Blog 15...The Final Post due Wednesday May 16th @ 11:59pm

Bristol Harbor, RI, (photo credits Bent)

This is it!  Your final week of school as a high school senior.  You can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and you have so much  to look forward to in the future.  Whether you are entering the workforce, the armed services, or going to college, you future is what you make of it from here on out.  Promise yourself that you will make good choices, and when you slip, get back up and correct the wrongs.  

You have your presentations, and your final reflection due by the end of Finals Week.  If there is anything else still due, see me please.

What I want you to do for this blog is choose a strength you have developed in this class and tell me about it.  Short and sweet, but it should be about a paragraph long.  

Sail off into the sunset. Enjoy the few remaining days as a senior.  Relax over the summer, and then jump right back into your own education and or work.  You have all the skills, but the question is, will you use them?

Sunset on the Caribbean Sea, Grenada, British West Indies (photo credit Bent)

Blog 14-Shifting Gears - due Friday May 11th @ 11:59 pm

Cairn at Second Connecticut. Lake, Pittsburg NH (photo credit Bent)

This week is the last full week of class for you.  At this point your projects are beginning to wind down, and you are switching gears to the presentation.  Take a look at what is required for your presentation (Google Classroom), and share with all of  us your thoughts:

-What you are doing for a presentation.....
-How far along you are with your presentation....
-What will be the central focus of your presentation....
-The way or ways you will connect what you did to leadership....

Blog 13-T-minus 14 and counting....Where are you at? Due Friday May 4th by 11:59 pm

Beaver Brook Falls, Colebrook, NH (photo credit Bent)

This class is quickly coming to an end.  Your journey after April break may now feel a little like this waterfall, cascasing fast and out of control.....you tell me.  This week the blog is quite simple:

Where are you in your project?

What do you owe me that you still have not turned in, and why are you dragging your feet?

What are you most proud of so far in your project?

Blog 12 - Leadership and Fear-Due Friday April 27th by 11:59 pm

Welcome back.  By now you can see the end in sight....you have approximatley 18 school days left (that is about three weeks without weekends).  Although the end is a good thing, it can also be a little bit scary because your your high school life gives way to a more adult-by yourself-type of living regardless of whether you go to college or join the workforce.  You are your own leader starting NOW!!!!!

Leaders are not necessarily fearless, but they have learned how to deal with their fears.  It takes courage to live his/her convictions, persevere, take risks, tell the truth, apologize, and to admit mistakes.  Courage is about pushing through one's fears to live a most authentic life and do what one believes is right (Myers, 209).

Bristol, RI harbor at sunset (photo credit Bent)

Now that you are beginning your work in the field, I am sure there is some "fear" about your success or failure, and that is normal.  All good leaders, as the Myer's quote states, "learn to deal with their fears" (2011).

Please answer the following questions as they pertain to leadership and fear.  Make sure that the answers are substantial, and are not just "one sentence wonders".

1. Having to move on to unfamiliar territory and/or new adventures is what allows leaders to stretch and grow.  So, does your new project feel fresh, challenging, and engaging?  Explain

2. Sometimes the greatest act of courage is to follow one's heart and do the right thing, even if it is not popular or does not seem politically correct.  What is your "North Star", that thing that most drives you when you have to make a hard decision?  What was the decision, and how did it turn out?

3. Are you willing to risk being wrong?  Sometimes leadership take having the courage to make hard decisions based on the best information you have, knowing that you could be wrong.  Do you have an example of this? (Share)

4.  Do you give yourself credit for those tough decisions that nobody else sees? Explain.

5. Do you give yourself permission t omake hard decisions without necessarily having it all figured out?  Are you willing to step into ambiguity whe the occassion calls for it?  (Once you summon the courage to take this step, it often opens up wonderful new possibilities that otherwise might have remained closed or hidden.  Share your answer, thoughts, and examples.

