MAC_Wk2 BP#2 Comments to Debra Atherton The Exuberant Mind

“...At least, not this year.  As I reflect, though, on opening for my students a “Universe of Possibility,” I see that I have myself modeled that concept continually this year. I’m not only one of the “Old Farts” but had a well-deserved reputation for being, while devoutly enthusiastic, hmm, let’s just say a bit of a stickler.  This year I have continually tried one new thing after another, flagrantly experimenting and making mistakes and trying something else.  I’ve boldly gone where no one (not at my school, anyway) has gone before. When I showed our principal the tweets we did in class watching Hamlet, he looked at me and grinned, “Who’da thought you’d be the one doing this, huh?”  I’ve demonstrated categorically that one is never too … too anything to learn new stuff, no, not even if one's first pet was a dinosaur.

Posted by Debra Atherton

Dear Debra,

Another heart-felt writing of a person I have come to admire and respect.  (Really, though, stop with the age jokes.  I've stopped with the fat jokes because of this book!)  When all is said and done, when classes are over, graduation has happened and you have time to reflect, who is it will you find, an old woman, with a pet dinosaur or a new woman, with a new outlook and a new willingness to explore for herself and with her next crop of students, the universe of possibilities. 

The Zanders have one advantage over us in that they, in working with adults, and usually from the sounds of it, have nearly free reign to interact with their students, can try these bold experiments and "give an A" quite literally.  I will confess, I have tried it, in my heart and mind.  Like the Zanders, I found it "fascinating." My students made the same mistakes, some had the same attitude, but I was different.  I had an open mind and an open heart, and it changed the emotional course of the day.  It's like being set free.  Free from unrealistic expectations, free from discouragement, free from routine.   When my students made mistakes, my patience level was high.  I thought outside of the box, asked for help (which is something I almost never do) and made this huge headway with my special education students who are playing clarinet. They actually got through their songs for their concert next week!  And they played better than the general education students.  That's huge because it flies in the face of everything I've observed as a child. In those days, special education students were not even considered for band!  They "couldn't academically handle it." Bah, humbug!

I rant, and shouldn't.  The point is, change, the kind that the Zanders are speaking of, takes time and PRACTICE!  But if after only one or 2 days of trying, it has produced these results in us, isn't it worth it, for both our and our students' sakes?