One of my favorite things that I read was from chapter 4. I love to think of my life in context of how I can be a blessing to others and create something special for the people that I love and interact with each day. So this line, “…you wake up each day and bask in the notion that you are a gift to others (page 58).” Really makes me happy. It is in harmony with my life’s song. In many ways it is self-satisfying to know that you are special and capable of making a difference in someone’s life. I get the most pleasure from giving someone a gift. It is even more fun for me when the gift is secret or unexpected. I loved his description of his father and his father’s awesome drive and sense of humor. I think of the movie “Life is Beautiful” and am reminded of how the father works so hard to redefine the concentration camp into a game for his son to preserve his life. This is the ultimate demonstration of redefining the rules of the game and changing the world to make the impossible possible. There are days that I wake up and don’t want to face the day or all the things that I can’t possibly finish. Interestingly, somehow I get it all done and surprise myself. I think it is a good focus to perceive our world as one of possibilities and potential instead of a world of no can do’s, failures, and impossibilities.
Leading from any chair hit resonance with my goals as a teacher to lead my students to great success. I love the idea of the “silent conductor” because I can be the one that leads my students to be “lively and engaged (page 68).” I think the story I loved the most is about Mr. Lehner. It is really a two-part story and it made me think of how many times I let the students be the conductors. It is interesting that when I assign projects the normal response is excitement about the project and fear about presenting it to the class. My students long for the same opportunity to lead the orchestra in my class and make things more interesting or fun. When I involve them in games and activities I see the fun factor at work as well as the leadership factor winning over their enthusiasm. When people ask me why teaching and not something more lucrative or more personally challenging it is not a hard question to answer. I live for those moments when I see kids stepping up and taking the controls of their education and putting their best efforts into it. The second part of the story where the young man fills in for the older Mr. Lehner when he forgets his part brings to mind that we are all on the same team and that is what life is all about. We must work closely with each other and lend that helping hand when we realize that it is needed. That particular helping hand was so very perceptive and gentle so as not to reproach, but to support that individual. So nice!
Hahahahahaha! Rule number 6 rocks! I actually have this rule in my Spanish classes!!! Don’t take yourself too seriously and laugh at your own mistakes is an awesome way to approach foreign language acquisition. When I first started to speak Spanish I made some whopping mistakes. I recount these mistakes to my students and they love to laugh at them with me. They make some great mistakes as well and we all get a chance to laugh just about every class time. I think that to really be able to relax you have to know how to laugh at mistakes and move on. The more outgoing you are the easier it is to practice a new skill or language, as that is my area. I know that when we are really stressed it is harder for us to remember what we need to know; so laughing is a good release of stress and way to refocus ourselves.
This chapter really caught me off guard though when I got to the part where the author presented the challenge to “have the best sex ever (pages 85-87).” However, I felt like the whole argument was about the idea of perception and not taking yourself too seriously. Interesting. I think that it was a good build up for the next part. I was so intrigued by the section on young Jeffrey and learning “Spring Dream” from Schubert’s Die Winterreise that I had to go search it on Youtube to find out what in the world kind of song deserved such a wonderful description. Wow! It really does deserve that emotional description.
Reading through the rest of the chapter I kept thinking about each of the experiences and compared it back to the young man Jeffrey learning to be vulnerable and to experience the music as life. Love is an important factor to life. I don't think a person can really live without love and the attachments to the people around them. We all have various relationships with people, but those closest to us are in that special inner circle of trust, honesty, hope, and vulnerability. When I think about love, teaching and learning what they all have in common is that vulnerability. To be in true love with someone you have to be open, honest and yes very vulnerable. To be a great teacher you have to lead by example and open up to students that you are not the end all answer, but just a part of the great picture of learning and guiding experiences. A great teacher can laugh at her mistakes and admit that she is human and vulnerable. To learn you have to become vulnerable and admit that you need to learn or that you don’t already possess those skills or knowledge that you are asking to be taught. I have to say that the best quote is “angels can fly there because… they take themselves lightly (page 97).” We can all enable our students to be the angels in the world to also lift up other learners and help collaborate in this great educational possibility. I’m loving this book!!
Posted by Maestra Coast at 9:37 PM
1 comments:
- Ashley said...
Kimberly, I love how you started off quoting your favorite line from the reading. That is a great way of looking at life, waking up knowing you are gift to others. It puts a smile on my face too. It is interesting that you say you sometimes think you can’t possibly finish all you have to do in one day and then surprise yourself by getting it all done. I wonder how that happens. I can’t even believe we are here in the 11th month or how I’m managing to survive, but things are getting done. For me, it’s the act of getting starting that scares me, but once I begin, everything somehow gets done.
You mention that people ask you why teaching and why not something more lucrative or personally challenging. I believe teaching to be the most challenging job there is. There are tons of surprises every day, millions of possibilities and challenges awaiting each and every second of the day.
I think it’s easier said than done to be vulnerable in front of my students. I want to always be the one in charge, but knowing that they can grow and become more independent learners by trying things out themselves is worth me taking a step back and admitting I can’t handle everything on my own. Laughter is wonderful medicine. Chapter 6 made so much sense. A weight is lifted of my shoulders already. I’m so glad to be reading this book right now. Loving it too!- May 16, 2010 7:11 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment