Cyndee

Cyndee
Fall 2011

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Wk 3 Response to Lori Hobbie

Lori, I loved this week's reading! It seemed like I left one chapter smiling, just to finish the next one smiling even more.

Your paragraph about the kids playing with the symphony reminds me of that commercial where the parents are in the audience to watch a piano concert, but when the curtains open their son is sitting at the piano plunking away when the famous pianist comes up and instead of getting angry, he sits down and plays with the child. That is one of my favorite commercials of all time. That is just one way of giving away greatness while leading from any chair.


Thursday, May 17, 2012

MAC Week 3 Reading Blog: The Art of Possibility Chapters 5-8

Ode to Joy!


Chapter 5
Any Chair
Our 4th grade class went on field trip to the symphony today. Over nine hundred 4th and 5th grade students from our district attended. The students had been practicing playing a small portion of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony on their recorders all year. As the conductor turned to the kids and began guiding them to join with the orchestra, I couldn’t help but think of the chapter. I’ve never heard Ode to Joy sound more beautiful. Wonderful things can happen when you are “willing to give away greatness!”
Chapter 6
Rule Number 6
Again, I thought of my students as I read this chapter. Many of my students feel so incredibly pressured by standardized testing and the resulting “data” that their educations have become something to survive rather than enjoy. It is sad to see kids so stressed about learning. I make “a practice” out of making mistakes in my classroom. I tell my students how wonderful mistakes can be; I try to do what I can to help lighten up the academic mood that is prevalent on my campus. Educationally, I think this “rule” speaks to a social/emotional capacity that our students will need to survive. Our  social/emotional classroom instruction is driven by data we receive from students in the form of body language and facial expressions. Meeting each kid’s needs is an art but with rule number 6, it’s impossible to make a mistake!
Chapter 7
The Way Things Are
I love the diagrams in this chapter. The diagram of the closed conversation (spiral) verses the open conversation (sun with rays). There is a lot to be said about assumptions verses assessments (or facts) here. That can be a little confusing at times because what often seems like “fact” is actually just something we started believing at some point and it seems as real to us as the actual truth. I like the quote by Anais Nin, “We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.”
Chapter 8
Giving Way to Passion
The 2 steps written about in this chapter are easier said than done. Sometimes “noticing where you’re holding back” can be like trying see a color you’ve never seen before. I also think that noticing is the hardest part. If I can stay open to noticing, then letting go and following the possibilities becomes more like going with the flow.

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