Innovate2Create

I am working on a new project with my dad and sister to help kids with mental illness and other learning disabilities to become successful in school and life! We are working on our business plan and it has been fun to try and think creatively about our strategy and how to best approach the learning componenets linked to the clinical components. My sister is a Special Ed teacher and I will be assisting with the business planning and Educational Technology components. We are looking to create a service in the Southern California area for a need that is going highly unmet outside of the UCLA program which for many families is a lenghty commute. It is fun to see how the things I am learning and have learned can contribute to the planning and execution. I love solving problems with great ideas and working with smart people!

Exciting news...I have applied for and been offered a research assistantship for Spring 2010. I will teach one class and work on a research project for the Navy. It is going to be an absolute blast and will stretch me in new learning directions. I applied for the position because I have been thinking about how I can be braver and more creative in applying what I am learning in my coursework in more applied ways. Also, a friend of mine said put yourself out there and ask about potential positions. What do you have to lose? I think this is very wise advice. It has helped mre realize that changing the course of your life experience is all about creative courage. Once you've done it and felt the rush you want other people to try it too!

Great video about a great company. IDEO collaboratively designs a new approach to shopping carts that is well received by grocery store owners and employees. Very positive brainstorming sessions and a great environment for continually improving new ideas in ways that can be built upon my other team members. A very fun way to create new products and services! This has me thinking about what I can do differently. I decided yesterday to look into a research assistantship to balance the TA positions I've held. A research position will give me the opportunity to work on a team and contribute to expanding the understanding of and possibilities for technology in education using quantitative and qualitative research methods. I am really enjoying Statistics which is not something I would have seen myself saying a year ago. Learning and changing is part of innovating. Innovating ourselves through learning puts us in the best position to contribute to innovating in other arenas! I hope to part of some more innovation in education in 2010!

I have done some brief research this week about how neuroscientists view creativity and what is happening in the brain. Below is a link to one super interesting article. I am also reviewing a couple of actual research studies. My dad is a psychologist so I think over Christmas break I will see if he can order me a creativity assessment test that will tell me more about my brain and how to improve my creative and innovative skills and also perhaps measure how I learn to help me continue to take creative but effective approaches in school and teaching. I am learning so much and really enjoying it!

http://www.neuropsychiatryreviews.com/may06/einstein.html

I LOVE learning software and this week I learned more about IMovie '09 as we worked on our YouTube videos. The great thing about learning IMovie is that there are technical skills involved but it is mostly artistic and requires visualization to see in your mind what you what to accomplish and then make it happen on the screen. So challenging to see if I was able to conform the functionality of the software to my ideas. I think I came up with a few software enhancements I'd like to see in the next version of the software during this process. Also, before even making the video visualizing the scripting, how to shoot it, etc. were all new applications of my desire to design and create. What a blast!!!!! I'm definitely not the next Speilberg but I really enjoyed seeing my idea become a reality this week. Special thanks to my team for teaching me what they already know about video creation/editing!