Category: Pathways

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Pathways

Breaking News: Base Camp Updates

UPDATES TO BASE CAMP: You can now view the projects in every level.

An explanatory email was sent to club Presidents, VP Education and Secretaries on September 12.

“Currently, members can only see the projects associated with the level they are on in their path. This change will allow members to view all projects in their current path. Please note that while you will be able to view all projects, the projects themselves have not changed and still build in complexity. While we are starting with English, we are working to extend this change to all languages we support for all online paths by the end of the month.”

Example from Carole’s Transcript: Level 5 project view-able prior to completion of Level 4

The process to approve levels has not changed. Each level will still need to be approved by a Base Camp manager, and approval of all five levels will allow members access to their final project: “Reflect on Your Path.” Once Level 5 has been approved, members can submit a request for their entire path to be approved by the Base Camp manager. As soon as that request is approved, the path will be complete.

Example from a Transcript: ‘Reflect on Your Path’ project now separate

“Awards will still need to be submitted in Club Central. Path progress will still need to be submitted in order—for example, you will not be able to submit Level 2 completion before Level 1.  As a reminder, progress in Base Camp will still need to be approved in Club Central to receive credit.”

Example of Submission of Education Awards at Club Central

“This update also comes with a revised Member Progress Report for Base Camp managers. The Individual Progress report will be updated to display all projects in progress or completed, by level. Instead of showing how many members are working in each level, this report will now show how many members are working in or have completed each project within a level. To see which members are in each project, simply select “View Details.”

Example of progress in Carole’s club: Base Camp Manager view

“We hope these changes make for an easier learning experience for all members.  If you haven’t already, please watch this screencast outlining the recently updated onboarding process for new members.”

THIS HAS BEEN THE BEST BEST NEWS IN THE PROGRESS OF OUR PATHWAYS PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND IS SURE TO PLEASE MANY TOASTMASTERS!

Scroll to the bottom of the FAQ page for Pathways to access the new FAQ on the Latest Updates to Base Camp.

 

Categories
leadership Pathways pathways guides

Shape up for Pathways Excellence

A positive approach!

Pathways is our Educational system and it provides opportunities and challenges for the experienced and new Toastmasters. I believe that a majority of clubs in Australia have embraced Pathways well and are steaming ahead. We are ensuring that each District has a Pathways ‘leader’ to help promote and support Pathways experiences, and in my District we schedule monthly Pathways focussed online workshops.

How is your District travelling? Do you still have some clubs who are reluctant participants in the Pathways program? Do you need some help in motivating them?

blue-2309309_640

This blog post will focus on ‘How you can shape up your members and create more Pathways Stars?’

Step 1: Check your Pathways Adoption Rates!

You can do this by accessing the data calculated by Toastmasters International in this Pathways Adoption Rates tool. Select your District and then filter on Division and Area to find your specific data. This will give you a base line from which you can plan for further Pathways adoption in your club.  For example here are the results for my Area N29 in D73:
adopt rates header

adoption rates n29

As you begin the process Pathways Mentoring you can then drill down into the details of progress for each of your members:

Step 2: Challenge your members to plan ahead for speaking opportunities!

At the base level of any Toastmasters club is the club meeting in which we provide opportunities for our speakers to practice, grow and develop their speaking and evaluating skills. Speaking is still the core competence of the Pathways Education Program! However, in some Districts it seems that Toastmasters are unhappy with Pathways.

Here is a summary of what I learned from Trish Blackwelder’s stellar presentation for the Tuesday Talks n’ Tips sessions for Pathways.  Here is the full length presentation.

Trish B is the D3 Pathways Chair in Phoenix, Arizona and has completed her Distinguished Toastmaster award (DTM) five times in the Legacy program.

Trish B sets out to unpack the following questions that she hears often from those Toastmasters who are unhappy with Pathways.

Why did we need to change?
Her first response is to emphasise the need for change – an evolution in the effectiveness of the Toastmasters Educational program for the 21st century. Trish suggests that we also guide our members to those things that are still in our Toastmasters program and are familiar to us. For example the five core competencies: Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communication, Strategic Leadership, Management & Confidence.

Pathways Leader at D18, Karen Storey, DTM, displays these core competencies at her website for Pathways.

Trish B emphasises the need to share an overview of the alignment of each Path in relation to the emphasis on these core competencies. This useful Pathways_Assist_PathsByCoreEmphasis document gives the alignment at a glance.

Lead Pathways Guide at D62, Lori Haynes DTM, provides this useful one page flier displaying a list of all Paths.
D62-Pathways-Short-Path-Description-2.13.19-1

Trish B suggests that new and existing Toastmasters alike will benefit from an opening conversation about their aspirations and reasons for joining Toastmasters culminating in a strong recommendation for the specific Path that will suit them best.

