Overwhelmed

One principal who helped mentor me described the end of the school year as “…like being on a sled going down a steep, snow-covered hill. Things just get faster and faster and there’s nothing you can do about it. You just try to avoid running into a tree.” We forget just how much hits us until it arrives. The end of the year just seems the logical time to bring closure to just about any activity you can name. Everyone is trying to clear up everything all at the same time. Work shows up faster than we can possibly get it done. Without intervention, this year will be no different.

As the year comes to a close, we would actually like to enjoy it. Everything we have worked for all year long blooms! How nice it would be to savor the moment instead of feeling the stress of so much to do in so little time!

It doesn’t all have to be done right now.
Some of what is on our plates could wait until the dust settles. Our fear is that by the time we actually have the time, those good ideas will have been forgotten, so we try to cram it all in while things are fresh on our minds. Two simple tools allow us to take those worthy tasks and carve a place for them in our future. One more gives hope that we could prevent this onslaught next year.

The Tickler File
There are the physical things which are lying around in the form of papers and files. Their physical presence serves as reminder of the work to be done with them. Every time we look at them, we are distracted from the task at hand. That’s where the tickler file comes to the rescue. We have a pretty good idea of when the dust will settle and life as normal will resume. Drop those papers in the tickler file for that time. They will resurface exactly when you have decided you wanted to see them.

The Signature Tool
There are the mental things rolling around in our heads. Every one of them screams “Don’t forget to…!” yet still we forget. Those things which could be done later compete for our limited attention with those things which much be done now. Our signature tool, be it paper or digital, is the answer. Pick a date when things will be more settled. Write it down or key it in depending upon whether you system is paper or digital. Either way, you have earned the right to forget about it. It will come back on its own, and it will do so on exactly on the date you had chosen.

The Repeating Task List
Some of the avalanche is caused by other people. Some of it, we likely have nobody to blame but ourselves. It seems as soon as life settles down in June, we forget the feeling of overwhelm and what we might have done to minimize it.

The world of education is a cyclic world in which many of the same tasks and same projects repeat every year. Some of what we are doing in May could have been done in March, if only we had thought of it in March. You can structure a system which will cause you to think of it in March, or at any time you choose. I have spoken often of the value of the repeating task list, a simple tool which allows us to think of something one time and then let our system remind us at just the right instant.

Finishing teacher observations, scheduling next year’s dates, grading mountains of make-up work, or taking inventory of our equipment are just a few examples of the tasks which need not be able to left for the mad rush of mid-May. If all of what we are trying to fit into a small window of time was actually written down in one place, we would instantly realize that we have set ourselves up for failure and begin to do something about it.

Master these three tools and watch your productivity go up and your stress level go down:
1. Tickler File
2. Signature Tool
3. Repeating Task List

End the Insanity
Mid-May is a terrible time to fix the problems of mid-May. Now is a perfect time to lay the plans and implement the procedures that will make this May the perfect end of a perfect year.


Our two greatest problems are gravity and paperwork. We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.
— Dr. Wernher Von Braun

Here is What We Do...

Over the years, the material I present has changed, matured, and expanded. Trying to put together a comprehensive catalog that is not out of date as soon as it is completed has been a challenge.

Clicking on the image to the left will take you to a virtual catalog. Feel free to browse. If something strikes your fancy, I hope you can join me the next time I am presenting that topic. If would like to bring me to your school or other organization for the one of choosing, click here and we can begin a discussion.

Looking for Your "Brand"?

There was a time when choosing a username was something to which you did not give a second thought. You typed in the first thing that came to mind. If that name was not available and the site suggested something else, you took it. Those days are gone, or at least they should be. Whether it's Twitter or YouTube or Blogger, we want something that identifies us, a single name that identifies us across the web.

I found very quickly that "Frank Buck" had already been taken on a number of fronts, not to mention the fact that I share that name with a famous wild animal hunter from days gone by. Happily, Blogger was a notable exception. I also discovered that adding a title in front of my name gave me something that no other "Frank Buck" seemed to have. So, "DrFrankBuck," with well-placed capital letters, became my "brand" across the web.

Are you struggling with the same question, trying to find one username you can use universally? If so, namechk is the site for you. There is no registration. Simply enter the username you are considering and click "chk." Namechk returns an "available" or "taken" result for up to 160 different sites.

Want to view a "taken" site? Click on its icon and you will be viewing the Twitter feed, Facebook page, or YouTube collection for the person with that name. Start your search with a short list of possibilities and in just a couple of minutes, you should have pegged a brand for yourself. If you are looking for a time-saver, this is one!

