Week 2-Comment on Michael's blog

Michael,
You make some very interesting points and ask great questions.  It took me a while to wrap my head around the idea of "It's all invented", but it guess it does make sense.  I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the idea of there being no grades, but I do think we need to re-think our system.  I attended a Marzano training once, and the presenter talked a lot about grades and the idea of separating behavior from content knowledge, which we pretty much already do in performance-based classes.

Michael's original post:

WK2 Reading: Outside the Box? What Box?

How would you grade this assignment?

The Art of Possibility by Rosemead and Benjamin Zander has been an interesting read thus far.  I’ve found that their work has put many of my personal feelings about education and life in general into writing and have articulated these concepts and many more in an intriguing and honest way.

“It’s all invented.”  This is a powerful statement that in and of itself can cause a paradigm shift in one’s thinking or the thinking of others.  I believe meditating on this phrase can lead to a great deal of questioning, with one question in particular taking the forefront: Why?  Why do we think the way we think about things?  What is the source of our preconceived notions about life in general, education specifically?  Why do we concern ourselves so with managing perceptions of who we are, when our true selves have yet to be revealed even to us?  The quote “it’s all invented” certainly lends itself to an out of the box approach to life’s many questions, but it goes even a step further in leading one to ask the question: was there ever a box in the first place, or was that simply a preconceived notion based on past experiences? 

The existence of a universe of possibilities would indicate that there is a box, or a barrel, or open space, or any number of other possible containers or non-containers.  In our current mode of thinking, strongest consideration defaults to the concrete and the tangible, when the very fiber of creation and creative activity almost exclusively derives from the abstract and intangible.  Relationships and our thinking about them create the atmosphere for the creation of the concrete and tangible, or the transformation from abstract to concrete and intangible to tangible.  One has to move away from looking at what’s there to truly see what’s there: look into the other person’s eyes and consider what’s going on behind those eyes, hear one’s words and listen to what’s really being said, “feel” where a person is coming from, empathetically, not physically.

I have long had a strong disdain for grades.  I didn’t like them in grade school (pardon the expression), didn’t like them in undergrad and probably would not assign them in my learning environment if I were not required to do so.  I agree with the quote, “…Grades say little about the work done.”  To go even further, I believe that grades typically are not indicative of learning or even true knowledge, but are instead more indicative of obedience and following directions.  If student does A, B and C as instructed, the student receives an A or other “passing grade”.  Sometimes passing grades are signs of passing interest in a subject of content.  In an ideal teaching scenario, one could assess individual students based on their own growth, not a generalized standard that seldom applies to specific life and professional situations and outcomes.  If we could give real A’s in education in all contents and environments, students would reap tremendous benefits on a personal level as much as a professional one.

Week 2-Comment on Amanda's blog

I love your phase, "shed a new light on making things possible".  I think that's exactly what this reading does.  It makes you think about things in a different way than you have before.  It makes me want to be better.  Not just a better teacher, but a better all-around person.


Amanda's original post:

WK 2 Reading – The Art of Possibility

Before reading the first four chapters of our book The Art of Possibility By Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander, I decided to review Benjamin Zander’s TED performance. One of statements he made that really stood out to me was “One of the characteristics of a leader is to not doubt for a moment, the capacity of the people he’s leading to realize what ever he is dreaming” I was really moved by this statement and the passion he displayed, making this presentation so inspiring to watch.

I think Zander’s enthusiasm really showed through when he connected with the audience by not containing his presentation to just the stage but by getting up close to audience really bringing them into his speech. His ability to play the piano was absolutely beautiful and the way he shared his passion for classical music, not only with the audience but also like myself watching the video, was absolutely amazing. Zander closes the presentation with a simple yet powerful statement from a Holocaust Survivor as a way to bear in mind that it really does matter what we say “I will never say anything that couldn’t stand as the last thing I ever say.” 

The Art of possibility is really a great book, because almost anyone could relate to what this book is speaking to. Its about being able to realize what could be and making things a possibility to live into. 

The book gives us an example of the famous nine-dot puzzle, as a way to show the readers how when first seeing this puzzle you are confined to perceive these dots as a square and when first trying to solve the puzzle many people find themselves struggling. When you actually look at the nine-dot solution you view the nine dots in a completely different way compared to the first set of dots presented. Initially when trying to solve this puzzle you become fixed only on the area that contained the dots. 

