MAC_Week4_Reading(Art, 9-12)

Cosmic Kisses by Lance Shields

I enjoyed Zander’s remarks about lighting a fire in others.  I feel like I was born with the ability to do this and see it as a big responsibility to my students as well as my family and friends. The way he described enrollment as the ability to give yourself as a possibility to others and to be ready to catch their spark really hit home with me. He has so many inspiring lines in this book that I want to remember. I felt a strong reaction to his discussion of taking “no” less personally and myself less seriously and in doing that being able to see the opportunity for enrollment.

I also really felt a connection with Zander’s idea of being the board in your life, not reacting to the other players, but taking control in your life and transforming your entire circumstance. Making room for all the moves, as Zander puts it. What a revelation for most of us to stop seeing life as a blame game. When you look back, it’s so interesting to see how measurement in it’s many forms completely rules our existence. We have been trained to think that way.

Reading the steps in chapter 11 about vision and being a leader of possibility inspired me to write them down and carry them with me. Lately I feel as though I am always trying to overcome the downward spiral so it’s going to be a key part of my outlook to get into the practice of focusing on what is possible. Whether it’s because of a certain student or faculty member that I’m having an issue with or if I’m just plain tired that particular day, the goal is to stay focused on realigning myself. If I keep the concept of the framework in my mind, hopefully it will more easily allow me to bounce back when I get pulled down.

As I begin to head back to school this coming week after spring break, I feel that I have a renewed sense of purpose in what I do. Part of it, yes, is simply taking some time off, but the other part is finishing the last few chapters of this book.  For me, the WE story truly communicates why I work at a community college and sets the framework for me as a teacher and as the interim coordinator for the center for teaching and learning. I have learned many valuable lessons and want to plaster some of Zander’s quotes on the walls of the school. It also makes me think about my role as a mom and wife and how I can set the framework for all the relationships in my life.

My Comment to Dena:

Dena:

I also felt a connection with Zander's idea about being the board in your life. He really made me understand that not all the situations we have is about other people, we constantly think or believe is the persons around you that make things happen because we as humans have the instinct to blame others when in reality we are the ones that most of the times make the issues bigger or negative. This board exercise guides us to be responsible about the circumstances that happens around us instead of charging others for them. This book has been a treasure for me to keep and put in practice! I am glad we had the opportunity to reflect and put meaning to these chapters!

Photo by Sabrina Giroux

My week 2 post discussed my initial thoughts about the Publishing Leadership Project. In that post I wasn't feeling very confident about my research or my ability to put together a very good paper. Fortunately, I had been reading The Art of Possibilityand by week 3 I was feeling a lot more competent. I had decided to submit to the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, and my paper was well under way. I realized that using Facebook as a form of communication with parents was a positive experience, and that I shouldn't get bogged down in my thinking just because I had a small number of parents participate. Now, at the end of week 4 the Publishing Leadership Project is complete and ready to submit. I have survived month 11 and am looking forward to month 12 and beyond with a great anticipation.

Steve Jobs commencement speech at Stanford is one of my favorite speeches. I have watched it several times and always sit in wonder at how his life unfolded. He  said, "You can't connect the dots looking forward you can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future...believing that the dots connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path and that will make all the difference." One year ago I made a decision to attend Full Sail not knowing where that would lead. It was only a feeling in my heart that this was something I was supposed to do. I still don't have all the dots ready to connect, but I am so confident that I am on the right path. I know Full Sail will have made all the difference.

Photo by Sabrina Giroux

My Comment to Sabrina:

Sabrina:
I know exactly how you feel, I also felt the same way about Full Sail, month 11 and the publishing leadership project. I actually felt relieved when I read your thoughts regarding all this process, it makes me feel like it is something completely normal and that my fear is not only about english not being my first language. I know I've struggle to get to this point but it has been a rewarding and satisfactory experience. The book "The Art of Possibility has also change the way I see things, I feel more positive and confident. The way Steve Jobs describes connecting the dots looking backwards it makes sense because we don't know what we will face in the future. I'm glad we are moving forward!! Congrats!

Chapter 5. Leading from Any Chair: We’re all leaders. One of the main points that the chapter pointed out is the "engaged". It doesn't matter what chair we're sitting on at the moment that we all need to be engaged with each other. To show our appreciation to the facilitators or conductors or the ones who help us make our dreams become reality is to become engaged with them. When we're engaged, it shows that we care not only in what they do but also what we do. It also shows our commitment to the ones who we listen to. This brings up a point that we need to have passion in what we do and commitment inorder to make a different in the people who we influence each day. Imagine doing something that we lack a passion for, the work we do also lack of our appreciation, and the results won't be great.

The Art of Possibility continues to inspire me. The book has so many positive messages in all of its chapters and I’m glad that it was chosen as the book that we focus on this month.

In the 5th chapter, Any Chair, the book focuses on how we should not just command and tell people what to do, however, we must sometimes trust people to shine on their own and to do their part. As a teacher, I am in charge of 95 students throughout the year, and while I’m so used to just telling my students what to do for their projects, I am reminded that I need to give them freedom to do their work to the best of their abilities, without me dictating each step. Especially in a creative class like mine, the students need to be given room to shine on their own.

I also like how the chapter said that everyone makes mistakes, including those in charge, and when we mess up, it’s better to apologize instead of blaming others or making excuses.

Chapter 6 focuses on the “Rule Number 6”, which basically tells us that we shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously. This one change in attitude can completely change the climate in which we work with others. Overall, this chapter focused on lightening up, getting over ourselves, and using humor to bring people together – all things that I completely agree with!

