Until watching the Wimba session, I was sailing along pleasantly basking in the warm waters of Rule No. 6, even giggling every now and then at the preposterous entirely "invented" assumptions being thrown at us at this teaching conference. Then knock, knock..."Hello?" "Landshark" the voice answered mockingly then, revealed his true identity, "It's your calculating self." The panic that set in as I talked myself through all the negative scenarios surrounding the very idea that I need to submit a presentation proposal to a conference by next week. What? Here I thought I was doing so well; doing everything ahead of time so as to enjoy some semblance of a vacation NYC at the end of this conference. Please don't see this as blamescaping, it is all me, often ill-prepared. I sometimes feel as if the bat mobile is driving in front of me. I wonder what button Batman has his finger hovering over next? Will it be the oil-slick? "Oh, hi, calculating self, my old friend. Sit down."
Besides the mercurial change of my inner calm, this session did also yield some practical information that will carry me through the process of rebuilding my confidence as I approach the task of publishing. I suppose you will read more about this in my two "Think Out Loud" posts to follow.
I did not know about publishing specifics. I had no idea that publishers can turn you away if you've submitted to other publishers. I guess it makes sense that they would want the one-and-only go or "first publishing rights" and so we should only submit to one Journal at a time.
I will have to go to some websites and look for applications for presenters and then see what they wish for me to submit be it 100 words some slides or what have you.
The most immediate and pressing task at hand is to create a first draft. What will my presentation look like? I will need to prepare 5 slides with about 1500 words (300 words per slide) though it was mentioned that we could make a presentation of 24 slides (15 words per slide). I would rather not prepare a "death by powerpoint."
As for the delivery of this work, it was suggested that it would be better to put our words in google docs and share the URL with our peers. This is important as some publishers view work on websites as being "published."
I'm trying to remember to focus on the possibilities rather than focusing on the limitations of "publishing" my presentation.
I'm still unclear as to how we PROVE that we've submitted an idea for presentation at a conference. Please answer that in your comments to me.
I did enjoy the fact that Dr. Joe did voice his annoyance the chapter on "giving an A." I hope that I'm not making an assumption here, but I too felt this chapter was giving us conflicting information. I like the advice but the example of having the kids write why they deserved an A is not the same thing that the "practice" is telling us.
I have recently received a note from my mentor Joe Huber, who said that since reading the Zander book, he has started to give all of his kids an A and that none of the work has suffered as a result. I think of the act of giving an A as more of a metaphor for making the assumption that we are all equal and in this together than a physical grade. Luckily as I teach little kids, the "A" grade does not enter into our dialogue.
Sources: Creative Commons Image by Ian Boyd available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsaboyd/5397010770/
