Over the years, we’ve had a strange mixture of Winter Holiday traditions…from candle lighting to trees to feasts to travel to parties to…you get the idea.
These cookies kind of represent our traditions. I hope you and yours have a fabulous, safe holiday season filled with love, cheer and warm, happy feelings.
Recently I needed a bandage and the status quo wasn’t going to work….I needed a range of sizes from L to S. I used the supplies I had on hand: some zebra striped craft-type-duct tape and various sizes of adhesive bandages I had on hand. It’s a simple fix and I have been careful to keep the bandages paper backings intact, until use [to keep them sterile].
Here is a great idea that started from paper origami inspiration.
Oru Kayak is dedicated to sharing the wonder and discovery of the great outdoors— even for city dwellers. They believe spending time outdoors makes people healthier, happier, and more productive, and I think you should have a peek at what came up with. Maybe even donate to their KickStarter project?
If someone had told me 18 years ago I’d be holding a small video camera and communicating ‘live’ with my daughter…I probably would have said, ‘Shut up!’ Then if that person told me I’d be talking ‘in real-time’ while my daughter was in Beijing, on her round-the-globe-adventure…I believe I would lean in and ask that person to tell me more.
Enter FaceTime and how Xernay and I have been communicating lately. From California, to Honolulu, to Narita and now Beijing and I have to say [despite the time differences] it works pretty good.
Logistically, where ever Xernay can get Wifi, we have been able to get a FaceTime connection. Strangely, when she calls up, it notes that it is coming via her gmail account. Yet, she’s still having difficulties accessing her gmail email account. One word: firewalls. We are working on this too.
The roll-back cover on Otto my iPad is beginning to show the wear and tear of everyday use. So, I’ve been starting to shop around for a new iPad cover. Since I’ve recently discovered Levenger as a source to a bindery issue I had with my B Calendars. I stopped by their site to see what they have. I found plenty.
The first case that caught my eye was the Pocquettes iPad Case. I love the aqua color and the additional zipped-front-pouch that will come in handy to toss my iPhone and small wallet. Perfect for when I’m just dashing to the coffee shop and keeps everything in place, when I toss this into my larger bag. I’m loving this case.
Then, the cherry-red Ambi Folio Letter iPad Case came into sight and I fell in love again. This case not only holds my iPad, I can add a notepad, biz cards and even find room to tuck in a couple of loose papers. This full-grain leather case zips shut to protect everything. I just can’t decide between the red or black…two of my favorite colors.
And while I contemplated, I clicked upon the CEO Hybrid iPad Holder. This case would be wonderful not only on the road but when I’m propped up in bed, on the sofa or at work. I can even leave it in the case to use the camera, because there is a camera cut-out in the back. The adjust-ability of this iPad case really attracts me.
Oh decisions decisions. Each of these iPad cases has it’s own advantages. Maybe I just need to flip a coin and choose? Or perhaps hint around as gift ideas. Anyone of these iPad Cases would be lovely to have.
Preparing customer service training can take all sorts of approaches. Some times just observing excellent customer service in action and noting how it works serves as the best reminder. In my recent travels I met one such customer service expert: Daisy. She doesn’t work in your typical workspace.
Daisy is the restroom attendant working in Concourse B at the Charlotte, North Carolina airport and she really knows something about custom service. Her job is to keep the lavatories functioning & flowing while servicing hundreds [maybe thousands] of travelers daily. Her expertise is in how she does her job and to witness Daisy in action is akin to seeing a highly trained dancer or Olympic athlete perform.
Daisy is in command of her space. Daisy greets each patron with a “Hello my name is Daisy and I am your bathroom attendant today.” Or, “Hello Sweetie, Angel, Darling ( Daisy varies her greetings so as not to sound repetitive), good to see you today.” Or in my case, “Are you back again?” (Which raises a chuckle from those in line), “You didn’t think I’d remember you did you? But I couldn’t forget that beautiful top you have on today. Step right in here,” she says as she pushes open my stall door.
As customers stream in- Daisy directs and connects. “Anyone got a 911? Just let me know and I’ll get you set up right away.” She opens doors for patrons while she examines toilets for cleanliness. Daisy greets a new mother pushing a baby buggy by inquiring, “Will you be needing a changing or or nursing area? ” Because Daisy’s restroom is fully equipped with; baby care facilities, an array of free emergency feminine products and a dishes of cello-wrapped candies sitting next to two nearly-full tip jars set in duplicate at each end of the multi-door restroom. There is no doubt-Daisy IS here to serve. If you don’t believe it she will outright tell you as she guides you to the next available toilet.
Watching Daisy perform is a thing of beauty. She flows in and around her workspace working all sides of the room, each entrance/exit, and all the doors attending to guests while keeping the entire space tidy. Daisy is in constant motion. She is alert and attentive all while keeping a smile on her face.
