EDM613 Wk4, post 2: Response to Mike Coletti

@ Mike Coletti's Musings -Wk 4 Reading: Art of Possibility, Chapters 9–12 (original post by Mike Coletti on April 17, 2011)

Photo by Jason Peglow

Mike: I absolutely agree with your comment that the most challenging part of lighting a spark in the student is maintaining it throughout the year. I remember during my student teaching days that my coordinating teacher told me that our job as teachers was to leave our lives inside the car when we got out to go into school for the day. If we can be there for the kids who bring so much of their own lives to school, they see that we are there for them and the return on that investment is always incredible. Leaving my life at the car is very difficult to do, but it is a sacrifice that I am willing to take for my students. Thanks for the post and the bringing up of such a valuable memory.

Wk 4 Reading: Art of Possibility, Chapters 9–12 (posted by Mike Coletti on April 17, 2011)

As I have mentioned in my previous posts regarding this book, the insight offered by the Zanders transcends the fields of music and psychology and applies to all human relationships.  The concluding five chapters neatly tie it all together.  Each of these sections builds a case for creating a world that could be free of conflict and full of compassion.

How could Lighting a Spark not speak to all of us in education.  It is our goal to create the spark in the minds and eyes of our students, which in turn will enroll us deeper into the process, and creating a cycle of success.  We attempt this by Being the Board on which our lessons are played out on, being rigid but also flexible based on the needs of our students.

The deepest challenge is sustaining this throughout the school year, day after day.  Face it, we all have off days, but we need to minimize those, or at least the effect those have on the kids.  Finally, if we look at our students and the gifts they bring to the classroom, Telling the WE Story will engage both the children and us so we achieve the most success possible.  It is what the Art of Possibility is all about.

Like Presentation Zen, I have purchased a shelf copy of The Art of Possibility to be a permanent part of my personal library.  I am sure I will revisit parts of this book as I move through the rest of my career.