MAC – Month 11 – Week 4 - Comments on Jeff Kohls’ Blog

Jeff,

Most times it is so much easier to initially place blame on something outside of us when things don’t go the way we had anticipated. This stance most often relinquishes us to being like a cratered moon, constantly being bombarded by space debris crashing into it. Putting ourselves into the game as the activity builds an atmosphere around us, letting most small issues to dissolve before reaching us.

On Saturday, September 25th Jeff Kohls wrote:

Be the Board?

It's quite a concept to remove oneself from the game as player, and establish oneself as the board. Especially the board on which the whole game is being played, taking the problematic aspect of any circumstance from the outside world and bringing them into the boundaries of yourself.

Much of the reading of Practice Ten, Being the Board focus on the diffusion of the personal ego, which can be very difficult to any individual to do. As humans, I believe we possess traits that cause us to place blame, compete, and remain in number one position. These are intrinsic to our ego.

According to this practice, the first step is to self-declare, "I am the framework for everything that happens in my life." What a radical, and difficult concept to adopt. But in order to ensure that we experience a peaceful journey through this life, we must adopt ourselves as the board, remain on track, be present without resistance to the way things are, and act effectively. Experience a graceful journey. Some things happen that are definitely beyond our control, but to experience them in this graceful existence can leave our spirit whole, and leaves us free to chose again.

The analogy of identifying oneself to the chessboard, and not the chess piece or strategist, allows us to better interpret the concept. By becoming the framework for the game itself, we give ourselves the power to transform our experiences of unwanted situations into ones in which we want to live. When we begin to see things differently, other changes can occur.

Step two of this practice is contemplating for the self, "how did this get on the board that I am?" This practice allows us to see the obvious and then not-so-obvious contributions of our calculating selves, or earlier decisions that we may have made that landed us where we are.

Being the board is not about blaming oneself, however. Self-blame follows the rules of the game in which we, as humans, divide fault and place blame.

Zanders indicate that when we are the board, we present no obstacles to others. We name ourselves as the instruments to which we make all relationships into effective partnerships.

Many of my colleagues have expressed gratitude for the assigning of this book. I would like to share in that sentiment, and offer that this is a book that I will share with my high school leadership students so that they may explore their Art of Possbility.

You can find Jeff Kohls' blog here.

MAC - Month 11 - Week 4 - Blog Post Comments on Scott Legere's Blog

Hi Scott,

I am so glad to hear that you have “seized the inopportune moment” and looked at all of the possibilities in your morning commute, instead of focusing on how it could be an inconvenience. It is true that our reactions to change paint a reality that is not always optimum, but we always have a choice in the way we deal with it. This is a great example of perfecting this exercise. Congratulations on your new teaching opportunity!

On Monday, September 20th Scott Legere wrote:

I now ride the bus. Every day, I walk 7 blocks to the Downtown Minneapolis 5th Street Station. From there, I catch the 94Express and ride into downtown St. Paul. If I'm a little early (a rare feat), I'm able to grab a seat by the window and sit relatively distraction free from the chaos that can be indicative of public transportation in a major metropolitan area.

I wasn't excited about being a commuter. For the last few years, I've tried to maintain a strict rule of living within a short bike ride or walk from the workplace. Still, when I received an invitation to teach Media Economics at the McNally Smith College of Music, I couldn't refuse the offer.

And so I commute. Initially, I was pretty against the idea. It was going to be inconvenient and take too long. On good days, the trip usually takes about 30 minutes. Yet, come January, I can only assume that a brief snow flurry will easily extend the trip to over an hour making the ordeal even more excruciating.

Yet what I've learned to do is to take this unique opportunity and reframe the experience into an opportunity. This new daily ritual is a break. A breath. And even a chance to read, prep for class, and watch the world go by. As it stands, only two weeks into the school year, I'm enjoying the bus.

In some ways, this process is akin to what the Zanders describe as "being the board"- readjusting your perspective regarding the systems of cause and effect that create specific situations. In this simple case, I've found that over time, this strategy (and the others already prescribed in the Art of Possibility) is real. We can pause, reflect on a situation, and draw from it a more positive conclusion or perspective than we had first held.

In one brief paragraph of analysis, the Zanders spoke of the strong reactionary powers that we have adopted as human beings. It is true, biologically and physiologically we have developed an extremely perceptive ability to sense potential danger. Clearly, this adaptation was instrumental in escaping predators and protecting early communities from danger. However, today, these same powers are likely a contributor to the negative feelings we can harbor towards new situations and events.

