the importance of a network

last week I had the pleasure of discovering first hand the importance of a professional network.

During the new hire class I was teaching last week, one of the students had to miss a day of class because of a medical emergency. This student returned to class the following day. I knew that the students are allowed to miss less than 4 hours of class before they are rescheduled to attend another, however I didn't have anything in writing to confirm what I knew. When one is dealing with the federal government EVERYTHING has to be in writing .

Remembering the instructors have a sharepoint site to exchange information, I proceeded to look there with no success. After that, I emailed my STI ( security training instructor) contact list ( I have over 50 instructors in my sti group contact list. Many verified that I was correct, but no one knew where it was written.

Next (and my final step) I got in touch with our resident QA person who has many contacts at HQ in DC. Within 2 hours of the intial call to her she had not only found the person, but also had a copy of the directive emailed to me. I was able to submit my recommendation to place this student a a new class along with the proper documentation. I also emailed my contacts and posted a copy to our sharepoint site.

Whats really cool about networks is not who you know, but who the people in your network know.

Let Us Not Forget

I had the pleasure of being a volunteer for the Harlem Book Fair this past weekend. There were people, panel discussions, workshops and of course books, books, and more books!



All of this got me to thinking about all the the social media that has helped keep us connected with one another-facebook, twitter to name a few and all the electronic media that is now available. It is no longer necessary to hold a book in ones hand, we can read them from our laptops, book reader, and in some cases our mobile phones.



I have become more tech savy in the last few months than I have been in the last year and while I am proud of that, I must admit being around all those people sharing and connecting on a phyiscal and spiritual level, feeling the positive energy that surrounding the event, holding a book in my hands and being able to leaf through it is a feeling that technolgy cannot replace.



I am all for technology,but I think we have to realize and remember that technolgy cannot and will not replace good old fashioned phyiscal contact and interaction with people and boos.

How Do you teach passion and enthusiam?

Its been a long week and its only Tuesday.Yikes!!!! I found out that I was training another class starting next week.I LOVE doing these this classes. I love what i do and I believe ( and I've been told) that it shows when I am in front of a class.

Whats fustrating though is sometimes I am paired with other instructors who don't share the same passion and enthusiam that I have for training. Their attitude is very is uncaring and unempathetic. Some of them are instructors because they don't want to work in the field ( I can't say I blame them). However our quality assessments don't measure passion and entthusiam they measure delivery and professionalism. To be truthful several of them make watching paint dry more exciting.

How do you develop passion and enthusiam if its not there?

informal teaching and learning in a tattoo parlor

I decided this weekend to get my third tattoo.

I went into the tattoo parlor and looked through the various pictures. I was looking for something small to put on the top left side of my back. I decided to get a butterfly with hearts. I proceeded to the back where I was greeted by William, my tattoo artist. After explaining what he was going to do, he asked if I had any questions and I said no because I am familiar with the procedure. ( I already have 2)

A few minutes later as he was tattooing me we started talking about dreadlocks since we both have them. Mine are almost to my waist and his were about the same. He asked who does my hair and I explained to him that I maintain my own hair. He complimented me on how good they looked and wanted to know how to twist them since he always had them done in the barber shop.

As I tried to explain the procedure that I use to him, I could see in the mirror that he didn't quite get what I was saying. So I told him, when you finish the tattoo I would show you.

When he finished, I sat him in the chair he used for me and proceeded to show him how I do my hair by twisting a few of his locks. It was quite a sight actually because in the middle of a tattoo parlor I was giving a haircare lesson.

After I finished, he admired his newly twisted locs and thanked me for showing him how to do it. As I was leaving the shop, he gave me back half the money I paid for the tattoo.

You never know where you will be teaching.

It Took a Village Network to Find My Son.

Technology as we now know it has definitely changed ( improved) not only how quickly we can now distribute information but also how fast we respond to the information that we are provided.



Consider this story.....



As I mentioned earlier, my youngest turned 18 memorial day weekend. He decided to test his manhood the following week by not coming home one night. I am not the panicky type so I figured that he fell asleep at a friends house. After repeated attempts to reach him through his cell phone were unsuccessful, I began to get nervous. My son is many things and I love him to death, but he ALWAYS called me back when I leave messages for him. As I left for work that morning via public transportation (he had the car of course). I began to think about what I could do and all the things that could have happend to him. Terror really began to set in.

By the time I reached work, I was a wreck. After crying in the ladies room, it dawned on me we have a family plan with our cell phones. I logged into attwireless and proceeded to print all the telepnone numbere under his account. I texted all the numbers associated with his account and asked if anyone had seen him or knew where he was. Within minutes I received all types of texts from his friends who indicated the would put posts on facebook and twitter and keep me posted.

Within 2 hours my son called me. After crying because I was so grateful he was okay. I then went into mother mode and reminded him he still lived at home and had certain responsibilities he had to uphold especially now that he is an adult. After he apologized he said Ma I can't believe you texted all my friends. Do you know how many texts I got and how many posts were on facebook and twitter? My response, I don't care I was worried sick and thats the only way I knew to find you. (He calls now when he is staying out)

Several years ago this would not have been possible. To gather so many people together( there was a least 50) in so little time for a common cause(finding my son). I'm grateful for networking and technology. It helped me find my son.

PS. I saved the numbers just in case.

Motivation. Whats in it for me?

As I reflect back on the readings from last week, I think the one aspect that stands out most for me is motivation ( or in some cases the lack thereof). I agree with Mr Cross when he indicates that the carrot and stick method not longer works. Motivation has to come from inside ( intrinsic) and is different for everyone. As I read the article, I began to question my own motivational factors for wanting a MA. Is it because I want to appear educated? A better position? Knowledge? More money and prestige? A sense of accomplishement? First in my family with a masters? What?

I have come to realize that as I uncover my motivational factors for learning on a professional and personal level, the level of motivation will determine the amount of effort that is applied to the task at hand; whether its a masters or something I want to do or learn on a personal level.

I am currently taking another course this summer that I find myself struggling with (already, yikes!!) and I am beginning to wonder if my motivation for taking the course in the first place is strong enough or deep to allow me to take the necessary steps to not only complete the course, but to so with a decent grade.

I keep you posted.........

Me, ISD, and bellydancing.

Greetings All,

As I get closer to graduation (next may if all goes well) I ask myself that very same question who am I and what am I doing here. I didn't decide what I wanted to be when I grow until I became an instructor at TSA ( which have been doing for the past 5 of eight yrs Ive been employed with them. I find imparting knowledge exciting and very stimulating. I love helping people learn and very happy when they grasp the concepts and you see on their faces that it finally sunk in. I became interested in ISD after I created a powerpoint for TSA describing how to use a piece of new equipment that was purchased. the powerpoint was very basice and non descript. So I thought if I can do this with what little I know about ISD imagine what I can create and design if I really knew what I was doing. So I enrolled in the MA program in Jan 2009 and have been hooked every since.

What does this have to do with bellydancing you ask? Well, I'll tell you. Belly dancing not only keeps me in shape but it help alleviate the pressures of school, work and sometimes home. (remember my youngest just turned 18, if thats not pressure I don't know what is!!) It also helps me to maintain focus and keeps me grounded. In the past weeks I haven't done it as much as I would like, I'm still trying to find a balance this summer since I'm enrolled in classes. But I will. All work and no play makes Vanessa a dull girl..

Joy and prosperity.