Wk4 Reading: Art of Possibility Chapters 9–12

In reading chapter 9-12, Zander continues to leave me in awe because this book is amazing and still is teaching me things about myself. Zander provides information that pertains to the lives of many. I can relate what I read and learn to my personal and professional life. Chapter 12 hit home for me because I learned a long time ago that the world is not going to be centered around just you. It is not all about me.

The first step that there are unseen threads that connect us all. I have had many opportunities to help others. You go through life working on your hopes and dreams but the fulfillment that get me is helping other people realize theirs. I work with high school students who have dream of going to college and many of them will be the first in their family to go to college. Most of these students have limited family income so the obstacle of affording college weighs heavily on them. I have been working with these types of students for 8 years now so I love when I have helped them through the process, they go to college and come back to see me when they graduate and thank me for helping them realize that their dreams can come true. I love doing what I do. My students do not know this but I was once in their shoes and someone helped me realize that my dreams could come true. Sometimes I get discouraged when things are not going well and I need to be encouraged and I get a call from one of my students and tell me that they got their first job or they have just been admitted to graduate school. My students are my encouragement. It's not all about me!

Wk 4: Comments on Del's Blog

Chapter 9 hit home to me also because in my job I try to make an impact on every student that I come in contact with. I agree that teachers or any adult should try to generate a spark in today's youth. I also agree that saying certain things in life are better done in person. I believe in that statement for professional and personal reasons. I always tell students to handle things in person and not through email or text. I want to see there smiling little faces from time to time. LOL!

Wk4 Reading Entry

Chapter 9 lighting a spark is the chapter that spoke to me. Zander states that enrollment is the art and practice of generating a spark of possibility for others to share. Teachers should be all about trying to generate a spark of possibility in their students. While reading chapter 9 it reminded me of a few years ago when I was giving a quiz on measuring at the beginning of the year. I always want to check and see where my students stand on measuring. I was explaining how to read a tape measure to one of my students. He kept asking questions and I continued to explain how to reduce the even fractions and all of a sudden He said HEY! This is math! This is so easy. It was great to see how the light just came on for him. He immediately started showing his friends how to read the tape measure. That was a great moment in my life. Also in chapter 9 Ben talks about his father saying certain things in life are better done in person. I am a firm believer in that statement. When I was self-employed I always wanted to present a quote for a job in person. I remember bidding on a job one time and I presented the quote and explained what I would do and furnish. I was told that I was a little higher on my bid but he liked my proposal and how I explained the process of completing the job. I was awarded the bid. I believe that if I had not been able to present the proposal in person I would not have been awarded the bid. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahreido/4977913557

Wk 4: Comments on Dwayne's Blog

Love your summary of the chapters. This book is amazing and still is teaching me things about myself. Zander provides information that pertains to the lives of many and this book is a must read for everyone. I also love that Zander points out the obvious.

In lighting the spark hit home for me because I am all about paying it forward. I agree with Zander when he states one of the passions of human kind is to connect, express, and communicate. I am the poster child of things not going right so Chapter 10 hit home so I am taking what Zander says and rename myself as the board in which the game is being played.

Nice summary

Wk4 – Reading

#9 Lighting A Spark – This chapter encouraged us as leaders to be willing to catch others’ spark. In other words, be there for those around us that when they contribute find a way to grab that intensity and carry for it. Some of the steps are: 1. Imagine that people are in an invitation to enrollment. 2. Stand ready to participate. 3. Offer that which lights you up. 4. Have no doubt that others are eager to catch the spark. He goes on to explain that one of the passions of human kind is to connect, express, and communicate.

#10 – Being the Board – In this chapter, when things don’t seem to be going right and you are at your wits end, we are told to rename ourselves as the board in which the game is being played. The first part of the practice is to declare, “I am the framework for everything that happens in my life.” Or, “If I cannot be present without resistance to the way things are and act effectively, if I feel myself to be wronged, a loser, or a victim, I will tell myself that some assumption I have made is the source of my difficulty.” The second part is to ask your self, “Well, how did this get on the board that I am?” Being the board is not about blaming yourself, it is about making a difference and repairing breakdowns in relationships.

