WK2: Comment #1 to Sue Calland

I echo the idea that instructors alike should understand that grades are not everything. The fact that I work in the area of music education, I am fortunate to be involved in a curriculum that focuses tremendously on performance. I guess it is just the overall nature of music education, especially when it comes to instrumentalists. I see that you view a world without measurement would be nice, however, you believe that to be unrealistic. My first question to you would be; on what premise did you draw the conclusion that the idea of a world without measurement is unrealistic? Did the very thought of measurement guide your thinking? Did you ask yourself the question of “How are my thoughts and actions, in this moment, reflections of the measurement world? I pose these questions based on the reading of “The Art of Possibilities”, which discusses getting to the heart of the matter with regards to what the practice is that orients us to a universe of possibilities. The framework talked about in that chapter, with respect to the example of the box around the nine dots, suggested that we should position ourselves in the realm of possibilities that go beyond the traditional boundaries. 


Original Blog Post from Sue:

First of all, Benjamin Zander is a wonderful speaker and extremely easy to listen to.  I was a bit confused in the beginning of the video with what exactly a “One Buttock Player” was, but then I caught his point.  You need to look at the whole, not at the individual parts.

Being a science teacher, I am constantly telling my kids to think outside the box. 

One quote from the book that stuck with me was, “…even science relies on our capacity to adapt to new facts by radically shifting the theoretical constructions we previously accepted as truth.”  Although I do completely agree that a world without measurement would be really nice and relaxing, I do not feel it is actually realistic.  The author states, “You are more likely to be successful, overall, if you participate joyfully with projects and goals and do not think your life depends on achieving the mark because then you will be better able to connect to people all around you.”  One point Zander makes is that if grades were not given, people would be more willing to take a risk.  However, I feel that also needs to be understood by the instructor.  My sophomore daughter decided to challenge herself on her Spanish assignment.  She refused to take the easy way by using given phrases and really worked hard on her assignment, but made some mistakes with it and was docked points for doing so.  If she had stuck with the easier phrases, she would have achieved all of the points for her grade.  That instructor was teaching her to just do it the easy way and don’t challenge yourself because then you will get a better grade.  In my classroom, when I ask a student a question that they do not know the answer or to think they don’t know, I tell them to just give it a try, the worst thing that can happen is they are wrong and if they haven’t been wrong yet today they should try being in my life!  This usually relaxes them and they give it a try.  They frequently surprise themselves with being right or having a new way to look at something. 

As I continued to read through chapter 3 I realized that the authors were not strictly referring to a grade, but to a teacher’s encouragement of his/her students and the manner in which the classroom is run and allowing students to be contributors. 

I just hope that I can rescue one starfish!