MAC_Week 3: Reading Reflection

My Perfect Inspiration
Creative Commons / Flickr
by kuddlyteddybear2004

This book continues to be full of ideas and inspiration. Each chapter opens up ideas to share with my students, and fellow faculty.  Many of the practices, in my eyes, are common sense and should be easy to do. I try to live by several of them. I agree that the calculating self is hard to ignore or work through, but we need to; at least we should recognize it. I will be the first to admit if I have done something incorrectly or don’t know something, especially with my students. I think they need to know that I’m not perfect nor do I want to pretend to be. I am emotional and sometimes it does get in the way but it never turns defensive.  So I guess my central self is working well. However, I do think that sometimes my central self gets in my way of letting go and doing something really out there.  I have given away my passion for some things, but I have kept my passion for graphic design. I tell my students that in order to do well in school and whatever they decide to do they have to be passionate about it.

Rule number 6 really resonates with me. I’ve come from a family that doesn’t take ourselves too seriously and if we did someone would say something that would lighten up the situation. However, it seems that as people move up the corporate ladder they forget about this rule and their calculating self comes out and they need to remember where they have been and that the rug can be pulled out from under them and lighten up.  

Practice seven is very, very important. I’m not sure people think in the present until something happens in their lives that wakes them up, like a death to someone close or a terrible accident, etc.  We seem to have to have that life changing moment to wake us up and to live to optimum possibilities.  Ben Zander states, “that we need to focus on what should be and not what is. “  My students are always dwelling on what went wrong with their project and not what it is. Therefore, the first thing I tell my students during their presentations is not start with the negative of the piece or what they didn’t do or what went wrong with the printing, just sell me on what you have. If they knew it wasn’t working then they should have fixed it. They are always blaming someone else for what went wrong instead of owning what happened, learn from the experience and make adjustments for the next time.

The ideas in chapter 8 are my downfall when it comes to my personal life. I am working my way out of it though. The first step was deciding that I needed to get out among people again and that I needed to give back, hence I started teaching. Teaching lead me to Full Sail and what an experience. I only hope I can keep moving forward and keep on with the BFTI. Thank you for everyone for helping me along the way.

MAC_Week 2: Comment #2 – Kimberly Duran's Blog

Reflections on a Rough Day
by Steve-h
Creative Commons/Flickr

My comment for Kimberly Duran:

Kimberly,
I love the way you have shared your experiences along the way with your students. I, too, share as much as I can. I think this allows them to see that one is never too old to learn and experience new, fun, creative and exciting things. Even though my students are much older than yours, they too have a lack of confidence and I believe this can be a factor in their engagement and motivation in the classroom. These two items are something both you and I addressed in our CBRs. In the book when they talk about contributing and that it is like a ripple in the pond, this was the perfect visual description of what can happen when one contributes. It not only grows and expands possibilities for the contributor but then the person on the receiving end comes up with ideas to contribute and that one ripple becomes many in the pond. You are a large contributor to your students, and to all of us who have been in this program with you, so thank you for being just one of the ripples in the pond.
~Dorreen

Kimberly Duran's Blog Post:

I really enjoyed the section about inventing yourself as a contribution, and even posted the steps in my classroom and it’s been a powerful thing:

1. Declare yourself to be a contribution
2. Throw yourself into life as someone who makes a difference, accepting that you may not understand how or why.

A lot of my students are lacking confidence and I am always looking for new ways to find to let them know that they are important, and that their thoughts are meaningful, and THEY are meaningful, that they have a place in this world! Chapter 4 really just fell right in where I have been trying to go with this and I have really enjoyed learning things like this throughout this program. Things that I can take immediately back to my classroom and see it make in impact instantly. The students get a kick out of me sharing stuff from my Master’s program with them, and allowing them to be involved and learn through the different things that I have been doing.

MAC_Week 2: Comment #1 – Hunter Menning's Blog

My Comment for Hunter Menning:

Hunter – A great collaborator
during this EMDT adventure

Hunter,

I agree with you totally about this book. As I was reading I kept thinking, "how can I use this practice in my classroom to get my students thinking more positive about themselves, hence opening up limitless possibilities!" I am so excited about this book I shared it with my director and she is going to get it, read it and maybe even buy copies for the GD faculty to read as well. As always your take on things come from a different direction than most and you verbalize it so well. Like Picasso or Michelangelo you paint the perfect picture. I look forward to the rest of the book for even more possibilities.
~Dorreen

Hunter Menning's Blog Post: 

The Art of Possibilities - Chapter 1 to 4

Our MAC course textbook, 'The Art of Possibilities,' is one of those rare books that pulls you in and makes you smile at least once every page. Can you imagine the conversations that must occur around the authors', Rosamund and Benjamin Zander’s supper table?! I want to fall into any one of these conversations. This book takes my brain on a journey somewhat like the book, ‘A Whack On The Side Of The Head.’ Every page had possibilities – never roadblocks. The book's perspective of people like Picasso, unveiled limitless options all based on perception. So is it good to be limitless in thought? Well, you may be in the minority and you are probably highly misunderstood. The truth is that the world is not ready for 'infinite' thinkers and people cannot jump from a level 10 to a level 50 right away. It takes one-step level at a time, and then some comfort time with that level before the mind can accept moving up one more level. So how do we get to the top level of possibilities? I am planning to just invite myself over to the Zander’s house. When they find out I’m in month 11 of EMDT at Full Sail, they will want to hear how amazing it is. Hey, I'll do anything for a free supper! The 'Possibilities' are endless!

