Week 4 Reading: Art of Possibility Ch 9-12

This was an interesting book to read, seeing that most of the other books we read were geared towards that specific class.  This book, overall was to inspire us as we continue our journey after the EMDT program ends.  I can respect that.

Chapters 9-12 reflect on being optimistic despite our circumstances.  One of the examples of this is in Chapter 10.  A man finds that his wife is having an affair.  Some of us will let the situation consume us and and the Zanders' state "things move ahead, and life passes him by."   They speak of the notion of "being on board", where he would take this situation and be empowered by it and view it differently.  You can use it not as the fault of who betrayed you, but as something that you personally need to overcome.

This concept can easily be put in place in our classrooms.  Instead of blaming the students for their poor test scores, behavior, and other thing we complain about, turn it around to yourself. What could have you done differently?  Did you take in account the different learners in your classroom?  Did you exhaust every possible resource?  I know that we are underworked and underpaid, but that is what we signed up for!  Yes, it may be hard to do, but in the end, it will make you a better, more effective teacher.

from creativecommons.org

Week 3 Reading: Art of Possibility Ch 5-8

With the chapters of The Art of Possibility, I understood the reference to a conductor not knowing his orchestra, as I was once part of an orchestra.  When there is a performance, the conductor and principal chairs (the 1st seated and usually best player in that section) receive the kudos.  I think that this can reflect in the classroom.  When a particular teacher's students gets high marks on a standardized test, it may be the teacher or the principal that gets the accolades, not the students nor the parents.  That is why in many professional development and master's courses in education, the word "facilitator" is stressed so much.  Instead of being the frontrunner or the one who takes all of the credit, be the run who "runs" with the group and helps along as needed.

As I read this book, it does reflect on emotions, moods, and how our personalities may effect others.  These are great things to think about not just as people, but as educators who have the ability to effect many lives. We need to be able to "forget" our troubles for the moment, which yes, is a hard feat in itself, and focus on the lives that we can shape, so then they will be able to spread that notion to others.

From creativecommons.org

Week 2 Reading: Art of Possibility Ch 1–4: Response to Mike

The beauty of the EMDT program is that we have been challenged to move outside the boundaries we usually set up for our own students in creating the projects and completing each month's set of challenges.  In an almost subversive way, giving the A is the practice of most of our instructors throughout the ten-plus months we have traveled on this journey.  I say subversive because it is only now that the practice has been revealed to us through this excellent book. 

That said, I have been truly inspired by two non-traditional “textbooks” in this program.  The first isPresentation Zen, the perfect selection to inspire in us that less is more in presentations.  Garr Reynolds was able to teach an old speech communications teacher some new tricks and moved me towards the selection of my Action Research topic. 

Now, I have the Art of Possibility, which should be required reading for teachers, both old and new.  What a down-to-earth, simple approach to drawing the best out of each of the children we are charged with moving on to the next level in their lives. 

Just today, when I was working through my classroom to check on progress on the upcoming projects, I saw many of the same approaches to solving the problems of creating an effective presentation.  That seemed ok to me, until I checked on a group that was obviously enjoying what they were doing, almost, it seemed to me, too much.  To my pleasant surprise, they were sharing what they had done so far, which was the lyrics to the song they were writing to tell the story of their mythic hero.  It was really good, and made me wonder what made them go in that direction, when most of their peers wouldn’t.  Their answer was the same thing the Zanders reveal in the practice at the end of chapter one: they looked beyond what was already being done and looked at what they might invent that would be another choice and open up new spaces to work in.

Bruchetta Jones said...

Week 2 Reading: Art of Possibility Ch 1–4: Response to Trina

After this weeks reading, I feel inspired and motivated to see the possiblities in myself and in everyone around me. I am in love with this book. I have so many favorite quotes and pages that I could write forever. So I will try to be concise in my feelings and inspirations from the Art of Possibility.

