This concept really struck a chord with me! "The practice of giving an A transports your relationships from the world of measurement into the universe of possibility....this A is not an expectation to live up to, but a possibility to live into." (Zander, 2000, p.26)
Perhaps the exercise of writing a letter to express what will have happened in one's life during a season of learning that would be in line with this exemplary grade..."I got my 'A' because..." would be something of value to EMDT students. Though after giving this more thought, there really would have been no way for me to predict what was going to happen to me during this journey! It is beneficial for me to look back through the months and see ways in which I have grown, but also to note that I still have a long road ahead in some areas. I hope that as I continue to walk through this month I will be able to more fully embrace the freeing aspect expressed in this chapter and redirect my steps more into the realm of possibilities!
Source: Zander, B & Zander, R. (2000). The art of possibility. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press
I think that trying to write a "Why I got an A" letter for a 12 month time frame would be a bit of a stretch. I think it worked for Zander because he teaches a college course.
ReplyDeleteI am going to do this with my students but I'm going to shorten the time frame. I had initially thought that I would do it twice a year, but I might do it for each quarter. I haven't quite decided yet, and it will probably be more of a learning experience.
Kathy,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more when you say "I hope that as I continue to walk through this month I will be able to more fully embrace the freeing aspect expressed in this chapter and redirect my steps more into the realm of possibilities!" With every chapter I read, I'm brought back to the passion I felt with I first decided to be a teacher. This chapter was phenomenal and I can't wait to share it with my co-workers and administrators.
It's definitely something challenging, to properly put grades in their place of "importance" that doesn't get in the way of learning. What I love most about the Zander approach is that they use the "why I got an A" letter to enroll the student to exceed what might otherwise be expect and the teacher becomes the coach instead of being the judge.
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