Week 4 Blog Response 2: Tracy Myers

Tracy Myers Blog Post: Week 4 Reading- Art of Possibility

Tracy Myers Blog

My take away from the chapters this week- Chapter 9 Lighting a Spark- to inspire people to get on board with your ideas you must show a certain type of passion when meeting with them. Communicating this passion in your talking and actions demonstrates willingness for others to want to help in any way they can.   The energy will be magnetic and almost magical.  Chapter 10 Being the Board- accepting the choices I have made effect my life. Also realizing that life is a journey.  Playing the blame game does not help you it keeps you looking in the past.  Things that took place in the past you cannot change or have control over any more so you have to move forward with your life. Chapter 11 Creating Frameworks for Possibilities- creating a vision that stands around all possibilities.  Chapter 12 Telling the WE Story- This chapter was my absolute favorite from this week because it truly takes the focus off of “I” factor.  I like that the authors  centered the conversations to help us include ourselves in the problem solving for the issues that we face instead of pointing fingers or trying to be self centered (as we can sometimes be) by making everything all about “me”. 

It use to be people genuinely cared about other people because you were raised that way, but as family dynamics have changed so has the cultures/values changed... too the selfishness. This is ever presently seen in the classroom with my students, in the office among my co-workers, staff/faculty (friends) even within the family dynamics.  Often when I reflect in my journal each day after work I notice that my observations of the day are quite different from my teammates.  I believe what contributes to those differences in our observations has to be from our personal values  and beliefs.  I look at the "We" in and my teammate often centers all situations around the "me" or "I" factor. I am more hopeful that situations can be resolved by working together to reach a resolution whereas my teammate can only see things from a pointed view. 

My comments to Tracy: 

Tracy

You are so true in your statements about the self-centeredness of our society and how it has crept into everything. Until we can accept the fact that we need each other to be involved in decision making processes, our world will not change. Pointing fingers only stirs up the pot and causes resentment and sometimes chaos. I hope that you are able to help create that "We" spark for your teammate.

Week 4 Blog Response 1: Julia Hutchinson

Julia Hutchinson: Week 4 / Blog 1 – “The Art of Possibility” (Chap. 9 – 12)

Julia's Blog Page

This segment of Chapter 12 caused me to pause and reflect on how selfishness has infiltrated many aspects of society over the decades. Years ago, people genuinely cared about other people, and the concept of humanitarianism wasn’t a concept – it was an embedded character. Nowadays, it’s every man for himself, and the selfishness has made its way into the classroom. A few weeks ago, I showed my students how Evernote can help them take more effective notes in the classes. Later that week, as I lectured on information that would be on an upcoming quiz, I noticed quite a few students were absent. I then stated to the class that perhaps they could share their notes, via Evernote, with students who missed the lecture.

You would think I asked them to share toothbrushes by the response I got.

There was no sense of ‘WE’ or teamwork – “let’s make sure WE all do well on this test” – nothing! I have found that students are initially reluctant to perform in ways that contribute to the sense of community. It’s often “these are MY ideas”, “this is how I will design it”, or “MY work is better than yours!”

Thankfully, one of the benefits of using Edmodo for my classes is that it allows students to share ideas, thoughts and resources. Students get a sense of belonging that empowers them to shift from an ‘I-centric’ mindset to a “WE-centric” mindset. I love the three questions posted by this chapter. My hope is to refer to them as I help my students build the teamwork skills that are essential to the creative industry.

 My response to Julia: 

Julia


This is the society of entitlements. Each man for himself. Many people can't see past the end of their noses. My children were watching a Lego cartoon video the other day when a phrase caught my attention. One of the characters was griping about having people on his team to help him be successful. A supervisor's response was "We build on each other", which is totally connected with this concept. The success of one person is, in many respects, dependent on the culmination of the work of many.

Week 4 Wimba Recap: Readings and Month 12

This week’s Wimba was a recap of the book “The Art of Possibility” as well as a sneak peek of what is expected in month 12. Here is what I absorbed from the session.