George Marshall provided a very useful set of slides ‘How to Pick a Path’ to help all Toastmasters understand which Paths focus on Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication and which ones focus on Leadership both Strategic and Managerial.) How-to-Pick-a-Path-3-SSTM-by-George-Marshall 

Why do I need to repeat the projects in Levels 1 and 2 for each Path?
Trish B reiterates the preference of some Toastmasters for the projects from the Competent Communicator manual- their sequential skill building focus being ideal for new speakers. Trish B reminds us that Nine of the Ten base level skills for Public Speaking are incorporated in each of the Paths in Pathways and are presented at different levels in the Paths.

Note: the tenth project from the CC manual, ‘Persuasive Speaking’ is only included in the Presentation Mastery Path.

Trish B offers a great tip for enthusing Toastmasters on the value of repeating the Icebreaker speech, as an example of how we can analyse the growth in our own speaking skills. She says: “the Icebreaker from my first CC manual was nothing like the Icebreaker I completed in my 17th CC manual”. Trish B suggests that a seasoned Toastmaster can be more innovative in their later Icebreakers to reveal more information about themselves.

To ‘spice things up a little’, Trish B also recommends that repeating a Path can bring out new opportunities to stretch the skills of Public Speaking or Leadership, by selecting different electives in the second or third time round a Path.

Lori Haynes, Lead Pathways Guide at District 62 provides this neat one page flier displaying a list of all electives at Levels 3, 4 and 5.
D62 Pathways – Elective Projects 2.13.19

Step 3: Encourage your members to plan ahead for Leadership Projects!

Rose Oosthuysen DTM from D112, and VP Membership for Ablaze Advanced Online Club, provides this summary of 10 essential leadership skills and matches them with a selection of Pathways projects.

  1. Communication skills are essential at all levels of leadership; Understand Your Communication Style project Level 2 in all Paths; Active Listening project Level 2 (Motivational Strategies) Develop a Communication Plan project (Visionary Communication) and 3 electives;
  2. Motivation skills are vital for team work; Persuasive Speaking Level 3 (Presentation Mastery); Motivate Others Level 4 (Team Collaboration) projects
  3. Delegating skills include accepting feedback from employees; Reaching Consensus project Level 3 (Effective Coaching); Making Connections through Networking Level 3 (Strategic Relationships)
  4. Positivity is needed for conflict management; Understanding Conflict Resolution project Level 3 (Persuasive Influence); Focus on the Positive elective (all Paths)
  5. Trustworthiness requires emotional intelligence, Understanding Emotional intelligence project Level 2 (Motivational Strategies); and Leading in Your Volunteer Organisation project Level 5 (Strategic Relationships)
  6. Creativity requires vision, Develop Your Vision project Level 5, (Visionary Communication);  and the ability to use effective visual aids in presentations; Creating Effective Visual Aids Level 3 Elective in all Paths.
  7. Feedback we learn to give and receive feedback in all paths;  Evaluation and Feedback projects, Level 2 in all paths;
  8. Responsibility requires us to reflect on our actions Level 5 in all paths Reflect on your Path;  provide positive coaching, Improvement Through Positive Coaching project Level 4 (Effective Coaching) and Manage Projects Successfully project Level 4 (Innovative Planning)
  9. Commitment requires us to be a team player Leading Your Team level 4 (Leadership Development); and a leader High Performance Leadership Level 5 (Effective Coaching)
  10. Flexibility requires negotiating skills,  Negotiate the Best Outcome Level 3 (Dynamic Leadership);  and Manage Change project Level 4 (Dynamic Leadership) and Lead in Any Situation Level 5 (Dynamic Leadership).

Do you need a full copy of all Pathways Path and Project Catalog, make use of this resource from George Marshall, DTM, Chief Pathways Guide at D57. George also provides this PowerPoint Presentation: How-to-Pick-a-Path-3-SSTM-by-George-Marshall

Step 4: Share rich resources with members

Toastmasters International Magazine is a rich source of resources. Some like to read their print version and others gain further insights by reading the online articles.
‘Welcome to Pathways 101’ – an online article for August 2019 written by Paul Sterman (Senior Editor)  is an ideal resource to share with your members. Just send the link in an email.

In this article there are fantastic resources to whet your appetite, convince you, persuade you and provide real world examples of the benefits of the Toastmasters Pathways Program. In this video interview Mark Snow, DTM, D69 Club Growth Director, focusses on the benefits of Pathways Leadership projects for his workplace projects.

Mark provides the Pathways-Companion-Guide-V2 to help all Toastmasters on their way in their chosen Path.

There are many other fantastic resources created by passionate Pathways leaders from across the world to make your task of motivating other Pathways Champions easy. Consider this collection of documents for recording achievements in each Path:

Pathways_Assist_PathProgressSheets-JulieDall from Julie Dall, D3, and the pathways_level_completion_checklist

If you can motivate just one member in Pathways, you can build your club adoption rates and ensure that your club is in good shape for Pathways excellence!