Without question, it is imperative that we avoid letting these receptive powers lead us towards a "downward spiral" of behavior or attitude. And, if we take a broader view towards the seemingly seismic changes happening in our schools, workplace, country, and world, our students especially need to be reminded of this concern.

Honestly, I think an excellent title for a teacher today could be that of one who "creates frameworks for possibility". I can see no greater nobility to extend to our young learners. The world is complicated. It is scary. And, being left to one's own devices without a roadmap, support, or self confidence building feedback, I'm sure today's students could develop severely negative opinions of the future and their place in it.

I'm really enjoying reading the Art of Possibility. It is refreshing, and I'm able to bring ideas and quotes straight from my reading into the classroom minutes later… after getting off the bus.

You can find Scott's blog here.

MAC – Month 11 – Week 4 – Reading – “Being the Board”

My sensei told me once that the difference between work and play is locus of control. If you choose to engage a challenge, you are able to have fun and express yourself. If you feel like the task is a burden and something that you have to do, it will always be work. Chapter 10 of “The Art of Possibility” seems to reflect this in the concept of “Being the Board”. It is often very easy for us to place ourselves at the mercy of the universe instead of saying that we are a part of its creation. Universe literally means, “one song”. It is this one song that we are all notes in, and doesn’t it make more sense to be in harmony with the music than to be in discord? Being willing to engage every challenge brings the control back into our hands, to the point where we are creating the beautiful music of the song.

This book has really given new context to some valuable life lessons. Just the idea that anything is possible is such a brighter outlook to take than saying, “if this and that changed, then I could be happy”. This is placing the control into something outside of you, which can make everything seem bleak and dismal. By giving you the power to choose to engage conflict, it then becomes a fun game to play. Being the board allows us to be creative in overcoming challenges that other players have introducing into the game. It would seem absurd to tell your opponent that they are not allowed to sink your battleship, the fun part comes in when we ask, “What strategy will I use now that my battleship is sunk?” It becomes much less about winning or losing, but how you play the game.

I am reminded in this reading of a passage from the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, where the main character responds to a potential employer’s asking of his qualifications. “I can think, I can fast, and I can wait.” This outlook of oneself is incredibly empowering. It states that no matter what is on the path ahead of us, we always have the ability and choice of how to deal with it.

MAC - Month 11 - Week 4 - Publishing-Leadership Project - Part 2 of 2: The Reception

Now that the Media Services website has had a few test runs, and the majority of the bugs are worked out of the system, the first place I would like present this work is at the Keystone College Administrative Council meeting. This monthly gathering serves as a forum for members of the College to communicate information about current policies and explore new ideas. It also provides an avenue to voice development initiatives to the executive committee of the council, which in turn acts as a liaison to members of the Cabinet, and the President of Keystone College. I will inquire about sharing this presentation at the November 9th meeting.

The presentation will consist of an explanation as to how my Action Research project was created to address the need of instructional technology support at the College, and how the work created through the project could provide a solution. Keystone has a growing online program, and a non-traditional program that meets on weekends. Providing this technology support infrastructure in an online format would help students and staff who cannot be on campus during our face-to-face support hours. I would then like to present the MS website, and give a short demonstration of the functionality and how to access it.

In addition to a live unveiling to the administration of Keystone I will also present the system to the campus via our daily newsletter, the K.C. Morning E-Notes. This information could be publicized at several times throughout the academic year, primarily nearing the start of each semester. Since it is sent to every email inbox on campus, there is a high probability that the website will get noticed.

This project could also be presented in two Keystone publications; The Chronicle, and the Keystonian. The Chronicle is a monthly newsletter designed to keep students, faculty, staff, administration, and alumni current with Keystone events. The Keystonian is an annual publication that concentrates on letting the community know about new developments at the school and its intended growth for the future. Both of these publications would be another great way to broadcast this new support system. You can find the archives to these publications here.




This system is custom made for Keystone College, so I feel that the initial venues to approach are ones that can function to disseminate the information to the rest of the school. For the future of this project I could see this support system helping our online program grow to offer more degrees, and make a Keystone education possible for a larger body of individuals for whom traditional education is not possible. I am excited for the possibilities.