“The Art of Possibility” recap was essentially a discussion centered on questions presented in the session.

Question 1: How is the Art of Possibility different from “The power of positive           thinking” or Oprah’s “The Secret”?

            I vaguely remember “The Power of Positive Thinking”, but I do remember    that it deals with the perspective that we look at life and issues that may         arise. “The Art of Possibility” helps us to see that negative thinking is a           downward spiral that leads to a less than effective life. Both books are very   closely related in that respect.

Question 2: Which chapters meant the most to you and why?

            Two favorite chapters are “3:Giving an A” and “6:Rule number 6”. While        reading, “Giving an A” I began to visualize many of my students that have    been dealt a low blow in their life, whether it be their social status, or in         other ways. When given the opportunity, students will soar when they are    given the opportunity to rise above a grading system bent on judgment. 

            Rule number 6 was very inspiring because I tend to take myself too seriously           sometimes. It has become my new mantra. “Remember rule #6”

Question 3: What things are you going to take from the reading and use in your teaching and your life?

            I think that this teaching could help other teachers reignite the spark that led them to their teaching career. Many teachers I’ve seen are very negative and have lost some of the passion that led them to the profession in the first place. Some of the things that impacted me the most from the book was that people are empowered, not by force, but by giving freedom. Freedom to explore and express.

Month 12 is upon us. As discussion began about the upcoming month, I began to feel anxiety about everything we have to accomplish to get finished with the EMDT program. Then I realized that most of it has been done. What a ride. This program has really been an immersion in so many levels that I have more confidence in my teaching ability now. Looking forward to making it to the finish line. We have fought the good fight. We have finished the course. We have kept the faith.

Week4 Leadership Project Blog Post: Leadership Role Model Reflection

I spent quite some time thinking about the question of leadership style and a person or organization that I admire. The organization that I believe exhibits leadership geared toward helping music educators integrate technology is TI:ME, Technology Institute for Music Educators (www.ti-me.org). The organization is focused on helping music educators with the issue of integrating technology into their classrooms through training, books, articles, workshops, and conferences.

I believe that TI:ME can help to be a stepping stone for me to interact with educators that have the same mindset: helping students fall in love with music within this technology age. There are also be the possibilities of presenting at conferences as well as publishing articles within the organization.

My next step is to join the organization and begin the process of interacting with those that can help me along, and in turn, help others.

Week 4 Readings: The Art of Possibility Chapters 9 – 12

The final four chapters of reading for this week are entitled “Lighting the spark”, “Being the board”, “Creating the framework for possibility”, and “Telling the We story”. Each of these chapters had inspiring stories of how people are engaged in the enrollment process, where the light is spread from person to person through a single spark. Looking at life with different perspective, being the board, and telling the story with the We perspective are all ways to reframe how we look at life and dealing with others.

Chapter 9, “Lighting the spark”, was insightful for me because of how seemingly negative outcomes were looked at through a different perspective. Instead of letting downward spiral thinking ruin an outcome, positive aspects of events were brought out in the light, thus creating that spark.

Chapter 10, “Being the board”, really made me thing about how events and negative thinking in our lives tend to sometimes control the game. If we shift our perspective that we are the game board, and then when events and struggles arise that are not part of our game, we choose to not be the victim and remove them from our game.

Chapter 11, “Creating the framework of possibility”, a vision is created to be the frame of reference for possibility. The pursuit of the vision is a game of sorts that marks your territory. Playing the game allows us to see all of the possibilities available whether we fail or succeed.

Chapter 12, “Telling the We story”, draws on all the other practices from “The Art of Possibility” as we look away from “I” and more toward “We”. This practice is intended to help tear down the walls that divide us and allow us all to work together in harmony.

This book has great insight into living a life full of possibilities. The practices in this book are inspiring and have helped me begin the process of reframing possibility in my own life.

Week 3 Wimba Leadership Project Sharing

Although I was unable to attend the week 3 Wimba session I thought I would take the opportunity to discuss my publication document.

My leadership document is based on my Challenge Based Research; integrating technology into the music classroom, specifically high school band.

