The TWAIN blog

My game has been off the past few weeks.

I play racquetball three times a week with a colleague. The sad thing is that this is a colleague whom I taught how to play racquetball just within the past year.

He is consistently beating me now. Knocking the crap outta me!

I kind of laugh it off but it is really start to annoy me. I keep trying different moves, switch hits, and adjusting my swing. I invested in new equipment too.

But…my game suffers because I keep playing the same serves. I can’t get over that hump. I do watch some online videos showing new serves but I don’t attempt them as often as I should. I picked up a business card for a local coach in the area and may invest in some training to get me to the next level.

But racquetball isn’t the only game where I have been off and not changing my plays.

Work is where I have been consistently losing the most ground. I haven’t been challenging myself as I thought I should. I have been in a rut and didn’t know it until I was challenged this week. This isn’t about the substitute situation. That was merely pointing me in the direction to change my perspective to some inner reflection.

My weakness here is also in my serv(ice). I feel I am strung out in so many directions and on so many projects that I am not getting anything done. I am not helping anyone. I am really just stretching myself thin. This isn’t new. This isn’t something I picked up in a new role. This is a pattern of mine.

The symptoms are all the same each time: frustration to depression to going numb. I experienced the numbing two days ago when I realized I had been sitting on my couch for two hours without TV, radio, computer, interaction. I had completely phased out somehow just staring at the clock. Two hours is a long time to go without sleeping or stimulus but that’s what the numbness is to me. That is the rut. That is the barrier.

I immediately cussed myself out (internally) and ended with something like “Snap Out of It!!” (I live alone so therefore I get to yell and cuss myself out.) My pouting was over. It was time to get back into it. It was time to rise up.

And to do so, I have to kick myself in the rear and own up to the fact that I need to do as Alvin Toffler suggested in his quote about 21st century literacy: I need to learn, unlearn, and relearn. I have some work to do.

I played racquetball tonight with this idea of unlearning and relearning. At one point, I actually ran to the ball instead of waiting for it to come to me. I was out of breath. I pulled a muscle. My wrist was sore. I had sweat dripping more than usual. But I realized by doing this step, I had changed my game. In my game, I have been complacent and I stand right in the middle waiting for the ball to come to me. I haven’t been moving. I haven’t been running. I haven’t been out of breath.

I still lost tonight but I feel so much better because I tried; I moved; I ran; I was out of breath; and I tried a new serve.

And I can see so many similarities between this silly game and the silly work game. Can you?

I was informed today that part of my role now includes the registration of Substitutes to our district.

I have a lot to say about this but I think it can be summed up in looking at systems. I am a systems-thinker and when I implement an idea, I follow it through as a process to show how the system will work. I have to see it operate and reverse-engineer it to work properly so I try to think of it from the perspective of a new person trying it out. It is time-consuming but in the end, I have an idea of how it will operate for the most basic of users to the advanced one as well.

I don’t think the district wants me to be over Substitutes. I think they just need help developing a system for overseeing how Substitutes are put in to the work force. As much as someone could complain about having a new responsibility to manage that belongs in another department, I actually choose to see this as a blessing! Someone believes in my systems-approach (and thus believes in me) to handle more responsibility to make such a precious commodity work better. I have to choose this perspective because the alternative is to think that someone wants me to do more than just manage the visioneering of technology and actually take on more work because they might think I have nothing to do. I hope this isn’t the case but then no one has told me that this is truth so I am putting my eggs in the basket of hope.

As I look around the web at how other districts do Substitute training, I see that they are copping to the same method as before: scheduled dates of training taking place 2-4 times a year. Large group instruction that is set within the four-walled institution of instruction usually with some sort of snack, a sign-in sheet, and a riveting presentation.

I can see why this system isn’t working.

Subs are in high demand! And they want to come in and work but are restricted to having to attend one set meeting for each semester.

How about offering online video training modules for substitute candidates that allows them to get trained as they become available. Making online training work for the commodity that districts need to help our teachers succeed: Substitutes.

