Week 4 Response to Brandon

Week 4 – The Art of Possibility
•June 27, 2010 • 2 Comments

This week’s reading was the last three chapters of The Art of Possibility.

Chapter 10 – Being the Board

I gotta say, when Ben started out by saying that the driver of the stopped car must assume some of the blame in the collision he outlined at the beginning of the chapter, he nearly lost me. But I soon came around to the idea that blame does not really do anything for anyone. Once you have established who is responsible for the bad thing that they are responsible for and they have received their lumps then all must move on. That can be a hard pill to swallow. Allow me to jump to a personal story that is a little off the path of the book. When I was about 8 years old I watched a talk show about people who had tragically, although accidentally, affected someones life. The person who had done the wrong would come on and explain the situation and how that situation had affected the other person, then the host would welcome the other person. First, this show is the reason I never got into a fight. I could accidentally impact someones life in a horrible way and I couldn’t bear the thought of that. Second, I was struck with how gracious the other side had been. One story sticks with me still. This woman and her sister were 10 and 8 and arguing over a Popsicle and the 8 year old pushed the 10 year old and she fell down a couple of stairs breaking her leg. Because of this break the 10 year old’s right leg never grew after that day causing some pretty crazy circumstances. Immediately obvious was the way she walked and because of that she had some difficulty getting a job and talked about difficulty dating but she held no ill will towards her sister. She had come to grips with her circumstances and had grown to see things from the perspective of being the board. I need to do far more reframing in this way, especially when my teaching isn’t seeming to go my way.

Chapter 11 – Creating Frameworks for Possibility

This is, in my opinion, the hardest practice to put into place. You must be fully aware to put this into place. What often gets me in trouble are my emotions. I can get so emotional when things aren’t going as they should and because of this I tighten up and only see what is wrong. To put this practice into practice one must always be in control, be able to step out of the situation to find those frameworks for possiblity.

Chapter 12 – Telling the We story

This is the practice I should most use in my classroom. When my students come into my classroom they may hear me talk about my plans for them. They may even have some plans of their own. But I need to do more fostering of the ‘We’ story. This opens up the opportunity for true creation, which is what theatre is all about.

Posted in MAC, The Art of Possiblity, Week 4
My response is that first of all, Brandon, I have cousins in the business in Austin, and ex-law cousins who run Banner Sign Media in Austin, and do a lot of work for Movie productions in Austin. But I don't know your last name, so I can't tell them to look you up. Please get your last name on your blog, in your link, or somewhere for those of us who aren't in the thesis track, because you never know who might be able to help. I may see one of my cousins this week and will tell her to look for you at Wallace Jr High, which I'm sure she will know, since she works for Pearson publishing, and used to teach Math in Austin ISD.

Now to the response to your post about the art of possibility. We who are passionate and artistic, tend to be emotional. This is not a bad thing, but my nephew has some words of wisdom for us when we feel the emotions rise. "Lower and slower" which means, speak softly, which automatically calms my own emotions when I do it, and speak more slowly, which has a similar effect. Give it a try, because I agree with you that emotions can get in the way of good sense and especially of good teaching. The less I can say, the more my artists can be free to create. Their responses to my stepping back and trusting their abilities and their "sparks" has led to some delightful new depth in relationships which have made continuing to mentor them after they leave my school, and now I do also, a possibility.