The first thing that inspired me was from the TED video when Benjamin Zander said, “I’ll never say anything that couldn’t stand as the last thing that I ever say. It is a possibility to live into.”

I mean wow! I know this will be a quote I have to remind myself of daily possibly hourly, but what a way to live your life.

The next thought that struck me was the whole idea of the book, that being to think beyond the constraints of today and imagine the possibilities. Thinking outside of the box and allowing the possibility of recreating your paradigm often leads us to the perfect solution. Life really is all about how we invent it. Each new paradigm gives us the opportunity to see things that we may not have seen before. Exposure to different ideas and mind-sets allow us to see other ways of doing things, which can be very powerful.

My next moment of clarity occurred while reading the comments made on competition. So as good as competition can be to motivate one to push harder, it can be a strain on friendships and lead to a solitary journey. This makes me think of Race to the Top, a program that bases teachers’ pay on test scores. The new Govenor of Florida says healthy competition will improve our school systems, but is this the type of competition we want? Is our ultimate goal for teachers to retreat from collaboration and work alone?  Won’t this lead to thinking of our children as liabilities and of each other as an obstacle to overcome? Will this lead to more effective practices in teaching? What kind of example will we be setting for our children? This seems to me like the opposite of seeing the possibilities in each other, which makes me very sad.

Giving an A was a very moving chapter for me. When we look for the beauty within or give an A to ourselves or to others, we see the possibilities that exist in all of us. The measurement world often gets in the way with Standardize testing and curriculum maps and so forth. Chipping away at the stone to find the passion and the brilliance in each of us will add beauty where none was seen before. This giving an A comes from a place of respect, not from how others or myself measure up to arbitrary standards. This acceptance or A gives us room to realize who we really are. I feel this program at Full Sail has done that for me. Sometimes I feel like my work may not be A work if you compared me to other students in this class, but somehow I get an A as well. This has allowed me to realize things about myself that I did not realize before. I grew up feeling stupid because I struggled while learning to read. I was diagnosed with Dyslexia, which I thought meant that I was dumb and couldn’t learn like everyone else. As I have grown and become more educated on Dyslexia and on myself I realize that only half of that is true. I do learn differently then others, but I am not dumb. Seeing many of those A’s has helped me to realize this- finally. I can finally see the possibilities in myself.

One of my favorite parts of this book is where Zander (2000) stated “The freely granted A lifts you off the success/failure ladder and spirits you away from the world of measurement into the universe of possibility. It is a framework that allows you to see all of who you are and be all of who you are, without having to resist or deny any part of yourself” (pg. 46). This is life changing.

The starfish story found in chapter 4 is a type of inspirational story that we focus on at my school. During our Professional Learning Communities, which is where my team of 2^nd grade teachers meet monthly to reflect and learn from a book we are reading together, our mantra is based on the starfish story. Our Literacy Coach has given each of us a starfish as a reminder of the importance of reaching each child.

This is just another reminder that I want to be a contribution to my life and to others. I firmly believe in this, and I need to remind myself that the how’s and whys are not as important as just showing up and giving my all. I can’t wait to read the rest of this book!

Zander, R. S., & Zander, B. (2000). The art of possibility. Boston, MA:  Harvard Business School Press

Week 2 Reading: Art of Possibility Ch 1–4

It was interesting to read the 1st four chapters of The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander.  I liked the idea in the first chapter where it is said "We see a map of the world, not the world itself.  But what kind of map is the brain inclined to draw?" As a Social Studies teacher, I am constantly working with map a intangible items that I need to make tangible to my students.  Yes, these items exists, but I cannot physically bring the White House and the Capitol building into my classroom when I talk about the separation of powers.  This is the big picture that I got from these chapters.  We have to think outside of what we perceive and look at the bigger picture.  The exercise of the nine dots is a perfect example.  To be able to connect all the dots with four straight lines, you have to do something unorthodox.  You have to, as the authors state "extend beyond the borders that confine us to our everyday reality." This is an important concept that we can instill in our own classrooms.

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