While you are at it, are you thinking about a website domain name? Take a look at Panabee. Enter the words you are interested in having in the domain name. Panabee shows you what is taken and what is not.

Deadlines and Toothpaste

What is the trigger that tells you it’s time to buy toothpaste? Is it when you’re squeezing the last little bit out of the tube? Or, is it when you take the last unopened tube from under the counter? How you answer this question speaks volumes about your entire approach to deadlines and either the stress, or lack of stress, they cause.

In the tooth paste scenario, the person who adds “Buy toothpaste” to the list when there is none left has created an urgency, and a trivial urgency at that. Buying toothpaste becomes a “must do” for the next day. There may be no other shopping items to get, yet we’re going to make a trip to the store for that lone tube. If our favorite brand is out of stock, we either settle for something else, or shop somewhere else. Needless to say, we will be paying the regular price for toothpaste.

What about the one for whom the “buy toothpaste” trigger occurs with the last unopened tube is taken from the cabinet under the sink? If toothpaste is bought tomorrow, that’s fine. If it doesn’t get bought until next week or even next month, that’s fine too, because there is enough to last. Surely there will be a great coupon for toothpaste along the way! If our favorite brand is sold out, no problem. Next time we go shopping, the new shipment will surely have arrived.

One of the keys to minimizing stress is to work ahead of deadlines. You work at a pace that is refreshing rather than frantic. You work on activities that fit together naturally – running a bunch of errands at once, or paying a whole stack of bills at once. You are driven by efficiency, what offers the most “bang for the buck," instead of jumping from one fire to the next.

Work ahead of deadlines, and you give yourself the gift of time. The “Julie Andrews Hour” ran during 1972 and 1973. Andrews closed each episode with the song “Time is My Friend.” The lyrics are as follows:

Time is my friend for ev'ry time we meet
The time we spend is tender and sweet
Sweet songs to sing
And pretty words to rhyme
And memories that cling thanks to time


Quiet parks to walk
And long talks to talk
And tall hills to climb
And mountains of time


Then time to go
For everything must end
I'll see you soon I know
Knowing time is my friend


It's time now to go
For everything must end
I'll see you soon I know
Knowing time is my friend

For the one who works ahead of deadlines, time is a friend!

The Importance of Being "On Time"

I have posted before on the book The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence written by Tom Peters. On page 363, he talks about the subject of punctuality:

A "couple of minutes" late is... late. Five minutes late is... late. One-point-three minutes late is... late.
Late is... Late. "Better late than never"? Never. Period.
Early is not late.
Early is respect.
Early = "I care."
It matters.
Arriving early for a meeting is not a sign that you are "anxious." It’s a sign that you are ... PUNCTUAL.
Late is rude.
George Washington was never late.

Online Egg Timer

I have seen different online timers, but this one is different because you can have three different timers going at the same time.It's free. Check it out.

http://my.online-eggtimer.com

Want to "Validate" Someone Else

Want to make a difference in someone's day? This fable illustrates the power in each of us to make someone's day better or worse.





To view the credits for this delightful video, go to the original post on YouTube.

What will you to today to validate someone else?

Wylio...Photos With No Attribution Worries

Photos are plentiful on the Internet. But...you have to be careful of copyright and Creative Common license restriction. Here is a website that handles that for you.

1. Go to Wylio and set up a free account.
2. Enter to search for a photo.
3. Select your picture.
4. Wylio displays a preview of the picture and asks you to decide whether to align left, right, or center. You can also use a slider to re-size the photo.
5. When you get the picture like you want it, click the "get the code" button.
6. You can now paste the code in your blog. The picture will appear with the correct Creative Commons attributions.

Reducing the File Size of Photos

The file size of photographs can get very large. Want to know an easy way to reduce the file size? This post provides the perfect answer. I tried it, and the reduction on file size was huge.

How Have You Grown in the Last 10 Years?

In this month's newsletter, we talk about remembering the tragedy of September 11 ten years ago, including both where we were at that exact moment as well as where we were in general at that time in our lives. We use that recollection as a springboard for how we can maneuver the next 10 years, 5 years, or whatever time frame in which we want to set goals.

I was a school principal and had just stepped into my office when a parent called with the news of a plane striking the North Tower. I walked into the library, where a television set was tuned to the breaking news. It was at that moment when a second plane struck the South Tower, thus beginning the challenge of how to explain the unexplainable to children who should not have to deal with this sort of tragedy.

My life has changed since them. I am sure yours has as well. We have taken advantage of opportunities, and perhaps watched other opportunities go by. We may be able to point to the exact phone calls, relationships, emails, books read, or events witnessed that opened doors. We may be able to point to the actions taken that turned opportunities into the realities that shaped the last decade of our lives.