#11 – Framework for Possibility - The steps to the practice of framing possibility are: 1. Make a new destination in the realm of possibility. One that is powerful, substitute for the correct framework of meaning that is generating the downward spiral. 2. Enter the territory. Embody the new destination in such a way it becomes the framework for life around you. 3. Keep distinguishing what is “on the track” and what is “off the track” of your framework for possibility.

#12 - Telling the WE Story – This was the chapter that meant the most to me. Being a leader you must always focus on those around you. It’s not about your qualifications but about your ability to speak on behalf of those you are leading. Telling the story of WE is what connects us all. It is a story of possibility. We must always ask ourselves as a leader, “What do WE want to have happen here?” “What is best for us? What is our next step?” This chapter focuses on changing your mindset from “I” to the “WE”. It is one of the last obstacles as a leader to overcome. Once w truly consider the WE around us, it allows us to be a non-self centered effective leader. 

Wk4 Wimba Info: Leadership Project Sharing

I could not make the Wimba Sharing session so I shared my Leadership project with two of my co-workers. In sharing my project, I created a presentation that summarized my CBR project. I shared the link and went through the presentation with both co-workers to explain the goal of the project and some details that I thought were important.

Flyer used on the program's Facebook page to advertise the tutoring program

The feedback I received:

Kim and Sinitra stated that the presentation was nicely put together and professional looking. They loved that I was presenting on the tutoring program that I implemented. They felt that it was important for the people indirectly involved to know how things went and the other aspects that took place: good and bad.

Sinitra complimented me on taking on the task of creating a FREE tutoring program for students and utilizing the resources that the College provided for the students and I to use.

Kim commented on sitting in on a tutoring session and learning a lot about online tutoring resources she felt would benefit the students inside and outside the classroom. Also, these resources could be acessed from any computer from anywhere.

Kim and Sinitra both were new to the iPad. They were amazed at how the students used the iPads to learn. They were exposed to different Apps that the students downloaded to help them with their schoolwork.

Overall, Kim and Sinitra commended me on a job well done and shared that they learned a lot from just listening to my presentation.

Wk 4: Leadership Project

My Leadership Project is an overview about incorporating technology to motivate students. I was given a chance to implement a tutoring program for students in our surrounding area schools. The presentation highlights the project, some issues I experienced, things I learned and what I would change.

I would like to present at SC EdTech Conference  because I am familiar with this conference and have heard great things about the conference itself. But first I would like to present the project to the Director of the Educational Talent Search program, which is the program that sponsored the tutoring program, the students, teachers, parents and the school administration. I feel it is important to first start local with that group of people and then present to other programs or people who are thinking about the benefits of tutoring.

My previous Leadership post: 

Wk 1: Leadership Role Model

Wk 2 Leadership: Publish or Present??

Wk3: Where Do I Want to Share My Project


Leadership Project

Wk3: Where Do I Want to Share My Project

Through my CBR project, I incorporated technology to motivate students who participated in a tutoring program. First I would like to present the project to the Director of the Educational Talent Search program, the students, teachers, parents and the school administration. I feel it is important to first start local with that group of people and then present to other programs or people who are thinking about the benefits of tutoring.

I have the advantages, disadvantages, ups, downs, likes, dislikes; you name it I can tell you from my experiences. I will have a chance to sit down with the Director of the Educational Talent Search program and evaluate the program and help decide if the students benefited from attending and if we will continue to have the program.

I want to present and publish because I want to cover many audiences so I need to do both. I am still researching journals that I could possibly publish my findings.  A possible journal I would like to publish in is the Journal of Research on Technology in Education (JRTE). The journal features research on learning and teaching with technology in educational environments.

