Leadership: 53302_Harrett

Greetings and salutation,

It's not every day that the old phrase "a day late and a dollar short" comes to fruition. Today was one of those days. To start week four by ending week four has been authentically bittersweet for me. I got held over at work today and then came home to a hoard of responsibilities. I finished up my final technology explorations only to find that I was about 20 minutes late in submitting 3 of them. Well I guess sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you. The bear got me. Good news is .... I got double the salary I was expecting today. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I'll take what I have and peacefully walk away.

One of my favorite topics was on agenda in class this week ~ the development and use of power point presentations. There was a time when I literally stunk at this process. Over time I have developed a level of confidence that has be tweaking my presentations to meet the needs of my peers and my students alike. It is not an easy process. So many things must be considered to form a good power point presentation. Colors and font sizes must be created for a general audience with specific nuances in mind. Not everyone sees color, shapes, and sizes in the same context. We must be sensitive to the needs of our audience. Some pictures and clip art may be perfect for the situation but may leave a bad taste in the mouth of your spectators. We must carefully choose images that express our meaning without being overly offensive. It is so important to take the needs of our audience in consideration while adhering to freedom of expression through creative outlets such as in power point presentations.

We took a diversion this week with a review and discussion of www.ted.com. Wow wow wow. What can I say? This has to be one of the most innovative projects going right now. When I initially looked at this website I did so with the actual assignment in literal context. I was so impressed with Ken Robinson's creativity video that it lead me to watching other Ken Robinson videos. I am officially a Ken Robinson fan. He has the most insightful ideas regarding education. This website is an awesome collaboration of individuals aimed at making a difference in the world through technology and sharing of ideas. It helps that they offer a very lucrative prize to a yearly winner. I have committed with my own account and I am also a contributor and I cannot wait to get started with the process.

Our technology explorations this week led us to some very interesting sites. One that intrigued me most was www.voicethread.com and www.voicethread4education.wikispaces.com. I continue to be astonished by the talent and production of new software ideas that keep showing up on the internet. This is by far a wonderful addition. This is a software program that is a web-based community network building specifically for k-12 students and educators. It allows students to work collaboratively by getting to know peers as if they were in a face to face environment. I think this is definitely something we should consider for our class.

I tell you I just don't understand how our week four can start on Monday 9/17/12 and all of our assignments for the week are due at 9:00 pm that very night when the week doesn't officially end until 9/23/12. I guess that I'll just never understand. I am so glad you have chosen to join in on my conversation this week and I hope you will tune in again. Angels all around you in your travels and peace be in your soul. On a more upbeat note, I got another chance to be mommy this week and dress my baby boy for the homecoming dance. I love doing that. And my baby girl fired an 85 in her college golf tournament today. Life moves on. I just had to share. Until we meet again virtually,