Oh the Possibilities! From Flickr user: Minette Layne can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/minette_layne/3050219489/ Creative Commons License
In the introduction I found an outline of the reasons for writing the book. Did someone read my mind or are our laptops being monitored? If so, I should thank the ever-present observer for doing me a huge favor. Upon further reflection though I realized that everyone gets stuck in the rut, everyone gets comfortable doing the same thing, everyone learns to appreciate the venting that must be done when something doesn’t go our way, and everyone wonders why the world is so out of synch with us.
Change! The only change I like is the kind that jingles. The authors say, “They [the practices] are about transforming your entire world.” YAY! says the little angel on my shoulder and BOOOO! says the little devil.
Chapter 1: It’s All Imagined
I am going to start a petition. It will state, “Please sign here if you have acted like an idiot.” I will make up the first million signatures. I am reminded of a saying, “You can’t fix stupid.” Perhaps we should instead say, “You can fix interpretations of reality.” This idea seems so simple and yet, as stated in the introduction, counterintuitive. We see what we see may not always be what is. I would like to think that I am pretty good about seeing things from others perspectives, but there is always room for improvement. Instead of confining my impressions of a situation to what I know about the world, I will strive to understand what others see from their world. Speaking of that, it makes me wonder, can we ever really know someone? I make guesses about how I think they will react and that determines how I approach the situation. When I was teaching the 5th grade a girl came to me very upset and I thought she was crying. She told me her cat had died. About 5 seconds later she said, “April Fools!” The poor kid had no idea that my dog had died the previous afternoon. I was so upset, but she had no idea that my view of the world included a recently deceased pet. I adjusted her view and then she felt horrible. So, here’s to understanding why it’s all invented.
Chapter 2: Stepping into the Universe of Possibility
This type of thinking has shaped the way I see the world for the last few years. I think this is especially true since my house burned down in 2008. Like to the ground burn. I literally had the clothes on my back and a white linen dress. I guess some could say I was fine until after Labor Day. Anyway, if there was a good time for a house to burn down, that was the time. It was the day the summer camp season ended and one week before school inservice started. No one wants to loose everything, but I found it liberating. I had nothing, I had nothing to take care of; I had nothing to clean; I had nothing to repair. All I had was to replace the things I lost. We went to Target and since they didn’t have a my-house-burned-down registry category, I had to register like I was getting married. You will be glad to know I was engaged to Brad Pitt. Hehe! I had a hard time picking things out. I mean, I didn’t want to ask for a $80 coffee maker when I had the $10 special from Family Dollar. We made it through the day and I made it through the experience. Since then I see everything different. I had family treasures in the house, but I knew I took more from those because I was entrusted with their care than the actual object itself. The community I am in raised over $6,000 and purchased everything I picked out and more at Target. I was able to pay off old debt and at the age of 28 purchase my first home. I learned to accept help from those around me, and I learned the value of friendship and acceptance of situations. I saw the beauty in relationships and that all will be provided if we are patient. I also saw the amazing things that I still had. I lost stuff, not life or limb. It was the first time that the saying, “We are human beings, not human doings,” has made sense. Since I have written my own book here, I will continue to chapter 3. Life today is perfect! Except for, just kidding.
Chapter 3: Giving an A
As a rather unique child, some may say odd; I had to learn early to not compare myself with others. My mother used to say, “You are unique. Just like everyone else.” Thanks Mom! I have a close friend that I had the privilege of working with for 7 summers. She also allowed me to live in her guesthouse for 8 months after the fire. She has had a dream to own her own summer camp. She and her husband saved (he is a tort attorney) and made that dream come true. She always referred to tough kids around camp as balls of clay. Make them, shape them, and show them how to glow. We all took turns taking balls of clay and getting them to do things like brush their teeth and go to bed without crying and not to hit people even when they take your stuff and to make their bed without being asked and to wear clean underwear and to set the table and to pass to the right and to know they will be okay without seeing their mother for a month. One lasting lesson is about a boy named RJ. RJ hated to swim, especially in a lake. Since a large part of camp is swimming, and in the hot Texas sun the only way to cool off, RJ became my clay ball. We started talking one day about Mythbusters. He loved and so did I. We decided to make a shark and sink it; then, we were going to use scuba equipment to pump air in and bring in back to the surface. We had to do lots of measuring in the lake to find the right place to sink it. In the meantime, RJ is swimming all over the lake to do this measuring. A counselor and I built a shark from a 50-gallon plastic drum and plywood for the fins, tail, and head. We had a huge all camp meeting to sink the shark and to bring it back up. RJ jumped in without hesitation and on field day competed in a swimming event. My clay ball was glowing. That is my favorite part of camp. Teaching is great and makes a difference. But the time at camp is even more influential. Giving RJ an A and helping him see the A he was became one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had. I plan to use the letter at the beginning of next year. What a powerful tool! I am going to write myself a letter.
Taking risks is a huge part of science. Today we did a lab with the 4th and 5th graders to measure mass and volume. I asked them to make a prediction about the objects mass before they put it on the scale. Talk about a revolution! “But I don’t know how much it weighs!” “What if I am way off?” “I was closer than he was.” We had to have a come to Jesus (Texan way of saying a serious talk) about taking chances. I once had an ESL student that wouldn’t say anything because she thought it would be the wrong way to say it in English. We kept a notecard on her desk. She had to have 5 mistakes a day, and the mistakes contributed to her grade. Before I knew it she was talking non-stop and laughing if she got something wrong.
I think this lesson is going to need to be applied to our new superintendent/principal. She really had us scared when she first arrived. We all loved our old leader. We felt like the school board had railroaded him out of the school. We were very sure that they picked the new person to rid us of our jobs. We spent the first few weeks in utter panic. It didn’t help that everything we did or had done was now illegal. Fear had taken over.  As we have adjusted to this new person, things may or may not be as bad as they seem. Whatever the circumstance, I am going to give her an A and see what happens.
Chapter 4: Being A Contribution
I reluctantly admitted that I needed to read this. How many times a day do I think, “I can’t finish that right now so why am I starting?” I feel like most days I just barely keep my head above the water, and the other days I feel like someone has thankfully given me a straw. It makes so much sense to look at what contribution I have made instead of what I accomplished. This powerful idea is going to turn into a major reshaping of my day. It is so amazing to think that all I have to do today is contribute. To know that I don’t have to give myself the strict standard of accomplishment is freeing. Tomorrow is going to be a great day to contribute.
So, I guess you can tell that I really am loving this book. I love the fact that I can share stories and ideas with someone on my blog. It kind of makes me want to teach English or Reading again. I would love to share this with my students. I have set the bar pretty high for myself with this post (is that measurement?) but I am glad that I have. I want to consume this book. Hopefully by sharing I will be able to never forget.
Oh yeah, Professor Bustillos just so you know, there is no need to grade anything else in this class because I have already given myself an A! Hope you all have a great week and thanks for lasting long enough to get to this point!