Come on over to the Pathways Discussion Forum where you can:

  • post your Pathways motivational strategies
  • ask questions about your Path (and specific projects)
  • catch up with the archives of all Tuesday Talks n’ Tips workshops (recordings and shared resources)

Note: My latest slides on Shape Up with Pathways Excellence are available here:
Shape Up Presentation 080919

Categories
journey of a Path Treader Pathways

Level 4 Elective: Write a Compelling Blog

The journey so far

This project was my favourite from January 2018 when I was completing my first Path, Effective Coaching. In this project I saw a challenge to ‘find my voice’ and create a unique set of eight blog posts (in one month) about my Voyage of a Pathways Guide.

“In this project, you will learn the basic structure of developing and writing a
compelling blog, how to properly engage your readership, …”

navigator dragon

I had a great deal of fun in putting together my blog posts in the Fantasy genre and providing other PGs with my own perspectives on what it was like to be leading others into Pathways. There were strange new lands, dragons, and obstacles that I needed to overcome in my path to enlightenment. I structured these in 8 chapters using WordPress:

  1. Voyage of a Pathways Guide
  2. Enlightenment
  3. Tests and Allies
  4. Approaching the Sacred Chamber
  5. Entering the Chamber
  6. Finding the Magic Elixirs
  7. Palaces of Zoom
  8. The Hunt for Zoom Gold

public-speaking-3926344_640My next step was to prepare a speech about my experiences and to deliver that at a club meeting. I delivered this on February 12 at Wangaratta Toastmasters:

Impact of the Voyage of a Pathways Guide  Edit
Effective Coaching #29 – Write a Compelling Blog (2:00-3:00 min)
Deliver a speech about the impact of blogging a minimum of eight blog posts in one month, on either a new blog or an already established blog
Introduction: Reflections on the impact of my summer blog postings – chapters of the Voyage of a Pathways Guide

Right, that concluded my project on Writing a Compelling Blog – or did it?

Next Chapters at CoachCaroleOnline.com

My blog posts in February 2018 included four more chapters of the Voyage of a Pathways Guide, and captured more of my reflections on my learning as a Guide and as a Blogger.

By this time my blogging skills were beginning to improve and I was keen to continue sharing my experiences and advice for other Pathways followers. A plan was emerging! I knew that I could not maintain daily blog posts, so I opted for 2 to 4 posts during the months of February to December 2018. As my club and district duties then ramped up I reset my goalposts and opted for a monthly post in 2019. (Occasionally I posted two – depending on what new learning I had to share.)

July to August postsaugust to october postsoctober to december posts

  1. January: Track Pathways Progress in easy-Speak
  2. February: Reflect on my Path and Personal Eportfolio: Pathways Achievements
  3. March: Guide on the Side and RPL and the Electives
  4. April: What’s New in Pathways Resources
  5. May: Mentoring Pathways Champions
  6. June: Toastmasters in the Cloud and Reflections: D73 Team Pathways
  7. July: Pathways in July: Motivate Others

Why am I telling you all of this?

  1. My reflections on what I have achieved in my blog posts may inspire others who are planning to complete the Level 4 Elective: Write a Compelling Blog.
  2. This post also introduces some new elements for my followers to consider in developing their own ‘blog posts’ and create their own ‘body of work’ as a self-publishing blogger.

Finally: Lessons and Advice from Other Bloggers

David Carr DTM, founder of the Online Presenters Online Advanced club, has provided these lessons and resources on blogging for Toastmasters:

How to Blog for Toastmasters  

How a Blog Makes a Toastmasters Club Website Stronger

Web & Social Tip: Balance Your Use of Images Versus Text and Links

Christian Mihai provides these generic lessons and resources at my favourite blog site
‘The Art of Blogging’:

How to write a blog post

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers

9 Mistakes that will Screw Up your Blog

Are you a Blogger, or Just blogging

Anyone can Blog

How to Stop being the Invisible Blogger

What’s next for me in blogging?

I am going to repeat the project ‘Write a Compelling Blog‘ and this time provide further insight into my other life, that of a genealogist and family historian. During August I will plan my blog posts around my current studies in the  Diploma of Family History at University of Tasmania.

Are you interested in writing a compelling blog? Are you a Toastmaster working at Level 4 in your Path? Would you like some help with this Elective? Comments and feedback welcome here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
online pathways guides adventures Pathways pathways guides

Mentoring Pathways Champions

Recently I was asked ‘what strategies are employed in your clubs to encourage uptake, progress and completion in Paths among your members’. My response was Mentoring!

If you want success in your club and your goal is to build a 100% enrollment base in Pathways, I recommend a Club generated Pathways Mentorship Program.

Here’s one way to do that!

Mentoring for Pathways Champions!

Tips for creating your Pathways Mentorship Program!

