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| Photo by Jason Peglow |
Although all of these chapters provided me with numerous quotes of wisdom that I have written down to be blown up later and placed on my walls at school, for this week’s reading it is chapter five (Leading from Any Chair) that resonated with me the most. Throughout this entire chapter, although the words on the page were the Zanders, I kept hearing my own. With all humility I can say that I know I am very good at my job. Ever since my days as a student teacher I have found ways to engage my students in the material and enjoy coming to my class. But, I have also always known that not every unit is spectacular and there are times when the class drags and is dull and useless for both the students and myself. This has always bothered me. “Who am I being that they are not shining?” (p. 74). This question from the book is the reason I am now in the process of completing my third master’s degree. I have always been in pursuit of what I can do to be better to make my kids and my lessons dynamic. In my first master’s degree my capstone project was on what makes an effective teacher effective. “Who am I being that they are not shining?” (p. 74). My second master’s degree was on streamlining and improving curriculum. “I began to shift my attention to how effective I was at enabling the musicians to play each phrase as beautifully as they were capable” (p. 69). Now, at Full Sail, I have focused my Action Research on the motivating factors of students and how to get them more engaged in the material. “I began to ask myself questions like “What makes a group lively and engaged? Instead of “How good am I?” (p. 68). As this current degree begins to come to an end, I am so excited to know that I will have the time now to look at all this knowledge I have acquired and finally be able to piece it all together in an effort to reassess my teaching, my lessons, and my students. “A monumental question for leaders in any organization to consider is: How much greatness are we willing to grant people?” (p. 73). On a side note I must say that I am REALLY enjoying this book.
Zander, B. & Zander, R. (2000). The art of possibility: Transforming professional and personal life. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Jason, I find it to be highly commendable that you would focus
ReplyDelete3 Master's degrees in the pursuit of student education. You really are an educator and a teacher. In pursuit of quality student engagement seems to be your priority and motivation. I agree that their are several chapters that seem to drag and not go anywhere. I find myself in the position where I think about. My plan is over the Summer to revamp certain chapters and topics with engagement. At this point, I believe engagement through technology is going to be my first plan of action. It isn't the students fault that the lesson isn't engaging.
Your post is really inspiring and engaging. It's time for me to get a better grasp of education and maximize my resources.
Wow, thanks so much for sharing your journey. I can really identify with the process of how one's educational pursuits influence one's teaching. While I do not have three MAs under my belt I do have two BAs and hopefully in the near future will re-engage my failed attempt at getting my doctorate. Onward and upward.
ReplyDeleteJason,
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to me that we are all in such a similar journey. I am happy that yours in going so well. I don't know if I have the stamina to pursue as many degrees as you, but I do long for the knowledge about how to make all of my units, and not just most of them, engaging so that they are as effective as possible. As a fellow English/Language Arts teacher I can identify with the "hit or miss" aspect of some lessons. I think the most important part of you question "What keeps a group lively and engaged?" is the group. What we have to remember as educators is that every group is different and that our work is never done. Kudos to you for constantly re-assessing and finding ways to make each lesson meaningful for each student.