MAC Blog Post 3 week 2 - Response to Thanh Kirby

I wrote:  The only TED talks I am familiar with are the ones we have been required to watch by classes this year and I agree this is definitely a very engaging one.  I too found that this was not a book I could skim through or read quickly and still get the idea of what the point was.  I had to read very slowly and take notes along the way, but the message sure is a good one and well worth the time.  You have a good point that eliminating the fear of grades allows students to explore and therefore bring out their creativity.  I do not teach band, but I feel that no matter what the subject area (or even the age) people learn from their mistakes. 

Thanh wrote: Benjamin Zander’s TED talk on classical music is one of my favorite TED videos.  I can’t remember when I first saw this, but I have seen it on numerous occasions and have enjoyed it each time.  As I started reading the book, Art of Possibility, I thought I would get a jump on the reading before reading the introductory assignment page in FSO.  My plan of action was to discover what the purpose of the book was and how it was connected to the class as quickly and efficiently as possible.  I had blinders on trying to figure what concrete lesson the book was trying to teach.  In my haste I missed who the author was and why we were reading this book.  So in that frame of mind I had difficulty understanding the purpose and connection of the book to the class.  It wasn’t until I took the time to read the assignment completely in FSO and then finally discovered that Zander was the same person who co-authored the book, it made total sense.  Chapter One Learned: It’s all invented.

As I continued reading through the book I found Chapter 3 to be especially applicable to my everyday life and teaching.  The stories that the Zanders tell do a great job at illustrating the point of Giving an A, as well as to give concrete examples of how to apply these practices in real life. Personally, as someone who tends to be a little bit of a perfectionist, this chapter provided the perfect anecdote to free me from the chains of creative block that has often stalled me from making further progress on a variety of projects.  So what I take away from this chapter is that by giving yourself an A you are in a sense taking away the fear of failure.  Eliminating this fear allows you to explore the boundaries of creativity and expand the realm of possibility.  Often times you just need this extra push of confidence to overcome small mountains. 

In band you can’t really ignore things when they don’t go well.   The kids know when they completely bomb because often times they know how a certain piece should be played.  So sugarcoating a bad performance is not effective at improving performance. What is important, however is to get the kids to realize what mistakes were made and how to fix them.  It is through this concept that the ideas of Chapter 3 take flight.  Allowing students the safety net of not being afraid to fail will allow them to try harder pieces, explore the range of their musical abilities and teach them persistence despite adversity. (In a performance, despite how bad things might be going the idea of continuing through but being able to adapt and adjust on the fly is crucial)  Giving the students the freedom to do this is important.