Chapter 1. It's All Invented: How can we think outside the box we live in? What assumptions are we making that we're not aware that we are making? What might we invent that would give us other choices?
Chapter 1 seems to be talking about perspectives and how those perspectives vary from person to person. To answer the question how we can think outside the box we live in, I think a person must first leave their box. To think outside the box calls for a person to look at a situation from different perspectives. You can look at something and get an initial opinion, but to think outside the box you have to but yourself in the place of other people. But in order to look at a situation from another’s perspective, you need to have empathy and understanding of other people, opinions, situations, beliefs, etc… This opinion is demonstrated by the example in the text about the Me’en People who did not understand the purpose of a photograph. They did not have enough experience to understand the purpose from other’s perspectives. When it comes to assumptions, the books example of how even in science we sometimes have to look beyond the current “truth” and look at it from a different perspective to arrive at an all new truth.
When I read the practice questions, my thoughts ran to the people in my apartment complex. The assumptions I am making right now about these people revolve around how uneducated, unrefined, and selfish these people are for how little they care about their neighbors, their complex, and their own apartments. Yet, if I look beyond the fact they were particularly loud tonight, they are probably the same as anyone one else in any other neighborhood. Their habits main just seem worse because we leave so much closer than, say people who have their own homes.
Chapter 2. Stepping into a Universe of Possibility: We live in a world of measurements. The Zanders recommend that when we look at how different things appear we can see them as possibilities. How are your thoughts and actions a reflection of the measurement world?
My thoughts and actions, lately, seem to resemble a choose-your-own-adventure book. This past year, I had to measure my life and my career. I hated my job and where I lived; I wanted out. But, I had to measure the possible outcomes if I quit my job and moved away. I had limited money and no job lined up and no health insurance. The other addition to this equation was that I was single with 2 young kids. So I had to weight the positive and negative impacts of staying or going. Staying meant security with misery and more limited possibilities and leaving meant a whole world of possibilities. A bigger city with more art, culture, and career options, as well as a community with quite different perspectives than my old town could mean more success than I was finding back in Florida or it could wind up being an epic failure. Since choosing to move, and losing my security and giving up the life I hated (but was fairly set and predictable) I don’t know what the future holds, whether it be a year from now or even a week from now. Every new development forces me to measure the good verses the bad. I try to hypothesis possible outcomes of what would happen if I chose this way or that. For me, right now, all my options seem to be like Robert Frost’s less taken road.
Chapter 3. Giving an A: Giving Yourself an A.
The concept of giving student an A right from the start is intriguing and makes sense in certain circumstances, however, in reality the average student in an average public school would do absolutely nothing when told they had already received an A. The students in the example in the text wanted to be in that class and wanted to improve.
I can see how taking the anxiety out of assignments by giving A’s could increase student thought, but what about those that don’t care?
Chapter 4. Being a Contribution: Over the years, I’ve observed how people handle various situations in their lives. People who succeed do not have fewer problems than people who fail. It is how they perceive issues and how they react to situations that makes a difference. The purpose of this chapter was to help us look at how we can contribute in order to make a difference in the lives of others even if it’s only one person. How will I be a contribution today?
I loved this chapter! I have never been one who was on the competitive ladder of success and failure. As I have embarked on my new personal journey across the country in search of a new start, I am not looking for success in money or material possessions. I want to make a difference, a contribution, to my community. That is all I have ever wanted to do. That was why I got into this program. That is why I focus on the passions I do. I want to contribute by enhancing local communities and help bring the together. I loved this chapter because it put a name to what I have been doing most of my life. It is hard to be contributor in a success/failure world.
Cindy Price said... 
