Friday Musings 8-15-14.... well isn't that Parkour... or "par for the course"?

 

 

 

I learned a new word the other day.... Parkour. Do you know it? I was concerned by a colleague's leg bruises, thinking perhaps she had tripped and fallen.... but NOOOOO... I learned it was a result of "parkour." 

Parkour (French pronunciation) is a holistic training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. Practitioners aim to get from A to B in the most efficient way possible.They do this using only their bodies and their surroundings to propel themselves. Furthermore, they try to maintain as much momentum as is possible in a safe manner. Parkour can include obstacle courses, running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling, quadrupedal movement, and the like, depending on what movement is most suitable for the given situation. (Wikipedia information copied for this blog)

Here is our colleague... can you tell who it is?

So how is Parkour like extension work you ask????

A newer convention of parkour philosophy has been the idea of "human reclamation". Andy (Animus of Parkour North America) clarifies it as "a means of reclaiming what it means to be a human being.  It teaches us to touch the world and interact with it, instead of being sheltered by it." "It is as much as a part of truly learning the physical art as well as being able to master the movements, it gives you the ability to overcome your fears and pains and reapply this to life as you must be able to control your mind in order to master the art of parkour."

Extension education is about having our participants get in touch with themselves and their environment, master new skills, and overcome their fears and pains to apply new skills to their lives.

Academic research on parkour has tended to describe how parkour provides a novel way of interacting with the (urban) environment, that challenges the use and meaning of urban space, metropolitan life, and embodiment.

Yes - Parkour is studied to see its impact!!!! - like Extension programs. I attended a meeting this week discussing how the Parents Forever on-line course impacted the lives of over 1,000 participants - yes, in positive ways.

Traceur Dylan Baker says "Parkour also influences one's thought processes by enhancing self-confidence and critical thinking skills that allow one to overcome everyday physical and mental obstacles".

Well, I am not ready to advocate that we include parkour as an application exercise in all our FD classes... but, I pose the question to you - How do include educational activities to enhance self-confidence and critical thinking in your education? How do you provide application activities so participants can practice overcoming physical and mental obstacles? (share your answers in the comment box)

(Figured out the colleague yet? Hint... her name rhymes with banana) 

Type her name in the comment box if you know

Extension Provides a Local Opportunity to Share Your Scholarship - Take Advantage of it!!!

Please consider these ways to get involved at Extension's 2014 Program Conference, October 6-8!

Present a Poster

Please consider presenting a poster at the 2014 Extension Program Conference. Share scholarship, research, and new insights gleaned from your work, while interacting with your Extension colleagues. All conference invitees are encouraged to submit an abstract for a poster.

This year, poster abstracts will be accepted based on the following criteria:

Significance – addresses a topic or topics that are relevant for and of importance to Extension.

Originality – introduces new and innovative work and ideas to Extension, showing how gaps in knowledge in your field were addressed.

Quality – shows intellectual and methodological rigor.

Appropriateness – is clear, organized, and well-conceptualized.

Abstract submissions are due Friday, September 5 by 5 p.m. To submit an abstract for consideration, please visit the event website. The submission is done via an on-line form. We suggest that you create a document with all the pertinent information, then cut and paste into the form, so that you will be able to keep a separate copy of your submission. Late submissions will not be reviewed. Notifications regarding abstract submission results will by made by September 19. If you have any questions, please contact Cindy Tong (c-tong@umn.edu).

Present a Lightning Talk

An informal evening event with rapid-fire presentations from colleagues, the Lightning Talks are back by popular demand on Monday, October 6, 4:30-6 p.m. We are looking for presenters to give Lightning Talks.  Please sign up online to present a talk by Friday, September 5. For signup, we simply need your title and a brief description. Slides will be due on September 19. The only requirement is to choose something that interests you, and may interest others! Topics related to your program area, professional interests, or avocations are encouraged. More information is available on the program conference website. If you have any questions, please contact Cindy Tong c-tong@umn.edu or Ryan Pesch pesch@umn.edu.

Friday Musings 6-27-14 Examine Refine Celebrat

Examine Refine Celebrate

This is the Center for Family Development Team that attended the 2014 Children, Youth, & Families at Risk (CYFAR) Professional Development Event in Washington, D.C. Our team above includes: Silvia Alvarez de Davila, Trish Olson, Zulema Nieves, Mary Marzcak, Gabriela Burk, Kathy Olson, and Maira Rosas-Lee.  The conference challenged us to Examine, Refine, and Celebrate.