Ten years ago, when you looked into the future, how did it compare with the reality of your life today? What about the next 10...or 5...or 1? Where do you want to be in the future? Opportunity will knock. What can we do today to be ready when it does? Here are three ideas to consider:

Clear the Decks
Take a hard look at your "to-do" list. What tasks take time yet give no return? Get rid of them. Who else could do it? Delegate it. Will it repeat? If so, make it clear, identify the details, and make it part of your repeating task system.

What Are Your Goals? 
 It's easy for day-to-day activities to consume every minute. The weeks and months click away, but nothing seems to change. As you look to the future, how do you want it to be different from the present? If you can articulate it, you have a chance to make it happen.

Connect the Dots
The opportunities which turned into realities over the last decade happened because of small events that worked together. Turning your present goals into future reality will happen in the same way. What knowledge do you need to acquire, relationships do you need to forge, or skills do you need to hone in order to be "ready"? What are the small actions you can take today to make it happen?

Today, we look back 10 years. We look at a national tragedy, but we also look at where we have come since that tragedy. Let's go a step further and ask ourselves where we want to go in the next 10 years, 5 years, or 12 months. Let's take the next steps towards turning opportunity into reality.

"You've got to think about the 'big things' while you're doing the small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction" -Alvin Tofler

Focused or Fragmented? The Choice is Yours

Thanks to Eye on Education for the opportunity to guest post on their blog. Enjoy "Focused or Fragmented? The Choice is Yours."

Locking Google Safe Search

Keeping students safe on the Internet is a constant challenge? Did you know about this one?



As a teacher, you can look for the colored balls even from across the room. Those tell you safe search is on. This is a great to know about whether you are a teacher or a parent.

Organization Starts Early

Foyer at Raymond L. Young

Good organization pays off at any age. It starts with developing the habit of writing down the things you have to do, and having one tool that holds everything you write. That was the message delivered to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders at Raymond L. Young Elementary School. Like many schools, the students have planners supplied by the school. Unlike many schools, the faculty realizes the importance of devoting time to how to use them effectively.

A packet of letters arrived in my mailbox, and here are some of the things students had to say:

• You gave me a lot of information and inspiration to make my life and my parent's lives a lot more organized.
• When I got home Friday, I got organized ASAP!
• I never thought you could stay so organized when you have so much to remember.
• My favorite part was when you told us we could write non-school things in our planner.
• I used to put school stuff in my planner. Now I put birthdays, holidays, when we're out of school, and lots of other stuff in there.
• Finally I cleaned up my room and closet and that's very unlike me. I also cleaned out my drawers and found out that's why I couldn't find my clothes.
• I'm writing down everything I need to know. I'm forgetting less now so that's a good sign. Life is certainly easier!
• School is a lot easier when you are organized.

A thank-you gift

Could You Write a Book? If You Blog, the Answer is “Yes”

With all of the digital information we read, there’s still something special about a book. Watching the “pages” go by, even if those papers are digital, provides comfort. Seeing a book with our name on it provides a sense of accomplishment.

If you have a blog, you can turn it into a book in a matter of minutes, and do it for free. As a great side benefit, you will be backing up your blog in the process, so that if something happened or you wanted to move your blog to another service, you have all of your data safely stored on your computer.

First, you will make a backup of your blog. In your Blogger dashboard, click on “Settings.” Then click “Export Blog.” On the next page, click “Download Blog,” and you will be able to save a file to your hard drive with all your posts and comments. I have a repeating task in Outlook which prompts me every three months to backup my blog.

Next, let’s create our book.

The site we will use is called BlogBooker. Once at the site, click on the icon for the blogging service you use. You will then be prompted to browse for your blog export. Upload it and the site will create your book!

Are you authoring a blog that you know will be temporary? When the time comes that the blog’s purpose has been fulfilled, what better way to complete the project than turn it into a book? Store it digitally or print and bind it. Either way, you have something you can cherish.

Thinking About the Getting a Doctorate?

Since earning my doctorate 15 years ago, many people have asked my advice for how to navigate the waters. While people often have horror stories to tell, I must admit, I have none. In fact, the doctorate was the smoothest of my collegiate programs. The time from the first day of class to the day of the dissertation defense was two years and two months. Thinking about going for that terminal degree? Here is my best advice...

Start the Inquiry Early
Start contacting the university you want to work with at least a year in advance. When I went through the program, the university took a new group only one time a year, and that time happened to be in the spring quarter. You don’t want to get fired up about starting and then find out you missed the deadline to apply by a few days, and now you will have to wait a full year to do anything.

