On the Trails

Vision:
Schools are being led by people who do not know how to manage technology. They do not know how it fits into the instructional process. I wrote a blog about this, below is an excerpt:
This past summer, I attended a leadership conference in Albany. At one of the keynotes, two young boys got up on [...]

Insights From the Road – Reinforcing the Process
Welcome to Insights From The Road, the e-newsletter of creativity [...]

Skype does not have to be just a tool to communicate with others, you can also use it to brainstorm ideas and communicate with yourself.
I was writing a piece for a job application about what distinguishes me from others and I used Skype to let the ideas flow.
All I did was type in a topic [...]

Research How to Write a Business Plan

Go to Small Business Development Office at Buffalo State
Attend a Seminar
Utilize Business Plan Guide Book
Attend Business Plan free seminars
Look up other business plans online
Subscribe to business magazines online
Attend Local Chamber of Commerce Meetings

Organize My Products

Create a portfolio to the web
List all different products you can or would like [...]

There is not a tool that assesses a teacher’s level of technology integration in the classroom in an easy-to-use fashion. The tool I am speaking about has to be as simple as using a tire gauge or a cooking thermometer. My job is to teach teachers how to integrate technology [...]

By: Barbara R. Frey
& Ruth B. Noller

Information taken from
the Journal of Creative Behavior, 1983.

The CPS Facilitator/Mentor provides processes for people to resolve problems on their own – E. Paul Torrance
The Qualified Mentor possesses these characteristics:

Personal Position Process

Requirements of the Protege

Ambition Trust Ability Desire

Although Mentoring can be informal, recent thinking has resulted [...]

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Materials

Easel, chart paper, dots, extension cord/adapter, yellow and
blue sticky notes, a timer, forced connections book

Agenda

Overview of Process

Roles – Client, Resource Group & Facilitator

Client – the person(s) for whom we are going to provide
ideas
Resource Group – a group of people who will use their
minds to generate ideas
Facilitator – a person who will guide the group through
the [...]

In the Exploring the Challenge section of the CPS process, the facilitator’s job is to help the client identify goal, wishes or challenges to bring to the resource group. The resource group, in the Explore the Challenge section, helps the client create the “right” problem to work on.
If a problem is known, solutions can [...]

Alex Osborn – Seven- Step CPS Process from Osborn’s Applied Imagination

Orientation
Preparation
Analysis
Hypothesis
Incubation
Synthesis
Verification

After 1982 tools were provided for convergent thinking. Prior to this point, divergent thinking was the main thinking model.
Mess-Finding

highlighted the importance of obstacles and outcomes
ownership of the problem became an important factor

Effective problem solving requires people to consider more than facts

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“Problems become opportunities when the right people get together.” – Robert Redford

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One of the advantages of using Google services is their relatively new service called Google Documents and Spreadsheets.  Google Documents enables people to collaborate on ideas when they are not even in the same country.  We have been using google documents to work on our technology plan, to plan curriculum and to work on policies.
When [...]