The author’s states that our mind creates these fames that confine what we may see as being plausible. The example of the nine-dot puzzle all ties to the underlying point that when you can take those frames created and invent new frames and spaces then you are able to see solutions or opportunities that you may had never noticed.

Each chapter  provides its readers with wonderful examples of how we can shed a new light on making things possible and that every mistake is a learning opportunity and way we can improve. Each chapter provides a section where we can take these ideas and practice them in our everyday lives. 

“ Throw yourself into life as someone who makes a difference, accepting that you may not understand how or why.”

Zander, R. Zander, B. (2002) The Art of Possibility. Transforming professional and personal life 1-65

Week 2 Audio Media Sources

http://audiojungle.net/
Audio Jungle has royalty-free stock music starting at $1.  Most seem to be between $8 and $14.  They have many to choose from, over 57,000, and seem to have a wide variety of styles.  With our ability and knowledge to create music in GarageBand, it seems silly to me to pay for music, but if you were in a jam and didn't have time, this seems like a reasonable place to buy music.

http://www.stockmusic.net/?gclid=CMbB-4HXnq8CFQmynQod4lEx5A
Stockmusic.net seems to have a lot of music to choose from, arranged by style and also searchable.  The drawback here is that it's quite expensive.  I've never looked into obtaining music this way before, but the tracks I looked at were around $40 each.

www.stonewashed.net
Stonewashed.net has music, but also a lot of sound effects.  It seems to have more sounds, such as cartoon sounds, animal sounds, tv sounds, etc.  This site is the first that I've found in my search that also has free sheet music, mostly for piano, but other instruments as well.  Most of the sheet music is a PDF download.

Week 2 Leadership: Publish or Present?

For me, the decision to publish or present is a tough choice.  I've never done either before, so I don't really know what I'm getting myself into.  I'm trying to think about what would work best with my project, and at this point, I'm leaning toward presenting.
My project was definitely less successful than I was hoping for, so I'd like to explore the changes I'd make if I were to do the project again.  Last month, we spent a great deal of time on figuring out our "Perfect Phase 3", so I have a lot of thoughts about this already in place.  It feels a little like cheating, but we don't have to reinvent the wheel, right?  Taking ideas I've already thought about and developing them further seems like the smart way to go. 

The biggest initial change I'd make to my project is to give it more time.  A third phase in itself would help to solve that problem.  Asking busy teachers to add something new to their routine (regularly posting to a discussion group) in 4-6 weeks and expecting results just didn't work.  4-6 weeks really is just not enough time.  The teachers need more than that to gain ideas, try them out, and then reflect on how well they worked.

Week 2 Reading

I love when required reading for classes is relevant and applicable, not just to class,  but to life.  This is one of them.  In my undergrad, the "textbook" for one class was Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.  I would put The Art of Possibility in the same category.  One of the points that stood out to me was the 9 dot puzzle.  This teaches us to think outside the box, both literally and figuratively  Literally, it must be done to solve the puzzle.  Figuratively, to apply to life.  Challenges can't always be solved within our (self-imposed) confines.  We must expand our thinking to eliminate problems and create opportunities.
The Give an A principle also stood out to me.  It's a different way of thinking about things.  It's not comparing people, but about thinking positively about possibility.  The text mentions chipping away excess to reveal statue inside.  I thought Mr. Zander's story about his class at New England Conservatory where he gave them all A's and they had to explain what they did to earn it was a really neat concept.  It's interesting to take competition and comparison out of the equation completely.  It's about self improvement.  The topic of grades is an interesting one, and I'm sure many of us would have varying opinions, but having a background in music, I can relate to what Mr. Zander is saying.  Isn't that what playing music is all about?  Improving.  We make it about competition, but it's not what really matters.  I think this can apply to all subjects.  To a certain extent, I think letter grades shouldn't really matter.  As long as students are learning and improving, that's what we, as educators, should care about.  This ties closely with the next point that stood out to me which was how we view mistakes.  Zander mentions saying "how fascinating!"  when a mistake is made, which I thought was funny, yet very true.  Every mistake is an opportunity to learn and improve.
Lastly, the idea of being a contribution was one I found interesting.  I think it's an important outlook to have on life.  It's not so much about success or failure, but contributing-you are important and make a difference!