My suggestion is to start by contacting whoever is the head of your major area and ask for an appointment. Yes, you are asking to talk to an important person, but at the same time, you are probably held in high esteem in your area of expertise or you wold not be at this point. With your years of experience, your success in the classroom and possibly in the administrative arena, your other advanced degrees, and your obvious drive, who wouldn't give up an hour of their time to encourage you to enter their program? Your face is now associated with the name they will see on the application, and you will have been able to share with a key decision-maker your successes and your potential for added impact on the world of education.

You will probably have to take a standardized test (GRE, MAT, etc.) to be admitted to the program. Find out where these tests are given and how often. I found out a local university (not even the one where I was applying) gave the MAT every single day!

The Dissertation IS the Doctorate
The first time I heard a professor say, "The dissertation is the doctorate," I didn't believe it. Believe it. You will take classes, and they won’t be so much different from classes you have taken in the past. People don’t wash out of doctoral programs for failure to be able to show up on Tuesday night from 6:00-9:00. They wash out because they get to the end of the coursework, see this gigantic wall called the "dissertation" and think, “There is no way I can do this!”

Decide on your dissertation topic BEFORE YOU START THE PROGRAM, or at least form a general idea for your topic. Go to a university library and spend some time looking through Dissertation Abstracts International. When I started my journey, Dissertation Abstracts had just begun coming out on CD-ROM, and people were able to search by topic. By this time, I am sure the technology is even better.

Who else has done something similar to what you are considering? What new twist could you put on an exiting study? Is there something about your population that is different from the one on which the previous study was conducted?  What big hole exists in the literature? You will be able to find a topic you like and approach it somehow differently than it has ever been addressed before.

Start Writing Now
You are going to write a paper for every class you take, just like you did for your Masters and Educational Specialist degrees. The idea is that every time you have to write a paper, you will find some way to link it back to your dissertation topic. Every paper you write feeds the dissertation. From the day of the appointment with my chair when we hammered out a title, research questions, and method for testing the hypotheses to the day of the dissertation defense was six months. That's because I already had a wealth of literature review accomplished through previous papers.

I have seen far too many people write papers which have no value beyond the class they are taking. When they finish their coursework, they are looking at a blank computer screen and wondering how to begin. Those who have been feeding the dissertation all along the way already have a wealth of research and are ready to write.

The Secretary is Your Friend
Get to know the secretary in that department. Doctoral programs are often ripe with ambiguity. The secretary is often the one who takes ambiguity and turns it into something concrete. If you want a straight answer, a secretary who has become a confidant is a life-saver.

Why?
I guess the last thing should be the first thing: Why do you want to have the doctorate? If it’s something YOU have always wanted to do, sort of a dream that would be the cherry on top of the sundae, then go for it! Are there some doors you want to open that a doctorate will help? Go for it!

Regardless of the reason, you meet people. You expand your network. You will step out of your comfort zone. You will put in some time, and in the process become a better manager of your time than you ever thought possible. You will grow and you will start to realize that you have more to offer than you originally thought. If you have read this far, the wheels must already be turning. Good luck!

What about those of you who have already gone down this path? What are your thoughts? What can you add to the conversation? Thinking about starting on your doctorate and have something you want to ask?

If the World Were a Village of 100

If the world were to be reduced to a population of 100, what would it look like? This video gives some insight:

What surprised you the most? Is there a cautionary tale somewhere in there?

So What's Google+ All About? (A Short Video)

I have been hearing lots of buzz but really didn't have a clue. What about you? Maybe this video will help some...

What is Wikipedia all About?

What is Wikipedia all about? Here is a short video which explains the concept.

Click here to view the video.

Cell Phones in the Classroom...How Do We Do It?

Depending on where you live, cell phones in schools have progressed as follows:

• A violation of state law
• Not against the law, but banned from being on campus
• OK to bring on campus, but must stay in the locker all day
• OK to use between classes, but must never see the light of day inside the classroom
• Maybe, just maybe something that can be used to promote learning and increase productivity

Over a decade ago, we were looking at handheld devices (primarily Palm) as being a significant breakthrough in how we could deliver instruction. At the same time, cell phones were becoming popular items in the backpack of students. Since that time, the two devices have merged, and they have merged with other existing devices as well. Now, you can make a phone call, keep a calendar, take a picture, and view a video (just to name a few) all on the same device.

The business world was finding the all-in-one tool to be a "must" for productivity. And if it makes adults more productive, we must ask the question, "Can it make students more productive as well?" More and more, people are beginning to feel the answer is "Yes." In an environment where we want technology yet lack the funds to purchase it, we also exist in an environment where students have purchased their own.

