MAC Week 2 Reading-Chapters 4: Be a Contributor

There were so many sections of Chapter 4 in The Art of Possibility that spoke to me, but none more so than the story of Marianne. See, when the author described how this woman, so formed in her habits of begging for her tax-shortfall from her mother, finally chose to change her perspective and allow both herself and her mother to contribute to her family's long-term well-being, I recognized how incredibly life-changing the power of perspective can be. Until it was pointed out to her, Marianne failed to see the big picture, and only did as much as she had to do to get by. When she opened herself up to seeing the possibilities not only was she rewarded, but so were those closest to her.

I considered how this same principle could apply to many of the educators I work with. Forever discouraged by their seemingly hopeless situations, teaching seemingly hopeless students, for a seemingly hopeless salary, they go through the motions, being bystanders in their own careers. I can only imagine the results we would see if these talented educators chose to be contributors instead of bystanders; to find value in the situation in spite of it; to contribute to a greater mission or purpose in order to advance the lives of those students they aim to teach daily.

I also loved Ben's idea of having students reflect on their contribution to the class. At our school, students are expected to do a daily literacy log for each class. I have had a tough go of getting my students to move from "what did you do today" to "what did you learn today". However, perhaps if I changed the Lit. Log question to "how did you contribute to the class today" students would have more ownership of the idea and better internalize their role as learners. I'm going to consider making that change this week, and see what type of outcome it yields.