Wk 4 Response to Christine

Christine wrote:

Practice 9: Lighting a Spark: 

This chapter lit a spark for me.  If I didn’t

know any better I would have thought it

was written with me in mind. I do not like

the word “no” very much (not that any of us

really do) and work hard not

to hear it often.  I don’t tend to ask others

for much or put myself out there, because

when I do and I am told no, it just reaffirms

why I don’t ask for help in the first place. (Clearly, my negative anticipation puts out the spark and keeps me un-enrolled).  Not the best of attitudes I realize. So when I read these words, they made me laugh. “Were we to take a “no” less personally and ourselves less seriously we might hear something else” (pg 126). I half expected to see my name somewhere in this statement.

Practice 10: Being the Board

I have always believed things happen for a reason; good, bad or indifferent.  I realize I may not always know the reason and some times may never know the reason, but this type of thinking has always served me well.  My pet peeve in life are those people who think the world is out to get them and have a “whoa is me” attitude.  They believe everything bad happens only to them and therefore they have no control over their life.  Being the board is a great way to take control over my life.  Although I never recognized myself as “the board” after reading this practice I can definitely appreciate knowing that I am the board. With or without this label, accepting responsibility for my life and all that happens gives me the power to transform my experiences of any unwanted situation into one with which I care to live.

Project 11:  Creating Frameworks for Possibility

I have always believed that life is full of possibility.  Creating the frameworks for possibility is an area that I am currently working on.  My mind is cluttered with both chaos and possibility, with chaos winning lately.  I am in a transitional place in my life and am finding it difficult to focus.  As I was reading this practice I found myself having to read and re-read it.  Of all of the words and examples in this passage this thought made the most sense to me and perhaps explains my current struggle in creating frameworks for possibility.  “The person who rigorously maintains the clarity to stand confidently in the abundant universe of possibility creates an environment around him generative of certain kinds of conversations” (pg. 174).  Clarity is what I am lacking and therefore limiting my conversations.  This is most definitely a practice that will take some time for me to perfect.

Practice 12:  Telling the WE Story

I personally like this practice.  The connection of WE is a very powerful one.  WE can often do things that I or you alone cannot do.  I think about my daughter.  She is a single mom with a one year old baby boy.  On her own she struggles and is fearful, but together WE (she and I and her brothers) ease her fears and provide to her the support she really needs.  WE also work together to give her son, my grandson, the security in life that he deserves.  I too am a single mom, with 3 kids.  Unlike my daughter I did not have a WE story for support.  I had an I story.  I was and am responsible for my kids.  For my kids, WE is the way they were raised.  WE are a family.  WE are there for each other, and together WE are strong.

 

My response:

Such great insight you have had!  Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is take a look inside ourselves and begin the change from within.  I applaud you for applying the "We" story to your family.  Often times we fall into the patterns of our past and it is much harder to break these patterns and start afresh.  What a wonderful role model you are for your family! 

Wk 4 Response to Alicia

Alicia Wrote:

In reading through the final chapters of The Art of Possibility, it was something written in the final pages that seemed to sum up everything for me. The authors wrote "choose the practices that express yourself." This seems to incorporate each aspect of the book, each chapter, and combine it into one simple answer. An answer that many of us probably already know. That we need to chose what works for us.

That simple statement can be true in many different instances. We have to find the theory, the plan, the style that works for us. We cannot do things simply because someone else has done it that way. We can not be held accountable to something that may work for you, because it just might not be what is best for me. In those simple lines, "choose the practices that express yourself," I have been given the freedom to take and use what I can. The author seems to recognize the individuality in each of us. In removing the stress of having to try everything, I have been given the power to know and understand myself.

My response:

It's all about perspective...

Isn't this a great way to finish our Full Sail journey?  Throughout this year we have been trying to equip ourselves with new tools and see ourselves in a different light.  Now we come to the end and get a book that tells us, it's okay to be different, it's okay to find what works for you...

I think this also is the paradox that is the current trend of education.  The powers to be try to stick all of us in one box, with one program/theory that is supposed to be the solution to all of the problems.  Obviously this is a problem because we are not all alike...we have different strengths/weaknesses.  How do we solve this??  I'm afraid I have no idea... 

Wk 4 Reading: The Sky is not the Limit!

Photo by Heather Hanes

Again I found this week's reading to be so in tune with where I am in my life.  Often times I find myself wondering what else I have to do to get my students attention and help them learn.  Then I read the chapter about lighting the spark.  I realize that I need to get them enrolled in their learning.  I have to light that spark of interest...which in itself is not an easy task.

The idea of "being the board" is one that is wonderful, but one that you have to make a conscious effort to do.  It is so easy to put blame on others or even yourself.  It isn't as easy to take a look at everything and assign no blame.  I can relate this to my current administration.  It seems as though she is always after me about something...I need to stop and look at what is causing this instead of feeling resentful about it.  What has caused her to react to me this way?  How can I get her enrolled into my vision?  Again...easier said than done!

Creating frameworks is something that I would like to focus more time on.  I like the idea of not assigning punishments or consequences for everything.  I like the idea of creating vision led goals and objectives.  I this might be the link I need to help them with the high stakes testing.  If I can create a vision that sparks the interest of the students, it doesn't have to be about "passing the test".


There is a sense of power in telling a "WE" story.  My ex-husband and I told "I/YOU" stories.  We didn't mean to do it...but it had the same end results...a realization that we were no longer happy together, yet couldn't pinpoint the moment that this happened.  Since then, I have made the effort with my current fiance to change the wording.  I use "WE" stories.  It's never "I want this" or "You did that".  It's this is what isn't working and how can WE fix it together.  I also found that there is less likely to be an argument of grand proportion of you say "WE", thus saying I am in this with you.

This book has greatly opened up my eyes to a different way of thinking.  It also came at a great time!  We currently have a family member that has moved to Florida from New York and is living with us.  She has recently become discouraged since she isn't finding a job as quickly as possible...I introduced her to the "Universe of Possibility" and various other teachings in the book.  I have noticed a change in her mood and she now has 2 interviews next week!

Wk 4 Publishing_Presentation Project

Our Chosen Conference

So, Jen and I presented our rough draft presentation Tuesday evening.  It went over well, all things considered.  We have decided to submit our proposal for the eLearning Guild conference in Orlando.  We are under a tight time constraint, as proposals are due October 14th.  I think that we will be able to pull this together with a little bit of work.  The great thing is that we have been working together since month 1 and we both know each other and our work ethic, taste, projects, etc.  A huge bonus is that if we are selected we get one free admission into the conference and then we can split the cost of the other admission fee.  Plus, since both of us are within commuting distance to Orlando, we won't have to worry about booking a hotel room or airfare.

The response to our presentation was mostly positive.  We were advised by several people to change the color scheme, so we are going to work on that next.  We also will be adding and ice breaker activity, a resource page, a contact info page and one other collaborative activity.  I think that if you look at the project you can see that we both contributed to the presentation and that this isn't the case of one person doing more work than another.

Week 2 Think Aloud
Week 3 Think Aloud

Publishing Presentation Draft 1