MAC - Month 11 - Week 4 - Publishing-Leadership Project - Part 1 of 2: The Broadcast

I can envision taking the work complied throughout my Action Research journey to facilitate the growth of our hybrid and distance education programs at Keystone College. The Media Services department serves in many roles at the College, but the primary function is the integration of instructional technology into the educational structure. The first step is to find a means of broadcasting the existence of the support materials available on the Media Services website to the campus community. This would include redirecting links from the main Keystone website’s technology and support pages to the MS website. Also redirecting the support links within each of the various management software systems utilized and supported by the MS website.

In addition to the virtual networking and linking to the MS website, I would like to publish a quarterly announcement in the K.C. Morning E-Notes. This is a daily email publication containing current events, campus news, and upcoming activities on campus. It has proved to be a very effective way to communicate information to the entire campus community. I feel that rebroadcasting the link and function of the MS website prior to the start of each semester will promote learning of our various course management software systems, and allow users to realize the potential of these educational tools.

There are also several organizational meetings of faculty and administration that would also be a good opportunity to announce this project. This way the background behind the project could be presented and a live demonstration of the websites functionality could be shown. I hope that this would inspire several established initiatives in the realm of our online and distance education programs to use the MS website as a tool to support the growing number of students in these programs.

This will be presented in three steps. The first is to provide the physical connections between the software systems and the support website. The second is to tell the campus where the website is and what it can do. The third is to show the community how it works. This process would at least ensure that the campus is aware that these support tutorials are available to them.

Here is a link to the Media Services website. Be advised, the site is in a live working beta stage and there are some links that are not working.

MAC – Month 11 – Week 3 - Free Choice

This month’s readings have really inspired me to rethink my approach to life. I think after almost a year of highly intense and often stressful study in this program I have forgotten some of reasons why I started it in the first place.

1.) I want to become a more effective teacher.
2.) I want to inspire students to be as fascinated as I am about the subject matter I am in teaching it.

I think it is very easy for us to take our perceptions of reality as reality, and allow what we think is going on to color how we feel about it. So many times throughout this year I have become stressed and felt that I wouldn’t be able to see this endeavor through. Every time this happened, it would send me in a downward spiral of blaming myself for not being able to do it under the conditions, or blaming the program for being too difficult. This is like saying that in order for me to succeed there can be no obstacles in my path, and that the competition must throw the fight so I can be the victor. I have been allowed to remember this month that it is pressure that turns carbon into a diamond. The more difficult the challenge, the stronger one will be when they survive it.

So how do we survive the immense pressures that are placed on us daily? It may seem too easy to say, “Just don’t let it bother you”, but in essence this is what we must do. The more time we spend not accepting everything for the way it is, the more weight we add to our already very heavy lives. This in turn can make us focus on the weight we are carrying instead of where we are walking. This always makes us fall.

I am glad we had the opportunity to read “The Art of Possibility” at this point in our journey. It made me ask the question, “Why am I doing all of this?” Remembering that I am here to inspire others, has given me the inspiration to forge ahead.

MAC – Month 11 – Week 3 - Comments on Sharon Jones’ Blog

This is a great application of the ideas touched on in this week’s reading. So often we expend a lot of energy trying to break a barrier down with our fists, when if we took a step back and looked at the whole terrain we would see that we can simply walk around it. Perspective has everything to do with it, and the more narrow our view of a situation, the less likely we will be to “see” other possibilities.

On Saturday, September 18th Sharon Jones wrote:

What an interesting and enigmatic reading this week! Would that I had read this prior to posting to the discussion prompts! The first chapter assigned this week dealt with “the way things are.” The discussion prompts dealt with our experiences with introducing new ways to do things into the school (or business) setting. The second topic dealt with the reason educators seem to be so resistant to change. Both of these topics spoke to me immediately, and I jumped right in and began cataloging all the difficulties I have had and PLACING THE BLAME for the resistance I had met. Reading chapter 7, though, reminded me that there are two things I must consider. One is “the way things are” and the other is “the way I perceive things to be.” As Ben Zander has said, “How fascinating!”

Obviously “the way things are,” the resistance expressed by our administration to the use of technology with our students, exists. I even understand many of the reasons our particular district has set the standards that are currently in place, and I can continue to disagree with them, and work toward the development of a more enlightened policy. I may or may not be successful, but the primary reason for engaging in this program has been to arm myself with the skill set needed to help move education into the 21st century. After reading chapter seven, I asked myself what benefit my students or I gained from me blaming the administration for the current status quo. The answer, of course, was “none.”

