Cheryl's Original Post
Well, week 3 and it is chapters 5-8.  There were many tidbits that I picked up from this reading of "The Art of Possibility".  I will share my favorites with you.  The first major ah ha moment for me came when the author told about getting in the taxi and the passenger tells the driver to hurry! They need me everywhere!!!! This is so true in life.  As a mother or father, you are needed everywhere all of the time! You wish you could grow 8 arms and 8 legs.  As a teacher it seems that every student needs help at the same time on a different problem.  The next one that struck me was that power is the ability to make other people powerful.  This thought we have heard before, but maybe not in this way.  We may have heard it as give a man something to eat and he eats right then, teach him to grow his own food and he will be forever full.  Here is another: grab what you love and give it everything.  So often we tend to meander through life, giving what we feel comfortable giving, but to give it everything possible leaves the possibilities completely open!  As I continued to move through the reading I came to a spot where the author asks us to think about putting Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" before every remark we make.  Can you imagine? The last chapter was all about letting go.  That is where this week's picture came from.  We have to jump without worrying about every little thing to reach the highest and furthest that we can.  I think of the movie "The Great Outdoors".  We often forget that very simple command to let go.  John Candy is water skiing and after giving his son lessons on safety and letting go of the rope if you get into a situation, he totally forgets this himself and his son is screaming for him to let go of the rope but he doesn't.  I hope all of of us this week can let go of our ropes and travel further and accomplish more than we or anyone else could ever expect! Have a great week! Cheryl

Francine's Comment to Cheryl
Cheryl great post on this week's readings.  I too was engrossed in the anecdotes that this book is offering.  To me I feel that this book of possibilities has created a monster in me.  I am planning to present many of these to my learners this year by placing posters and banners with the practices that Zander has offered in this book.  I applaud your ability to come up with ah ha moments and take them and make them your own.

Wk2 Comment #1

Cheryls Original Post
This picture depicts this weeks reading exactly as I interpret it.  Life is what we make of it.  We choose the direction.  There were many things in the reading that I enjoyed.  I loved how the author described success and failure as a two sided coin, but if we choose contribution instead, it is a one sided coin and therefore a win-win situation for all.  I also loved the wording well heeled and down at the heel. I had never heard that before.  It must be the way that other countries describe the highs and lows of life.  Something else that would do us all good to remember is to "engage people in your passion for life", and "don't speak to cynicism, but to passion" (Art of Possibility).  I try to envision a world where there was no cynicism, only passion for life, and it is definitely a mind blower! The thought of giving all students an A the first day of class was awesome! Can you even begin to imagine the look on a bunch of kids faces the first day you handed out all A's? Talk about a jaw dropping experience! The thought of throwing your arms up in the air and exclaiming "how fascinating" when you make a mistake is also cute.  All in all, I think that this weeks reading had the intended effect on me.  It got me thinking, and at just the right time. School is beginning and this was a great reminder that life is all a story, and it is all in the way we choose to tell it! Have a great day!

Francine's Comment
Hey Cheryl!
I love your analogy of what you read and the effects it is having on your walk on this journey.  I too liked the idea of throwing your hands up during a performance when a mistake is made and saying "how fascinating," I laughed so hard at this.  Anyway, this book has effected me too, in that I have learned that I need to step out of the box and invent something new that would give me other choices.  I also love the fact that this book was told from two perspectives. A musician and a therapist, how unique is that!  Good luck to you in your new position!

Wk2 Readings - The Art of Possibility , Chapters 1-4

Well first I will speak on the video of Benjamin Zander's presentation. Ben humorously engaged an audience of 1500 people to take a journey in listening to classical music. Awesome!  I was so amazed at how engaging he was and thoroughly enjoyed his antics and the analogies that he used to describe how human nature can direct us into negative or positive thoughts about our daily walk in this life, irregardless to what path we have chosen.  AND he did it all with his awesome and beautiful piano playing.  The video was a great preface or lead - in to the book, The Art of Possibility: Transforming  Professional and Personal Life!

Photo Credit: Francine Jackson - The Art of Nature

The stories that Ben and Roz have shared in this book have truly opened my eyes to the many possibilities that I still have left while I am on this journey called life!  Chapters 1 - 4 were very interesting and it is hard for me to choose which topic I want to address in my blog because they were all so very true and enlightening.  As a musician, the art of possibility spoke to me in such a way that I am considering the questions that were posed in the "first practice", What might I now invent, that I haven’t yet invented, that would give me other choices (Zander and Zander, 2000).  It is fascinating to think that "it is all invented!" And truthfully it is! Our thoughts, our interactions and how we approach life is all invented.  We tend to grab hold of the things that we were taught by our parents as our own, but actually they invented some of those things and now it is time for us to invent our own ideas and ways of handling adversity and positive outcomes that occur in our daily walk while on this journey.

We tend to encourage our children to accept the ideas that we have invented but actually we need to allow them to invent their own.  By protecting and sheltering them so much, our children have become stagnant in how they approach life, because their ability to achieve success and make good decisions in whatever they choose to do has been permeated ostensibly by our inventions.

Stepping out of the box is really hard for some people to do. In the "world of measurements," which is our familiar world we tend to stay inside that box because it is our comfort zone.  For example, my sister is a wonderful person, but is not able to step outside of the box of familiarity.  She is apprehensive in doing things differently than what she is accustomed to doing, and so is her daughter. The apple does not fall far from the tree. On the other hand, I am not afraid of trying new things or moving away from the familiar, and my daughter is just like me. My daughter is 24 now and has never been afraid of people or trying new things in seeking out new possibilities. In the final analysis I found the following statement of the Zander's to be very profound and that is; in the measurement world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold. I felt this was a very powerful statement.

