Cherie Hellenbrand Response to Brian Flax Week 2 Reading

Week 2- Reading- The Art of Possibility

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Out of all the textbook readings we have had to complete over the course of the EMDT program, my favorite so far has been this book. I had a really hard time putting it down and ended up taking a lot out of the first four chapters.

I found the first chapter, “It’s All Invented” to be an eye opener to the art of possibility. It explains how the world we view around us is what we have been programed to receive, like the example of the frog. I found a lot of value in the exercise toward the end of the chapter where we are required to connect 9 dots without lifting the pen off the paper. I had never completed this exercise before and was frustrated trying to figure out how to solve the problem. It was not until I turned the page and was able to ‘think outside the box’ where the problem and the solution became more clear to me.

Moving on to the second chapter, “Stepping Into a Universe of Possibility”, one of my favorite lines from the entire chapter read “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 never really saw how much measurement rules our life until seeing it written down in front of me. I found this chapter to be the most interesting.

“Giving an A” was another great chapter that again tries to look past the world of measurement. I really appreciate what was done for the students in the music class. To give each student an A as long as they can tell you how they’ve changed over the course of a semester was a great idea, and the response and letters from the students was really nice to see. My favorite letter was written by Esther Lee, which focused more on the person that she became over the semester rather then the work that she produced. She focused more on making mistakes and learning from them, then making mistakes and dwelling on them. It was very refreshing to see.

Overall the first four chapters of the book were really an eye opener on how we live our lives and what we can do to make our lives for us and those around us better and happier. I’m looking forward to next weeks readings.

1 Comment

Cherie Hellenbrand

Brian,
I agree with you that taking the time to listen to our students is vital.  The question I will continue to search for while reading this book is how.  Class numbers continue to rise.  Next year many of my classes will have 30 students.  A full time teacher has five different sections, which equal 150 students.  I now know I need to invent new methods to do so, by thinking outside of the box.