Wk 3: Comments on Dana's Blog

The Rule 6 part of the reading got me on a personal level. As person, I need to remember Rule 6 everyday. I think I would be more productive in my professional and personal life. I hate when something comes up and slaps you in the face.

In my job, I think I have built myself to being serious because helping students attend college is very important to me but I could always change my approach. I think a lot of us take ourselves serious because that is what has been beat into us from day one by family and school. Well, I can speak for myself so it will be hard to pre-program myself out of taking myself serious but I am making it a goal to work on lightening up and laughing.

Week 3-Reading

This is what came to my mind as I was thinking about "The Art of Possibility"

In the "Leadership From Any Chair" section, I love the story about the youth orchestra's trip to Cuba.  I think we can draw many parallels about leadership in this story and teaching.  It's important for those in leadership positions (teachers) to sometimes step down and empower students teach each other.
Rule #6 is so important to remember.  I think it is important to remember to not take ourselves too seriously.  We get so busy and worked up about things.  It's all invented anyway, right?
I also like the idea of "presence without resistance".  The book gives the example of going on a Florida vacation, only to have rain.  I think asking the question, "What do we want to do from here?" and being open to many other possibilities is a healthy way to look at life.  Surely we all have disappointments in life at times, but looking at new possibilities without dwelling on the negative is something everyone could try to do.

On a side note, after watching Zander's TED talks, I think the audio book (if he narrated it) would be fantastic!

Wk 3: Comments on Jessica's Blog

I could go on and on about managers and supervisors but I am going to keep it on a positive note. I also appreciate the "white sheet" idea. Some people would not take the criticism so well but I think the idea in my workplace would be a nice touch. We all could improve at something, I know I could.  I agree with your observations of the book. I appreciate what the book's aim is but could be better. I appreciate the telling it like it is approach though.

Wk 3 Reading: The Art of Possibility Chapters 5 -8

As i have said before, I find moments where I agree with the text, and moments where I disagree.
But I really enjoyed the chapter on "Leading from Any Chair" the most. While in other chapters I found myself agreeing with parts of a chapter, but not others or even the majority, here I found myself agreeing for much, if not all of this chapter.

I really liked his image/example of a conductor, in making the point. 

Luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This seance especially struck me that "….but his [the conductor's] true power derives from his ability to make other people powerful."

While it applies acutely to the example of a conductor, this idea can really be applied to anyone in a position of authority, and especially management.

As many grumbling employees in any position may attest, managers themselves don't always do a lot. It's often the employees below that do the "grunt" work (hence the term). But, a mangers "power" resides in his ability to empower those below him or her and inspire them.




I appreciate the idea of the "White sheet", and wish more working environments used them and used them *honestly*, where employees aren't afraid to give feedback.

Also by offering others the ability to provide feedback, and contribute, they feel like they "own" part of the conversation, business, practice, etc. When people have that sense of ownership, they do strive to do and be better.

And I think that should be the focus of any leader; to encourage others to become their leaders in their own right, and to constantly strive to be better.

This also ties into the 8th "practice"/chapter of giving way to passion. We as educators, and leaders, have the ability, and maybe even the responsibility to inspire and promote the spark of passion in our students, and even each other as fellow educators. I like, and agree with the idea that just as important it is to "find" one's passion, it's equally important to continue to nuture it, lest one becomes numb and forgets the purpose…  or, as it is more eloquently stated:

"Like the person who forgets he is related to the waves in the sea or loses continuity with the movement of win through grass, so does the performer lose his connection to the long line of the music when his attention rests solely on perfecting individual notes and harmonies."
The Art of Possibility, Zander and Zander, pg 116.

It is so easy to lose sight of the larger picture and your bigger goal, when you get stuck in the mundane, repetitive tasks that are required for that larger picture. I agree it's important to remember and get back in touch with that initial passion… however, I feel the chapter/author is lacking and disappointing in helping the reader to understand or find realistic ways to actually get back in touch with that passion.



