Week 4 Comment to Classmate 2 of 2 Laurie Kish

poster created by Laurie Kish
for our MLT team project

Dear Laurie, What a cute graphic to use and remind us of our journey.   Was it from our first team project we worked together in?  I loved that you used it in your post to Tiffany Jones. Getting to know you this past year through our course work I can tell you have been practicing Zanders’ idea of “enrollment” in your life.  The way your enthusiasm and wonderful ideas have helped bring teammates along in our projects has been evident and I can imagine your work environment allows you flexibility to be your authentic self.  It becomes a “win-win” situation when we are able to bring others on-board with our ideas in a fun way that allows creativity to be at the forefront.  I’m sure your family embraces your creativity, how lucky they are to have you in their life.  I look forward to meeting next month and getting to know you better.  I also love the graphic you included about “Team Effectiveness” from an earlier project we did.  The little baby remind me of our infancy when we began this EMDT program and now look at how much we have learned--wow it has been an amazing journey. Thank you for a wonderful post.

Laurie said...

The chapter Lighting the Spark in Zanders book, Art of Possibility states that passion rather than fear is the igniting force of possibility.  He discussed how the practice of enrollment is about giving yourself as a possibility to others and being ready, in turn, to catch their spark.  You become partners in a field of light.  I have experienced this many times through use of enrollment, getting others to see the light, through my passion verses using manipulative means to engage them.  Allowing them to see your passion gives them different perspectives thus unleashing possibilities that they would not otherwise have seen.  I am passionate about incorporating what I call the fun factor into my corporate training courses where my French colleagues culturally oppose this. I prepared a training course on Project Management that I intended to release world wide to all our global sites that involved an interactive team building pirate adventure where they were required to dress up as pirates and journey across the open seas with the mission to find the treasure within a specified time-line, specified cost, and with a certain performance measure.  I presented this to my French colleagues just prior to launch and the mere idea of this seemed childish and they closed their minds immediately.  Of course fear ran through my soul and I felt attacked, and defeated after spending many weeks developing this module.  I decided to show them how passionate I was about learning effectiveness when hands on fun activities are integrated into the modules by convincing them to participate in a session to experience it first hand.  They agreed and in the end I opened up my module for their critique and comment and asked them to help me improve it so it was culturally acceptable to the French.  By doing this, I could see the light in their eyes as they engaged in helping me add more fun factors.  They were sold and to this day they often contact me to help them incorporate other fun examples into some of their training sessions.  The sparks of possibility are living within all of us; we just need to imagine that all people and situations can be an invitation for enrollment. 

Week 4 Comment to Classmate 1 of 2 Tricia Atkinson

Hand Shadow-4freephtos.com

Tricia your insight about how we should take a step back and think about how we contribute to the overall situation and attitude of our students was right on the point.  Taking care of their physical and emotional needs (your reference to when they ate last or got a hug) is something we all need to be reminded of.  Just this past week a student of mine (who is usually defiant with me, bad attitude etc.) came into class looking very sad, saying she was having a bad day, I asked why and she said her kitten had died last night. L Of course I gave her a hug and asked what happened, shared a story of when I lost my first kitten and I think it surprised her that I might care.  Everyone has experiences daily that have a change-reaction to each other. I agree with your reminder that we need to “put ourselves in others shoes” more often.  Well stated, enjoyable read.  I loved your presentation the other night too, nice job. Your art talent really comes through. Choosing an art piece, related to “perspective”, for this weeks’ reading entry topic was a great visual representation too.  

Tricia said...

Wow, these last chapters were a lot to take in! Just when I thought my personal reaction could not possibly be more profound, the Zander’s prevailed with more stories and more implications of living a life of possibility. Most notably were chapters 10 and 11 when adversity was discussed in more detail, including the analogy of self as a game board (versus the typical interpretation as a participating piece). I will admit, when the idea of mutual responsibility in every situation was introduced, I felt some indignation. I mean, who doesn’t want to ostracize the drunk driver or the blatantly rude reaction or the frequent absentee. But how fascinating to think about their perspective and how it will not improve attitude and happiness by being upset and throwing blame.