One interesting session I attended was by Jennifer DiNallo, The Pennsylvania State University, who shared information about the Effectiveness of Childhood Obesity Programs. Jennifer is with the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness . The handout below shows the 3 components of successful childhood obesity prevention and intervention programs. I appreciated the importance of #3 Parent Involvement. The Clearinghouse is a plethora of resources for all of our programs to see how programs/curricula are measured.  I encourage you to read about the placement criteria to determine if programs designated "effective," "promising," "unclear," or "ineffective." While we may not be able to do randomized control studies for all of our work - we need to understand the process and make every effort to  meet as high a standard as possible to understand if our educational programs work, as we intend, for the audiences we are serving.

Losses It is with sadness I share that three of our colleagues have lost a parent this past week. Our sympathies to Jodi Dworkin at the loss of her father, Cathy Solheim, who also lost her father and our grant writing partner, Kay Anderson, lost her mother. Best, Trish Olson, Center for Family Development Program Leader

Friday Musings 6-6-14 Commence....ment

 

Commence:  to have or make a beginning

Big day in my household. My daughter, Aubrey, graduates from high school tonight. Our school travels over to University of Minnesota Mariucci Arena to accommodate the graduating seniors and their supporters.  

 

I

                                                         

I love commencements and I actually like to hear the commencement speeches. Hear are a couple of my favorites. This is a good time of year to stop and reflect.

J.K. Rowling Commencement Speech at Harvard 2008

 

Steve Jobs' Commencement Speech at Stanford 2005  

Speaking of "beginnings" check out this new report on Minnesota High School graduates. This publication provides state and individual public high school data on how well students are prepared for higher education. There are fascinating statistics on students who need remedial education.








As we each "commence" to start the day. Think of what you would like to hear in a commencement speech and then commence to do those things in your life today.
Trish

Friday Musings 5-30-14 - Maya Angelou

We remember Maya Angelou this week. While, I have enjoyed her poetry and words of wisdom I was fascinated by her history - that made her life even more amazing to me. One resource shared this about her young life....

After reading about this tragic event in her young life, I look back to the quote above and am even more amazed at her accomplishments.  Do you know young Maya's or elder Maya's in your work or personal life?  How do you make space for their past as you walk along-side them as they create their future and they influence your future?

Dollar Work 2 at Leech Lake Tribal College

Tasha Shevlin and I were fortunate to observe Jennifer Garbow and Lori Hendrickson teach Dollar Works 2 train the trainer at the Leech Lake Tribal College. Discussions about resources - both financial and personal - were rich. Also the desire for the success - personal and financial - for the next generation. We have not spent a great deal of print in the curriculum about the motivations for change, the psychology of money management - these participant's insightful questions provided additional information as we consider our next version of this curriculum.

New Opportunity- Family Resiliency Team Investments RFA

In the budgeting process this year I proposed to Dr. Shirer that income dollars from money earned by the Family Resiliency Team be re-invested in emerging issues that would benefit from extension education. Here are the 3 issues where dollars will be invested. See attachment to the email about this blog for RFA specifics. Deadlines are in the bottom right-hand yellow box.

RFA for Prevention and Understanding Financial Exploitation of Seniors (up to 10,000)

RFA for Post-Secondary Debt (up to 10,000)

RFA for Extension Outreach Family Education for Military Families (up to 10,000)

Hope you have a nice weekend.

Trish Olson

Friday Musings 5-16-14 - Just joking :) & Funding Opportunities

Hello,
Heard a good joke lately? I think it is a lost art and yet offers a time for friends, co-workers, and family to share a laugh, get to know each other better and laughter has many health benefits including stress and pain relief! (Mayo)

My father-in-law always has joke for my daughter, Aubrey. This is a recent one.

A young man visited his dad one Saturday and they were going to eat lunch and the son said, "Dad your plates are kind of dirty should we use them?" and dad said, "It is the best cold water can do."  They proceed to eat, using the plates. At dinner, same thing. "Dad these dishes are really not that clean." Dad says, "It is the best cold water can do." Again, they eat using the plates.