This book, ironically, has a lot of potential, but falls short in the worst places I think.

There are many examples, anecdotes and stories of experiences and elegantly worded passages, but not always a lot of practical sense or advice.


Perhaps I need to read it again.

Wk 3: The Art of Possibility 5-8

Leadership is always a topic that gets a conversation going. If I had to relate leadership to my job, this blog could go on forever.  In the reading, there is a header that says, “Leaders are everywhere.” I always like to tell my students; first you have to follow before you can lead.  The “white sheet” concept was interesting. It would be nice to adopt that concept at work and in life but everyone does not take criticism so well.

Rule Number 6, I need to adapt because that is my biggest problem. I think a lot of people need to lighten up. I need to write this saying up and post it everywhere in my house and at work.  Maybe if I lighten up, then the people around me will.

I am taking this chapter to heart and not taking myself so serious. Maybe I would not be stressed all the time.  People always tell me that I am too serious so I really need to lighten up.  

Wk 2 Leadership: Publish or Present??

Hmm....I have not really given them that much thought as far as if I had to decided right now. I have published articles in newspapers before and presented at conferences and meetings but I do not know about presenting or publishing my project.

The project did not go as well as I hoped but under the circumstances, it went well. I learned a lot about the students today and the old way of learning is obsolete to them. They have laptops, computers, iPads, iPhones, tablets and much more to aid in them learning things. My target audience taught me a lot and I had to make changes.

The obstacle that hindered a lot of the project was time and the fact that I am not a teacher so I had limited contact with my population. I took full advantage of the time and contact I had but with running a FREE tutoring program, resources and time are limited. I loved the experience and I would love to share my experience with the world but I don't know how I want to do that yet.

Wk 2: Comments on Kwasida's Blog

Kwasida,

I agree that reading this book at this time was very beneficial to me also. Like you, I have read many self help books and this book made me think about my life and where it is heading and where I'm at now.

A lot of people would not call me optimistic and positive but I see myself as a realist. I don't see it as being a negative person but I live in reality most of the time. I can agree with the authors when they state that much of our existence is about survival. I can interpret that many ways based on experiences and life.

Hang in there, you are a survivor.


The book The Art of Possibilities by Benjamin Zander is an inspiring and amazing book. The reading assignment comes at a perfect time in my life and I stand at several crossroads in my life. While, I've read numerous self help books, I like the way the author frames the power of possibilities. I'm a pretty positive and optimisitic person. However, latetly I've been tested by a few challenges in my life. As I read the text, I'm reminded that I really need to draw a different frame around my current circumstances. This suggestions is motivating and aspiring because it provides hopes. The following, statement " 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," is powerful as it encourages us to think beyond our perceptions.

I also really appreciate the author, stating that much of our existence is about survival. Day in day out, even as I strive for personal fulfillment my subconscious is pretty much focused on the business of  survival. I enter the realm of possibility when I'm around the ocean, as it calms my spirit and grounds me  and reminds me to just be.

Zander, R. Zander, B. (2002) The Art of Possibility. Transforming professional and personal life 1-65

Wk 2: Comments on Alison's Blog

Alison,
I know all about “unspoken expectations,” I face them everyday as an adult. It was harder to deal with as a child. Everybody wanted you to do this, be that or act some kind of way according to their standards.
I think I turned out pretty good among the madness of those expectations. I have started taking risk now since I am old enough to handle what ever comes with taking those risk.

I have a “bucket list” that is forcing me to be more adventurous and push me to experience life by my rules. I learned that those “expectations” made me afraid and my own worse critic. Now I just say, whatever if things do not go as planned or something messes up. Life is about right and wrong, making good and bad choices. You have one life so live it on your own terms and to the fullest.