What “is” is. What needs to be changed, needs to be changed. Instead of placing blame, I need to be looking at a much bigger picture. It is not enough to know why something is the way it is. I must also look at what small steps can be taken to facilitate change. In much the same way as the example story of the father who felt his son was uncommunicative and walled off, even though this same son had requested and gained counseling for his family, I must look at the walls and barriers I am creating through my interpretation of the situation in which I find myself.

You can find Sharon Jones' blog here.

MAC – Month 11 – Week 3 - Comments on Dana Kohls’ Blog

Dana,

I think you really touched on something here. Distance from the source of the energy plays a dramatic role on the way we are affected by it. You mentioned not having serious conversations through electronic means, because the intention of you message can be misconstrued. I could not agree more. I think for people to truly relate and understand where you are coming from on a particular topic, they need to be within your personal sphere of influence. Much like a spark can only catch other things on fire if they are close enough, perhaps proximity to a persons energy field aids in the transfer of the idea.

On Tuesday, September 14th Dana Kohls wrote:

It was difficult for me to choose between chapter 7 and chapter 9 of this weeks readings. Ultimately, I chose chapter 9 to write about: Lighting a Spark. The quote in the opening story struck a cord with me; "Certain things are better done in person." When conveying passion for a subject it is always better to do it in person, that way the audience has a feel for your expression, tone, excitement, interest and these elements draw them in. This is especially true of technology leaders. Often times we feel that we are not heard and that we are swimming upstream, so the subject and the change we are trying to implement deserves our attention. When we display our knowledge and passion in person we have a greater chance of being heard and understood. This is why I don't have serious conversations via text or email. The tone is so difficult to tell and the affect is non-existant, so it has such great potential to be misunderstood, not taken seriously or even ignored.

I love the concept of enrollment as an idea or spark for others to share. This idea that person to person I can affect change and be ready to be affected by it in return, is such a positive concept of sharing passion rather than forcing ideals. I think what also needs to be considered is how the message is delivered. I understand how over-zealous people can kill even the best of intentions or the slightest spark. I think as human beings, many of us have a uneasy or reluctant feeling to get involved with people and their ideals when they appear extreme in their passion. It's a fine line between being passionate and appearing a bit nutty.

You can find Dana Kohls' blog here.

MAC – Month 11 – Week 3 - Reading – The power of "The Force"

Most of my life I have been intrigued as to the possibilities of the human psyche. Probably from the first time I watched the Star Wars movies, I have wanted to cultivate “The Force”. Over the years, I had come across literature where people were performing supernatural acts that defied the laws of science. Humans that could regulate their body temperature, slow their heart rate, or move objects with their mind, functions that by previous definition were involuntary or impossible. When it was found that there were definitive changes in the brain wave patterns of individuals who could perform these acts, it was evidence to me that we were discovering an unknown energy. What else were we not seeing? At CERN in Switzerland, it was shown that the paths of subatomic particles were being influenced by the presence of scientists observing them. This seemed to link the power of our minds to our physical reality. If our presence were capable of having an effect on the outcome of a controlled experiment, what would happen if we were to focus our intentions? And how to we approach achieving this level of ability?



This weeks reading of “The Art of Possibility”, seemed to touch on where our minds need to be in order to focus our personal powers. Much like the Jedi, if we dwell on fear, anger, hate, or other emotions that rise from the Calculating Self, we move ourselves further from the light to the dark side of the Force. By being ever-present and aware of what is happening right now, we are able to see possibilities that we would have missed if we were “stuck in our own heads”. From this balanced point, we can also take on any conflict in our path effortlessly because we are only dealing with one thing at a time. We do this without fear of losing to the obstacles up ahead, or how we dealt with conflict in the past.

This type of focus also seems to generate ripples that radiate outward into our world. When we encounter a person who has experienced extreme hardship yet doesn’t seem rattled, we are inspired. When we witness a performer who is so adept and passionate about they are doing, we cannot help but be moved to our cores. This spark could be the result of waves of energy emanating outward and touching us. Much like a struck tuning fork can make another still tuning fork vibrate when they are placed near each other, perhaps our personal energy level can influence all those around us. If you watch the way waves interact in water, waves that are in harmony with one another will amplify each other’s power. By radiating waves of harmonic energy we have the potential to affect everything in our paths. What kind of world would you create if you were able to tap into this power?

