
I have to tell you, I am wearing my USMC hoodie and I have the hood on, it is after all a little chilly this evening. As he approaches, I pull my hood down and he sees the gray hair. I believe this is when he first starts feeling okay. He asks me what I am doing. I tell him I am picking my daughter up from work. He takes his hand off of his weapon (this is when I start feeling okay). He tells me he followed me in because I have a headlight and a taillight out. But then I proceed to back into a stall when only the drive-thru is open and his suspicions are raised.
About this time my daughter walks out and she starts cracking up. He asks her if she know me and she says no, but he knows she is joking (something about still seeing her father being accosted by the fuzz make her howl with laughter). He then opens the door for her and lets her in the car and tells us to have a good evening. His buddy drives off and he walks back to his car shaking his head. I can tell he is thinking, he really drives that piece of crap.
I am actually grateful that he took notice and the time to check me out. It is nice to know that they are keeping an eye on things in our town. I just wonder if there is such a thing as age profiling, nah, couldn’t be...

The Crew

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:11:18 -0600

This is a photo of the crew from our family that went to San Diego to see Ryan’s graduation from boot camp. 29 in all traveled from the Salt Lake area to sunny SD. We had a great time. We attended the family day activities and got to spend about 5 hours on base with Ryan. Lunch was provided by missionaries serving the base branch. The graduation ceremony on Friday was amazing. People kept telling us it was not to missed and they were right. After graduation we went and found a pizza joint (that is what Ryan wanted more than anything).
Friday night we went to see the Padres shut out the Braves. It was fun to see Trevor Hoffman throw 4 pitches to close out the game. The most fun thing though was to see Ryan’s name on the scoreboard, congratulating him on his graduation.

It turns out that one of my sister-in-laws requested it. Thanks Rae. It was fun to hear the cheers. On Saturday, before heading home, we went back to the PX to buy some more Proud of our Marine clothing (that place racked it in for two days.) Then we headed for the beach. I was hoping to get to the beach 2 or 3 hours earlier than we did. I wanted to spend more time than we had and I knew it would be crowded. Man, was I right on the crowded part. It took me 40 minutes to find a parking spot. It took the other driver almost an hour. But we managed to swim, get burned and have some fun. We ate at a cheesesteak joint on the beach. I am not sure about the cheesesteak it self, but the cheese and steak fries were awesome.
All accomplished, we headed home. I am so glad we flew. A 12 hour drive would not have been fun. It is great having Ryan home for a few day. We hope to have a lot of fun over the next week.
The purpose of this post though is really to thank the family for their support. To have that many there was amazing and it was fun, although it did feel like we were trying to herd cats much of the time. Thanks Family.

Now I Know What Was Missing - The People

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:13:25 -0600

A few weeks ago, I posted about some frustration I was having with a project that we have been working on all year. I lamented that the project seemed all about the stuff. Well this week we had our first group of two groups of teachers for the Engaged Classroom PD. Part of the team worked with 9 elementary teachers, while Darren and I had the opportunity to work with 18 secondary teachers. I was a little apprehensive about working with the secondary group, but I knew @ddraper would carry me.
I now know what was missing as we were going through the planning of this project. It was the people. It was always about designing a PD opportunity, but until I actually met the people we would be working with it was a project without a face or faces. This week was amazing for me. I don’t know that we transformed any teachers (I hope we did), but it transformed me. Those 18 wonderful, caring, brilliant people energized me. I found myself worn out at the end of each day, but also exited to come back for the next. I felt sad this morning knowing it was the last day with this group, but excited that I will get to see how they grow professionally over the coming year. Were they excited about the stuff they were going to have available, certainly they were. But more than that as we inundated (firehosed) them with new tools for their classrooms they found excitement. They knew that there was sort of a brave new world out there, but weren’t sure of their place in it. Some will be more comfortable than others, but they will all try to find where it fits best for them and their students and they will be changed.
I also wasn’t too excited about working my first two weeks of summer, but as I said I was sad to see this group go. However, I am excited that we get a new group next week. This time Darren and I get the smaller group (18) while Margo and PJ get a larger elementary contingent. I know this next group will get me even more energized. I can’t wait.
After that I actually do get a week off or most of it before heading to San Antonio for NECC on the 27th. I know I will get even more energized there and am excited to greet so many of my PLN in person.