In addition, after reading the 3rd practice of "Giving an A," I felt compelled to call my sister to read her a passage from the wk 2 readings from this section.  In short, she has been frustrated about her job and the fact that she is isolated in her position and it appears that her supervisor is not much help in assisting her with her low moral. So I read her the passage on page 46 which basically states that giving yourself an A is not about raising your self-esteem but it allows you to lift yourself from the success/failure ladder and spirits you away from the "world of measurement" into the universe of possibility and it gives you the opportunity to see all of who you are an be all of who your are, w/o you having to resist or deny any part of yourself."  I woke her out of her sleep to share this with her and she thanked me.

I believe that I am a contribution. I didn't know I was playing this game. But I am.  I believe that I am contribution when I am teaching my students about life and the games we must play to survive.  Although I teach "choral music," I believe that I do much more than that.  I am nurturing and provide my students with a place where they are comfortable talking about whatever they need to discuss with me.  This may seem small to some, but is is huge when it comes to the daily needs of our students.  The illustration of the 5 year girl who wanted to know what the music of the composer Mahler  was trying to convey and that she was able to discern that the first story that she was told was not the truth, was quite profound.  And the fact that after she attended the concert that Zander conducted, she wrote him a note thanking him for having the orchestra transmit Mahler's feelings through his interpretation of that music was just so insightful. Loved reading the book!  Thank you, Joe! 




 

Wk 1 Wimba Session

Photo Credit: Francine Jackson - Vacation 2010 Cap Cod

Week 1 Wimba was very informative! Joe informed us of all of the assignments and thoroughly explained the process for posting to our Blogs.  Class is like a good game, Joe stated. Just jump in!  I like that analogy!   A course overview was discussed and due dates were highlighted to ensure that we all are on the same page.  You guys had some issues with hearing Joe in Wimba, his voice did sound a little muffled to me too when I was listening to the Wimba Archive.  While watching the videos in prep for Wimba, I liked the fact that Joe recapped the information for us which helped me to organize everything.  I also took screen shots from the videos. So in this class, we get the chance to finalize everything in the Capstone Project so that by our last month (YAY!) we have everything in place.  This is also an opportunity for us to utilize what we learned in previous classes in MAC. Most of our activities will be posted to our blogs that we created earlier in this program.

The details that Joe shared regarding blogging and responding or commenting to 2 of our classmates blog post, the schedule, Capstone, due dates and our Lit Reviews really allowed me to see how everything falls in place for this class, especially with the Capstone (CBR) project and abstract. Having the schedule broken down really facilitates everyone achieving optimal success. Also the information concerning submission of our Lit Reviews was informational.  Having the information to reformat our lit reviews is quite helpful.

In addition we have a PLP to complete that is due week 4 which encompasses us editing our Lit Reviews and turning them into papers for publication of some sort.  We also have to make a decision on whether we want to publish it or present our research to various organizations and or publications. We can also include our phase 3 cycle in this paper. Wow! That is awesome!  Thanks for all of the insights into what is expected of us in this class, Joe.

Wk 1 Readings - Copyright

Photo Credits: Francine Jackson, TJ Ambassodors of Sound 2010

This week's readings, video lectures and videos were rather enlightening! An IDEA cannot be copyrighted and now copyrights can last forever. Wow! What an eye opener for me! The subject of copyright is one that I am familiar with, in that I am a Choral Music Educator.  When I hold discussions with high school learners about piracy and copyright issues, most of them are clueless when it comes to downloading movies and music. Even though I am fully aware of copyright and the plethora of problems that come with using music samples and or video clips for music videos and other media, viewing the videos was quite educational for me.  Lack of interest can cause us to lose focus on some of the components of our profession at times. However, I have gained a whole new perspective about copyright, and the stringent laws that are involved.   Many times the propensity of those of us who constantly download music and videos without giving a thought to copyright can be considered unintentional in some instances. However, most people do the crime knowingly, but have no thoughts about doing the time.

The notion of Fair Use is not new to me. But honestly I had no idea of how this affected copyrighted materials and media. The Shepard Fairey case and the Obama poster was interesting, but certainly Shepard augmented the photo and used it, not intentionally perhaps to enhance his financial condition, but he did gain substantial amounts of income from it.  I believe that he should pay the original creator for producing this media for the world to share.

The issue of Dr. Kings "Eyes on the Prize" documentary and the fact that it is out of circulation because of astronomical fees attached to it to retain licensing is very disheartening. Much of the African American history is not passed on now to subsequent generations of this culture because it is not taught in public education and possibly not in many of the higher institutions of learning.  What is the solution? How do we continue to allow this to happen?  Does re-licensing for all important historical truths have to pay extortionate licensing fees? Just asking!! No harm to anyone intended.  

The concept of Creative Commons (CC) by Mayer and Bettle made it plain for me. I am looking forward to visiting the websites for the online music community since I am an avid musician.  Cute and to the point! Also Professor Bustillos recap of the video helped me to have a better understanding of CC. The symbols for CC are great for those of us who are visual learners. As one spokesperson put it, "Creative Commons allows us to move away from thinking about content, to thinking about communities; communities develop around content, the sharing that the license allows these communities to come together."