TACTics Journal

A Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners

June 23, 2000

CONTENTS

            NETWORKING

                  (1)            Check Your Assumptions, Jane Hudak

            (2)            Challenge Your Assumptions, Bev Brown

        CONNECTIONS

                  (3)            4th International TOC for Education Upgrade Conference

                QUOTE

                  (4)            Gandhi

                  (5)            Kay Buckner-Seal and Cheryl Edwards

NETWORKING

(1)        Check Your Assumptions

By Jane Hudak

 

      New material for the TACT workshops debuted in Los Angeles last summer and I resisted the change more than most.  I made the assumption that teachers and administrators wouldn’t use the tool— The Cloud— themselves if the focus was to solve student problems, not their own.

      During our discussion at the conference, Eli reminded me that the goal of TOC for Education was to get the tools in the  hands of the students, not the teachers.  The teachers were only the vehicles being used to get them to the children.  Since we had taught hundreds of teachers who weren’t sharing those skills with their students, something else had to be done.  Of course, I still resisted but after teaching the new material I am here to state "CHECK YOUR ASSUMPTIONS."  My assumption was incorrect.

      I found that the administrators and teachers absorbed the material with enthusiasm without the layers of resistance that I have seen in other classes.  They didn’t have to change themselves, which we all know is the most difficult to accept.  I believe that with the focus on solving student problems they can learn the tools, then see the applications for themselves.  I had forgotten that these tools are like multiplication tables, once you know them you just can’t forget them. They become part of you.

      Thanks to everyone who worked on the new material; they realized a change was necessary to reach the goal.  My special thanks to Eli, Rami and Efrat for showing me, once again, that they take the process of ongoing improvement very seriously.  They did their part.  Now it’s my turn.

(2)         Challenge Your Assumptions

 

Dear TOC Family,

 

            I am sharing the following with the hope that I can inspire you to challenge your

assumptions at a deeper level. 
This year, I challenged the assumption that students, when given the tools, can be in

charge of their own learning.  Ten years ago I taught a Creative Writing class, and it was a

disaster.  This year I was handed the opportunity to teach this class again.  Thanks to my

TOC training, this year's experience was one of the most rewarding of my teaching career.

I believe a major difference was a direct result of the first couple of weeks of planning.  I

worked from the assumption that these students knew what they needed to be more

creative writers and that they could design their own curriculum.  The students listed the

obstacles to becoming professional writers, wrote intermediate objectives, and then

created an action plan (syllabus/instructional guide) to accomplish this goal.  Because the

curriculum belonged to the students, I did not have the complaints I had experienced 10

years ago.  Class members did get requests for manuscripts and poems from publishers

(along with the typical rejection letters) and we did win some literary contests; so they felt

they had reached their goal.

            Make the assumption that students know what they need to learn and allow them to

Be responsible for their own learning.  Use the tools!

Bev Brown

CONNECTIONS      

(3)     4th International TOC for Education Upgrade Conference

August 9-12, 2000

Monterrey, Mexico

Conference Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

 

Conference Registration

$75.00 covers the cost of lunches. 

Send checks payable to TOC for Education, Inc. along with your registration forms to:

Attention: Bernie Kean

TOC for Education, Inc.

1532 Glenlake Circle

Niceville, FL   32578  USA

 

Airport:            Gen. Mariano Escobedo International Airport (Code is MTY). 

   Transportation from Airport to hotel: Cab $15.

   Departure Tax: $10.00

Hotel:             Sheraton Ambassador Hotel- Monterrey, Mexico

(*Room rates are based on single OR double occupancy.)

Classic room—            $86(+tax)            For more than two people to a room, there is a $15.00 charge for each extra person.

 

Reservations: Identify yourself as a member of TOC for Education.

                Mexico — (direct to the hotel)            1.800.832.8400 

                        USA & Canada— (central reservation)            1.800.325.3535

     Nations outside of North America—(switchboard)                  1.528.380.7000

Registration Deadline:            July 25, 2000 (for conference rates)

QUOTE

(4)      It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important.  You have to do the right thing.  It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit.  But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing.  You may never know what results come from your action.  But if you do nothing, there will be no result.” —Gandhi

EDITORS' NOTE

(5)      Thanks, Jane Hudak and Bev Brown for contributing to this weeks journal.  To our entire TOCFE Family, we would really love to hear your comments, examples and concerns.  Please continue to share so that we all may maintain our POOGI.

 

Send HYPERLINK to:

bucknek@resa.net

redwards@sault.com

 

Send mail to:

Cheryl A. Edwards

2253 S. Hill Island Road

Cedarville, MI 49719 USA