Pathfinders

Well powerpoints are now a thing of the past as is reflecting on them. It all came together in the end and we are quite happy with it. We are now bonded to each other as you do when you go thru trials like creating assignments together. We will talk next week about our pathfinders which I might add I am getting on with . After initial worry, Kuhlthaus emotions kicked in and loss of sleep, I was advised to look at some online wiki tutorials and print off the help for wikis materials. I also looked at evaluation of wiki websites and finally decided on pbworks cause pb stands for peanut butter and thats how easy its supposed to be . As easy as making a peanut butter sandwich! Wetpaint had ads on it that were not appealing to an educational website esp as one ad promoted gambling. I have looked at dozens of pathfinders and am ready to go. Have done a title and an intro . Easy peasy so far , have uploaded images, too easy but still havent put any hyper links in yet. That is a mish for this weekend.

frustrated

This is the most frustrating thing working with other people. a great exercis in tolerance and remembering other people have lives and lead them. I have texted Beth who has a daughter in hospital and we are nt sure what is going on there.Sue has the internet down and no phone service or recepton for mobile phone . Will have to go back and do part B oh well, Bye

tired Thurs

I am ecstatic I have handed in 501 assignment and its all a matter of time now.We have been emailing, ringing texting and skypin g and using google docs last sun for 1 and half hours.Tues night i didnt go on and the girls just rang each other. Its a real exercise in tolerance as people work at different speeds and have busier lives than me another 1 and half hours tonight.Poor beths daughter is in hospital so hope she is alright. Realise tonight we have to relate organisational theory to the tl role heavily but succinctly stick to outcomes and im going to bed, now

collaboration

Well I m feeling good about our assignment. We spent 2 hours tues night on skype Discussing, communicating, changing the document. We have spent time on the google doc getting down the basics and quotes etc. Thurs night we spent another hour moving things around etc . We allocated slides to each other and i have done mine,. Sue and I met yesterday and had another hour getting note boxes put in, for the references. Part B is about to start and we will need to go thru part A again and it will be nearly ready to go, We meet again this arvo so good nearly done.

along the track-quality management

Quality management- this model can be used to enhance the info service provision at school and my profile. You can collaborate with teachers and customers ,kids in the library.The TL canbe an active contributor valued for creativity ( always finding creative ways around a situation)and intelligence, constantly transforming inputs to outputs of greater value to the ultimate customer. Quality and innovation of services is provided . Providing for the greater good. Every one wins or no-one wins.
Train up the office staff to know how they fit in Reward staff and monitors.They will perform at their best enabling the system to work efficiently when they have the knowledge and training to maximise their contribution to the process. chocolate works well. Collaborate to help improve processes. Work as a team.
Quality princip e no 1. The TL works on the system constantly trying to continouusly improve it....dinner time, See Quality management in education- Myron Tribus

A beginning of an assignment.

This has been a more difficult task than I considered it to be. I am used to people being up to date in technology and I even bought a new laptop with camera and microphone in it so that I would do the assignments with no hitches. I was not even considering the fact that others wouldnt have cameras and microphones or even the internet! It seems it has been difficult for some to even get the internet working ,one still doesnt have it operational due to moving house. So any way, we have done our best thru email and phone and last night I finally conne cted with one group member and tonight I connected with another . A third member is considering dropping out if internet challenges are not sorted soon. I have done a lot of emailing, texting, ringing and been on chat rooms and wikis and forums. I have been the pusher in the group, maybe because of my speedy work ethic. I like to get things done quickly and over quickly. I have discovered on this road that others are a bit more relaxed than me( or busier than me) and are taking more time to do things and get technology sorted. I have instigated most of the meeting times tho others have not been available at times. Frustration has set in at times esp where internet and skype is concerned. Last night I spent 2 hours emailing the lecturer and setting up a google doc to work on as wiki was a bit of a joke. Too sdmall to see much on it at all. The next meeting will get more done I am sure! Its interesting we have chosen the relationship theme for our assigment so we will have to develop good relationships in order to get our powerpoint finished. we might be very pleased withourselves when we are finished.

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Forming new relationships by Tracy Avery
The steps taken, by a leader, to foster a working relationshipWhen forced into a new relationship with colleagues, there are many steps to be taken along the path to fostering a relationship that sees no one person as the dominant figure. The steps can be defined and relate closely to the similarity of courting a beau. As an individual, one must assertain the degree to which they wish to contribute and the personality type they wish to portray within these relationships/groups in the workplace.When placed in a group for a group assignment, much time is spent setting up the relationship with the other peolpe forced into this situation. There is much to-ing and fro-ing to firstly introduce oneself and enquire about the personal background of each person, as well as setting up compatible talking times. This is the "Getting to know you" stage. One then can move onto the "Relating and being friends/or not" stage, where by the decision can be made as to whether you like the personality of the people you have met. These two stages may take a considerable amount of time and development of trust from each person. Within this stage a degree of caring and sharing can develop between the group members. Sympathy and empathy can develop and foster to help with trust building.Now that you have built a rapport with your group you can begin to work cohesively. Each personality should be known, including limitations. Each persons leadership qualities, or lack of, will be shining through as will the committment level they portray be easily seen.The "Check my personality" stage begins.As an individual within this group, you need to decide upon the leadership role you wish to take on. How are you going to potray yourself? How will decisions be made, autocratic, democratic or collaborative?With all these important factors sorted, it becomes time to knuckle down and start on the project at hand, thus begins the "Let's get moving" stage. During this time, the initail 3 stages will be constantly revisited.Oh, but wait! There's more!One more person to add to the mix, coming in 2 weeks behind the completed stages.Now come the many questions, What if she doesn't like what we've started? What if I can't appreciate her personality? Will she be willing to accept all that we have done and pick up from there? Will she comtribute, plus more, as she has been absent? Do I resent her for not being here in the beginning? Or more to the point...Can I continue to develop my qualities as a leader and continue the great role that I have undertaken within my group?Keep watching this space as the story unfolds.
Posted by Tracy at 4:11 PM
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Topic 3- Effective search straegies

As the TL at the school we are expected/ regarded as the expert when it comes to searching using search engines and compared to others we are. We need to try and use advanced google and boolean logic when searching. We also need to teach the students who are not good at searching, how to use the search engines and not just take google as gospel. The 7 habits of search engines is a good one, as is noodle tools and Kathy Schrock's guide and search engine showdown.
By doing the Volcanoes school teaching search it was interesting that the best sites werent at no 1 and 2 position on the web page. ask.com came up with no good info, Yahoo.com had a good powerpoint which was bright and written in kids language at no 4 on the web page. No 5 was very good also. Surfwax was a waste of time and had nothing of value to a highschool teacher.
The seven habits of Highly effective web searching is quite a good teaching tool as it explains in straight forward language some handy hints for successful web searching such as "Why is the sky blue?" is a better search strategy than a"sky blue question". Using your time wisely is the best idea yet, as time wasting on the net is such a frustrating annoyance for all of us.
Learning more about how stuff works on the web is important as its crucial to develop effective web search habits and you need to know how to do this effectively. The more effective you are the more you will cultivate a love of discovery and the more time wise you will become. Trying other search engines and search tools including meta search engines is a great idea also. 7 good habits is a gr8 website.