MAC – Wk2 – Open Project

Just this evening I received an email from our Chief Information Officer stating that the long anticipated Moodle system was installed on our server at school. This is very exciting for me as our campus’s CMS administrator. For several years now I had hoped to offer this free alternative to our current CMS, Blackboard Learn ver. 9, to those faculty members who admonished the system for whatever reason. Now we have that chance.

I would again like to implement the work from my Action Research project and create tutorials that can be placed on the Media Services website to train users on the Moodle system. If the tutorials are successful in supporting learning on this new system, and the system itself is welcomed into the hybrid and online learning environments, I could see making a case to switch over to Moodle entirely. This could allow more control over customizing our learning environments, and ultimately save the college a lot of money in the process.

I hope to put into place systems that will measure the usage of the Moodle system in comparison to Blackboard to determine the rate of adoption. This will also be a great chance to track the usage of the Media Services tutorial website on a system from the ground up, to see if the availability of reference materials improves the overall acceptance of the new CMS system.

MAC – Wk2 Comments on Tamara Collins’ Blog

Tamara,

We are never able to see ourselves the way others perceive us. If a person has a thousand acquaintances, they will have a thousand reputations. Perhaps you were the ultimate disciplinarian to that student because that is the contribution from you that he needed? Perhaps other students of yours, even in the same class, would perceive your lessons differently because of their individual needs. Either way, it sounds like you are doing a fantastic job in the classroom, one that will make a difference to everyone who has the fortune to experience it.

On Saturday, September 11th, Tamara Collins wrote:

As an educator I often wondered what my students and trainees see when they look at me. Do they see a person whom is calm, relaxed and ready to tackle anything or do they see one who gets caught up in a fit of rage when things do no pan out the way they see fit? I would to say that I am somewhere in between. For the most part I am patient with others, but most times while in the classroom I was most definitely the ultimate disciplinarian. And guess what? That is exactly what one of my students who just entered his first year of college (Yale, might I add) said to me the other day when I saw him. I wasn’t sure how to take it. Was I to be proud or a little embarrassed? Well, when he hugged me and thanked me for making him work on his reading strategies over and over again, I was filled with joy and a sense of accomplishment. The Art of Possibility Chapters 4-6 spoke to me in a very familiar manner.

I realized that it was not the amount of time I invested in being “the ultimate disciplinarian,” but what I taught those students on how to act in and out of the classroom. Like the author in The Art of Possibility that was my “contribution” to society. I made sure that not only did my students learn the subject area, but also that they knew how to respect everyone. Or rather I became the “the contribution.” Of course I continue to read on, and come across Rule Number 6, thus far the most interesting.

The Rule Number 6, Lighten Up. This is most definitely easier said than done; however I continue to read because I am intrigued. According to the book when we follow the Rule Number 6 and lighten up over our childish demands and entitlements, we are instantly transported in a remarkable universe (Zander & Zander, p. 97). I think it’s safe to say that many people want to take things less seriously, but they often get caught up in what may go wrong. I believe this is one of those rules that take practice.

I suppose taking a chance is what it’s all about.

MAC - Wk2 Comments on Jeff Kohls' Blog

Jeff,

I find myself doing the same exact things. Often times can’t walk away from a project or an escalation at work until it is complete, even when I am no longer being efficient at working on the project. There is a little too much ego involved, “I am a person who always gets it done”, is something that often runs through my mind. The words from this chapter made me realize that there is no sense in pounding your head against a brick wall just to prove that you have a hard head. This is something that eluded me for so long because I wanted to be perceived as a problem solver. But what good am I doing for anyone, especially myself, when I end up taking other peoples’ monkeys home with me to mess up my house. By laughing it off, and attacking the problem without fear of judgment, the problems seem to resolve themselves. Great post!

On Saturday, September 11th, Jeff Kohls wrote:

Sometimes I believe in fate.

Sometimes I believe in chance.

I'm not sure which vehicle it was that placed The Art of Possibility in my hands, but it seems to belong there in so many ways.

I'm going to discuss the Rule #6, the Calculating Self, and Central Self.

Last week, I read a Tweet from a member of my PLN that stated, "I try not to take this place too seriously." I thought for a moment, wow, what a concept. Here I am, in all of my busy, high stress, time-managed glory, dealing with high school students, family relationships, graduate school work, leadership committees, assessments, irate parents, and car issues, and these 9 words that are so simple, rang an internal gong so loud, it frightened me. Then, I read about Rule #6.