As I said before, I don’t want to think that I have to be responsible for managing subs and for being the human resources department in the future. I am thinking this is a way to help a department move from an antiquated use of time to a system that takes time out of the process by making it work 24/7 to be on their side.

Maybe by doing this, we are helping someone use their time better and the entire process can be handed back to them because it is successfully implemented. Or maybe the Technology Department merges to become the Human & Technology Resource Department??!

Your thoughts? Because mine….are in a deep well of depression right now.

I spent this afternoon talking to one of our vendors. It was such a rich conversation full of idea sharing and talking about change. This guy has been tasked by his bosses to find new ways to do old business. Sound familiar? He asked me if I had any books or magazine recommendations about change and innovation.

I shooed away the idea of books and magazines. I pointed him toward the “Did You Know?” video and Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk about killing creativity. When I mentioned this TED Talks, my vendor showed extreme interest and said “that sounds exactly like what we need”. Killed creativity? Is there nothing more sad?

It was an interesting conversation because I showed him how we, as educational leaders, are using business management resources in our field. But then I showed how we use Educational Technology resources and applied them to his field. I think I made him proud when I referred to him as “the Fox Mulder” of his company. He is the one tasked with finding ways to innovate his resources. He is the one to develop vision for his company. He is the one management has designated to be “out in left field”. When he was describing this to me, he showed visible frustration with this new responsibility. I think I pepped him up when I referenced X-Files and then told him what an honor that he had. He is a change-agent and what a great responsibility that is to have bestowed on anybody!

We discussed Second Life because he thought this may be a way to virtualize meeting places. But I think we were both turned off to it when we discussed how people invest so much time and energy into building these virtual worlds but turning them into a replica of their current world. It isn’t worth the time to make a virtual meeting if it is a copy of the current meeting room.

I showed him a few online tools to improve what he does now: Prezi, Buzzdash for the website, online whiteboards, Adobe Connect, and the Jing Project. I referenced a few of the books out there about change and innovation. We talked about the business plan of the company and how they want to do so much but companies like Google offer same services for free. We discussed trends and where the market for his company is heading. He showed me ideas for what they want to provide and they are really great ideas: out of the box ideas for this type of company to provide.

During this he kept saying that our minds were so similar but he lost the time to explore like he used to. He remembers being so ahead and into what was going on in the world of technology but he lost that edge. He lost the time to be innovative. He got too busy. But now, he has some reference points to start with. Nothing too crazy – just ways to present information differently. It’s a start. It’s a leap. It’s a push back to the edge.

I think by the end of it we discovered that we found new ways he could do new business. Just presenting information in a different way is a step in the right direction. I may send him a copy of Presentation Zen because that book is sweeping my principals here now. It is changing their ideas of sharing information. It isn’t just about Powerpoint either. It is the concept of how we share information that is vital now in the 21st century.

It was good sharing this information outside my field too. It’s good to know that the way I am thinking, the resources I use, and the things I read are innovative even outside education. There is some pride in knowing that something I read two years ago is innovative in an innovative market like the one my vendor is in. I shared about these books and the ideas of the authors to the amazement of the vendor. I think he was shocked that I would read something outside of education or have time to read at all.

I write all this as a post to remind myself about not losing focus. Don’t lose that edge. Don’t lose the horizon of innovation. Don’t get wrapped up in the day by day. Keep moving forward. Keep pushing and learning. Question. And if you do lose focus, start small. Change how you present information. Take something you have done before and change how you would sell it. This step in changing how you present takes you closer to that edge.

Be the Fox Mulder of your school, workplace, or department and be proud of your title. It is tremendous responsibility and what a blessing that someone wants you to be that visioneer!

Tim Holt from El Paso ISD posted a blog post today about my ability to “speak teacher”. This is a very interesting post about the lingo of teachers and all the phrases they must know with curriculum and instruction. Partial list included in Tim’s post.

Another really great thing on the web today is James Cameron’s AVATAR teaser trailer. I have posted about this before but I think this film will revolutionize film making. Really interesting. I suggest you go to Apple Trailers website to watch the video in High Definition. It is that cool!