MAC_Week 2, Reading: The Art of Possibility, Give Yourself an A!

As I was reading this book, I was pleased to find validity in what my practice has always been with my special education class. I have never felt comfortable grading anyone, especially special education students.

As stated in the book, “…it would be pointless to compare one child to another.” Zander, R. S., & Zander, B. (2000). “An A transports your relationships from the world of measurement into the universe of possibility.” I truly believe in the universe of possibility. I wouldn’t be able to teach my student’s that have so many challenges if I didn’t believe that.


On top of the cognitive issues my students have, they are living in an urban situation with shootings, drugs, and poverty. Most have developed emotional issues and their parents aren’t versed in parenting basics, or they may be in jail or have abandoned their child.

With all of this to overcome, I don’t want them to have to “measure-up”. I have always started the year with telling the students that they all are at the same place, they are on top and I view them as being great people and wonderful students. They all get an A to start and the only way to change that is to be disrespectful to others, curse too much, fight, not care about doing the work, and not trying to work.

If they are all trying to do the best that they can, I can’t make a judgment on a scale of someone else’s idea of what is correct. Even when the students have very, very low abilities, I have to find their strengths and build on that to improve their self-esteem. I accept them where they are that day and allow them to be who they are and move on at their pace.

I don’t believe in benchmarks that my district has pushed on everyone. Everyone learns at a different pace and everyone reaches different developmental milestones at different ages. If they haven’t reached their milestone, they are not ready to move on to the next level no matter what a system says.

Since everyone is very unique we take pride in our differences and strive to become an interesting little family.

Sources: Book: Zander, R. S., & Zander, B. (2000) The art of possibility. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.

Image: Microsoft Office Clipart; MP900385724 & MP900431702

 

 

My capstone project is about a learning management system; therefore, I have chosen two websites that specialize in learning management systems. I have chosen The International Conference Focused in the Workplace and Instructional Technical Design Council. My presentation will be provided to both websites for 2012-13 since their calendar is created a year in advance.

The Instructional Technology Council website will be able to publish my article within their newsletter and get the word out about the Teaching Machine. The point of publishing within the fall article is to show what best practices are in the field of education as sell as a successful eLearning experience for the current people using the Teaching Machine.

The ICELW (International Conference on E-Learning in the Workplace) website will help my current study show how the Teaching Machine can support the continuation of learning within the business and educational industry. This learning management system is right in line with providing people with the opportunity to learn at their own pace and provide the appropriate feedback so they are able to feel confident at they proceed through their training.