As easy as it is to get into a downward negative spiral towards my students, blaming them for their negative, rude, and apathetic actions. But what about what I have done to contribute? What about my negative sarcasm or mediocre effort? Not to mention what they have eaten lately or when the last time is that they got a hug or “good job” from a parent? Trying to remember myself in each other person’s shoes will help me to react with a more enlightened attitude, just as Ben did when his students partied in South America. What would it have helped to “go off” like so many of us teachers are expected to do. Instead, the kids understood, felt enabled, apologetic, regretful, and still valued. Amazing. This Art of Possibility stuff is definitely not second nature in the world of modern education, but I feel like a breath of fresh air, a reminder of options and how to go with the flow, giving students and others in my life the benefit of the doubt, has been given to me…I am inspired and grateful.

Original Artwork, detail of tapestry from "A Perspective on Eastern Design in Threadwork", 2007

Week 4 Free Choice—Change & Leadership Reading Recommendation

Drive by Dan Pink

 

Video published on YouTube by RSAnimate 

www.the RSA.org

The current book our staff is reading this year is Drive by Dan Pink.  The leadership team on our campus has always embraced looking at educational trends, by reading and discussing ideas, philosophies and best educational practices to benefit our students.  Over the years, we have read many business motivational authors. Much of what we glean from these business and educational readings are directly applied to students of today.  As a result we created our own “pyramids of intervention”, based on the Adali Stevenson high school model, to help struggling students and build a system that benefits all kids.  We now have campus visitors on our site to learn how they can transform their own schools. 

Last year we read Ray McNulty’s It’s Not Us Against Them.  Shortly afterwards we were honored when he came (informally) and visited with leadership groups within our district to share personal insight. It is validating to know we are making a difference in the lives of the children we interact with daily

If you have a chance to influence others on your campuses by starting your own “reading club” I highly recommend the following from our experience:

• Who Moved My Cheese-Spencer Johnson
• Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don’t Learn-- Richard and Rebecca  DuFour, Robert Eaker, Gayle Karhanek
• Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever it Takes-- Richard and Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, Gayle Karhanek
  (there is a case study about our district-Whittier Union High School District featured in this book)
• It’s Not Against Them: Creating the Schools We Need—Ray McNulty
• Drive—by Daniel Pink

Wk 4 Reading Response: The Art of Possibility Chapter 9-12

freedigitalphotos.n

After reading Joe’s intro to our week 4 “Art of Possibility” assignment I agree with his statement about our Entrepreneurial spirit. I love this book, and feel we should all embrace that entrepreneurial spirit, and especially when working in a large corporate environment the more “interpreneurial” skills we can bring to the table,  the more of a valued employee we become.  This weeks reading speaks to our ability to “light a fire of passion in others”, sometimes a hard thing to do in a work environment and/or working with teens.  The concept of “enrollment” was another way of saying that the more “buy in” you can influence others to become involved in your mission, project etc. the easier it will be to make change.  The quote: “enrollment is the art and passion of generating a spark of possibility for others to share”, gave me pause to consider the meaning as it relates in my own life, to see if I’m enrolling others into my passion, projects, agendas etc.  I remember the days when one of our programs was in the early phases, if I needed to approach my administrator who made purchasing decisions, I always planned days in advance when I could approach them and make my request.  I would make suggestions through others sometimes, that something I was wishing for was of value, paving the way for a favorable response. I suppose I was practicing this idea of “enrollment”, to engage my administration into the possibilities of improvement.  There was another very profound statement, that took me a long time to digest, but I find myself thinking about it more and more. My husband and I are having noise ordinance issues with our neighbors at the moment and we are trying to find a peaceful resolve-the line on p.143 is helping, anyway Zander states that “gracing yourself with responsibility for everything that happens in your life leaves your spirit whole, and leaves you free to choose again.” My husband and I are trying to find a peaceful resolve with our neighbors, and the concepts in this book are helping us.  

