Wk2 comment #1 - Kristi Swartz

Kristi,

It is so true that every person has their own different and unique abilities. I love that you hit on that. I also feel that our perception of those abilities can have either a positive or negative impact on a person. By ultimately giving everyone an A not only in the classroom, but in our everyday lives we are altering our perceptions from the beginning instead of having that stigma attached to a letter grade or always being judged on our performance. I know that during my time at Full Sail there have been instructors who have tried to teach us this valuable lesson and it is hard not to be ultimately concerned with that letter grade, but I do try to look at just doing the best that I can on a project versus being concerned with the score I will receive on it.

You hit on chapter four as well, which I loved on being a contribution and how each of us can contribute in our lives on a daily basis. It doesn't always have to be something big to show that you have been a contribution to those around you. If you just take an opportunity to be a value to society and make a daily contribution you can be amazed at how something so small can make you as a person feel so big. I know that when I was leading Girl Scout troops for five years that I tried to instill this in them through community service projects that we scheduled. Going and singing Christmas carols to a group of senior citizens who may not have anyone else, donating Girl Scout cookies to our troops overseas, and even just helping other young girls with arts and crafts projects to get them interested in the world of Girl Scouts helped them all to make some small contribution to those around them. It made me feel good about not only what they were doing as they made those contributions, but how they grew to be a better person because of those contributions. 

Kristi's original blog post:

My Contribution

I love Zander’s idea that a leader does not doubt peoples’ abilities to do what it is they are to do. As I look at education I ask, What if all teachers believed in the abilities of all of their students? How would education change? Stop thinking about everything along the way, and see the big picture. Have a vision, a long line, and see it through! How would education change?

Zander’s video on Ted was moving and showed the connection possible for classical music through Zander’s determination and perception.  His connection to the conductor as a person to make others powerful, and make others feel it is possible. I loved his question: Who am I being if my children’s eyes are not shining?  I hope to take this and use it in the classroom. I want a classroom with children’s eyes shining.

The idea of enhancing our quality of life and the quality of life for those around us as we have the power is really meaningful to me. I think this year has been eye opening for me as I look and understand perception and the big part it plays in each of our version of reality. I have looked at this through my Masters courses, my own Bible study, through the students I teach, and now this book. It is amazing how life opens something up to us, and we see it all around. I see this as the power of God.  In this book, I feel the importance of perception and I love thinking about how our brains constructs our reality, and how that reality is just ours, we can not know if it is the reality that is real, or created, because our brain constructs our own thoughts. The idea of it all being a story we tell, can change our own thoughts about every situation. For me, the closer I become to God, the more I want his will, this leads me try to be a better person, think about others feelings, and desire good. I love the idea in the book of setting the context and letting life unfold

I loved the thoughts on giving an A, not just in the classroom but also in the everyday world. It is so true that we measure everyone according to a standard measure. When we can believe everyone has a unique gift to share, and that not all of us have the same gift, we can begin to accept and love people for who they are, learn from their gifts, and accept their differences, as well. I love the idea of giving A’s, looking at what is great about this person I meet that I can learn from, rather than comparing them to a standard measure I set.

I love the question, what did you achieve today becoming, how did I contribute today? So now I ask this of myself…How did I contribute today?

Wk2 reading – Art of Possibility

Hands from Clker.com

As I read our reading assignment this week in the book, "The Art of Possibility" by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander, I was particularly struck by chapters 3 and 4 on "Giving an A" and "Be a Contribution".  Wouldn't it be something if every educator just started giving A's to students to watch how their perspectives changed and/or evolved?  Personally I feel that would be easier said than done, but in courses where you can use project-based or game-based learning I feel that it is an easy fit.  It is more the creative based course like Music, Art, Graphic Design, Photography, etc... that allow for the actual effort put in to the work to show in the final result of the project and therefore to allow for that feeling of accomplishment. I know that most of us are used to tying that letter grade to our sense of achievement to show others and tell ourselves that we did a great job, but I have learned a lot through my time here at Full Sail in the EMDT program that while yes it is wonderful to see that letter grade it is not what defines me or my work.  That is a very hard concept to get across to students who are used to always being judged by others on the work they do. I loved working on my Action Research project because it involved using a game to teach social skills, which allowed for the participants to not receive a "grade" for the work they did, but instead to have that sense of accomplishment on a job well done whenever they successfully completed a quest/mission in the game no matter how many times they had to do it over again to get it right.  After all isn't that what we should want to instill in students is that no matter how many times they have to do something to get it right that once they have that "aha" moment and it finally clicks it teaches them that they can do it and they feel as if they actually accomplished something in the process. 

As far as the fourth chapter on being a contribution I feel that everyone should strive to do this in their life.  As teachers I would hope that all of us are a contribution not only to our students, but to our colleagues as well.  I feel that it is important to be a contribution to society, our friends and family, and others around us and I try to live my life thinking in that manner.  I know it is hard when we always seem to be so busy with our daily lives to just take a minute and try to help others with theirs, but it is what makes us different and better people.  I have been unemployed since last February and believe me it has been very tough over the past year, but I still try to contribute to those around me. I would rather help others than sit and dwell on how miserable I can and would be if all I did was think about how worthless I felt for being unemployed and not supporting my family.  Life is funny that way, on the differences a positive versus a negative outlook can have on a persons life.  

This book just helped me affirm what we could and should be teaching our children, our future, to help them be a better person as reflected in their contributions to society and the actual pride they get from a job well done versus what grade they may be given on it.  I feel more people should have that outlook on life.  What did I do today?  I made a birthday cake for a friend who was down because no one at work remembered her birthday yesterday.  I contributed!  What have you done today?