Blog From Mike Padilla:
What an interesting book! I really wasn't sure what this book was about until I got the chance to jump into it this week and I must say, the content is really eye-opening and rather inspirational. I enjoyed each chapter and how they focused on different aspects of our lives and how we view things. In the first chapter, Invented, I thought the comment about the Me'en people of Ehtiopia and their reaction to photographs of people and animals was amazing (pg 11). I never would have imagined such a reaction to viewing photos for the first time. My initial thought would be to view the actual pictures, and not to hold and smell the type of paper! I liked the concept in that everything is already perceived in a certain way so we should look to change our perceptions to improve our lives.
In the second chapter, Universe of Possibility, I enjoyed reading about the 9 dot problem. I remember doing that in elementary school, and it stuck with me through all these years, so it was great reading about how the book viewed that and how we should look to move beyond the imaginary borders in our everyday lives. Again, this chapter focused on how our lives are shaped by assumptions, which was a bit of an eye opener, because I never thought about things like that.
The third chapter, Giving an A, is another remarkable way at looking at things. I liked the quote, "The A is not an expectation to live up to, but a possibility to live into" (pg 26). I also thought it was great how the book referenced Da Vinci's view on a block of marble and how inside of it is an amazing sculpture. Basically saying that we all are amazing inside, just waiting to be built up! The assignment in which one of the authors had their students write letters from their future selves in order to receive an A in class had me wondering how well something like that would work in my class. While I think it's quite a novel idea... I'm not yet sold on doing it for my students... yet.
The final chapter, Being a Contribution, focuses on how we should all strive to make a difference in the world, even if we don't know how or why.
Overall, I enjoyed reading the first four chapters of this book. It reminds me of one of my favorite books of all time, The Alchemist by Paul Coelho. One quote from The Alchemist is, "...when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too" (pg 150).
My comment to Mike:
HI Mike,
I was also truly inspired by Zander's thoughts and as you mentioned, I thought about how giving the A at the beginning of the semester would work in my class. I love the thought and reasoning behind it and couldn't help thinking that I would love to be a student in one of his classes, though I have no musical talent whatsoever. I was hoping Zander would talk a little about some of the feedback he got from other faculty members or administration about his teaching philosophy. It would be interesting to hear how he justifies it to faculty who totally disagree with him, because clearly it works for his students. I was wondering what you thought about his discussion of measurement in our every day lives. When I read that I could picture so many ways I do that in my every day routine and how I sometimes, in my mind, compare students who get an A versus a B and how when I write my notes on students assignments who received a B, I automatically focus on why they didn't receive an A because I think that's what they'll want to know. Maybe what I should be doing is using the "marble" metaphor in how I address students in every facet, whether its grades, assignments or just general conversation. Glad you enjoyed the book as much as I did! Take care, Mike.
comment can be found at:
http://mikeandhisthoughts.blogspot.com/2011/03/macweek2reading-art-of-possibility.html
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