freedigitalphotos.net-Thai Chess

The “game board” concept was another very deep chapter, hard to wrap my head around as a different perception of life.  The concept in which life occurs to you is to give yourself the power to transform your experiences of any unwanted condition into one with which you care to live.  Your experience, not necessarily the condition itself, once you transform your experience and see things differently, other changes occur too. (146) Cora’s story describing Zander’s letter about why he deserves an “A” was a very humbling, honest and real experience.  When you are being the “game board” you present no obstacles to others, you are existing as the instrument to make all your relationships into effective partnerships, working as one unit.  Zander gives us the tools to put into practice how to create our own frameworks of possibilities, he gives us the means, and very specific steps about how to achieve anything we want to create in our lives.  An excellent read, I love his use of personal stories, what an amazing man.  This book is one I will recommend for our staff “reading club”.  Our staff leadership group read educational leadership material, usually focusing on one or two a year, we meet, discuss and put into practice much of our reading.  

My “free blog post” this week will be about our current book-Drive by Daniel Pink. Once again an enjoyable read. Thank you for recommending it for us and paying it forward.  

freedigitalphotos.net

Wk 4 Publishing Leadership Project

The focus of my ARP was about the benefits of using an online E-mentoring program with high school juniors.  Here is a link to the "rough-draft" slide show presentation I shared with my classmates in month 11 EMDT course Media Asset Creation.

Publishing Leadership Project ~ E-mentors by Sandra Lopez

Wk 4 Publishing Leadership Project "think-out-loud" part 2 of 3

ICOULDBE.org

I miss understood the earlier "think-out-loud" instructions for our Publishing Leadership Project this month and posted both of my thoughts in an earlier post. (see Wk2 BP: Publishing Leadership part 1 of 2)  

I am choosing to present my ARP findings at this moment, however publishing a paper down the road may be a possibility as well.  

The academy program  I'm affiliated with requires high school juniors to have a mentor experience and the focus of my action research project was related to E-mentoring programs.  Our students are participating with ICOUDLBE.org (ICB) an online nationwide mentor program.  My students have been participating all year and I ran 2 data collection cycles, one in the fall and one this spring.  The purpose was to see if students were more motivated to plan for  their future career/college goals.  The ICB makes presentations every year and are interested in hearing directly from teachers who are using their mentor program.  Teacher presentations are a way for them to market their services as well as demonstrate the validity and benefit of online mentoring. 

The date for the 2012 conference is pending because of the state budget uncertainties and is yet to be determined.  However I will be pursuing contacting Jerry Stewart the regional manager of the ICB organization, to find out more about presenting with her next year. 

Two possible conferences include:

http://statecenter.com/
1. California Partnership Annual Conference Educating forCareers Conference. The Annual Event in the Spring each year.  This year the conference was in Sacrament March 3-5, 2011
2. CA State Center Consortium

Wk 3 Free Choice: Discussion Board Topics

Woordle from the Langwitches Blog

The discussion board topics this week lent themselves to the improvement of leadership in the classroom.  The discussion boards are a perfect example of how, as a community we can collaborate, connect and communicate.  I stumbled upon this “Learning-woordle” from The Langwitches Blog an interesting site, about using technology in the classroom, to promote learning, along with digital skills. You may find it interesting too.  They ask:

• How do we teach students how to learn?
• How do we motivate and engage learners?
• How do we create a climate where learning is valued, not test scores or a covered text book?

I’ve also been learning about short yet powerful video clips I can use in the classroom to teach Internet Safety.  Two that Josh Tolar recommended, published by the DVIDS (Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System) site were:

1.  Internet Safety

2.  Blogging Safety

Internet Safety by David Henderson (waterbendingwrath)

Netsmartz.org-- Netsmart site has “real life” stories to share with students where writing and reflection assignments can follow.

