Assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry

The Thin Book Of Appreciative Inquiry by Sue Annis Hammond is just that, a very thin book (59 pages) that explains and describes the process of appreciative inquiry. Hammond describes Appreciative Inquiry this way,

The major assumption of Appreciative Inquiry is that in every organization something works and change can be managed through the identification of what works, and the analysis of how to do more of what works. (page 3)

I was first introduced to the ideas of Appreciative Inquiry by Gene Thompson-Grove, the head of Professional Development for the Public Schools of Brookline (my former employer). Recently, I've been reflecting on Hammond's 8 Assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry and how they relate to my work as an Instructional Technology Specialist.

8 Assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry (pages 20-21):

1. "In every society, organization, or group something works."
In a society that is always trying to solve problems, we often miss seeing what works. Those of us who evangelize educational technology in our schools, often complain that teachers aren't doing enough to integrate technology into their curriculum. Yet, there are many teachers and students in our schools who are doing great things. The first thing to do is to ask the questions - What is working?

2. "What we focus on becomes our reality."
If we focus on all of the ways that our schools are NOT preparing students for the 21st century then that will become our reality. In turn, if we take a look at all the ways we are preparing students to succeed in the future, we can use those positive models to inspire others to do the same. It is a much more pleasant reality.

3. "Reality is created in the moment, and there are multiple realities."
Our own perception of what is real might be very different than a colleague's perspective. OK, this one is a little too zen for me. I welcome your thoughts here.

4. "The act of asking questions of an organization or group influences the group in some way."
Just asking the question makes a difference. Think about the difference you could make by asking what IS working, rather than what is NOT working.

5. "People have more confidence and comfort to journey to the future (the unknown) when they carry forward parts of the past (the known)."
We can't and shouldn't expect teachers to abandon everything they know and do well in order to bring technology to their teaching. Technology is a tool that only works when it is placed in the hands of a thoughtful practitioner.

6. "If we carry parts of the past forward, they should be what is best about the past."
This brings it back to the positive. If we are going to keep doing what we have always been doing, let's make sure what we are doing is working.

7. "It is important to value differences."
Different opinions, different approaches, different perspectives all add value to an organization.

8. "The language we use creates our reality."
You are what you eat - OK I'm just checking to see if you are still paying attention. Choose your words carefully.

I'm going to try to carry these 8 assumptions with me into my work (and my life). I think they are particularly appropriate as we in America celebrate our Thanksgiving next week.

Two For Tuesday: 11-13-07

I've compiled all of the Two For Tuesdays (and will continue to do so) on the WHS Wiki page.

1. "The Perils and Promises of Praise" - As report cards are printed, I thought you all might find this article by Carol Dweck, printed in the October issue of Educational Leadership, interesting. I have written about Carol Dweck in previous posts (July 27th and August 2nd) those of you who read my blog know I'm kind of obsessed with her. This article is a great synopsis of her theories and how they apply to teachers.

2. Satellite Images - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration post real time satellite images of significant environmental events around the world. You can find images of dust storms, fires, floods, storms and volcanos.

Two For Tuesday: 11-6-07

I've compiled all of the Two For Tuesdays (and will continue to do so) on the WHS Wiki page.

1. Evaluating Websites - A quick and dirty way to grade a Website
Thanks to Deeth Ellis, our librarian, for alerting me to this great blogpost and excellent resource for evaluating Websites. You can read about it here.
Check it out, it could be a really useful tool for a research project!

2. Podcasting resources -
All Mac computers come with GarageBand software which can be easily used for podcasting. I've created some How To Movies to get started with GarageBand:

I am going to be presenting at the MassCUE technology conference on Thursday, November 14th on Book Review Podcasting. I have been assembling resources for the presentation on a wiki. This is a work in progress (until the 14th). I'll be adding my slide show and other resources as I finish them.

What Do You Stand For?

According to Robert Evans, the author of The Human Side of School Change, this is an essential question that all leaders must ask themselves. He also suggests that a motto is much more effective than a lengthy mission statement or a long list of goals or values. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, trying to frame what I "stand for" into a motto. So far I have narrowed it down to three:

1. Empowering Students and Teachers to
Succeed in the 21st Century!

There is a lot we don't know about the world that will face our students when they are done with their "official" schooling, but we can probably agree that it will include technology. I believe it is our responsibility as educators to teach students to successfully, critically and competently navigate the 21st century technology landscape. In order to help students to do this, we must first feel comfortable and confident about doing this ourselves. I am committed to supporting both my students and my colleagues (and their students) in their efforts to make this happen.

