This step reminded me of the book Oh, the Place You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss. A positive attitude, friendly people skills, generosity, risk-taking and a passion that spreads when others are in contact with you will help anyone achieve fulfillment in life. My thoughts and actions vary at times with the task at hand. I feel the challenges and possibilities I have experienced completing course work for this EMDTMS program represents a perfect example of a universe of possibility in action.
Chapter 3 Giving an A
Being an educator, this chapter seemed to speak to me the loudest. Giving people, including students, an A right from the start has so many significant possibilities. One of the biggest challenges that has been around for a long time in school is for a student to achieve straight A’s. As educators we even have to define the A by listing all of the aspects of what an A means. Schools are funded in Florida if they earn an A developed around certain criteria. Therefore, when someone is given an A it deserves the utmost of respect and praise. When holding a conference with parents we are trained to always start off with the positives about the child. I think this procedure is like giving them an A. I wonder if the professors like Dr. Siegel and others have read this book. A lot of the assignments seem to follow this philosophy. In the gaming course we had to tell what grade we thought we should earn and why, and in film making we had four “Absolute A Assignments.
Chapter 4 Being a Contribution
I enjoy reading and hearing stories about deeds, or in this case contributions, people have experienced that make people feel good. In another book I read once that author called them “God Winks.” I would like to think that I am playing the contribution game at all times. In hind sight most experiences seem to work out for a reason, and to know something I have done has made someone feel good is always rewarding. This chapter reminded me of a movie entitled Pay It Forward which is about a little boy who is given an assignment by his teacher to do something to make the word a better place.
Pay It Forward Trailer
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3617259801/
The idea of "Giving an A" is that one isn't "giving" anything. The first step is that the student writing as their future self explains why they got the A, and thus buy into what is required and expected in terms of growth and achievment. But you probably knew that already.
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