Internet Safety Basics was about 22 min.

1. Internet and its risks

2. Cyberbulling

3. Revealing Too Much

4. Online Predators

5. Internet Safety and Your Family

Netsmartz Real Life Series included: These were all very short 3-6 minute video stories related for the teen age group I teach.

These stories are profoundly touching and even if they can influence one teen to make different choices, they are worth viewing.

1. PhotoFate

2. Survivor Diaries

3. Cyberbullying: Broken Friendship

4. Cyberbullying: You Can’t Take it Back

5. Promises

6. Julie’s Journey-online predators

7. Tracking Teresa—this was an excellent short 5 minute video   about how easy people can find out about you, based on what you post online.  I will be showing this one next week!

8. Amy’s Choice—online predators

This site provides “safety pledges” and additional activities for each video to use in your classroom curriculum.

Wk 3 Comment-2 to Anne Alsup

What a great opening paragraph.  From someone with a music background, I love musical analogies and your poetic comparison is most fitting.  We do derive our success from our students and their success.  Success is then perpetuated by all of those we touch.  It is so important for us to instill the “love of learning” to our students, so moving from a teacher centered model to student based is a strong step in developing independence and self-directed learning for our students.  I know it is not easy.  Wonderful post. Thanks

Anne Alsup wrote:

The teacher, like the conductor of an orchestra is not the true power in the classroom. The teacher derives their power from the success of the student. Some teachers may see their role as enlightening their students with their vast knowledge, but I disagree.  Perhaps more can be learned from the conductor.

One of the most difficult issues that I faced during my action research project as I moved my classes from the traditional teacher-centered classroom to a student-centered model was the role of the instructor. Almost universally, students perceive the role of the teacher as supplying knowledge and answering questions, a notion that has been perpetuated by an arena of high-stakes testing. While this methodology has merit for the conveyance of basic facts and principles, it falls short of moving the student to transference of the principles at higher levels of intellectual and cognitive application.

It is not the conductor's role to play the violin, only to direct the violinist. Like the conductor, it is not the teacher's role to answer the question, but to ask the question and point the student in the direction of knowledge. My research indicated that the teacher should literally say nothing that would interfere with the students' thought process. Students should be encouraged to develop the ideas, based on their previous knowledge and define the concepts for themselves.  This approach transcends the power of the conductor and empowers learning to take place from any chair. Through this collaborative orchestra of thought, knowledge is generated beyond the scope of any individual effort.

Is it necessary that every student masters the laws of physics, understand Shakespearean literature or solve a quadratic equation? I think we know better. Our world would be a better place if each child could discover and develop their passion. Establishing graduation requirements and competency testing does little to promote passion for learning. It is time to apply Rule #6 to the educational arena.  Yes, we should have some basic requirements and children should be exposed to wide variety of educational opportunities, but the sooner we help children develop areas of interest, the better chance we have lessening the control of the calculating self and free the child to find the central self. Imagine a universe of possibility where each person is able to express their inner desires in a positive direction by contributing to their world.  A world in which each person participates in the part that they were born to play and plays it with unbridled passion. 

Wk 3 Comment-1 to Laurie Kish

Remember Rule #6 :-)

My comment to Laurie Kish:

I have to concur with J.J.’s comment--AWESOME!  You really are the “Captain of Fun” and know how to motivate your team.  You are an amazing storyteller, friend and I’m sure boss too. Loved it!  It is a “keeper” to remind us that relaxing and following Rule 6 is a way to enjoy life, move people and help the motivate a team to accomplish more.   I love that you were able to personally share a story that was a perfect example of Zander’s Rule #6

Laurie wrote:

It was the end of month 1 of a planned 6 month new medical device validation effort, the tensions were high amongst the 10 validation engineers as the product was full of bugs and was 3 months late getting to the last stage of the development process, validation.  An executive decision was made, the validation team had to reduce their timelines by 3 months in order to maintain the original launch date or heads would roll.  The Director of Validation was witnessing before her very eyes the release of 10 calculating selves lobbying for survival in a world of what might become scarce.  The anxiety of the situation was causing some unacceptable behaviors.  It was competitive, backstabbing and unproductive.  It was time to react or she would not have a team left.  The validation Director not knowing at the time pulled out the 6 ball, Rule number 6.   