As I read the first four chapters of The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander, I started to reflect on how their ideas impact me.  As I was growing up, there was an unspoken expectation that I was going to do “right” – go to college, get a good job, get married and have my 2.5 kids.  I was afraid to fail.  Because I was afraid to fail, I took no risks.  In college, my viola professor was desperately trying to get me to play a piece I was working on more passionately, but I just didn’t get it.  Trying to get me to open up, she told me to yell.  Yell anything.  Scream.  But I couldn’t do it – in fact, I couldn’t even make a sound.  To me, that was so wrong, and definitely NOT proper.  However, over time I started to realize that that was exactly what I needed.  All these ideas of what were right and wrong and what was expected of me were all things I had conjured up myself.  I was hurting myself in this “safe” place I kept myself in.  I began to take risks, and I began to see the world differently.  While I allowed myself an A in many things, I realize now that there is so much more I should be giving myself an A in.  Not only that, but giving others around me an A.  Changing that perspective and opinion in others, be it students, colleagues, friends or family,  I can only begin to imagine the difference in changing my life as well as others.

Wk 2: The Art of Possibility

The Art of Possibility reminded me of the books I read when I was pursuing my Masters in Counseling and Psychology. This book requires that you be open-minded and think outside of the box.

The issue of perception always fascinating and I can agree from experience that we see the things we want to see. Most of the times, we see the things that are most important to us.  Interpretation is another aspect that affects people in different ways. I work at a community college and I see students of all ages. I have learned that I cannot relay the same information the same exact way to a 20-year-old student and a 50-year-old student. When talking to people, you have to be mindful not to insult their intelligence. Perception is everything, how I see something is not the way my mother would see it.

Obstacles are something we all face. Recently, I lost my uncle during our spring break. It was hard to focus on anything other than that. I am still coping. The body and mind work together to function. Things like survival, security, perception, and how we interpret things is all apart of being human. We exist in this world based on the many of the things listed. These things differ based on age, race, nationality and other things.

Wk 1: Leadership Role Model

People who are born leaders are very rare. Most leaders had to learn the role of being a leader. A leader possesses many incredible talents but first and foremost, in my opinion, a leader must learn to follow or be willing to follow before leading. I many times am asked what characteristics or qualities must a leader possess. I will list them as my top 5: 1. PATIENt, 2. Honest, 3. Hard worker, 4. Trustworthy, 5. Optimistic. There are many more qualities but that is my top 5.

The organizations that display leadership:

AKA
The oldest Greek-lettered organization. I have been apart of this organization since 2004. The sorority is made up of women from different races, ethnicities, occupations and the list goes on. Leadership is something we promote and strive for in our day to day live.

SCCEOPP
This organization holds an annual Student Leadership Conference for students participating in SC TRIO programs.


People I admire:

Teachers everywhere
-Today's youth are different from when I was in school and I applaud any teacher who can inspire and help students achieve their level of success.


The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth."  ~Dan Rather

Mentors
I serve as a mentor to former students of mine. I enjoy sitting around talking to them about life and experience and most of all I love just listening to them. Most students just need someone to listen.

Dreams sometimes do come true. But not without something that looks a lot like hard work.      

-Sylvia Ashton Warner

Comments on Amanda's Blog

Amanda,

Copyright is confusing and will always be something society will question. In your post, you stated "As technology grows and changes, transforms the way people create and view their cultural relevance." I totally agree. As technology and this world changes, people will also have to change to adapt. The whole copyright issue is something I know about, school has beat it in my head but yet they never really explained why. We were just told you cannot violate copyright laws.

Creative Commons is a lifesaver for some. Copyright is still confusing to some people. In education, I just want to use a picture in my blog post for class and give credit to where I got it from. Some people may see it as illegal even though I referenced where I got it from. It is mind-boggling to me. After all the videos and articles I read on the issue, I am still a little confused because everyone has their perception on copyright.

Week 1: Copyright Issues

Image courtesy of (2008) MikeBlogs. 

