About Miguel / Full Disclosure

Miguel Guhlin explores a variety of topics at his blog, Around the Corner-MGuhlin.net. Since his domain is parked at no cost at a generous friend’s web server hosted by SiteGround, MGuhlin.net points to the “real address” which is http://www.edsupport.cc/mguhlin. Rather than use a blogging tool like Wordpress, he uses Thingamablog because it allows him complete control over the web pages and the blog. He uses PMWiki.org to run his wiki because it’s just a bunch of pages, and neither the blog or the wiki require MySQL support…although Miguel knows how to use both and does at work and as part of his consulting for school districts.

Making a Living

How does Miguel make a living? Well, Miguel is currently the director of Instructional Technology Services for the San Antonio Independent School District. He also consults with school districts and the occasional conference—out of the country? All the better! (so long as you pay expenses and consulting fee). And, he is a columnist for the Texas Computer Education Association’s (TCEA) quarterly publication, TechEdge. He’s been writing for TechEdge for over 12 years, and it all started with a simple question, “How does one get to be a columnist for this magazine?” Out of that question, Miguel began his writing career (as a published author…book reports in school don’t count, no matter how fun they were). He writes two articles per issue, and gets paid $250 per issue. It’s not much, but better than nothing, which is what he was paid most years he was a columnist. It was, and continues to be a labor of love and ego.

Miguel writes a monthly column for Education World, that venerable online magazine and gets paid about $250 per column, which is much appreciated! In the interests of full disclosure, Linda Starr (my EW editor) shared the following with me:

Of course, if EW were to ever edit my work to accommodate their business partners, we would part ways at that time or they’d have to pay triple what they do to purchase the copyright for the work! But nothing like that has happened, so…no big deal.

BTW, I own the copyright on almost all my published articles, except those adapted by Technology and Learning for their print magazine, a few printed in past years (check my vitae) by commercial magazines.

You’re a blogger, huh?

Yes, I’m a blogger. I started my ‘’Around the Corner-MGuhlin.net blog sometime ago (2 years ago) and haven’t looked back too much, except for the obligatory navel-gazing that characterizes bloggers. I don’t get paid for blogging, nor do I advertise on my blog. I don’t believe in advertising on my blog or making money from what I write because I’d rather keep my integrity. What I write on my blog is strictly for fun, playing with ideas, as well as exploring the intersection of education, technology and spiritual beings.

Some of the blogs I write for include the following:

• LeaderTalk.org: LeaderTalk is the first group blog written by school leaders for school leaders. We hope that our insights and resources are beneficial to P-12 administrators and educational leadership preparation programs.
• TechLearning.com’s Blog: techLEARNING.com is produced by Technology & Learning Magazine, with contributions from hundreds of K-12 teachers, administrators & other experts in the field. I happen to be one of the hundreds…I also did a podcast series with T&L for awhile called TechTips, but dropped it in the months after my father’s death in October, 2006.

I do not receive payment for any of the blogs I write for. Again, I believe to receive payment would damage my journalistic integrity. I’m open to reconsidering that point of view and would love for someone to talk me out of it, since my wife has made a point to me that while *I* may get a thrill out of writing, she gets a thrill out of getting a check for that work. <wink> ;→

DISCLOSURES

Business ties: Not sure I have any.

Media ties: Aside from what I’ve already shared, you know my media ties. They are pretty much non-existent, except for my affiliation with Technology and Learning magazine as a paid columnist. Since they buy the copyright to articles they publish, you can pretty much say that I do the research, the editor revises my work until its unrecognizable except in general purpose and scope. Yet, I’m not going to complain…they’ve bought the article!

Stocks: I own no stocks.

Religion: Since I write about spiritual matters, if only to highlight how much I fall short, I’ll confess that I’m a Catholic who doesn’t attend church as often as I should, but console myself listening to radio-evangelists. I believe that Jesus is THE Christ, that he who calls on His Name, regards him as Lord and Saviour shall dwell with Him in the House of the Lord forever and ever. I find that I identify with the Moses of Exodus 3:11, and with the sinner who beat his breast at his sinfulness. However, I do not believe in a Monster God who waits to devour us and cast us into a burning lake of fire, but rather, a God of love who helps us make chicken salad out of chicken…well, you know. No matter what. Why? Because He has faith in me.

Politics: I’m not sure where I fall in. In recent years, I’ve found myself voting Democrat but condemning abortion as an act of murder. So, to keep it simple, I vote Democrat even as I abhor abortion. It is the single defining issue, and it’s darned unfair that we have to be black or white, Republican or Democrat in this day and age. Maybe, back in the old days when folks were less educated, such absolutes were needed, but now, we do our best. I agree with Bonhoeffer that the conscience of Man hasn’t got a clue, and can’t be trusted. The only way is to pray.

There are a lot of issues, but I’m not going to jump into those now. If you have a question, drop me an email and maybe I’ll formulate an opinion.

A Few Questions

1. Please list your other current employers, whether full time or part time.

• San Antonio ISD
• TCEA TechEdge
• Technology and Learning
• Freelance consulting

2. For what other employers (consulting) have you worked in the last three years?

• Oklahoma Technology Association (keynote speaker)
• El Paso ISD
• Newton ISD
• Abilene ISD
• TUANZ group
• Birdville ISD

3. What sort of volunteer work do you do regularly, if any, and for whom? (Please include any public relations, advocacy or advisory board involvement.)

• For the last 2 years, I have served as Vice-President and President of the TCEA Technology Education Coordinators Special Interest Group (TEC-SIG). I am now Past President (2007–2008). A few years ago, I also served as the TCEA Area 20 Director—and as such, on the Board of Directors. My term expired and I did not seek re-election, although I reserve the right to go to Austin and hold those folks accountable.

4. Do you do any work paid or unpaid in politics or government? Have you done any lobbying of governmental bodies?

• I haven’t done any work, paid or unpaid, in politics or government. I have written a few letters as an American citizen to complain about Net Neutrality, the state of educational technology funding, etc.

5. Do you have any financial investments or financial ties that may limit your ability to cover specific topics free of conflict, and if so, what are the topics?

None that I’m aware of, and if I did, I’d be sure to point them out.

6. Although we don’t regulate the activities of spouses, partners or immediate family members of our contributors, do any of their professional or personal involvements or any of their financial investments or ties make certain topics inappropriate for you, and if so, what are the topics?

No.

7. Have you accepted any free trips, junkets or press trips in the last two years? Have you accepted any substantial free merchandise or discounts from people we might cover?

• None, except to have travel paid to speaking engagements, and I shared my involvement on my blog. If folks want to pay for lunch—and it’s not in violation of Texas Education Codes or rules—then I allow it. For example, if I’m representing my school district, I do not accept anything at “no-cost” for myself, but only on behalf of my school district and only with my supervisor’s written approval. If I’m blogging/podcasting, and something is offered, I’ll be sure to note it in my blog entry to ensure transparency.

8. Has anything you’ve written later resulted in a published editor’s note or retraction for deliberate falsehood or plagiarism or become the subject of a lawsuit involving allegations of deliberate falsehood? (If yes, please include details about the publication and your role in the article or story. If a lawsuit, please describe the disposition of the case.)

No. If I make mistakes, I correct them on my blog.

These questions adapted from Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine.com.