The paper includes an abstract describing the overall CBR project, literature review, pre and post surveys, and the two phases of the project. The final section describes the outcomes of student engagement based on the post survey.

In the literature review the big idea began to emerge, which was motivation and engagement. The paper  discussed how music and technology are motivators as separate entities, as well as combined.

In both phases, I used technology combined with music education to draw the students into deeper learning. They had complete access to Web 2.0 tools (www.aviary.com, www.podbean.com) , as well as desktop software to create, edit, and publish their music projects. They were also allowed to publish their work to a podcast hosting site linked to iTunes as an RSS feed.

The results were as anticipated. Technology is an important draw to students as they showed a high level of motivation to continue working with technology in music, and to continue in band. The project was a success.

Leadership Project Document

Julia Hutchinson gave me feedback via email about the document. Here are her comments. 

Abstract -

David, your abstract gives a wonderfully concise picture of your yearlong CBR. It presents a clear picture of the problem, plan of action, and the results.

Introduction/Motivating Students Paragraphs -

Great intro. The paragraph after the intro paragraph unnecessarily repeats from the intro in regards to educators having a problem with motivation and engagement in the classroom.the sentence that starts with, "The research findings revealed that the 86..." needs a little tweaking for present/past tense consistency.

" In similar research, and in an aim to involve..." --- excellent paragraph 

"Hammel (2003) discussed the importance..." --- excellent paragraph

"Motivating Students Through Technology"

The two sentences that begins with Burns (2006) could be one paragraph. The second Burns sentence needs tense tweaking.

"Combining Music and Technology in Music Education" and "Conclusion"

These areas are beautifully written!

Phase 1 Data - excellent. I can visualize your students engaging in this project, creating music loops, RSS feeds and giving each other feedback.

Data Collection - excellent. (Just a thought: since you have nine students, I wonder if it would be better to give the number rather than the percentage? Not sure, again, just a thought.)

Phase 2 Data - excellent
Data Collection - excellent!

Conclusion - excellent

David, I really enjoyed reading your paper. I didn't have to force myself to 'get it'. Aside from a few minor adjustments, I would argue that your paper is an outstanding presentation!!

Julia Hutchinson

Week 3 Publishing Leadership Project Hub

Many publications exist for the purpose of sharing the expanding knowledge of music educators nationally and world-wide. I initially chose two music education journals as options for submitting my leadership project. These seemed to be the best options for submitting my Challenge Based Research project with. There are a few other options out there, but these are the main two that I chose. 

My first choice of journals was the Music Educators Journal. 

http://mej.sagepub.com/

The second publication that I found was the Music Teachers National Association publication American Music Teacher.  

http://www.mtna.org/publications/american-music-teacher/

According to the MTNA website, “The purpose of American Music Teacher is to provide articles, reviews and regular columns that inform, educate and challenge music teachers and foster excellence in the music teaching profession.” This publication is produced bi-monthy. 

Leadership Blog 1 - To Post or Publish


Leadership Blog 2 - Where do I want to share?


Leadership Project Document

Week 3 Blog Response 2 - Julia Hutchinson

Julia's Blog Post: 

Week 3 / Blog 1 – The Art of Possibility (Ch. 5-8)

I started this week’s reading while on my train commute into NYC. The quiet ride (despite sharing a train car with 250 other riders) was briefly interrupted by my “Wow!” response to page 68:

It’s so true! The conductor doesn’t make a sound at all. Yet it is his influence and ability to empower others to make beautiful music that counts. I immediately applied the principle to my role as an instructor. It doesn’t matter how great of a designer I may be. Any determination of greatness lies in the work that my students produce. It lies in my ability to help them become problem solvers and critical thinkers. The students our program graduates are, in many ways, a reflection and the product of the instruction they receive. Now, is it a direct correlation? Is there an absolute cause and effect relationship between the quality of instruction and the demonstrated competency of the student? No. There are too many other factors to consider. However, the principle of empowerment and influence simply cannot be undermined.