  1. Encourage your experienced members and Pathways fast trackers to select the optional Pathways Mentoring Program after completion of Level 2 in their Path. They become your Pathways Champions.
  2. Appoint a Pathways Mentorship Leader in your club who will assist Pathways Champions as they mentor members who are new to Pathways. A great vehicle for completion of a Leadership project.
  3. Provide Incentives for the Pathways Champions and members to enthuse, guide and support others on their journey through their selected Path(s). eg Small badges and pins from the Shop.
  4. Run a Stepping Stones to Pathways Mentorship Workshop as a special training segment.
  5. Build in a Mentor/Protege Networking segment before you begin your meetings.
  6. Build in a Mentor Feedback segment on the agenda for during your meetings.
  7. Build in a Mentor Followup guidance activity for the Pathways Champions after the meetings.

A Stepping Stones to Pathways Mentorship workshop will provide guidance on what the mentor, protege and the club needs to do.

The mentoring process will enable greater sharing, support and reported feedback to the club.

During the workshop, a randomly selected set of Mentor/Protege partnerships can initiate some discussions to start the process. Note: this is great activity for between club interaction, if you are using this at inter-club or Division Club Leadership Training events.

The mentor/protege partnerships can focus on either:

  • the Introduction to Mentoring project from Pathways and discuss methods of mentoring a member through a whole level in their Path, or
  • the Advanced Mentoring project from Pathways and discuss methods of mentoring over a longer period of time and reporting back to the club.

The matching process for the partnerships in the Pathways Mentorship program can vary from:

  • optional and voluntary pairing between mentor and protege
  • formal club selection process for matching the pairs
  • impromptu and just-in-time opportunities for mentors to step up and offer service

Note: the pairing may change over time as needs change.

The reporting back on mentoring outcomes is an integral part of the Stepping Stones to Pathways Mentorship program.

Individual members and the whole club benefits from building in regular opportunities for the mentor/protege pairs to meet up, give feedback and follow up.

This sends a very strong message to visitors and guests at your meeting when they view these segments and hear about the progress of both mentors, proteges and Pathways Champions.

The final step is to embed the Pathways Mentorship process into the success plan for the club.

Executives can share the current mentoring partnerships and reports, with their new committee at each changeover meeting. This provides a great opportunity for the outgoing and incoming executives to discuss progress in the Distinguished Club Program and success with Level and Path completions.

If your club is keen to improve their Distinguished Club Program status, then take it another step further forward, and Appoint a Club Pathways Mentorship Leader. This role would be most valuable for completion of a specific Leadership Project from Pathways.

What about incentives?

Don’t forget to reward your members and mentors – everyone loves receiving little gifts of appreciation.

Head over to the Toastmasters International Shop:

  • Purchase Ribbons for Pathways Mentors on completion of their Pathways Mentor Program
  • Purchase Pins for those members who complete a Path

How will you implement Pathways Mentorship?

Categories
journey of a Path Treader Pathways pathways guides

RPL and the Electives

No, this is not the name of a new music group!

What is RPL?

RPL means Recognition of Prior Learning – a method of enabling skilled practitioners in all fields to obtain recognition for those skills acquired prior to starting a course of study or applying for credit transfer. I see a correlation here for our entry into Pathways; or at least I see a missing element that would ease my entry into a specific Path in Pathways.

Here is the official explanation from the  National Training Board in Australia:

Recognition of prior learning is an assessment process that involves assessment of an individual’s relevant prior learning (including formal, informal and non-formal learning) to determine the credit outcomes of an individual application for credit.

RPL is known in many countries under different names, but ultimately each one provides a method for recognizing competence against a given set of standards, competencies, or learning outcomes.  For a brief description of RPL, visit Wikipedia.

What has this got to do with Pathways?

An RPL process would enable Toastmasters to demonstrate that they are capable of undertaking specific levels in Pathways based on evidence of skills and knowledge gained throughout their previous history of Toastmaster membership.

As a skilled Toastmaster with many years of experience I would have preferred an option for me to immediately apply for RPL in Levels 1 and 2. These two levels are the same in every Path! Although I may breathe new life into the 8 tasks required of me in the Mastering Fundamentals and Learning Your Style, they do not present any new challenges for me. This same scenario is placed before me each time I start a new Path and it does not engage or enthuse me!

Therefore I propose that a process of Recognition of Prior Learning be applied to Levels 1 and 2 to enable a skilled Toastmaster to begin a new Path at Level 3 if they have already met the criteria for the projects in those levels previously, or have already completed one Path.

The RPL process could be built into each Path – providing a much sought after option. The Toastmaster could be presented with the RPL choice at both Level 1 and Level 2 when they access their Path in Base Camp. The RPL could appear as an option in the Transcript and a new RPL Process could be accessed by the Toastmaster by downloading it as a PDF.  The process could involve the ‘verification’ by a Base Camp Manager, just as they do for a completed level.

The outcomes of an RPL process would:

  • increase the enrolment potentials for Pathways by experienced Toastmasters
  • reduce the repetitive nature of speech activities in the club meetings (especially advanced clubs)
  • enhance the engagement and enjoyment of Paths immediately for all Toastmasters

Level UP for the new adventure!