Catch the Fever: Viral Professional Development - Add your voice!

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 06:16:39 -0600

Viral Professional Development is emerging in education as a viable method of increasing teacher engagement and learning. Using tools such as Twitter, rss readers, blogs, educational networks, and wikis, educators are collaborating on a grassroots level. This year at NECC, a panel discussion of educators on July 2nd at 1:30 pm CDT will be discussing and live Ustreaming a session to discuss viral professional development.

How did this panel discussion originate?

On Monday, September 17, 2007, Google launched the Google Presentation web application to their suite of services. News of this new service spread quickly through the blogosphere and Twitter and soon more than fifty different people made over 500 edits in a twenty-four hour period to one Google presentation. Since introduced, this presentation has been used by hundreds of people to begin conversations centered on free online tools used to weave a web of connections between people around the world.

As a result of this transformational experience, educators begin discussing the importance of sharing the changing nature of professional development and documentation of best practices in VIRAL professional development. The proposal was written in Google docs and since acceptance, an expanded group of educators around the world has used a wiki, elluminate, and a variety of tools to bring a collaborative, immersive viral PD experience to NECC and to people around the world.

Presenters
Vicki Davis, moderator
Darren Draper
Kelly Dumont
Kristin Hokanson
Robin Ellis
Ryan Bretag
Beth Ritter-Guth
Carolyn Foote

Backchannel Presenters/ Moderators
John Maklary
Stephanie Sandifer

How can you participate?
At 1:30pm CDT on July 2, we will be participating in a NECC panel discussion that centers on the power of the network. During our presentation we hope to demonstrate to all those attending our session in person (and virtually), just how powerful global collaboration can be. Hence, we are asking for your participation in our presentation as well.

1) Join our Ustream

We will be streaming the presentation live on the Open PD Ustream channel at 1:30 pm CDT on July 2nd. You may watch here and participate in the conversation (and even ask the panelists questions).

2) Leave a comment on our voicethread

One way that you can participate now is by adding your voice to the VoiceThread below. Please take a few minutes and add your thoughts about the different tools depicted through images in the thread. We would truly like as many voices possible, offering a wide range of thought on the usefulness of the common tools we all use in our collaborations.

How do you use these tools? How are they important to your professional development? Please add your voice.

Insert embed code for the voice thread from this page - http://thewallscamedown.wikispaces.com/Join_In

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Catch the Fever: Viral Professional Development - Add your voice!

Scheduled for publication -6/2/2008 7 am EDT

Viral Professional Development is emerging in education as a viable method of increasing teacher engagement and learning. Using tools such as Twitter, rss readers, blogs, educational networks, and wikis, educators are collaborating on a grassroots level. This year at NECC, a panel discussion of educators on July 2nd at 1:30 pm CDT will be discussing and live Ustreaming a session to discuss viral professional development.

How did this panel discussion originate?

On Monday, September 17, 2007, Google launched the Google Presentation web application to their suite of services. News of this new service spread quickly through the blogosphere and Twitter and soon more than fifty different people made over 500 edits in a twenty-four hour period to one Google presentation. Since introduced, this presentation has been used by hundreds of people to begin conversations centered on free online tools used to weave a web of connections between people around the world.

As a result of this transformational experience, educators begin discussing the importance of sharing the changing nature of professional development and documentation of best practices in VIRAL professional development. The proposal was written in Google docs and since acceptance, an expanded group of educators around the world has used a wiki, elluminate, and a variety of tools to bring a collaborative, immersive viral PD experience to NECC and to people around the world.

Presenters
Vicki Davis, moderator
Darren Draper
Kelly Dumont
Kristin Hokanson
Robin Ellis
Ryan Bretag
Beth Ritter-Guth
Carolyn Foote

Backchannel Presenters/ Moderators
John Maklary
Stephanie Sandifer

How can you participate?
At 1:30pm CDT on July 2, we will be participating in a NECC panel discussion that centers on the power of the network. During our presentation we hope to demonstrate to all those attending our session in person (and virtually), just how powerful global collaboration can be. Hence, we are asking for your participation in our presentation as well.