You see, I tend to be a driven individual, often narrowly focused on the outcomes as opposed to the contributions. After all, it is the contributions that make the outcome. When facilitating a student-lead project, I'm very, very serious, and tend to get irate at the smallest problems or issues. The focus of the chapter is to lighten up, use humor and laughter to "get over ourselves," while keeping in check our calculating selves which could impede progress. The Zander's make a great point that "children grow up in a medium of language and have a long, long time to think. A child comes to think of himself as the personality he gets recognition for or, in other words, as the set of patterns of action and habits of thought that get him out of childhood in one piece." Habits remain from childhood into adulthood and become very difficult to break. This is me.

As adults, especially ones in a field where we are charged to care for the youth of our great country, we have a responsibility to be honest to our students, no matter what age, our clients, and our selves. How can we do so if our calculating self, our pride, our egos get in the way. Zander's go on to say, "when one person peels away the layers of opinion, pride, and inflated self-description, others instantly feel the connection. As one person has the grace to practice the secret Rule Number 6, others often follow. Now, with the calculating self revealed and humored, the central self shines through."

The most important paragraph in these three chapters, to me, is the final paragraph of the 6th Practice:

"When we follow Rule Number 6 and lighten up over our childish demands and entitlements, we are instantly transported into a remarkable universe. This new universe is cooperative in nature, and pulls for the realization of all our cooperative desires. For the most part it lies a bit above our heads. Angels can fly there because, as you may have heard, they themselves lightly. But now, with the help of a single rule, so can we."

MAC – Month 11 – Week 2 Reading – Taking Myself Too Seriously

I was told once that if you are to shine a light on a negative behavior that you exhibit, it cannot exist under your observation. For instance, if a person has a tendency to be dodgy with their eyes while in conversation, and no one ever tells them that it is often perceived as insincere or untrustworthy, they may never be able to alter the action. Something that stuck with me from the reading of “The Art of Possibility” by Zander and Zander this week was Rule Number 6.

In the weeks prior to the start of the fall semester at Keystone College this year I was the most stressed I think I have ever been. It was to the point that I was quite short and downright nasty to my coworkers when they would pick on me for being in a bad mood. I kept tabulating all the reasons I had to be stressed out, and why none of them could understand because they weren’t in the same situation as I. The work environment had become a place of eggshells and thin ice, because my temperament was spilling over into the attitudes of everyone else. My supervisor had on several occasions tried to speak to me about lightening up, but I couldn’t hear him through my mind’s voice screaming about all that I needed to get done in the upcoming weeks. It wasn’t until reading about Rule Number 6, that I realized that it was exactly what I was doing. I was taking myself too damned seriously, thinking that my life situation and my problems were more important than all of those around me.

This leads me back to my opening statement. It wasn’t until reading this passage, that it was revealed to me that I was taking it all a bit too seriously. Once I was able to see that this was the root of my transgression and negativity, I was able to laugh at how ridiculous I was acting. After that, the problems that I thought were the most serious in my world suddenly became like a book of fiction. They were only as real as I made them, and by looking at them with a bit of levity, they went from being impossible problems to fun challenges in a game that I was inventing as I went along. Who needs all that stress anyway?

MAC Wk1 Project Post – Open Topic

For this assignment I decided to perform the exercise of “Giving myself an A” as described in “The Art of Possibility” by Zander and Zander.

Tuesday, December 21st

Dear Full Sail University,

Today I will walk at graduation knowing that anything is possible. Like any of us who are reflecting, my journey began a long ago and only now am I able to see why every single moment of my life had to happen for me to be right here, right now. In the formal years of my early education I never performed as an “A” student because I didn’t think I was one. It probably wasn’t until my junior year at college that I really realized why I was in school at all. I actually wanted to learn. There wasn’t a definitive moment when the light bulb went on, but at some point I started becoming absolutely fascinated with the subject matter we were studying. Then my marks began to improve. At some point I realized that I could get an “A” and that it wasn’t impossible for me to be an “A” student. From there more and more doors opened up in front of me.

When life had presented me with a reason and a motivation to pursue a graduate degree, I thought, “If I could choose any school, where would I want to want to learn from?” So I applied, and was accepted. Never before would I have thought that possible. I knew that I would have to step up to the challenge. And as challenging as it was, I did it. There were plenty of times throughout that I wanted to give up, but I made it here. Now I am poised and ready for whatever life can throw at me.

