Sunday, June 3, 2012

MAC: Week 1, Leadership post: To Publish or To Present


I have been thinking about this for a long time. (I read ahead.) I would love to do a presentation but all of the events that I go to are so good, I don’t want to lose time presenting when I am able to hear the other people that are so provocative to listen to. I get so much out of hearing from others and come back to school highly motivated and energized that I get to bring new exciting sites and materials back to class. 
I will try to publish my paper. I will concentrate on publications that specialize in special education. I hesitate to publish. I have never thought of publishing. I have watched some of my very special and challenged students act out in very interesting ways and thought a graduate student would have a lot of material and possible research opportunities about how and why some students become who they are. Now, I am in that position and it is intimidating.
The EMDT program has been a re-awakening for me. I do challenge myself in the classroom and my students challenge me to do my best because there is always someone that doesn’t respond to a concept or lesson. That is in the classroom where I am used to doing that. In the EMDT program I have been challenged within my own head and the limits that I have placed on myself from a comfort level.

I never really wrote. Now I have to do it all the time. When we were all faced with the literature review, many of us were jolted into a new reality and found it very uncomfortable. Me, do what? Not possible. Then we had to create multimedia presentations using different tools. Again, my creativity had languished on a shelf and I had to dust it off and shine it up. It felt good making that first Prezi and I was proud of the final outcome.

This program has taught me that to grow, one must push oneself into an uncomfortable position, wiggle around a bit and break through into a new consciousness.

Is it because I don’t like being judged? Yup. The EMDT program once again rears its massive creative head and demands that I push myself one more time. I take a breath, settle myself into a creative flow mode and move on.

Image Source: Microsoft Office Clipart; MC900439459 & My own photo

1 comment:

  1. It's wonderful to imagine the doors that might open because you are taking this step to share your journey and experiences. This could be the beginning of an amazing new chapter of your career.

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