Once I have achieved competence in Mastering Fundamentals (Level 1) and Learning Your Style (Level 2), I believe that the Levels 3-5 in Pathways presents the most attraction and valuable challenges for experienced Toastmasters. This is where the adventure begins! By enabling experienced Toastmasters to Level UP quickly through an RPL process, we would be able to enthuse them to enter Pathways. By alerting experienced Toastmasters to the NEW projects, competencies and opportunities in the Electives, early in their planning process, we would be able to entice them to consider the Pathways journey more pro-actively.

  • Level 3 Increasing Knowledge, is where each Path takes off into different directions and focus.  Level 3 introduces new required projects and offers the choice of 2 Electives.
  • Level 4 Building Skills introduces opportunities to challenge your skills with another required project and provides choices for 1 more elective.
  • Level 5 Demonstrating Expertise provides even greater challenges for your speaking and leadership skills with one or two required projects, as well as one more elective.

Required projects vary according to the objectives of each Path! For instance:

  • in two of the Paths, the project focus on Public Speaking (Presentation Mastery, Engaging Humor)
  • in three of the Paths, the projects focus on Light Leadership (Leadership Development, Motivational Strategies)
  • in three of the Paths, the projects focus on Moderate Leadership (Dynamic Leadership, Strategic Relationships, Team Collaboration)
  • In two of the Paths, the projects focus on Strong Leadership (Effective Coaching, Innovative Planning, Persuasive Influence)

Public Speaking

Presentation Mastery:
Persuasive Speaking, Managing a Difficult Audience, Prepare to Speak Professionally

Engaging Humor:
Know your Sense of Humor, Engage your Audience with Humor, The Power of Humor in an Impromptu Speech, Deliver your Message with Humor

Light Leadership

Leadership Development:
Planning and Implementing, Leading Your Team, Manage Successful Events.

Motivational Strategies:
Understanding Emotional Intelligence, Motivate Others, Team Building

Visionary Communication:
Develop a Communication Plan,  Communicate Change, Develop Your Vision

Moderate Leadership

Dynamic Leadership:
Negotiate the Best Outcome, Manage Change, Lead in any Situation

Strategic Relationships:
Making Connections through Networking, Public Relations Strategies, Leading in your Volunteer Organisation

Team Collaboration:
Successful Collaboration, Motivate Others, Lead in any Situation

Strong Leadership

Effective Coaching:
Reaching Consensus, Improvement through Positive Coaching, High Performance Leadership

Innovative Planning:
Present a Proposal, Manage Projects Successfully,  High Performance Leadership

Persuasive Influence:
Understanding Conflict Resolution, Leading in Difficult Situations, High Performance Leadership

 

Choose Electives Smartly!

The choice of Electives is the fun part of Pathways and will entice greater participation across the broad spectrum of Toastmasters experiences, goals and passions. If Electives are presented to the Toastmaster early in their Pathways planning phase, the Toastmaster can be better prepared. Electives will be the key to the uptake of Pathways in the next phase of its implementation in our clubs – from July 2019 to June 2020.

We need to ‘showcase’ the exciting parts of Pathways and set targets within clubs to reach 100% enrolment in Pathways for all members by June 2020. How can we do that? Breakout the Electives! Make them accessible now!

Note: Did you realise that when you have completed a Path, you have access to all the Online Classes for all Electives when you return to that archived Path in your Transcript. You have them at your finger tips.

Electives can be chosen according to how well the Elective project fits into the goals and themes for their Path. eg a Toastmaster focussing on being a better presenter online may select the electives:  Understanding Vocal Variety, Create a Podcast, and Prepare to Speak Professionally.

These will help fine tune their speaking style for:

    • range of audiences
    • voice recording
    • presenting on the small screen

The Electives are varied in content and purpose and will challenge Toastmasters who are seeking NEW learning in different environments. In some Electives, there are multiple tasks and some request more than one speech. Ensure that you get a full overview of tasks and speeches involved with each, as you plan your Path. eg a Toastmaster who is focussing on building international leadership skills may select these electives:  Make Connections through Networking, Building a Social Media Presence and Ethical Leadership.

These will help fine tune their international image and improve:

    • networking capabilities
    • social media awareness
    • leadership in diverse cultural dimensions

See D73 website for a dynamic set of Paths and Projects: select the one you want and drill down to the summary of each project by clicking on the + sign.

I believe that you can really make your Pathways Education journey more exciting by looking closely at the Electives and planning to include them strategically in your Path. Start planning now!

What are your favourite Electives and why did you choose them?

What did you learn from tailoring your Path to suit your goals and aspirations?