The day after to decision was passed down; a chartered bus arrived outside the validation lab promptly at 11:00 a.m.  The Validation Director instructed the team to stop what they were doing and take the gift bags provided to the restrooms and change immediately.  Inside the bags were black long sleeved T-shirts and a note that read “Join me for a bug blasting good time!”  The Validation Director observed the eyes of her employees and listened to the sounds of laughter and delight as they piled into the bus not knowing what lied ahead.  Champaign, chocolate, and treats were making their rounds inside the bus as the bus came to a stop in front of LaserTag.  That’s right; the afternoon was filled with fun, laughter, and stress release as they were given permission to take out their frustrations (inner calculating self) on one another through several rounds of laser tag.   This team-building event released humor and laughter that allowed them to “get over themselves” and brought the team back together, relaxing them, empowering them to take control of their calculating self.  They lightened up and broke the hold of their competitive measurement world.  With these calculating selves revealed and humored, the good central selves were able to shine again.  As stated in Zanders’ book, when rule number 6 is followed, one lightens up and is transported into a remarkable universe, which is cooperative in nature.  The role of the facilitator, the Validation Director, was to promote human development and transformation rather than finding a solution that satisfied the demands of the ever-present calculating selves.   In the end the team was able work together to meet the aggressive 3-month schedule while zapping many bugs along the way and releasing a good product.  Not only did they have a successful validation, they established strong working relationships with teammates and their inner selves.  

Rule Number 6:  Don’t take yourself so goddamn seriously, lighten up!

This is a true story and the Validation Director was myself in 2005.

Wk 3 Reading BP: The Art of Possibilities C5-8

Davos Annual Meeting 2008

Orchestrating Collaboration 

As a fitting close to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008, participants explore the power of collaborative innovation in a unique exercise with conductor Benjamin Zander.

The quote from Amanda Burr (83) is one that touched me…as one that shows how kids are influenced by leadership opportunities to grow.   Given chances to help each other will help foster leadership and a passion for learning unknowingly.  

She said “today was exceptional in that I learned leadership is not a responsibility—nobody has to lead.  It’s a gift, shining silver, that reminds people huddled nearby why each shimmering moment matters.  It’s in the eyes, the choice, this swelling song that warms up from the toes and tingles with endless possibilities. Things change when you care enough to grab whatever you love, and give it everything”.  ~Amanda Burr, student at Walnut Hill School

This weeks reading again was very poignant about making change.  We are all leaders, sometimes an uncomfortable position, but we influence each other in more ways than we realize.  We are leaders every single day in our classrooms, and the discussion about engaging our students (69) was one that is so evident, anytime I go into “lecture” mode.  Many of my students’ eyes glaze over and tune out.  Learning a new approach will perhaps be something I need to look at.  The new videos I’m learning about in this weeks discussion posts, will be one way I can engage my students a little differently.  Rule #6 – “not taking ourselves so seriously”, but enjoying the ride helps us understand more about how “life is a journey”.  Like any journey we usually encounter new people and new experiences along the way, some good, some not so much.  We can learn from the bad and move ourselves forward to a higher realm of consciousness by learning from “mistakes”.  But are they really a mistake if we learn something positive from it?  The question in chapter 8 about what we are doing in our daily life, asks one to reflect about where we are at the moment.  For many of us in this program, we barley have time to breath, let alone reflect about where we are.  However, that being said continually looking forward to how we can improve ourselves is the key.  When I’m done with this school year, I have a “to do” list a mile long to look back and reflect about all the learning I have taken in this past year.  It has been an amazing journey and one I look forward to continuing as I begin to implement and practice more good teaching.  I’m at that sunset stage in my career, where I have a few more years to continue the journey with my students and I want them to be the most prepared as possible.  There is so much I have yet to learn and it is so important to help instill that passion for learning onto our students.  I share what I am learning and doing everyday with my students.