Some rights reserved.

After viewing and reading the articles provided to us about copyright it is hard to wrap my head around how this term or law has changed and continue to change the way we share, view and create information, art, and media.

I had never particularly paid attention to some of these laws and what they truly meant. This topic has really opened my eyes to a concept that was something I had never known much about as well as Creative Commons, which seems to simplify this ever changing and relatively outdated law.

 Screenshot of “A Shared Culture,”

by Jesse Dylan.

I think Creative Commons was created out of the necessity for all of the confusing copyright infringements that can happen unknowingly. Larry Lessig’s ideas were an essential step forward to help with this massive law. As technology grows and changes, transforms the way people create and view their cultural relevance. So changes in these copyright laws and new Creative Commons is inevitable and will continue to impact how media and art is shared to suit these every changing needs.

Screenshot obtained from centerforsocialmedia.org/fair-use

The notion of Fair Use was intended to provide a safe guard so that copyrighted material can be used or reshown but only in limited and vague circumstances. Which can seem a bit confusing.  So with the notion that, yes this term Fair Use apply and doesn’t apply to situations you may have once thought, brought fourth a Fair Use best code practices guide to help the creator, figure out some of the Fair Use Practices that are applicable to the content the creator is using to recreate his or her own work.

The case with Shepard Fairey seems to fall under these inconspicuous Fair use practices but many people fall on either side of the spectrum with this case especially because of the earlier work Fariey has created as well as not providing credit to the original artist. 

Screenshot of Larry Lessig's TED Conference  

This topic has undoubtedly been an eye opening learning experience to the laws and how I look at material viewed or created.  One point that stood out particularly and can really apply to whole idea of copyright was given by Larry Lessig in his TED conference, describing the term “Democratize” which is roughly described that “anybody with access that can take sounds and images from culture to recreate and say things differently. Theses tools of creativity have become tools of how our kids think, speak, and their relationship to themselves.”

Wk 1: Comments on Dana's Blog

Dana,

The video, “A Fair(y) Use Tale” caught my attention and I automatically thought of ways it could be used with teaching the students I come in contact with about copyright. The video used bits and pieces from many Disney movies to make a point. I ask, was the video illegal if it was used for educational purposes? Hmm, makes you think. I also agree with you when you say there are many sides to copyright. There are people who just use material just because and profit off of it, people like us who use material for education and mean no harm and people who do documentaries to educate and inform others.

Week 1 Reading Entry

One video mentioned that copyright isn’t about use, but about permission, which I think is really important to remember.  It doesn’t so much matter how you used something or what your intentions were, but do you have permission to use it? 

I found the Disney clips video, A Fair(y) Use Tale, very interesting.  In talking about fair use, a video mentioned using just a small part, which this video obviously complies with.  This really makes me think about teachers.  I know many teachers show clips and videos all the time.  It makes me wonder: is what a lot of us do on a regular basis actually illegal?

I think there are 2 sides to look at copyright, well maybe 3.  Some people just want movies and music for free.  Some people have fairly good intentions and want to use copyrighted items, maybe for educational purposes and want to see what they can get away with, and hope they don’t get caught.  Another side of that are documentary filmmakers who want to prove a point or preserve history.  To me, this seems like more of an unselfish point of view.

I really like the idea of creative commons.  It’s a way for artists to put their work on the Internet for people to use under the conditions they set.  I thought the video was very nice.  It was nice to see an explanation of creative commons.  We’ve used Flickr Creative Commons in previous classes in this program, but I was never completely clear what it was, exactly.

Youtube video: A Fair(y) Use Tale by Eric Faden/Media Education Foundation, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo

Youtube video: Eyes on the Fair Use of The Prize directed and produced by Jacob Caggiano, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r0pM1hJGU8

Blip.TV video: A Shared Culture produced by CreativeCommons.org, retrieved from http://blip.tv/file/1192356/