This book is an easy read. I like the authors. They seem very relaxed and normal. It’s very motivational, and gives me insight to topics that I hadn’t thought about before.
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| New ways to approach things |
Chapter 1: This chapter offered insightful views on not only thinking out of the box as well as seeing things in different ways to find new solutions. I have to admit that I stared at the 4-line puzzle and had no idea how to tackle it. After seeing the solution it seemed so simple. Sometimes the best solutions aren’t always the most obvious, but the require some “out of the box” thinking. We need to just think for a few minutes more and try to not be so logical and open our minds to see things in a new way.
Chapter 2: Everyday we measure our jobs, our families, more and ourselves. We try to find out how everyone’s day went, what he or she did and how well he or she did it. One must question - is measurement of everything in our life really necessary? Sometimes by just listening to what people are saying they will tell you what they did and there isn’t always a result. Normal, ordinary things happen everyday no measurement of what was done is needed. When I assign skills reviews for my students, I’m not necessarily looking to see how perfectly they recreated something, but more so if they understood what and why the tasks led to the final result. It’s hard to measure a beginner graphic design class when you have all levels of abilities in that class. I don’t ever want to discourage someone from going further in the field because I didn’t feel his or her work was not as good as another student’s.
Chapter 3: What an interesting idea of giving students an “A” and having them validate why they deserve it. I loved seeing their openness and the new revelations they discovered during the first two weeks. One of my favorites was the Asian student who always felt he was a low number. He over time developed more self esteem by seeing himself as an “A” and not as the actual ranking that was given statistically.
Chapter 4: Contributions - an interesting word. How do we contribute to our lives, and to the people in our lives? I’m a big fan of Dr. Joyce Meyers and she is all about staying focused on what you can do for others and for God, not what others expect of you or how they judge you. By contributing to benefit others, and not just to help yourself your life is more fulfilling and you accomplish more meaningful things, even if they are as simple as helping a friend by driving their child home from school because they have a late meeting. It’s out of your way, but not by much and the overall contribution makes more sense than being selfish and not seeing the big picture. I feel we’re here to contribute to the lives of others, not to get what benefits us most.
I agree with you students that are validating why they deserve an “A” is a great way for students to reflect on the knowledge that they have learned. When you look at individual students who approach a certain class with a negative outlook. A feeling that they're not going to do well or they don't understand what the class is about. The self-doubt can directly affect the first week of school and lead into several if a student is not engaged and has the feeling of no self worth. Ginny, I see seventh grade students come walking through my door with a folder thicker then a textbook. They are under a lot of pressure to do well compared to the students in their class and sometimes can't make the grade. Industrial arts machine woodworking can teach a student in a short amount of time how to follow a system using materials to create an artifact designed by the student. Self-esteem increases and being proud while developing ownership of their learning. Same student to different environments completely different outcomes. As teachers we need to look at how we approach our students and support them in their learning. From our reading of chapter 3 giving students an "A" validates how we as teachers need to incorporate more components in our curriculum to give students this type of environment to learn in.
ReplyDeleteGinny,
ReplyDeleteI too am a big fan of Dr. Joyce Meyer and have several of her books in my collection. I started reading her books because a friend that I didn’t know took me under her wings to help carry me through a very difficult time in my life. She was like an angle that was sent to save what happiness I had left. After reading Dr. Joyce’s story about her relationship with her brother and her views about the struggles of life I felt I could walk through anything if I focus on my real purpose on this earth.
I wrote a poem as part of my final senior showing, a requirement for a BA in Graphic Design at the College of Mount Saint Joseph. When I wrote this poem I was reflecting on the religious studies at the Mount, the controversy that was going on in Cincinnati as well as the pain and suffering of the world.
Here is the link to my poem:
By Brenda McGee
http://bdmcgee-buildinglifelonglearners.blogspot.com/
Read the full poem first and then go back and read the bolded words to find the hidden message.
great summary and observations of the first four chapters of the Art of Possibility book.
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