 

Wk 2 BP4: Publishing Leadership Project part 1 of 2

Possible conferences to present include: 

• California Partnership Academy-annual conference (2012 date TBD-State budget restrictions pending)

• CTE-Career Technical Consortium workshops

La Serna High School will be presenting again at the ICLE conference in Nashville this June 2011. The presentation is  about “best practices” implemented at our high school as school reforms nationwide take place.  As the academy programs grow, I may have the opportunity to present the benefits of online mentors and their role in Career Technical Education in the future, which was the focus of my ARP.

After looking ahead I decided I better get started on thinking about what and how I want to finalize my ARP.  There are so many ways to take the information.  My ARP involved working with 30 high school juniors in an online mentor program.  Our school is part of the California Partnership Academy program, funded by the State of CA as a way to bring Career Technical Education to students.  One of the requirements is to have students at the junior level work with career mentors.  I have worked with a mentor program before, which was difficult to manage face-to-face.  It not only is difficult to micro-manage who, what and where students are meeting with individual mentors; there are liability issues when working with teenagers. One of the services we had an option to contract with was an online organization called I Could Be.org. It is an online service that is based in NY City but reaches a global community.  We contracted their services this year.  Last summer when I began FSO and was faced with the idea of an ARP, I knew it would be a relevant research topic. Not only to analyze the merits of the program but also to see if using mentors makes a difference for teenagers motivation, self-efficacy and career planning.

Every year we attend the CA Partnership Academy conference, and while I’m new to the program, there may be an opportunity for me to present my findings at some date down the road.  I Could Be.org does presentations there as a way to sell their services, but I would like to promote the experience I had with my students this year.  It was an interesting one, as we both were learning how to interact in an LMS, with specific curriculum to master along the way.  The group of students I worked with this year, have received benefits of working with the program, and sharing it with a larger audience has merit. 

Additional conference resources include:

Model School Conference June 2011-Nashville

• International Center for Leadership in Education

• International
  Society for Technology Education
  there are local conference
  and workshops

• CA Partnership affiliation with Career Technical Education Consortium
  (SCC-State Center Consortium)

 

Week 2 Comment-2: Reading Post of Laurie Kish

Microsoft Clipart

Laurie, Once again I love reading your posts, you have hit the nail on the head (or the bulls-eye) and remembered what Dr. Bedard said about us being “change agents”, so true.  We impact one another in ways sometimes we don’t realize.  We are all learning so many new ways to use technology to impact others as well as enhance our own learning and thus our lives.  This has been an incredible journey, one that I am glad you have been a part of.  I like that you will recommend the reading for your colleagues.  At our school we have a “book club” and read books about educational leadership (mostly), but I too will recommend this as a read for us over the summer.  Ray McNulty’s book It's Not Us Against Them Creating the Schools We Need, was the last book and he was able to visit our school and district and meet with student leaders about the change we are making.  (See Story) Next week my “free post” will be about our current read by Dan Pink-Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. As usual I enjoyed reading your post.

From Laurie:

The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander (2000) is a really good read and offers tools in the way of practices that can provide opportunities for us to make personal evolutions to enhance not only ourselves but the lives we touch as well.  I remember Dr. Bedard stating in an Action Research video that we are the “change agents" for the future of education and I see this book as another valuable resource to help me journey through this change evolution that I have already embarked upon since starting this EMDT program. As I read chapter to chapter I began to understand how the practices outlined in the book could work together to help me realize a vision that perhaps seemed unattainable at first, to improve how I reach my learners through the use of technology, which in itself is a big change from normal practices and comfort levels in my educational environment.