Link To Julia's Blog

My response to Julia: 

Julia,


Well said. We have a huge responsibility to help our students be all that they can be. I believe that there is somewhat of a correlation between the outcome of the learner and the instruction. There are the occasional exceptional student that rises above poor instruction because they are self empowered. Nonetheless, there is definitely a need for empowerment in our schools.

Week 3 Blog Response 1- Anthony Hunt

Anthony's Reading Post - The Art of Possibility, Chapters 5-8

Once again “The Art of Possibility” enlightened me. During Ben’s discussion in “Leading from Any Chair", I began to think about my approach to my program. His approach is very similar to mine as well as other directors I know. Our concept is to mode students to understand the interpretation of each piece for any performance. In no means am I specifying that this is a bad thing but I never once thought about if I were enabling students from performing to the best of their abilities.

I don’t think I have ever been in a rehearsal setting that did not allow engaging conversations between the director and ensemble. I make it a point to have meaningful discussions about music my ensemble is performing and about life in general. I always want students to have an enjoyable time learning about and performing music. They will also be the first to tell you that I will acknowledge any mistakes on my behalf and apologies without thinking twice. We are all humans and no one is perfect (Even though my students try their hardest to catch me on this since they think I know it all!).  I did enjoy the read about giving an individual with the precious knowledge of a particular craft an opportunity to lead. I occasionally try this with students whom I know are capable. And not just the leaders of the band; I’m referring to all with the burning desire to achieve. I do get some that are too embarrassed to come up to the podium, but those who accept are really appreciative. Maybe I will use that line on listening to the music from the back of the theatre to get more to participate. Oh, and the statement under the subtitle “Leaders Everywhere” fit perfectly with my Capstone Project. The Youth Philharmonic Orchestra had to “sight-read” a complex composition by a Cuban composer. If they did not properly prepare to sight read advanced music, they wouldn’t have been able to make it through the piece.

If Rule Number 6 isn’t one needed within my facility then I don’t know what is! One thing I can’t stand is friction in my program or in the building. I do like the fact that Zander mentioned humor as the best way to “give over ourselves”. As previously mentioned, we are all humans and we will make mistakes regardless. Instead of becoming unprofessional and acting outlandish, lighten up and laugh about it (Just venting). I can admit that during intense rehearsals preparing for a performance I can become a very rude obnoxious individual because I strive for perfection. It does somewhat stress the students out because they do not want to make any errors. Very recently have I begun to tell jokes and make a fool of myself to give them something to laugh about and ease the tension. Doing so has actually allowed them to perform better and enjoy doing so. I do appreciate the stories associated with the chapters to give personal accounts on how they approached scenarios. I don’t think I’ve been this excited about reading a book in a while.

In the chapter “The Way Things Are”, Zander expresses the need find ways to overcome negative aspects by introducing positive pathways. I try to bring this example to the table when dealing with my program. You hear so much about the Arts being underfunded; I can tell you that this statement doesn’t explain half of how much funding our programs actually receives. It becomes frustrating when we have to sustain a program with instruments purchased 3 to 4 decades before you were born. Of course, instruments that old may be beyond repair. Instead of concluding that those instruments would become doorstoppers, we find home remedies to repair them to the best of our abilities. Even though they may not be the best quality once repaired, students would still have something to use in order to participate with the rest of the class. As an educator, we have to find pathways to deliver us from certain negative aspects, which would prevent students success.

 Anthony's Blog Link

My Response to Anthony

Anthony,

It takes guts to be vulnerable with students. I have often allowed students to lead my music class which are primarily steel drum ensembles. It really forces the students to be vulnerable since they are allowing a peer to oversee what they are doing. The comments that hit home were "The Way Things Are" comments. In the last four years I have had to move to three different campuses in the same school district. One of them was by choice. The final one was the consolidation of my high school with another high school in the district. I could look at this move as a less than positive situation since I am losing my band hall, and moving to a building that I already taken by another band director and his program. I, however, look at it as a positive move. The campus is brand new. I will have half of the band load as previous years, as well as taking on three technology classes. If we constantly seek the negative, we will find it.

Dave