Wk 4 Publishing/Leadership Project - Part 3 of 3 - Publishing Update

I have definitely decided to publish my article, and I am going to submit my article to the five journals that I wrote about earlier this week.

• Tech & Learning
• T.H.E. Journal
• Journal of Technology Education
• Journal of Information Technology Education
• Journal of Technology and Teacher Education

 I figure that the subject of my AR will fit with these five journals more than other journals, so that's why I'm going with those.

I've got some minor tweaking to do to my article before it is completely finished, but the huge majority of the article is written and so glad that it is!!

Wk 4 Response - Emily Overstreet

Original post by Emily Overstreet:

I'm thinking I would like to do a presentation. Well, lets settle this real quick. I really would rather write an article than present because I do not enjoy talking to groups of people, much less people I don't know. However, I am a much better presenter than writer, so I will go with the lesser of two evils and choose the presentation option. I am not a teacher, so I would like to present my idea to the Jefferson County School System. I am not sure if I will be allowed to since I am not involved in the school system at all. Hopefully, if I can present, it will give me an in to the school system. It is a rather large school system, so maybe I will start small and present to the board and then do smaller presentations among different districts. It is not that I don't want to present to the whole group, but I feel it will have a bigger impact if I do more presentations to smaller groups of people. 

 

Another option for a presentation would include presenting at Kentucky Society for Technology in Education training conference in the fall of 2010. With both of these ideas, I need to search for the right contact to email about presenting. This is nerve wracking as I have never done this before at all. Ahhh.

Response by Rebecca Day:

Emily,
 

Just because you are not affiliated with the school system does not mean that you will not be able to present. At my old school, the principal brought in a few speakers who were not affiliated with our system, but he thought that what they had to say might be of some interest to the faculty. If you ask, you might be surprised when they say "yes". If they turn you down, you can at least say you tried.

Becky

wk 4 response - Loretta Burkley

Original post by Loretta Burkley:

OK.  I’ve searched so many journals and conferences I’m now cross-eyed.  Yet, I keep coming back to the list provided as a resource by Dr. Bedard.  I really wanted to publish in Edutopia, but I’m having a real problem finding out how or to whom.  I wonder if they only take articles they solicit?  That doesn’t make sense but it does look that way!

I’ve also checked out almost all of the conferences listed.  I still have a few to check.   Presenting or having your paper discussed at a conference gives me a case of hives.  My topic of Student Apathy and technology isn’t exactly a perfect fit for most of them.   I do have one or two that seem more appropriate then the others.  

Response by Rebecca Day:

Loretta,

I'm in the same boat you are in.  I've searched for all kinds of technology education journals and only found five that I thought my article might fit in. 

What list did Dr. Bedard give you that you referred to?  I would like to see this reference list.  I might also give Edutopia a chance too. 

I don't like the idea of presenting my research at a conference.  My topic of Internet filtering is so controversial that I don't want to cause a riot at a conference.  Publishing an article is a passive-aggressive way of getting my information out there without hearing immediate backlash!

Becky

Wk 4 Publishing/Leadership Project - Part 2 of 3 - Definitely Writing

I have definitely decided that I am going to write an article for my publishing/leadership project.  It is so much easier to write the article and edit the information that I do have because the information has already been written.

The problem that I am having now is figuring out where to publish.  I have a list of the journals that I think might publish my article:

• Tech & Learning
• T.H.E. Journal
• Journal of Technology Education
• Journal of Information Technology Education
• Journal of Technology and Teacher Education

What I'm thinking of doing is submitting the article to all five of the journals on my list and seeing which, if any, will publish me.

If anyone out there has any other suggestions, please let me know!

wk 4 reading - Vision

In Chapter 11 of "The Art of Possibility," Rosamund and Benjamin Zander discuss vision.  I understand one's vision as the reason or purpose for doing something.

Many times during this program, I lost my vision and questioned why I had even enrolled.  I inadvertently began questioning my worth as a teacher.  What is the purpose of this class?  What is the purpose of this degree?  Why am I doing this?  Why am I spending all this money on this degree when no system will even give me a chance to teach in their schools?  What am I going to do with this degree, anyway, when I'm finished, other than make more money every year? 

Making more money was not the reason why I enrolled.  I enrolled because I want to become a better teacher and learn new things to teach to my students; because I want to help my students be more successful.

Every time I begin to question myself, I remember my focus, my vision of myself as a better teacher.

Wk 4 Publishing/Leadership Project - Part 1 of 3 - Where to Present??

I thought I was freaking out before about my AR...well, I'm definitely freaking out now.  Part of the assignment for our Publishing/Leadership Project in month 12 is to obtain an official acknowledgment to publish or present our article or presentation.  SERIOUSLY??  I've thought about this for a week or so now, and absolutely nothing comes to mind.

I don't have a teaching job lined up for the next school year, so I can't present to my colleagues.  Even if I am offered a position for the next year, I doubt I'll be able to present because my new colleagues won't know me well enough to let me present.

The only thing I can think of right now is to write an article and submit it to one of the following journals:

• English Education
• THE Journal
• Tech & Learning
• English Journal

If anyone could throw some ideas my way, I would greatly appreciate it!

Wk 3 - Free Choice

I read a lot.  Usually I read bestselling novels, but I have a few favorite authors.  Lately, I've been reading books that have been made into movies.  I'm one of those people who has to read the book before I see the movie.  So last week I bought Push by Sapphire.  This was the book that was made into the movie Precious.  I'm only halfway through the book, and I am absolutely saddened by what has happened to the protagonist of the book in just her short sixteen years. 

A short synopsis:
The protagonist, Precious Jones, has been raped repeatedly since the second grade by her own father and mother.  When she was twelve she gave birth to her first child (by her father) in the middle of her kitchen, while her mother kicked her in the head for "stealing her man."  The baby was born with Down's Syndrome.  Now, Precious is sixteen and pregnant with her second child (also by her father).  Precious cannot read or write and has been kicked out of school for being pregnant.  After she gives birth to her second child, she is kicked out of her house because she told a social worker that the first child is being raised by her grandmother, not her mother, thus ending her mother's welfare money.  The only refuge that Precious has is the school that she is attending to bring up her reading and writing skills so that she can eventually get her GED. 

I haven't even got to the part where Precious's mother comes to the halfway house to tell her that her father died of AIDS.

I think I've always known that stuff like this happens in America.  I was told in high school that one of my classmates had HIV, but the teacher obviously couldn't tell us who.  So I've known for a while that the world is cruel. 

So what does this have to do with anything?  I promise this post isn't a book review, nor is it a push to get other people to read the book, although I do think that more people should read it and open their eyes to the injustices that are possible in our society.

I guess my point is that I hope that none of my students is ever this bad off.  No one deserves the stuff that happened to the main character. 

I want my child to grow up knowing that bad things happen in the world.  I just hope none of those bad things happen to her.