The Charlotte airport made a strategic and brilliant move employing Daisy to her position down near Gate B 14. What I appreciated was Daisy’s ability to maintain control of her workspace while making each person standing in line feel acknowledged, comforted and attended to.
How exactly does Daisy do it all this great customer service with such grace? Translate what I learned from Daisy to your classroom training, F2F or online classroom, and even to your business. Here’s how I saw Daisy’s methods break down:
Use Dignity and Recognition:
Daisy treats her space and patrons with dignity. While in Daisy’s space- I felt like I was in some high-floutant-fancy hotel or restaurant instead of an airport bathroom. Are you applying this same courtesy to your audience? Daisy also greets, recognizes, and with well-placed-comedic timing, entertains every single person coming into her workspace. Practice doing that at your next classroom or online training session.
Work the Crowd:
Daisy works her space with the finesse of an emergency room expert. As she is attending to one customer’s needs she’s got her eye on the others in line and is greeting, querying them as to their personal needs, and directing them to their appropriate destination. Are you working your training room? Whether is is F2F, blended or fully online, you need to be working your crowd and always anticipating their next need. Pay attention to your audience, just like Daisy pays attention to her customers. After all your audience is your customer.
Apply Humor as Needed:
Daisy understands how humor helps ease and calm anxiety and she knows how to use the appropriate level that works perfectly for her workplace. Applying humor can be tricky. There are cultural cues that require your constant attention. Daisy knows her workspace, her clientele and their needs. She keeps her humor revolving around those topics. What cues can you pick up in your training or classroom that can be woven into humorous touches?
Have Systems and Use Them:
Daisy streamlines her customer’s “check-out” process . She works ‘the room’, in such a way that when her customer emerges from behind closed doors – she is “available” for the “slipped-in-hand” tip or she’s acknowledging each bit of currency as it drops into one of her tip jars. Every training and/or classroom has systems [or it should]. Do you have your systems in place? And are you working your systems? Where can you tweak systems? What works and why? Study what you are doing and make adjustments.
Kindness Gets Noticed:
Daisy is constantly greeting her customers with a, “You have a blessed day now,” which cleverly works as a universal goodbye or hello. So Daisy’s got you covered. What kindness are you using in your classroom? Is it working? Can you develop universal greetings?
Make Your Customers Feel Special:
Most importantly, Daisy makes her guests feels special. Yes, I might be in a public airport restroom, but Daisy makes this simple experience memorable. You always want your training to make your customers feel like you are there for them and them alone….even if you are training online. What techniques can you begin applying to make your audience feel special while they are training and learning from you?
Seeing Daisy in action is a delight. Ladies, be sure to stop by Daisy’s, should you find yourself traveling through the Charlotte Douglas International Airport down in Concourse B. If you do, you will see some expert customer service in action. In the meanwhile, apply some of Daisy’s customer service techniques to your business and I guarantee you will see smiles appearing on your customers’ faces. Just like Daisy’s.
I had been struggling with a binding method for a project I’ve been working on. I needed something similar to a 3-ring-binder yet, something easier to use. I came across a couple of binding systems implementing discs to hold pages enabled by a special punch.
The disc system allows the pages to be inserted [or removed] at any point within the book/journal. The special punch can put the gripping system into any page and allows the creation of any type of book.
Levenger makes a circa notebook system and discs large enough to hold up to 450 pages-which will work for me.
Arc is a similar binding system, offered at Staples, which also uses a disc and punching system to bind pages together.
I am trying both methods to see which one works best for my BCalendar. Here is a prototype I am working on. More to follow.
Change: It is always the same. Things are always changing, sometimes at the speed of light. In the blink of an eye, our lives change forever. In fact, change is the one thing that is always constant.
Recently, I have heard how people ‘resist’ change. This is nothing new. People-in general-do not like change. But recently I have been hearing it is educators that are resisting change. I have always thought of educators as those on the forefront, people who want to make change-help their students change. Now, it’s the educators that seem to be grinding their heels in and do not want to change.
But in fact, isn’t that what we are always asking our students to do? Change? Change their ideas, change their mind or change the way they approach a problem they are trying to solve. We are always asking our students to change.
So, if we are asking our student to change, why not change our own approach to teaching? How about incorporating something new into our instruction methods?
Pirates with Passion
Today I read an article mentioning how Pirates are more likely to embrace change and challenge convention. “Being aggressive, egocentric, or antisocial makes it easier to ponder ideas in solitude or challenge convention,” says Dean Keith Simonton, a University of California psychology professor and an expert on creativity. Hum, sounds like a Pirate’s life to me. Dean Simonton goes on to add, “Meanwhile, resistance to change or a willingness to give up easily can derail new initiatives.” This sounds to me like those educators complaining about change and resist any new initiatives coming into ‘their classroom’.
