I’m It! The 7 Things Meme

I watched the 7 things meme running about the eduverse and wondered if I would get tagged. I wondered if I wanted to get tagged. I wondered what I’d say if I were tagged. Well, thanks to Jen Dorman (cliotech), I’m it, so here goes. First, I’ll add the obligatory explanation for those of you who have never heard of the 7 things meme, then I’ll blurt as is often my practice, seven things about myself. Because I am writing this as fast as possible without thinking, I am likely to learn something about myself in the process.

Participants in the online community affectionately known as the “Eduverse” have begun “tagging” fellow members to invite them to post a list of “7 Little-Known Facts” about themselves to their blog. On sites such as Twitter and Plurk, members of the Eduverse PLN (professional learning network or personal learning network) are reaching out to each other to go deeper than the ordinary, professional issues to reveal more personal information.
Here are the rules for this game:
• Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog.
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post – some random, some weird.
• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter.

Seven Things About Me:

1. I learned to read and do simple addition and subtraction before I started kindergarten. Back then, kindergarten was a half day of coloring and learning how to make X’s and stars. I was dreadfully bored but thankfully there was one other girl like me in the class and my teacher, although she must have been about a hundred years old, was forward-thinking enough to pair us together for some differentiated learning.

2. I was 42 years old before I ever saw an ocean. Some people in the eduverse already know this because they were on the trip with me. I always found it a little ironic when I was teaching Oceanography that I’d never been to the ocean. It was a little sad that I had to have my students tell me what it was like.

3. I was in a high school marching band that played at President Reagan’s first inaugural parade. No matter what your politics, getting to march down Pennsylvania Avenue is quite an experience. The people who get to do so in 2009 have a doubly special experience ahead of them, don’t they?

4.  I met my husband on the internet. Two people who are least likely to be hanging out in chat rooms were hanging out in a chat room one night and figured out they had something in common. Two years of driving 400 miles each way up and down I-35 followed. I moved to Texas in 2004, we got married, and it’s the best decision I ever made!

5. My youngest son is a cancer survivor. I was a single parent with three children when he was diagnosed shortly after his first birthday. The year that followed developed me into the person I am today. It was a life changing experience for all of us who were touched by Nathan’s fight. He’s 8 now, and officially labeled “cancer free.” Hallelujah!

6. I have never decided what I want to be when I grow up. I never stay happy at a job, even when it seems to be well suited to me. My passion is for teaching people, but I don’t like being in a classroom every day. Another passion is for writing, but I just can’t seem to finish any of the books I’ve started. Something in my genes makes me an unfinisher (I have the right to make up words, it’s my 7 things!). If I could do anything in the world for the rest of my life, it would be to take classes in whatever subjects amused me, travel whenever I felt like it, and write when inspired.

7. This one is probably going to be a shocker. I’m to be commissioned as a Stephen Minister on Sunday, January 18. It’s been a wonderful experience, going through the training. I have learned a lot about myself and about how I interact with others. I have become frightened at the prospect of my upcoming ministry and the responsibilities I’ll potentially have for someone else’s well-being. I guess it must be one of those “physician heal thyself” things. I’ve had lots of counseling in my life, now it’s my turn to pay it forward.

Tagging (I’ve had to get creative, as I’m supposed to tag people who haven’t already posted a 7 things article – or at least they haven’t added themselves to the wiki):

Clif Mims: Clif’s Notes

Steve Dembo: Teach42

Fred Delventhal: a/k/a Riptide Furse

Tom Turner: Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages

Howard Martin: Classroom Blogging

Anonymous: It’s Not All Flowers and Sausages

Justin Karkow

Presenting vs. Facilitating

When I was a full-time classroom teacher, I had several opportunities to present at various local conferences. As I’ve expanded my horizons in the education world, so have they expanded in the presentation world. I present for my work at Southern Methodist University and in my capacity as a Discovery Educator Network STAR, at various regional and national conferences.

I have a presentation coming up in South Padre, Texas (TSTEM Best Practices Conference) this month for work, and one in Austin, Texas (TCEA) in February for the DEN. My initial thought was that none of this was anything new and I wouldn’t really need to do all that much prep work for these presentations.

The reason I write this post is that the more I thought that way, the more I wondered why I really thought I could get away with doing the same old same old.

So I’m asking you to answer some questions from the perspective of an audience member, NOT as a presenter (as I’m sure many of you are):

1. What types of things make you want to stand up and walk out of a presentation?

For me, the dreaded “death by PowerPoint” is first on my list. Next is when someone is presenting a topic that was part of teacher training 101.

2. What opening activities or experiences excite you about the rest of the workshop?

As in my classes, I try to start workshops with some kind of a hook – sometimes it is a story that explains the reason we are all there, but more often, it is some kind of an activity or thought exercise.

3. Would you prefer to be presented to or to have a speaker facilitate discussion?

Personally, I prefer to have my audiences be a very active part of my session. I also prefer to be in sessions where I am allowed to share. We can all learn something from each other. Unfortunately, it seems that many audiences don’t really want to do that. What are your thoughts?

I appreciate your time in answering these questions, as I have decided to completely redo my presentations to try to encourage more audience participation so the sessions don’t turn into a 45 minute nap for everyone!