I really liked the message of the 7th chapter, The Way. It started off great with a quote from Babe, “The only way to find happiness is to accept that the way things are is the way things are” and then went on to counter that point throughout the chapter. Just as the book stated, when we aren’t happy with how a situation is, we tend to focus all of our energy on how things SHOULD be, rather than how things really are, and then in turn, “we lose our power to act effectdively.” I like the way the message implies that while one thing may seem bad to us, it may have other hidden, good meanings (rain being bad for a FL vacation, but being good for the amazing FL oranges!)

The 8th chapter, Giving Way To Passion focuses on letting go of what holds us back, breaking through barriers, and letting our passion surge through. We shouldn’t let anything hold us back from our passion.
This reminds me of another quote from The Alchemist, “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity." - Paul 

Coelho, The Alchemist

My Comment to Mark Padilla

I also like the message about accepting things they way they are and that there is always something good behind every situation, something we can learn or we can obtain from it. People tend to regret when something doesn't come out the way the want instead of trying to deal with the situation and try to make it a positive experience in order to improve their personality, performance and happiness. The book is a wonderful guide to help us live better with ourselves.

Week 2 Reading: Reflecting on "The Art of Possibility"

Photo by Johan Roed http://www.flickr.com/photos/johanroed/3163039837/in/pool-809956@N25/

The first chapter of The Art of Possibility drew me right in, because imagining possibilities and thinking outside the box is how I live my life. I have always been a firm believer that people invent their own lives and attitude is what you choose to have.  One of the books that has most influenced me in the past was about Mary Kay Ash. I don’t recall the title of the book, but I was deeply impressed by the way that Mary Kay respected every person that she came in contact with and her philosophy of making every person feel special.  I was reminded of this philosophy again as I read The Monk’s Story (p52). It only takes a small effort to make people feel important and good about themselves, but that small effort has a profound effect.

One of the most disturbing things I have come across in my school is the way I see some of the teachers treat their students. Before I started teaching in public school I taught in a small Christian school that was so full of love that you could physically feel it when you walked through the doors. Teachers were coaches that drew out the best in their students, and even discipline was handled with love.  After a few months in public school I was ready to call it quits. I could understand why some of those teachers were so angry and I was having a hard time handling the students. I was running my classroom the same way I had in my former school, and it wasn’t working at all.  I had to make a lot of adjustments that year. One of them was the commitment to not let my attitude become one of anger and despair, but to keep my joy. I sought out the advice of a more experienced coach, and she taught me how to manage my students more effectively. At that time I made the decision to be a “contribution”. I wasn’t going to get sucked in by the other teachers’ attitudes around me. I have been much happier since, and those results are also evident in the relationships I have with my students.  I have also decided to focus my attention on the teachers with this same attitude and to stay far away from those without it.

My Comment to Sabrina Giroux

Sabrina, I understand what your are describing about teachers and the way they treat their students. Some teachers don't have the tools to manage students behavior and they tend to yell at them all the time. I really identify myself with this topic because I have always been an elementary school teacher and 7 months ago I was assigned as a technology high school teacher in a catholic school. I have to admit that at first I was a little scared because of the fact that managing behavior with elementary is not the same with bigger kids and they could be intimidating. When I started at that school, the same day during lunch time, I could hear some teachers talking about what this student said and what another student did and I told myself I'm wasn't going to listen to them and I swore myself I would never talk about a student in the faculty room with other teachers. It seem to me very unethical to do this and it also made me think about finding strategies to avoid situations with students. I believe a lot of teachers, when they come to this point, either they are way too traditional or they simply don't have passion for what they do. Today, 7 months later, I can tell you that I love my students and I know they appreciate me because I treat them like human beings and I respect them. I always try to understand them and find a solution to their actions but I also treat them like adults and make them responsible for their actions. To this date they have never disrespected me and I am really satisfied with what I have accomplish with them. I give myself an A and also as you, be a contribution for education.

Wk 2 - Free Choice (ADE Institute Planning)

I'm sitting at Phoenix's airport reflecting on a powerful weekend of collaboration as I write this. The past 48 hours have been fast-paced, exhilarating, and exhausting. I flew into Arizona to meet with 10 other educators to plan the Apple Distinguished Educator Summer Institute for 2011. It is being hosted at ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Dave Cornelius demonstrating one of their many labs. Photo by Paul Devoto

When a group of passionate educators get together, a lot gets done quickly. It was incredible not only to participate as a contributing member, but also to observe the methods utilized by Maxx Judd to lead the brainstorming sessions.

In addition to the institute planning, I was able to join Robert Brock on a quick tour of his school, the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences. I am simply amazed that school's like this exist. It's basically like Full Sail if Full Sail only focused on audio.

Robert Brock showing us one of the rooms at CRAS. Photo by Paul Devoto.

Having experiences like these keep me excited about the future of education.

My Comment to Paul

Wow Paul! Great post! What an amazing and rewarding experience! It is so motivating to think that at least in some parts of the world education is allowing other experiences to students that need this type of focus in order to improve and develop their skills if they have this type of intelligence.  A lot of kids are just waiting to get to college to find out what they are good at or what they want to do in life.  Providing this type of education is a benefit for students with musical or production talent, and they don't have to wait until they get to college to prove that they are actually good at it and to decide that's what they really want to do as a profession. Thanks for sharing this is experience, we definitely need more schools like this one.