Recommendations:

  1. apply to join the Pathways Discussion Forum for in-depth conversations about all things Pathways
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/pathwaysdiscussionforum/
  2. plan to join the Online Webinar “Motivating Members to Start on Pathways” scheduled for March 30 at 11:30 am AEST (12:30 UTC) in Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/426959509 
    https://www.facebook.com/events/255925301983852/
  3. plan to join the Online Webinar “Pathways Elective Choices” scheduled for April 27 at 7:30 pm AEST (08:30 UTC) – watch for details here: https://d73.toastmasters.org.au/online-education/  https://zoom.us/j/5333799282
Categories
Base Camp Managers online clubs Pathways

Guide on the Side

Are you looking for that essential ‘guide on the side’? A tool that will help you unravel all the mystique of your Pathways Experience, and lead you to a new confidence level in learning online.

Perhaps you’re an independent learner and you want to master your online learning for yourself. Or you are VP Education looking for tools that will help you to guide a new member through Pathways. Then this new Learner Guide will be ideal for you.

d73 pathways learner guide logoThis Learner Guide (Edition 1) is in draft mode throughout March and you are invited to take a sneak peak and give some feedback to the developers at D73 Team Pathways.

Here we uncover the basics for Preparing your Computer, Preparing yourself for Online Learning and taking easy steps in Base Camp. The Learner Guide is sprinkled with Tips on how to help yourself when you are stuck. Later editions will include a Help Desk for Base Camp Managers and Video Tutorials for just-in-time training.

Ten Steps for walking the Path

base camp and learner guide image for blogAdvice for those new members at beginner level or those just starting on Pathways:

  1. Know your goals for short and long term
  2. Choose a Path to match your goals
  3. Review introductory material in the online New Navigator or print version and get familiar with the Toastmasters.org website
  4. Request a mentor or seek help from others 
  5. Prepare your computer or order Printed Path
  6. Prepare yourself and time for learning – master the navigation in Base Camp and access curriculum and learning materials for your Projects
  7. Attend meetings and participate 
  8. Join discussion groups for social collaborative learning (preferably club based)
  9. Plan, prepare, request and deliver speeches 
  10. Focus on self improvement strategies given as feedback from your Evaluator

All these and more are included and expanded in the new D73 Pathways Learner Guide available here!

The Pathways Orientation, Learner Guide and BCM Help Desk will soon be incorporated into the D73 website! For now they are in a dynamic Google site. Your feedback and comments are welcomed.

D73 Team Pathways are supported in this endeavour by our District Trio and the Division Directors across the states of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

Contact the team: pc@d73.toastmasters.org.au

New Member Pathways Kit

Essential PDFs for downloading and storing. Printable copies are recommended for inclusion in your New Member Pathways Kit.

D73 Learner Guide 

D73 Pathways Orientation

Pathways-Companion-Guide-V2

D73 Learner Guide Tips worksheet for training

Categories
Pathways pathways guides

Personal Eportfolio: Pathways Achievements

 

Pathways Badges

EC badgeVC badgeMentor badgeSR badge

In the Pathways program you receive badges when you reach learning milestones; these are displayed in your Eportfolio in Base Camp. I recently completed another Path and went looking for the new badge. That’s great – I can now share these badges in my Personal Eportfolio.

This WordPress blog is my preferred site for my Eportfolio to showcase and reflect on my Pathways achievements. You will notice that a new Page has been added to my Blog site designated as my Pathways Eportfolio.

Following on from my previous post, I am recommending a few easy steps to creating your own Pathways Eportfolio. If you want a more in depth learning opportunity you can visit the EPCOP google site, the Eportfolio Community of Practice Learn Space, one of my projects from long ago.

Planning your Pathways Eportfolio

 

Step 1: Determine where you wish to share your Pathways achievements

For instance you may have your own blog site, website or social media presence. The choice will depend on who you wish to share with and how interactive you want to be with your viewers.

  • If I post to a Blog, like this one, viewers can leave a comment. I can choose to approve its publication to the site and to reply to the poster.
  • If I post to a website like this old Eportfolio from the past, then there is no interaction enabled or expected, its just there.
  • If I post to my social media presence, such as my Timeline in Facebook or my Account in LinkedIn, the format is somewhat limited but I can get more networking.

What I recommend is that you create a separate Page in your Blog and invite your followers to view it from a Blog post like this one. The linking process is made simple in WordPress by enabling you to link to any other part of the Blog site from a drop down list. Most Blog platforms provide you with the ability to create Pages and provide lessons on how to do it. Please visit my Pathways Eporfolio page here.

Note: If you don’t have a Blog site you may wish to try out the Google Sites as the tool for constructing your Pathways Eportfolio in easy steps. There are many online video tutorials on how to set up Google Sites, available in YouTube. This recent video tutorial from TeacherCast, provides a great introduction to creating a Google Site.

Step 2: Determine how you wish to add the content about Pathways

If you follow a Reflective Practice process this task becomes quite straightforward.  If you have already prepared and delivered the Reflect on Your Path project you can use the outline of that for your content.