As the son is leaving that evening a dog runs up to the door and the father says, "Heh, Cold Water, where have you been all day?"  

Rural Health and Safety Grant - Due June 6

•Center for Family Development is asking if the RHS Grant would support your current or future team Plan of Work? It is a tight turn around - but perhaps you have an idea fully developed or previously not funded .... let us know! Here is a short synopsis of funding guidelines.

      RHSE program proposals are expected to be community-based, outreach education programs, such as those conducted through Human Science extension outreach, that provides individuals and families with: Information as to the value of good health at any age; Information to increase individual or family’s motivation to take more responsibility for their own health; Information regarding rural environmental health issues that directly impact on human health; Information about and access to health promotion and educational activities; and Training for volunteers and health services providers concerning health promotion and health care services for individuals and families in cooperation with state, local and community partners. 

 

    

 

New Opportunity- Family Resiliency Team Investments RFA

 

In the budgeting process this year I proposed to Dr. Shirer that income dollars from money earned by the Family Resiliency Team be re-invested in emerging issues that would benefit from extension education. Here are the 3 issues where dollars will be invested.

RFA for Prevention and Understanding Financial Exploitation of Seniors ( up to 10,000)

RFA for Post-Secondary Debt (up to 10,000)

RFA for Extension Outreach Family Education for Military Families (up to 10,000)

In the RFA teams will need to answer:

          How does this work contribute to Family Resiliency? It needs to.

      •  Describe what phase of the program life cycle.  Funds will be used in the beginning phases of the program life cycle: understanding the issue,  develop,  and/or pilot . 
•  Describe Theory of Change for this work (visual) and how the resources will be used to  contribute to the Theory of Change. Most likely the Theory of Change will encompass a larger scope than what this amount of funding will cover.
•  Logic Model for this work and how will resources will be used to contribute to the Logic model?
•  One Year Gantt Chart, for funded piece of the larger work. Indicating tasks, timing, and who will complete task. Report bi-monthly progress. Submit budget.
•  Team Members must include: Extension Educator(s), Faculty/Specialist/Content Expert, AND Community Member (could be agency staff or MN resident that can inform work and eventually benefit). Indicate their role.
•  Team will share about their work via webinar, FD conference, or Extension Fall conference.  

Watch soon for the RFA paperwork - this is a "heads up."

Friday Musings 5-2-14 - Listening

Listening

If you have had the opportunity to talk "to" me this week (not with me) you will know I have had laryngitis. For 4 days I had absolutely no vocal functioning at all and slowly throughout this week my voice is slowly coming back. Simultaneously, I have never had so many public functions to attend- difficult for this extrovert. But, the advantage is I have had the opportunity to listen. While I was doing solitary quilting last weekend I listened to the On Being Podcast about -- of all things, The Everyday Art of Listening.     Krista Tippets's guest was David Isay the founder of StoryCorps and the National Day of Listening. StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit whose mission is to provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives.Some of the StoryCorps themes include:

•  En Español
•  LGBTQMilitary
• Memory Loss
•  Military
•  Wisdom

One great link on the StoryCorps webside is sample questions for different groups. Here is a sampling:

Great questions for anyone

• Who has been the most important person in your life? Can you tell me about him or her?
• What was the happiest moment of your life? The saddest?
• Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you?
• Who has been the kindest to you in your life?
• What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?

Question for you.... have you used StoryCorps in your programming? Now, after hearing about StoryCorps... how could you use it?  


May Extension webinars focus on resources for research and creating a welcoming workplace

On May 7, 10-11 a.m., Extension will host "Interdisciplinary Research Resources," a webinar presented by Kristen Mastel, outreach and instruction librarian. During the webinar, Kristen will discuss four resources--Google Scholar, MNCAT Discovery, Web of Science and Scopus--and how each offers unique ways of retrieving and analyzing academic research. Registration is required.
 

On May 29, 2-3 p.m. Stef Wilencheck and Jason Jackson from the University’s GLBTA Programs Office, will present “Overview of GLBTQ Identities & Communities.” This webinar will focus on providing participants introductory knowledge of gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation and how to create a more open and welcoming workplace. Registration is required.
Extension webinars are held every month and offer Extension faculty and staff a chance to review and discuss priority topics within Extension. To access webinar recordings and to view information about upcoming topic webinars, visit the Professional Development section of the intranet.