I would not for one second suggest we allow smartphones into classroom and then come up with ways to use them. That's a recipe for frustration and mediocrity. Instead, the question before us is what can be done best with a smartphone, and then loosen the restrictions that have kept best practice from becoming current practice.

I wish I had all of the answers, and I don't think any of us has them all. I do want to share one post that provides some of the nuts and bolts for moving from where we are with cell phones in our schools to where we could be. I recommend 10 Proven Strategies to Break the Ban and Build Opportunities for Student Learning with Cell Phones.

Importance of Organization with Technology and Teaching

Computers began to appear in classrooms almost 30 years ago. How best to integrate them into the learning process remains a popular topic. This guest post, written by Lindsey Wright, offers practical advice.

While the use of technology has been touted for awhile now as an essential part of the educational process, many teachers and administrators are baffled by how to integrate computers and other technological tools into the classroom environment and make them a meaningful part of learning. It’s not simply enough to say that you’ll designate time each week for students to work on computers or require them to type their papers. To truly integrate current technology with curriculum, you must be crafty, think outside of the box, and develop new organizational methods for classroom management.

Successful Models for Computer Integration

Science teacher Judi Heitz wrote an article way back in 1999 discussing the problems she encountered working with students. While some of her ideas are a bit dated, especially in an era in which the online school has become increasingly prevalent, her solutions for integrating computers into students’ academic lives still hold up. The first thing that is essential to successful classroom integration of technology is in making its use meaningful to goals of the lesson. Simply letting the computer be a means to an end is not enough.

As such, Heitz required students to communicate with each other via e-mail and use search engines to develop models for a genetically engineered product. While the computing requirements she set forth for the project might seem a bit lax for the current generation, the principles remain sound. Teaching students to work cooperatively across a digital medium is essential. So is teaching them to evaluate internet sources to broaden their knowledge base and develop original theory and thought. While genetically engineered products might not have been part of the basic science curriculum, by asking students to create their own genetically engineered products, Heitz introduced them to a new level of genetics and led them to explore it. Ultimately, as Heitz noted, the project taught the students to explore, to evaluate sources, and to work with one another to develop new levels of knowledge.

Another teacher, Kenneth Beare, who specializes in ESL, makes a number of excellent suggestions in his article “How to Use a Computer in Class” for successfully organizing a lesson that uses the computer. However, the primary thought to keep in mind when developing the lesson is to keep it simple. Having students dashing willy-nilly from the Internet to word processing to spreadsheets doesn’t help them or you. To create a meaningful lesson, the computer should be used as a facilitating tool. The goal should be to master a particular aspect of the curriculum while at the same time mastering a particular aspect of computing.

Beare also emphasizes that, as lessons are typically divided into warm-ups, introduction of materials, class work, and summary, it behooves the teacher to incorporate the computer aspect of the curriculum into at least two areas of the lesson. For an example, the teacher might begin class one day by introducing the topic and including a discussion of how the computer will be used during class work. During the introduction, the students will model the teacher’s use of the computer. Following this, the students will work to complete the class assignment, using the computer as a tool. The next day, a review of the previous day’s material might require them to complete a smaller-scale version of the assignment as a warm-up.

It is also essential that computers be integrated in such a way that students expect them to be part of the lesson. If it’s not possible for every student to have a computer at his or her desk, a computer work center is an excellent solution. As detailed on Scholastic.com, there are a number of solutions that will keep computer centers running smoothly and facilitate independent use and detailed investigation by students. For instance:

• Index cards or posters that provide computer instructions can help to keep students oriented as to the basic goals and rules of computer use.
• Developing activities or assigning students to research or work on a particular website that corresponds to the lesson keeps the computer center relevant and current.
• Lessons completed in one session tend to work best at computer centers, unless the students can work on the same lesson for several weeks.

By maintaining center organization and encouraging relevant study, the teacher can organize the computer center to foster creative thinking. These centers, due to their somewhat informal nature, are also great for encouraging group work. Keeping extra chairs at the computer center further encourages this, reinforcing the collaborative nature that characterizes good research and digital learning.

Computers don’t belong just in the school computer lab, nor should they be used only as word processors. Rather, the careful organization and integration of computers into the classroom means that students, regardless of their technological capacities at the outset, will learn valuable skills while broadening their knowledge of different subjects. Ultimately with careful lesson planning, a creative mindset, and a willingness to experiment in their organizational styles to discover what works best for them, teachers can integrate computer-based learning seamlessly into their classrooms.

Lindsey Wright is fascinated with the potential of emerging educational technologies, particularly the online school, to transform the landscape of learning. She writes about web-based learning, electronic and mobile learning, and the possible future of education.