1) Join our Ustream

We will be streaming the presentation live on the Open PD Ustream channel at 1:30 pm CDT on July 2nd. You may watch here and participate in the conversation (and even ask the panelists questions).

2) Leave a comment on our voicethread

One way that you can participate now is by adding your voice to the VoiceThread below. Please take a few minutes and add your thoughts about the different tools depicted through images in the thread. We would truly like as many voices possible, offering a wide range of thought on the usefulness of the common tools we all use in our collaborations.

How do you use these tools? How are they important to your professional development? Please add your voice.

Insert embed code for the voice thread from this page - http://thewallscamedown.wikispaces.com/Join_In

1) Join the conversation on the NECC Educational networking site

We've created a discussion thread to converse on this panel discussion at the NECC educational networking site.

Follow our most recent announcements.
All announcements and events pertaining to this session will be announced at The Walls Came Down wiki.

The Blahs!

Wed, 21 May 2008 06:33:18 -0600

I just expressed to my PLN my feelings that I am not in a good place right now, physically, emotionally, or mentally. It is a strange place for me to be in. I expressed that I have not been learning enough lately, sharing enough lately, living enough lately. I feel stagnated. I think one problem is that I keep waiting for things to happen instead of making them happen. I need to make some changes and take more control in my life I guess. I think part of that is learning to say no. I don’t like people to feel disappointed or let down or that I don’t like them or whatever. So pretty much, whatever someone asks me to do I say yes. It may be the 30th thing at the same time and I will still say yes thinking that I can get it done. The problem is that I am not getting it or anything else done. I don’t like doing things poorly which is exactly what happens when you try to do too much, especially too much of what everyone else wants.
I keep holding on hoping that the summer will recharge my batteries. That as I do certain things or attend certain events, something or someone will pull me out of this. I realize that is not going to happen. What is going to recharge my batteries is me taking better care of myself, physically, emotionally, mentally. Not waiting to be acted upon, but to act. Writing my first blog post in over a month is a first step. Thanks for the vent. Thanks also to those who responded on Twitter this morning.

What am I Missing?

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:22:28 -0600

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I have been carping A LOT about a project we have been putting together at work. Well we finally got it together enough to have it presented to principals this week. It is nice to have it that far along, but now the real work begins as we put together equipment and software orders, flesh out the professional development and realize in the whole process something is missing.
This has been a labor intensive process for our team. It is a process that began last September, but has really consumed us over the last month as a deadline came upon us. It is a process that I have really struggled with over the past month. I think my biggest problem with the project is that it would have been a great project 5 years ago. But in today’s landscape it feels old and tired. A big part of the problem I guess is that landscape. As my PLN grows and I see and hear what is going on around the country, I realize that our reality is still pretty far removed from that landscape. I feel a great sense of frustration.
I think another part of my frustration is that we tagged the project with the 21st Century moniker. Yet it doesn’t really fit. The plan is to introduce and discuss the 21st Century Framework with the teachers that will participate, but it isn’t the focus. I guess after 7 months of labor on this I am not sure what the focus is. It seems to be on the stuff. We talk a lot about best practices, but I am not sure that we have any common basis within our district to know what those are. So it seems to come back to the stuff. We’re gonna give some teachers stuff and show them some hopefully innovative (at least to them) ways to use it and hope something good comes out of it.
I went to an Apple sponsored seminar today (Thanks Brad). We participated in a fun project that involved some equipment and software. But even at that, in the end it was just a report that we put together. Looking at the 21st Century Skills Framework it certainly hit the core subjects and some IMT skills, but the others, not so much. Plus there is my whole issue with 21st Century Skills. If those really are the skills our students need going forward, we aren’t doing a very good job of teaching them as a whole and here we are 8 years into the century. How long are we going to wait?
So here I sit with my frustration hanging out all over and pondering where can I be more positive with this project and how can I bring it along for our teachers. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.