I am receiving an “A” because I realize now that anything I focus my attention on can be a reality. It is all about scraping away the inessentials from the block of marble. We are all capable of becoming a work of art, if we are willing to shed the parts of ourselves that are keeping us from revealing this true nature. I appreciate everything I have learned throughout this journey, and the resonation it has created will carry me on a wave throughout the rest of my life.

With sincerity,

Justin Kraky

MAC - Wk1 Comments on Scott Legere's Blog

Scott,

I think many self-empowerment texts get a bad rap because they are trying to explain concepts in spirituality through a logical and linear fashion. The idea that “you are not your mind” as quoted by Eckhart Tolle in his book “The Power of Now”, is something that frightens people. If we are not the collections of mental perceptions that establish where we are in the universe, then what are we? We have become so attached to “things” to create our identity for us, that we don’t even know ourselves. We end up being an extension of our car, our house, our job, and we are afraid that we won’t be us if any of these things are taken away. This also traps us in a safety net of being like everyone else, so that we are not judged on what we don’t have. I think this limits what we are capable of. After all, it wasn’t until Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile barrier that runners around the world saw that it was possible, and then more and more were able to do it.

On Thursday, September 2nd Scott Legere wrote:

By nature, I'm sometimes skeptical about books like this. Self-help books that is. There was a trend- for years these books were coming out of the woodwork and every title and analogy imaginable was used to craft a somewhat glib yet optimistic view of the world.

Most authors seemed to suggest that if only we knew more about our personal strengths and how to find cheese, we'd surely all be much better off.

However, I'm coming to realize that "The Art of Possibility" is reassuringly different. First of all, the authors are basing much of their writing on science and clinical psychology, not "Hallmark Moments". This is a book rooted in science and scholarly research, and it shows.

Moving through the first few chapters, what really struck me was the authors' explanation that societally, we are often stuck within a perspective of a "Measurement Center". In short, we are constantly trying to organize our lives, careers, and aspirations along a series of presupposed societal benchmarks.

I could not agree more. The world around us readily defines what is successful, beautiful, and even good. As such, we are commonly pitting ourselves against a level of measurement that we personally did not create and are likely unattainable for the average individual.

I think that this realization is a critical point not just for working professionals and adults, but for young students who are not only struggling with the common challanges of school, but the more difficult and diffuse issues of identity and self-esteem.

Much of what has been discussed within the first few chapters of the Art of Possibility reminds me of some critical distinctions Howard Gardner raised in his seminal text, "Intelligence Reframed". While highlighting the social variability of "intelligence" early on in his work, Gardner used what I consider an extremely powerful analogy which I paraphrase below:

Imagine that you are a member of a tribe in the jungle. While individuals amongst the tribe would all likely possess a wealth of valuable skill sets, it is highly likely that the tribe would elect the most able hunter and provider as the leader of the group.

In short, the notion of individual "intelligence" as understood and valued by society, is variable based upon the cultural constructs of one's own individual community. Clearly, when measured against those skills often deemed as valuable here within the industrialized United States, we would likely have a much different vision and understanding for "intelligence" or "value" than someone subsisting in a jungle environment.

Humans do measure and analyze the world around them. Partly, I believe this phenomenon is a problem solving tool- we are trying to categorize and understand a very complex and dynamic world. However, per the authors, it is incredibly important that we understand the impact that our propensity for "categorization" or "measurement" actually is.

Furthermore, we are all reading this work together as a growing voice in the public sphere is raising concern about the creative aptitudes of tomorrows' graduates. The Chronicle for Higher Education, Newsweek, The New York Times, and authors like Seth Godin and Jason Fried have all ran headlines stories or written books about a perceived lack in creative competency in today's students. Many of these works purport that this "creativity gap" (as Newsweek described it) is due in part to our development of an education system that pre-defined "academic success" by measurement benchmarks such as memorization and fill-in-the-blank based assessments.

In all, I'm actually very excited to continue reading The Art of Possibility. I do believe that we as a society often unfairly judge and measure ourselves against ill-conceived benchmarks and it is imperative that we limit this behavior's affect not only on our lives, but the world view of our students.

ee cummings may have said it best:

to be nobody-but-yourself -- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.

Scott Legere's blog can be found here.

MAC - Wk1 Comments on Jeff Kohls' Blog

Jeff,

What you say here rings so true. If we are telling our students to complete assignments solely by our own standards, we are assuming that we know the only “right” way to do the work. A student that has a fear of failure will follow the predetermined rules and will stifle their own ideas as not wanting to “rock the boat”. In nature when water is not allowed to flow freely, stagnation results. If we allow students creativity to flow and to find alternative means of coming to the same conclusion, they will carve new channels in the realm of possibilities. It is funny to think about how much time we spend resisting change, when change is the only constant in the universe.

