When I first looked at the book, I thought, oh, no, it's one of those positive thinking books. Being unemployed, and other such tragedies in the past two years, I just rolled my eyes.
Chapter three, here was where I found something that I could relate to. I have been a musician in high school and college, playing 2nd and 3rd clarinet no less, so I have been in the place of the second fiddle. It also brought back memories of one of my favorite concerts. We didn't do Mahler, but the 1812 Overture and the Stars and Stripes Forever. It started out with wrong notes, lots of practice and by the time of the concert, music. We no longer just played notes and followed dynamics-we performed music!
I also thought about the letter that Ben Zander asked his students to write. i would write mine looking toward graduation from Full Sail: It might go a little like this:
Dear Dr. Ludgate:
I received my grade A because I worked hard and tried many new things. Your Course Directors inspired me to make movies, play games and learn about Web 2.0 I will probably never quite learning, there are so many things out there that I could learn about.
I may never teach in a classroom, but I may be able to inspire those who do teach. My contribution is to change the world in my little corner and it is because of Full Sail, that I have been able to take chances and learn new things.
It is so much fun when the music goes from hitting the right notes to feeling the vibe of the band and the audience and when things get going I can see why so many want to stay right there in that moment of musical free fall. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting idea to write a letter to Dr. Ludgate. I, too, thought that part of the book brought up some great points with the "why I got an A". As I read through the letters it made me think back to my school days and also what my students would think or write if it was them. Your idea of being able to inspire others who teach would be wonderful as that is always definitely necessary. Being an inspiration to teachers is one thing we can never get enough of. Our district has tried to get inspirational speakers at our beginning of the year meetings, but many times they do not measure up to my expectations.
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