2. Celebrate the Challenges!

According to Evans, Motorola's 1986 motto was "We Celebrate Noble Failure." Carol Dweck would have been proud! I often hear teachers talk about the many challenges that they face when trying to use technology in the classroom. And I completely agree, the network, the computer, the software, the connection, the browser, the operating system will all present a problem individually or collectively at one time or (and) another. How you and your students work to solve the problem is the key. Which leads me to my third motto...

3. Solving the Problem IS the Work!

An essential component to success in the 21st century is being able to work your way through those technology obstacles. Every time you or your students find a solution to a network, computer, software, connection, browser or operating system problem you are succeeding in the 21st century! That is why it is essential that you put yourselves and your students in the position to do so.

OK - so I probably should just pick one motto. Which one do you like best? Do you have a motto? What do you stand for? Please add a comment and let me know.

Evans, Robert. The Human Side of School Change. Reform, resistance, and the real-life problems of innovation. Jossey-Bass. 2001. p. 261

Two For Tuesday: 10-30-07

1. Instant Feedback: iChat is an instant messaging application, installed on all Mac computers, that allows you to communicate with others in real time. Don't have an IM account - no problem. iChat comes with a feature called Bonjour messaging. Just open the finder, click on Applications and open iChat, log in and open Bonjour messaging, iChat will find all the people in your network who have also opened up Bonjour messaging. Here are some directions for how to do this: http://www.helponechild.org/help/ichatbonjour.html





2. International Photo Sharing: www.flickr.com is a photo sharing Website where people around the world post and share their photos. This is a great resource for copyright friendly images that you can use for presentations and Website. You can also watch photos as they get posted in real time using www.flickrvision.com. You can view a map of the world in 3D and see photos pop up in real time as they are posted. You have to see it to understand it. Give it a try.

Two For Tuesday: 10-23-07

1. Social networking for good rather than evil. There is a website called ning: http://www.ning.com where you can create your own social network around any topic you are interested in – baseball, knitting, technology… It can become a space to talk to people about your interest and find and get to know others that have something in common with you. There are some great public networks – the one I am active in is called http://classroom20.ning.com. It is a network created for teachers that are interested in integrating Web 2.0 technology tools into their classrooms.

You can also create closed networks on Ning that are by invitation only. They are very easy to set up. I have created networks for my school faculty and staff and for some of my classes. This is a new adventure - I'll write more about it in the future.

Here is a video that explains Social Networking (in plain English)




2. Increasing the text size in Word. Have you ever opened a word document and found the text too small to read? Here is a quick fix. On your Word toolbar there is a zoom drop down menu. The default setting is 100%. To increase your text size, click on the drop down menu and choose 125% or 150%.

I hate Conferences...

I've just returned from a TV/Video Educators conference. It was a frustrating experience. I am not very good at sitting and listening to people talk. The first session turned out to be a sales pitch. I thought I was going to learn something about the software, instead I was treated to an apple rep telling me how good the software is. Arghh! Thank you very much - I didn't pay money to come to this conference so you could sell me things that I already own.

The second presentation was a typical PowerPoint with lots and lots of text - and no hard or electronic copy of the presentation. The guy had an interesting project to share, but oh yeah - this is a TV/Video conference - how about showing some video...

The third presentation was much better - finally. She provided us with lots of materials (hard copy only) and showed us some interesting video both about the project and video from the project itself. She also left a lot of time for questions.

The final session was another sales pitch, this time for a TV/Video textbook written by the presenter...I went home.

In less than a month I am going to be presenting at the MassCUE conference about my podcasting project. How can I make my presentation interesting for people like me. I have one hour, one computer and a projector. I have some ideas - obviously I'm going to share my podcasts, I've created a wiki for all of the presentation materials, I want to create a podcast of people talking about the project (could be hard to do, since I am now working in a different school), I hope to use Google presentations and allow for some back channel chat and I was thinking about providing some time for people to turn to their neighbor and share some ideas.

What do you think? What was the best 1 hour conference presentation you ever attended? What made it great? Please share your ideas! I've cross posted this as a discussion over at Classroom 2.0 on ning. Please feel free to join the discussion there as well.