On Saturday, September 4th Jeff Kohls wrote:

I was most struck by chapter 3 of The Art of Possibility, and the concept of Giving an A. One of the first lines of The Third Practice that stood out for me, as I assess and reassess how important grades are to our society, is the in the second paragraph, "grades say little about the work done. When you reflect to a student that he has misconstrued a concept or has taken a false step in math problem, you are indicating something real about his performance, but when you give him a B+, you are saying nothing at all about his mastery of the material, you are only matching him up against other students." (Zander, Zander 25)

It points out that we, as educators, have our own standards and agendas that we impose upon our students, and punish them for not meeting those standards with a lower letter grade. We force our students to literally do it "my way, the right way" which can often suppress their creative abilities, which of course, could be the student's strength in learning. If children have their creative efforts stifled enough, they may lose their ability to think creatively, and we'll simply produce a society of young people who follow well, and rarely lead.

The chapter indicates that one can give an A to anyone from any walk of life. When we acknowledge the respect that should be shown for other members of the human race, putting aside our own standards and predispositions, we can offer an opportunity for a complete, unadulterated opportunity for people to learn themselves.

Jeff Kohls' blog can be found here.

MAC - Month 11 - WK1 Reading – Obtaining a black belt

Reading the opening chapters of “The Art of Possibility” by Rosamund & Benjamin Zander, I am reminded of two lessons taught to me by my sensei, Kurt Sussman. This past August I was to test for my black belt in the Tang So Doo style through the Blackhawk Martial Arts system. It had been six years since I had set out on the journey to pursue the rank, yet as the test drew closer I began to feel less and less like I was ready. When I began my training in this style, I had a preconceived notion of the skill level that I would be at by the time I was ready to test for black belt. A commitment to my schoolwork and maintaining life’s other responsibilities did not lend time for the hours of daily martial arts training I thought were required to wear this symbol around my waist. As the test date grew closer, I continually tortured myself with thoughts like, “I am not practicing enough”, “I should be able to perform this form better than I am”, and “I am not good enough”. Taking on this mindset, training would leave me aggravated to the point of hopelessness. I would never be the black belt I thought I could be.

After the four-hour test, I was told to sit and explain how I felt the test went. I went into a self-analysis of my weaknesses in hand-range, where I had bobbled in the forms, and why I felt weak for not being able to quit smoking to be in better cardio-vascular health. By my own account, I didn’t earn it for all of these reasons. As my sensei presented me with the belt, he told me that regardless of my performance during the test I would have been leaving the test that day with a black belt. I was somewhat astonished at this statement. He went on to explain that this test was as much a reflection on him as it was on me. If I were not at the proper skill level by test time, it would mean that he was not doing his job as the instructor. He said, “Your perceptions of reality are not reality itself, only your limited viewpoint of it. You do not see your growth as I have seen your growth.”

I realized then that I had spent a lot of time and energy on thinking that I was not a worthy candidate, instead of focusing on how far I had come and how amazing it was to be able to participate at all in something I wanted to do my entire life. Looking at myself with the critical eye of comparison to others that hold the rank only made me feel less than adequate. The test wasn’t about the juxtaposition of how I compared to every other martial artist, but of my personal growth throughout the entire time I had been training. It was simply a statement of who I was at that moment. It was more important that I knew myself, and could see my strengths and weaknesses without validation. If I could honestly evaluate myself, and my position in relation to my goals, I would have a roadmap to get to where I wanted to be.

Weeks after the test I had fallen into another slump. The completion of this task didn’t seem to change my life the way I assumed it would. In many ways I thought, “When I am a black belt all these other problems will go away, I will be confident, and able to take on anything”. However, nothing really changed. I didn’t feel like the all-powerful black belt that I should have been. I found that I was happier in the pursuit of being a black belt than I was in achieving it. Now that I was a black belt, I would have to start all over again, being graded on a different scale. Presenting my quandary to my sensei, his response was that it wasn’t about the destination, but the road to that destination that gives us happiness. A flower doesn’t think about being in bloom, it just grows towards the sun. These were both lessons that will stay with me forever. Pursue perfection, but know that you will never be perfect, and all that matters is that we grow. This seemed to be the overall message of the beginning of book, remove us from our personal measurement system and anything is possible.