Whiplash! – “V” need to decide how to respond to all these snippets.

Whiplash: An injury to the neck caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward; And in the case of writing or speaking, can be caused by a rapid change of topic without prior notice.

Whiplash! – “V” need to decide how to respond to all these snippets.

When I was teaching, there were always new programs that were instituted by the district. A small committee of possibly administrators and teachers would work on research of new techniques and new curriculum and then maybe find a teacher or two to pilot a program they already decided upon before doing a global initiative district-wide to adopt the program all at the same time at every grade level. The new programs came fraught with complaints and resistance and usually a lack of sufficient training prior to its adoption. A few years later a new program inevitably was instituted to replace that one, following the same protocol.

When we were just starting out infusing computers in our district I was part of a team that included administration, teachers, and specialists that was sent off-site to meet with a major consultant, set up by Apple Computer. The design of the workshop was that in our individual groups (ours being the people the district sent) we had to come up with a vision on where we saw technology at that time and where we wanted to be in the future. The year was 1987. We came up with a plan, not a program. When we came back to the district we were energized and wanted to get started as soon as we could. The problem came when we tried to institute our vision on the rest of the staff.  My suggestion was let’s run some faculty meetings just like the workshop we took. Let the staff create a vision as we did. Look at how energized and invested we were when we came back. That didn’t happen; no time was given to the people that would use the technology to come up with their own vision. It was like: we came up with a great plan and now you all should buy into it.

If you are not involved in the vision making process of goals you seek, you have a longer road to go down before you are willing to invest time in it and be successful.

Whiplash!

Why is it that when you are expecting visitors, everything has to look perfect. I normally clean the house once a week and wash dishes and organize stuff occasionally, however, when a visitor is expected I have to go overboard to “get the house” ready. And if you are the visitor, never just drop in on someone. You might see their house the way it normally is – Not perfect.

Personally, I really don’t mind drop-ins. The problem with dropping in is that you might find that no one is home or something special is happening, like a birthday party or a major house renovation, or I may not even be out of bed yet and properly attired.

If you do pop in and look at my desk, I’m not embarrassed that it’s a mess. My bathroom, I might be a little embarrassed if it’s not clean, but that is not usually the case. As for the rest of the house consider, “What is your house like on an everyday basis?”

Sometimes you just need to show up. I know that’s against the norm but seriously, do you visit to see me or to see the house. http://storywise.com.sg/storytelling/how-to-dress-appropriately/

Whiplash!

What is so special about vanilla extract that it is practically in every cake and cookie recipe there is? I think it is a big conspiracy of the vanilla extract industry. Once a long time ago, a company that discovered and patented vanilla extract set up an ad campaign that said you must put vanilla extract in everything. It was a great success and over time everyone forgot it was just a company’s ad for its product. What would all our foods taste like if we forgot to put in all that vanilla extract?  Something to think about.

Whiplash!

So what’s your vision of the future? Any thoughts about drop-in visitors? How crazy do you become to prepare for visitors? And what is with vanilla extract? Do you use pure or imitation? Does it matter? Till next time.

There are only 4 blogs left!…“W”, double ‘a’, double ‘t’…What gives?