I will relate the principles that I am learning from this book to real application and hope that I too will be able to reorient myself in a universe of possibility.  I work in a Medical Device corporate world where we are always being measured by the ability to be innovative (number of patents) and are asked constantly to think outside of the box without any guidance on how exactly to do this.  I found the example of the nine dot square exercise explained in the chapter Its all Invented as an eye opening analogy and one that I think I will use when I train research and development teams.  I will also encourage them to read the Art of Possibility book to help open their minds and separate themselves from the self imposed boundaries or the catchphrase “Its all invented,” that is explained in the book.  We do tend to spend too much time thinking about what we can’t do versus putting our minds back into our creative childhood mentalities where we had no inhibitions and truly expressed ourselves.  I particularly liked the statement from Zander that the frames our minds create, define – and – confine – what we perceive to be possible.  This really ties well to the nine dot exercise in that if we read the instructions with the self imposed constraint, not written, that the 4 straight lines have to be connected without taking pen from paper within the square formed by the outer dots, there is no solution.  If you remove the “Its all Invented” constraint, within the square formed by the outer dots, you reach the solution as you go outside of this framework to open space on the paper.  A famous quote by Louis Binstock, confirms this analogy, “Very often we are our own worst enemy as we foolishly build stumbling blocks on the path that leads to success and happiness.”  I will share the The Art of Possibility practices with my training audience as it becomes easy to relate this to innovation.  As innovation is not usually a new product or service, it is taking an existing product or service and putting it into a different application or setting, hence thinking outside of all constraints within your mind. 

Week 2 Comment-1: Deborah Sander's Reading Post

"Water Rippling" 4freephotos.com

Deborah, 

I was struck by the comparison you made using Orson Welle's story “War of the Worlds” (1938), and how as only an invented story, so many took it as the real thing”, what a great analogy about how people can react to “perceptions” about an event. You brought in the comparisons from the reading in a very succinct and poignant way, connecting how those “identification mechanisms” work and were triggered by this seemingly real story.  You chose a great graphic "Water Rippling", to convey the idea of the ripple effect we have on each other. Very nice.

I also agree with your comment about the “quality” of the contribution we make and know you are making a huge difference in the quality of the young lives you interact with; helping students learn how to speak and see (your assistance with facilitating contacts for eye glasses) is amazing! Kudos for your compassion and kindness.  You are “molding diamonds in the rough to 50 carat wonders”!  Well stated and so true!

Deborah’s Post:

In the book “The Art of Possibility” (in the chapter entitled “It’s All Invented”) as soon as I began to read the words: “We perceive only the sensations we are programmed to receive, and our awareness is further restricted by the fact that we recognize only those for which we have mental maps or categories” I thought of an actual event in history that gives clear evidence of the impact and results of “perception.”  On Sunday, October 30, 1938, Orson Welles’ "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast, implanted a vivid and horrifying "script" into minds of radio listeners throughout the United States.  The actions of the listeners, the army, and the scientists were all based on their “perception of fear and danger.”  Their eyes could not see the actual creatures or the spaceship, however the audio images projected to the brain triggered fear.   Perception triggers mental images in our brain.  As a result of the “identification mechanisms” that were triggered  -- they were set in motion to react.  In this historical instance, the identification mechanism perceived this broadcast as a warning of actual, imminent DANGER.   Newspapers recount the mass hysteria that resulted from a finely sculpted, radio script designed for Halloween entertainment.  This event begs the question:  “Had the listeners been informed from the very beginning -- or even intermittently during the broadcast -- that this was only a scripted story, would there been the same reaction?  The manner, the timeframe and the context of data deposited as well as when, how and the amount of data is digested -- are all parts of the “perception” equation.  The War of the Worlds -- it was all invented.

How will I be a contribution today?