Blog 11-Respectful Leadership - due April 13th by 11:59pm

The calm before the storm...(photo credit Bent)

So this is the last full week in the classroom.  If you do not have a place to be first period, you will be expected to arrive to school for first period after vacation, and work in my room.  You can be doing any of the following here:
-prepping for work on your project
-working on blogs
-responding to emails
-making further connections for your project
-planning



For this blog I want you to think about RESPECT.  To be a respectful leader you need to keep your eyes open to people around you and making sure that they feel truly heard.  It means approaching everyone you meet from a perspective that says people matter.  Take the time to really talk with people and become conscious of what is going on in their lives...this is more than just being nice, it also gets results (meaning people who are respected or feel respected are often more receptive to work for you, or with you).

Please read, consider, and react to the following questions:

Are you willing to listen to others and let others have their voice, even when it might be inconvenient, difficult, or painful to do so?

When you find yourself in disagreement with someone, do you focus on making your own views heard, or doyou stay open to the other person's point of view?

In situations of conflict, do you try to win agreement, or do you seek first to establish trust?

Do you sometimes feel unheard?

Do you take care to keep your relationships alive?

**Please take note: these are not meant to be one word answers, instead I want you to reflect, explain, and share.**

Blog 10-Procrastination due April 6th by 11:59 pm

The road to procrastination (Photo Credit Bent)

There are two weeks to April break...if you remember way way way back I gave you a cute little piece of paper with deadlines on it...do you still have it?  Here is a piece of it that might interest you.

Independent Work the weeks of January 26^th through May 18^th

(50% project proposal, research paper/ 30% assignments, weekly annotated bib)

·         One journal article read and added to a working annotated bibliography to be shared with Dr. Bent on Google Classroom.  To be clear, this means that the student (you) will read add to his/her (your) annotated bibliography each week.  (This annotated bibliography will be completed by week # 10, aka March 30^th  and represent no less than 10 journal articles )

·         Outside reading: find a book to read that is connected to his/her (your) topic.  It cannot be a textbook.  It must be a piece of nonfiction. Completed and a review written by April 6^th

·         Research Paper: focused on some aspect of your work in the community. Completed and turned in by April 12^th

Notice the pieces in red?

NEW DEADLINES.
The book review is now due on April 12th and the paper April 23rd.  This gives you an extra week for each one. USE THIS GIFT WISELY. and turn the work into Google classroom. At this point, there are no more excuses, no more snow days, and for those of you who are routinely late...pick up the pace and finish strong (all of you).


Now on to the blog this week.  I would like you to watch  Tim Urban's TED Talk "Inside the Mind of a Procrastinator"

https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator#t-812

1.Once done, write a short reflection on if you see yourself in this talk.

2. He makes an interesting point at the end what is it?

3. How did the boxes strike you?

4. Why would I think it is important for you to watch a rather funny video on procrastination?

Blog Post 9- Reflection on Authenticity due Friday March 30th by 11:59pm

Have you ever stopped and listen to the roll of the pebbles on the beach as they wash in and out with the ebb and flow of the tide?  Have you ever considered just you, meaning taken time to just stop and think about you? Not the "you" people see, or the "you" - you try to be for others?

Rye, NH (Photo Credit Bent)

This week I want you to find "the real you" through authenticity. What does that mean? Roughly it means finding YOU within yourself and being comfortable in your skin.  Leaders need to be comfortable with themselves before they can help others.

According to autor Betsy Myers of Take the Lead , "when you step into who you truly are, you access a source of inexhaustible power.  People see you as real, and that causes them to feel a level of trust and confidence that no amount of spin. or PR can possibly manufacture" (37). 











Consider the following question, and please be honest with your answers.  Make sure you answer beyond the yes or no of the answer. (EXPLAIN)

1. Do you feel passionate about your project? (How you answer this  might give you some clues about who you are and where you might want to focus yourself in the future....)

2.Do you put energy  into trying to live up to others' expectations?  AND Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

3. Do you feel you bring your authentic self to your relationships (bosses, parents, friends, co-workers, teachers)?

4. Do you regularly  give youreself time and space to listen to your own instinctive sense? (Part of learning to trust your  internal compass is to allow yourself the room to step back and hear what your instincts are telling you.)

5. Why do you think I asked you to respond to these types of questions?

6. How do they connect to leadership class?