Week 1-Comment on Amanda's blog

It seems to me that Creative Commons is a great solution, like you said, to the changing and confusing world of copyright.  Creative Commons clearly spells out what information (photos, music, etc.) is allowed to be used and in what ways.  In our shared culture, it should be up to the author to decide if and how their work can be used.


Amanda's original post:

Week 1: Copyright Issues

Image courtesy of (2008) MikeBlogs.
Some rights reserved.

After viewing and reading the articles provided to us about copyright it is hard to wrap my head around how this term or law has changed and continue to change the way we share, view and create information, art, and media.

I had never particularly paid attention to some of these laws and what they truly meant. This topic has really opened my eyes to a concept that was something I had never known much about as well as Creative Commons, which seems to simplify this ever changing and relatively outdated law.

 Screenshot of “A Shared Culture,”
by Jesse Dylan.

I think Creative Commons was created out of the necessity for all of the confusing copyright infringements that can happen unknowingly. Larry Lessig’s ideas were an essential step forward to help with this massive law. As technology grows and changes, transforms the way people create and view their cultural relevance. So changes in these copyright laws and new Creative Commons is inevitable and will continue to impact how media and art is shared to suit these every changing needs.

Screenshot obtained from centerforsocialmedia.org/fair-use

The notion of Fair Use was intended to provide a safe guard so that copyrighted material can be used or reshown but only in limited and vague circumstances. Which can seem a bit confusing.  So with the notion that, yes this term Fair Use apply and doesn’t apply to situations you may have once thought, brought fourth a Fair Use best code practices guide to help the creator, figure out some of the Fair Use Practices that are applicable to the content the creator is using to recreate his or her own work.

The case with Shepard Fairey seems to fall under these inconspicuous Fair use practices but many people fall on either side of the spectrum with this case especially because of the earlier work Fariey has created as well as not providing credit to the original artist. 

Screenshot of Larry Lessig's TED Conference  

This topic has undoubtedly been an eye opening learning experience to the laws and how I look at material viewed or created.  One point that stood out particularly and can really apply to whole idea of copyright was given by Larry Lessig in his TED conference, describing the term “Democratize” which is roughly described that “anybody with access that can take sounds and images from culture to recreate and say things differently. Theses tools of creativity have become tools of how our kids think, speak, and their relationship to themselves.”

Week 1-Comment on LaKeshia's blog

I also found "Good Copy, Bad Copy" very interesting in how copyright is viewed in other countries and cultures.  I'm curious about the actual copyright law there.  The things they showed in the videos: are they in compliance with copyright law?  Is it just culturally and socially accepted?

LaKeshia's original post:

To Copy or Not To Copy, That is the Question..................

Copyright is an issue that is baffling and frustrating to me. It can be viewed as something as simple as a picture or a song or a book. From my understanding some say copyright is not about use but more about permission. All the talk and information out there may confuse folks on copyright, "you can use it, you can't use it." That is enough to make your head hurt.

The GoodCopy/BadCopy documentary was interesting because it explored the different aspects of copyright. It touched on 'music' which is a constant battle today. There have been people who were fined millions of dollars for downloading music for FREE! I will admit, I fell for downloading FREE music and come to find out, I could have gotten in trouble for doing that. It will always be a battle.

Piracy has become an interesting issue too. People get arrested at our local flea markets for selling DVD and CD copies.

Picture source

Can you miss this message when you pop in a dvd? I have seen it so much that I can recite what it says. 

In one of the Creative Commons videos, a man ask the question, "what is a shared culture mean if you can't share it?' That is the question of a lifetime. Creative Commons came along and allows us to share things but there are restrictions of course. Good ole' "attribution," meaning just give the creator or author the credit. 

Sources

Blip.tv video: Good Copy, Bad Copy Directed by ANDREAS JOHNSEN, RALF CHRISTENSEN, HENRIK MOLTKE (http://www.goodcopybadcopy.net/), http://www.blip.tv/file/359180/retrieved on 6/8/2009

Blip.TV video: A Shared Culture produced by CreativeCommons.org, retrieved from http://blip.tv/file/1192356/ on 01/13/2011