  • Describe the Path and its objectives – add your reasons for choosing the Path
  • List the Electives you chose and why – the level of detail here is up to you
  • Provide a list of the outcomes of your projects – the tangible evidence of your work
  • Analyse the impact of lessons learned from your experiences – provide thoughts on Evaluations
  • Give a brief conclusion about your experiences – synthesize what you could have done differently
  • Describe your forward plans – helps to articulate your next steps in Pathways

Step 3: Determine the most appropriate and convenient times for sharing your Pathways Eportfolio

Step 4: Revisit your Pathways Eportfolio and add more reflections as your progress.

 

Categories
leadership Pathways

Reflect on your Path

This week I have been reflecting on my progress in my third Path and unpacking what I have learned and achieved. My overall perception of my growth as a Public Speaker and a Leader has definitely changed in the 14 months I have been working in Pathways. Changed for the better!

Pathways has provided me with a welcome challenge to my personal and professional development. I now understand the Pathways framework!

My understanding of the ‘Why Toastmasters?’ question has improved and deepened – there is so much more to achievements than just completing a manual of speeches, a suite of projects in a Level or a number of roles in a meeting. Now I am much more focused on my long term goals and how to select a Path that will help me achieve them. Now I know how to plan ahead and select elective projects to fit my short term goals. Now I am a much more knowledgeable and skilled mentor after completing the Pathways Mentor Program.

I have completed Effective Coaching and Visionary Communication and almost finished with Strategic Relationships. My next Path, Team Collaboration, is already selected and I have begun to request my speeches for projects in Levels 1 and 2 with my clubs. Meanwhile I have scoped my approach to my Pathways Distinguished Toastmasters program and will be working on that during 2019.

This week I am looking back over my achievements and experiences in those Paths and preparing my final speech for Strategic Relationships.

Toastmasters like me, who reach Level 5 in their Paths, need to prepare for the final project Reflect on Your Path, as the final requirement for Path completion.
reflect on path purpose

  • What are your strategies for engaging your audience in this final 10-12 minute speech?
  • How will you summarize the skills you have learned and developed?
  • Why should you consider the process of reflecting on your growth during the completion of an entire Path?

reflecting on learning experience

I like this quote from John Dewey for its relevance to us as we reach this part of our journey in a Path.

Thinking back on the 14 projects that you have completed in the Path is essential in preparing for the Reflect on your Path project.

But what do you do after that? How do you share your reflections with an audience?

Reflective Practice

I recommend a simple Reflective Practice process to prepare for this project! This process is based on the Gibbs Reflective Cycle model.

reflective practice

  1. What happened?
    • Describe what happened during your Path:
      • who did you involve
      • where did you give speeches
      • what did you learn from the projects
  2. Thoughts
    • Self-awareness:
      • what did you feel
      • how did others around you feel
      • how do you feel about the outcomes of projects
  3. Evaluation
    • Consider your feedback:
      • what went well and not so well, in your speeches, from others’ perspectives
      • what was good and not so good about your own experiences
      • what feedback have you been able to incorporate into other projects
  4. Analysis
    • What is your learning viewpoint:
      • break down your Path into the levels and consider each one separately
      • ask new questions to dig deeper and make sense of your progress
  5. Conclusion
    • Synthesis:
      • explore what you could have done differently
      • define new strategies or directions
  6. Action Plan
    • Implement your learning:
      • consider what you will do for the next Path
      • consider how you will share your reflections with others in your club

At the end of this process you will have a speech outline for Reflect on Your Path. Plus you will have become a Reflective Practitioner.

reflective practitioner Someone who:

  • Takes the time to step back and make sense of what was done and why
  • Tries to understand the (often implicit) ‘theories of change’ that guide actions
  • Is not afraid to challenge assumptions – both their own and those of others.

Are you a Reflective Practitioner?

How will you share your reflections in Reflect on your Path?

In my next post, I will show you how to create your own Reflective Practice Eportfolio!

eportfolio for reflection on pathways

Categories
Base Camp Managers Pathways pathways guides

Track Pathways Progress in easy-Speak

Are you looking for an easy method of tracking your own Pathways Progress as a club member? Are you a VPE seeking an easy method of tracking the ‘actual’ Pathways project completion for your members? Consider easy-Speak.

I am an easy-Speak user and advocate for its use for Club Management. I like easy-Speak even more since a recent upgrade was made to its functionality. Now we have the Pathways Chart! Thanks to Malcolm Warden and team!

If you are an easy-Speak user, you can access the new Pathways Chart from the Club Charts option in This Club on the main menu.

pathways chart in easy speak

Above is a screen capture of a Pathways Chart from my club where the VPE can see progress being made by all members, at a glance.

This new service makes it super easy to verify completions of actual speech deliveries in your club. The green ticks indicate speeches completed at club meetings, dark green for earlier events and lighter green for more recent events. Each green tick is clickable for tracking back to the actual meeting where that speech was completed. Note: you may need to visit the meeting agenda to see which Pathways project it refers to.