Just as we ask our students to have passion, be tenacious, change-the-game, and embrace new ideas we instructors need to do the same. In order to do this, we need to be willing to change. We need to be willing to try something new. Maybe embrace a Pirate’s life a bit more.
Well-Traveled Pirates
Pirates get around, they are well-traveled. They are able to synthesize their actions via their experiences, which are usually diverse. And diversity leads to breadth and depth in being able to problem solve.
In Beijing, I taught the International Baccalaureate [IB] Visual Arts curriculum and that curriculum demands the art student breaks out of their molds and seek out new artists to explore and research. I had students who were technically amazing, but had trouble breaking-out of their regular routines and artistic methods.
It was my job to get them to become better pirates; test new techniques, interview a variety of artists, explore new galleries and museums, and take advantage of their travels. In other words: be pirates and even to be better pirates. The art students who succeeded, inevitably were successful with their artwork and ultimately with their final IB scores.
So, how can you learn to embrace change and have it work for you, instead of always resisting change? Because, if you don’t-isn’t that just always the same?
I am so excited. Later this month I will be heading to the Virtual School Symposium being held in New Orleans by iNACOL the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.
This symposium will bring together over 2,000 representatives from national, state, district, private, and other virtual school programs to attend the premier K-12 online and blended learning conference. Experts in K-12 virtual education will have robust networking opportunities; learn about the latest trends, challenges and opportunities in e-learning; interact in session presentations; and gain access to the latest research and best practices reports.
I am especially excited because I will be able to get my hands on the book Lessons Learned in Teacher Mentoring: Supporting Educators in K-12 Online Learning Environments–with the chapter I co-wrote. This coupled with the fact I’ve always wanted to visit New Orleans raises the excitement.
Just this week at the CELT Conference, I heard speakers mentioning personalized learning and much discussion revolving around common core, particularly in the Math/Science subjects. So, I am looking forward to connecting with others, gathering in New Orleans, who are wrestling with these same issues.
One presentation I am looking forward to is: New Learning Models: Making Learning Personal which promises to discuss the lines of distinction between online, mobile, blended, and computer-based learning which are fading. What does this mean for education? What will school look like when students can literally carry their learning with them on a cell phone – and when their “campus” is wherever they choose to work? Polices around competency-based learning are also on the rise. Learning is becoming less linear, more discovery and interest-based, and ever more personal. This session is being presented by Florida Virtual School’s Jill Dickinson, Director of Curriculum Management.
Then there is another session, Professional Development Needs for Blended Learning. This session will explore, via a panel, the challenges faced when a school implements blended learning, what professional development do teachers, administrators and other staff need to insure a successful implementation?
There are so many sessions that look so great. I also plan to get myself down to the French Quarters, have some great food and hear some fabulous jazz. Stay tuned for more.
I had the pleasure to attend a small, powerful conference at the elegant Hotel Northampton yesterday sponsored by CELT: Connecting Education, Leadership and Technology.
Keynote speaker Kathleen H. McClaskey from Personalized Learning spoke about how to move towards student led learning and how students need: motivation, engagement & voice in their learning. She emphasized Universal Design Learning [UDL] throughout her presentation.
Kathleen also suggested to have a look at CESA 1 in Wisconsin and the projects they have been working on. She also talked suggested we look at Competency Works and All4Ed-both excellent sources.
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Online learning Implementation Strategies was led by Lesley Professor Joan Thormann Ph.D
This presentation also confirmed some basic strategies for online learning: Joan spoke of pitching online learning to one’s district, building distinct capacity, infrastructure, LMS options, student readiness, observation & evaluations, blended learning, district policies and she mentioned her new book.
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E-Rate 2013 update: maximize your e-rate dollars
I also sat in on this session which was quite detailed. Not having an in depth background on this topic, I listened for items emphasized. Primarily the changes for 2013 were discussed.
Important:
ITT 46 ends 9/30/2017
Form 471 Item 21 attachments MUST be filed by form 471 (descriptions of services)
Eligible items:
residential locations ( maybe like DYS?)
Community use of services- the example used was where schools are open after school allowing people from the community to come in and use the facilities.
CIPA Changed- June 30,2012
Updated Internet Safety Policy
– cyber bullying
-public notices or hearings
For More Information:
888.203.8100
Integrity.com
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Flipping the Classroom was presented by Eric Braun of 30 Hands Learning
This presentation focused primarily on the LMS 30 Hand Learning sells which has reasonable pricing and supposedly dovetails with other LMS like Moodle.
Eric Braun spoke about future initiates:
Eric also spoke briefly about how teachers are paying teachers for the curriculum they build for Flipping Classrooms. Interesting ideas.