August, 2010


28
Aug 10

Lie to Me, EI and Leadership

 

On “primal leadership”

Great leaders move us. They ignite our passion and inspire the best in us. When we try to explain why they are so effective, we speak of strategy, vision, or powerful ideas. But the reality is much more primal: Great leadership works through the emotions

I am currently reading Daniel Goleman book Primal Leadership: Learning Emotional Intelligence. Its a fair read, allowing me to reflect on my leadership and EI and has signposted a few interesting studies and EI resources (EI Quiz). It is not a big leap then, from EI to Deception Detection.

Unsurprisingly, I have primarily focused my reflections on my personal practice, at the relationships I have developed with those colleagues I support or the students teach, but this  article,  ‘How to tell when your boss is lying,’ encouraged me consider a difference perspective. Conversely,

For the record, I want to underline that our Headteacher has been is very supportive, both professionally and personally. This article is not about my relationships, but about leadership relations from the perspective of anyone being led. It also gave me thought on how not to communicate with Curriculum leaders, in my first senior leadership position.

Deceptive bosses, it transpires, tend to make more references to general knowledge (“as you know…”), and refer less to shareholder value (perhaps to minimise the risk of a lawsuit, the authors hypothesise). They also use fewer “non-extreme positive emotion words”. That is, instead of describing something as “good”, they call it “fantastic”. The aim is to “sound more persuasive” while talking horsefeathers.

When they are lying, bosses avoid the word “I”, opting instead for the third person. They use fewer “hesitation words”, such as “um” and “er”, suggesting that they may have been coached in their deception.

Corporate psychology: How to tell when your boss is lying | The Economist

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21
Aug 10

Opportunity

If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. Milton Berle

 

Learn to listen. Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly.

Popularity: 2% [?]


20
Aug 10

The Game Layer on Top of the World

I have been interested in SCVNGR (a web platform for building mobile device-enabled scavenger hunts) for some time now but the need for students players to use smart phones is currently prohibitive to my educational use.

Listening to Seth’s TED talk, I was interested by his presentation and the concept of schools as a game.

School is a game, its just not a terrible well designed game. Seth Priebatsch

This ‘education game’ includes levels (grades) and status (valedictorian) as used in most popular games but currently its just not very playable? I have seen a number of excellent reward schemes in schools, from the very simple Achievement Passport schemes, to the technology assisted Vivomiles but I have yet to see games designers – school. This reminded me about the brilliant TheFuntheory concept and I could not resist the opportunity to share the magical piano stairs with you.

Seth Priebatsch: The game layer on top of the world | Video on TED.com

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20
Aug 10

Giving Live Writer Another Bash

At #MSCamp I had a brief conversation over the virtures of Live Writer. After loading it as part of the Live Essentials suite, I didn’t feel it offered me much more than the WordPress WYSIWYG with Apture, perhaps I should have been a little more thorough patient. The point being made was that Live Writer plus plugins was a very efficient blogging product.

So here I am, back with Live Writer, with a BETA has just yesterday. Improved spelling suggestions, more emotes (which I rarely use but might be nice for students) and improve Office integration. Now to see what plugins I would use?

I installed attach file, insert Twitter post, Polaroid picture and Snagit.

Twitter imports very neatly with a Follow me link, if visually a little unappealing.

  • Revisiting Live writer after recommendation from Mike at #MScamp. Beta just bn updated, added sum plugins. Better than I 1st gave it credit.

The Snagit plugin didn’t work, but I should have read the reviews first and I would have saved myself the time to disabled and uninstall it! So its a snipping tool and then Polaroid picture to give the images a polished look solution. Size, tilt and captions can all be customised.

Working with the Edit, Preview and Source tabs in the bottom right hand corner of the window were perhaps the most useful features. So, originally I gave Live Writer 5/10. There was little added functionality  when compared to WordPress WYSIWYG with Apture. This was perhaps a little harsh.

I have not yet had a reason to investigate the improved Office integration and hope for more, reliable, Live Writer plugins in the near future. 8/10. Importantly, presenting a tool like blogging tool with the Microsoft ‘look and feel’  can only encourage more staff to blog, for longer. My thanks to @mikemcsharry for refreshing my interest in Live Writer and input during my second review.

Popularity: 4% [?]


19
Aug 10

#MSCamp Day 2

Look, I am late to the party. With such a passionate group of educators, bloggers and Tweeters there is no point re-writing what has already been written. Both Graeme Eyre and Nicki Maddams provide comprehensive lists of the tools, #MSCamp has a fair Twitterstream, even now and one of two of colleagues have blogged. In true Magpie fashion, I have taken all their posts and summarised them with Tagxedo.

http://www.tagxedo.com/

What did I personally make of the event? As a result of the #MSCamp I certainly have a growing appreciation for the breadth Microsoft software and their support towards education. You only have to review Graham Eyre’s list to recap! However, what impressed me most was the often simple and innovative  way my colleagues at the event re-purposed this tools to suit their or their students needs. Web Queries for science, developer tools for in presentation data collection just two examples demonstrated at the close of the event.

I was not 100% sure what to expect from the event. Although  I found the task of creating these ‘quite sexy things called innovids’ a little solitary at times, I was inspired by scribbled notes on the ‘dry wipe walls,’ my colleagues commitment to their practice and their general vibrancy and mutual respect. Certainly, these innovids  have the potential to impact upon the use of Microsoft products by all our staff back at the ranch.

As a result of the #MSCamp I certainly have a growing appreciation for the breadth Microsoft software and the support towards education. You only have to review Graham Eyre’s list to recap!However, what impressed me most was the often simple and innovative  by my colleagues at the event re-purposed this tools to suit their or their students needs. Web Queries for science, developer tools for in presentation data collection just two examples demonstrated at the close of the event.

I was not 100% sure what to expect from the event. Although  I found the task of creating these ‘quite sexy things called innovids’ a little solitary at times, I was inspired by scribbled notes on the ‘dry wipe walls,’ my colleagues commitment to their practice and their general vibrancy and mutual respect. Certainly, these innovids  have the potential to impact upon the use of Microsoft products by all our staff back at the ranch.When I finish the my INNOVID I will post that resource here as well.

Popularity: 2% [?]