Life presents us with challenges that we must all face in our own ways.  Yes, some seem to have it easier than others -- causing comparison of people.   A contribution that enhances the life of one person has a “ripple effect” in that more than one person is ultimately changed.  What is more important to me though, is the quality of the contribution.  In that regard, my contribution consisted of the bits of data that I was able to disseminate into the wide eyes and receptive brains of my students.  Further, these students have a multitude of circumstances in their young lives, which inhibit the process of learning. Today, a child who came to me without speaking English could now speak in a complete coherent sentence.  Today, another student whose parent was not able to provide necessary medical needs such as eyeglasses since September was able to obtain a free pair through my conversation with the appropriate resource agency.  By expanding the educational process, I mold  “diamonds in the rough” into finely chiseled 50 Carat wonders!  This is done not only with a contribution of education -- my contribution also consists of loving, sharing, and caring  -- “By any means necessary!”

Week 2 Reading: The Art of Possibility

The Art of Possibility

by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

Lighthouse Keeper’s Zen Garden-from Creative Commons

After reading this week, I immediately thought of a Zen Garden and how everything in life is interconnected. Their book, gave us much to think about, reflect upon, change and influence as leaders. 

 “It’s all invented anyway, so we might as well invent a story or framework of meaning that enhances our quality of life and the life of those around us.” Loved the beginning and as I read through more I love Benjamin’s style. Of course after viewing his TED video for the week, I was brought back to my musical upbringing and it was a refreshing reminder.  The authors Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander have a compassionate approach to showing one how to transform their personal and professional life. One most definitely affects the other in so many ways.

Their words are of such a spiritual nature, our spirit is interconnected with the way we live in the moment. They spoke of it in another phrase about how relationships are transformed when they stated “The relationship between people and environments is highlighted, not the people and things themselves.  Emotions that are often relegated to the special category of spirituality are abundant here: joy, grace, awe, wholeness, passion and compassion.” (20) While working with teenagers it is important to build a relationship with them that fosters respect, kindness and compassion, which is something I try to do on a daily basis.  

In “Giving an A”, they viewed it as a way to transform the relationship, as a shift in attitude. My own grading practice has always been one of  “continuous improvement”,  there is an intrinsic drive to excel, even though the question I often get from students is “did I get all the points”, too much worry on the points and earning the grade and sometimes not on the joy of the learning.  So much of my grading is observational, based on how enthusiastic and driven a student is to learn.  Ben’s example of the letters from his students about his approach to A’s and the Asian boy who was #68 and his realization and confusion of an A, (68/70) and what it meant demonstrated how inventive it all is.   I like his approach of giving everyone an A to begin with and see what happens would it really “..line up with their students in their efforts to produce the outcome, rather than lining up with the standard against these students.”  We should work as a team, rather than on an individual basis.  The example of punitive approach of the teacher disappointed with the high score of one boy who changed the subject of his paper, hoping the student would work on his organizational approach, was an example that unfortunately happens with many teachers today. 

It's a little ironic that my post is later than usual this weekend, because grades for my students were due, so from my end there is also that game to be played.

In Being a Contributor—your surroundings growing up influence the determination about whether you are expected to become something or not.  Becoming a contributor is not an either or, but a position of making a difference with others around you. You are a gift to others (58), rings true when you know how you influence others by just being yourself, showing kindness and compassion. While reading this week an old quote came to mind, which helps me be mindful of the moment; “Yesterday is past, tomorrow not yet here, today is a present, a gift to treasure and enjoy.”

The Practice—1) declare yourself to be a contribution. 2) throw yourself into life as someone who makes a difference, accepting that you may not understand how or why. We all influence those around us in ways we may never know. This was an enjoyable read, reaffirming much of how I live already.

Zander, R. & Zander, B. (2000). The Art of Possibility. Ch. 1-4. Penguin Books. New York, NY.

Graphic-Lighthouse Keeper’s Zen Garden; Creative Commons-attribution, share-alike