Ying Iverson
Director, Professional Development

Friday Musings 4-18-14 - Palindrome Week - Are you Coming or Going?

It's Palindrome Week! 

Did you know this was palindrome week?
Do you know what a palindrome is? I did not know the definition of this word until this week. It is basically, the same thing backwards and forwards. Like the dates this week. Today is 4-18-14..... backward it is 4-18-14. So what? Well - it is just darn fun and it makes us stop for just a moment and reflect. Sometimes is is just good to stop and look around and see the joy in the simple things.  Palindromes are seen in numbers, words, phrases, biological structures and computational theory - to name a few. 

Do you ever wonder if you are coming or going? Stop and ponder and see the palindrome in your own work activity. As you reflect on evaluation data from your education or research data... your job is to look beyond the statistics of counting people, or calculating means, standard deviations, t-tests.... statistical programs can provide that information... but as educators and practitioner scholars our job is to look for patterns! What patterns have you seen in your work? How do these patterns inform our work?

4/13/14

4/14/14

4/15/14

4/16/14

4/17/14

4/18/14

4/19/14

Laugh yourself silly 

Talking about seeing the wonder in simple things.... allow yourself a smile today and watch this video. I think these children noticed a fun pattern in their world!

Poverty Minnesota Call to Action - Register NOW!

Have a nice spring weekend.
Trish

Friday Musings 4-11-14 - Guest Blogger Jennifer Garbow - 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act

50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act

Jennifer Garbow, Extension Educator is our guest blogger today....

This is one of my son Wakinyan’s senior pictures.  I can’t believe another child of mine is ready to “launch-out” in a couple of months.  I’m sharing this picture with you not because I’m a super proud Mom (which I am!) but rather because of a recent incident that happened last Saturday while Wakinyan was working.  Hardee’s restaurants have comment cards on their tables so patrons can rate their dining experiences and also leave written comments. Wakinyan received his first comment card; I read it three times to make sure I was seeing it right. My first reaction was anger, but that quickly led to feeling really hurt and sad. I talked with Wakinyan, who actually took the comment in stride, “They didn’t even bother to rate the experience they just took the time to write the note, oh well.” As I thought about the note over the past few days I realized that anger and sadness are logical and normal emotions but do not make me feel any better  and can actually contribute to the feeling of being powerless (which does not sit well with me!).  

I was reminded of a famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see.”   While I certainly would never leave a nasty comment card for a young kid, I probably do have unconscious biases that come out in other ways, ways that could be hurtful. The change I want to see in my community is that by the time George, my youngest son is working a part-time job in high school he won’t have to read a demeaning comment about being Indian. What can I personally do to change negative and stereotypical feelings about Indians in my community? …by raising children who think more of others than they do themselves…by being conscious about my own “unconscious” attitudes towards others…by raising awareness, when given the opportunity about the micro-aggressions and not so subtle aggressions that many people of color contend with  daily. This is my challenge and your challenge too. What can we do in our own personal lives, in our communities and in our work lives with Extension to promote understanding and appreciation for people who we perceive are different from us? What can we do to give a voice to and acknowledge people who feel powerless? …These are big and complex questions I know! But I believe that if we commit ourselves to individually care then collectively we can love. And we all know that love has the power to transform our world, one person at a time.

Jennifer

In today's paper.... Obama: 'I have lived out the promise' of LBJ and the Civil Rights Act

AUSTIN, Texas — A half-century after the passage of sweeping civil rights legislation, President Barack Obama declared that he had "lived out the promise" envisioned by Lyndon B. Johnson, the president who championed the push for greater racial equality. Marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, which Johnson signed into law, Obama lauded his Democratic predecessor's ability to grasp like few others the power of government to bring about change and swing open the doors of opportunity for millions of Americans. "They swung open for you and they swung open for me," he said. "That's why I'm standing here today.Obama spoke at the end of a three-day summit commemorating the landmark law that ended racial discrimination in public places. 

"that ended racial discrimination in public places".... As I read these words in the paper today I thought about Wakinyan’s experience this week.  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Thank you Jennifer for sharing your experience for us to think about and most importantly to act upon,
Trish