Each member’s enrolled Paths are shown as clickable links in the final column. Each one will display a complete list of speeches and projects completed for that Path, showing  titles, dates and Evaluators. Here is a glimpse of one of mine! (Note: I can now mark this Workbook Complete.)

path project progress in easy speak

Now that is a smart way to manage Pathways from within the easy-Speak site for my club(s).

Are you considering using easy-Speak to manage your club?

Join the easy-Speak Toastmasters Community to get support from other users and champions at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/easy.speak.community/

Note: you can sign up to request a mentor or to be a mentor in the Mentorship program in this community.

 

Categories
Pathways pathways conversations

Pathways conversations with Julie!

Dear Readers, I have been following Julie’s journey in Pathways for many months, as she writes her daily blogs .
  • Her blog has been a compelling read for her thousands of followers as she unravels her journey with stories of challenges, frustrations and success. I have asked Julie to share some of her thoughts on Pathways from a different perspective this month. These are the questions I have posed for her consideration:
  1. What are the favourite aspects of the Paths you have worked on?
  2. Why did you choose the Paths and how many have you completed?
  3. What advice would you give to a new user of Base Camp?
  4. What are the benefits from your work in your Paths so far?
  5. What is your wishlist for new projects in Pathways?
See her answers in her blog post the same day, Friday 12 October:

pathways conversations Part of the Pathways Exchange Blogging project!

Q1. What are the favourite aspects of the Paths you have worked on? Dear Julie, My favourites occur in the electives!
  • As you know, I was keen to explore  ‘Write a Compelling Blog‘ and ‘Storytelling‘, and this has been the source of many of our conversations by email. The blog elective, with your mentoring, improved my understanding of what a compelling blog looks like.
  • Building my blog followers by fine tuning my writing style and promoting in social media.
  • The process, starting in January this year, sparked the idea for this Pathways Exchange Blogging project. Thanks for participating.
choose a pathThanks for reading my early blogs which focussed on my experiences as a novice Pathways Guides. Taking the Hero’s Journey approach and placing my experiences in a fictional fantasy world enabled me to explore my favourite writing genre and weave in some magical images of my journey. This image on the right sparked a series of posts for a fictional Toastmaster called George. Julie, do you remember, when you and I were discussing how important it was to look ahead and find out which Paths contained longer final project? Revisit Pathways with George, post 1, post 2 and post 3 I was eager to get through the first two levels on each of my paths –  Effective Coaching (completed), Strategic Relationships and Visionary Communication – to reach the electives in level 3. I was impatient to expand my ability to speak on the topic of blogging and to change the way I structured many of my other early Pathways speeches. Since then I have chosen to write and tell stories – these had a much greater appeal at Toastmaster meetings both online and land based. Note: happily exploring those in the Witty Storytellers Online club.
  • blog 3The elective on ‘Storytelling‘ has become my all time favourite elective.
This elective has helped me to improve my speeches with stories and to add panache to my delivery. It also sparked a renewal of interest in my Family History stories that I write in Celtic Family History blog. I wish that there were more Storytelling projects like this in Pathways. Q4. What are the benefits from your work in your Paths so far? oral history 1Dear Julie, this leap into new writing and speaking adventures has given me a framework for a new community project on Oral History.
  • I am excited to tell you that this one will provide the content for the next elective on ‘Podcasting‘.
  • I had been ignoring that elective for some time, knowing that the spark for its content was still to emerge. Now I can plan a series of podcasts
Working on Storytelling projects, delivering my speeches in storytelling mode and joining your online club and listening to Pathways Journey stories in your Storyswap project, has set the scene for my podcasting journey. Distinguished Toastmaster Project in Pathways
  • As a natural extension of these activities, I can focus on combining blogging, podcasting and storytelling, as the basis for my DTM project in Pathways. This is my goal set for next year. Finally I have a project theme that will be beneficial to me in my world of Family History Storytelling and to my community learners. Note: thanks to M for suggesting this.
photos from the pastThis month I am embarking on a Digital Storytelling adventure in a local adult learning community by teaching a group of volunteer historians how to prepare oral history videos using simple software, photos, videos and recording the voices of elders in their community. I will once again be training others in the art of Digital Storytelling – something I used to do over a decade ago. I am really excited about this project and looking forward to getting back into the classroom again. It is ages since I attended the first Digital Storytelling Conference, at the BBC Wales, in Cardiff where I was born.
  • I have introduced the steering group to Zoom for meaningful project discussions and I hope to explore more of that style of collaborative and social learning online with other learners.
  • I will finish this Pathways Conversation now and focus on more answers to that first set of questions I asked of you. Hope you are enjoying this Pathways Exchange of stories. I am really looking forward to the questions you have of me.
Regards Coach Carole
  • PS I start a new module in the Diploma of Family History with the University of Tasmania this month – it is called Oral History. Everything is falling into place!