MAC_Week 2: Leadership Role Model

Discussion with students on
boardroom critique

My first response is “Do I have to?” I’ve enjoyed the process and have learned so much during my time here at Full Sail; I would encourage anyone who wants to explore new ideas in education and to have the ability to be as creative as they wish to come here for their degree. Okay, let's think . . . I need to figure out what I will do, when I look at myself I see an introvert when it comes to presenting my ideas, especially outside of the graphic design world. I do well sharing one-on-one or maybe a small group but a conference, don’t think so. Not comfortable with the idea that I am an expert in the field as this point in time and that’s how I see presenters at conferences.  It’s enough that I have surprised myself the last four years when I jumped out of my comfort zone to teach. I believe the reason I can teach is because I am teaching aspects of the field I am passionate about – Graphic Design. I am very confident that the presentation itself would rock as I’ve created many for bosses and clients, but getting up and presenting myself . . .  (thinking) . . . (thinking some more ). . . not happening. Now let me look at submitting an article. 

Writing is not my forte either; I’ve always said I’m a designer not a writer. However, I’ve done a pretty good job of it for my CBR project and feel I can finish it off easily for a journal. So think this is my first choice.  Yes, I’ve decided I’ll write an article for a Journal and then maybe later, as a plan B, I will create and do a presentation when I get brave enough to step out of my comfort zone.

MAC_Week 2: Reading Reflection

Painting Owned by Dorreen
 Camouflage Artist Bev Dolittle

As I read The Art of Possibilities I realized that this is a book on how to move through our lives positively and encourage others to do so as well. These practices were simple common sense exercises on how to make the most of life. While I was reading the chapter “It’s All Invented” a light bulb came on.  This is how entrepreneurs think and see the world and that anyone can be an entrepreneur. I tell my students that design is subjective, but if I think about what Rosamund and Benjamin Zander are saying our lives are just as subjective, because everyone’s interpretation of a good life is different, and therefore success is influenced by what we have gone throughout our lives.  The nine-dot puzzle reminded me to emphasize even more than I do to my students to think outside the box.

Loved the chapter, “Giving an A”! The assignments Ben gave his students were wonderful. He was getting them to reflect on what they thought about themselves, and what they expected from themselves by having them write from the perspective of the future, looking back at what they accomplished; a reverse psychology. While I was reading about this assignment I thought about how I could possibly use this to help our students not be so afraid of their portfolios. Is this something that is asked of our students every year while they are in the program?  Think this practice would help them set goals for themselves. Lastly, the practice of contribution assignment    Think we all have an inherent need to feel like we have contributed in some way. That need is what drove me to the decision to teach. So again, to have the students think about how they have contributed would build their self-esteem, get them to think that they are a part of society and change the future.    

I had so many more “ahh haa” moments while I was reading. Found myself making many notes to incorporate their ideas in the classroom.  Great book, will definitely share this with director and colleagues!

MAC_Week 1: Comment#2

Image from:
CreativeCommons / Flickr
Image by Horia Varlan

My Comment for Kimberly Duran:

Plagiarism and copyright is a big issue at my school as well, particularly with the images the students use in their projects. We all try to make it easy for them and just tell them that they have to give credit to the original artist. I think one of the issues that our students don’t have to worry about in the Fair Use arena is that they are not doing the work for profit or commercial use.  I give them the free image sites and the creative commons site to look at but those website too ask for them to include the name of the creator. In the end, we encourage them to take their own photography or do their own art. 

I did like the cartoon movie as well in explaining the concept of fair use.  I think the younger we get this notion of copyright and fair use introduced to our students the fewer copyright infringements there will be when they get to college and in the business world.

Kim's Post:

Copyright issues, and why my butt is scared!!

Wow, so plagiarism and copyright issues has become something of a topic on campus at my school. Trying to teach the children about these topics has become somewhat of a challenging task, and now that I've seen the copyright videos, I'm not sure whether I'm more or less comfortable with what I've shared with my students so far and how to continue on.
The duration of copyright was somewhat news to me, I've always wondered once something has been copyrighted, how long does this actually last for? This is a question that I actually have been asked by my students, so it's nice to have a definitive answer now.
It seemed to me at first that there was a lot of elasticity to the whole idea of fair use. However, after hearing our instructor's explanation of it and it's "narrow loophole" i began to understand it much better. The use of the cartoon movie to explain it was extremely helpful, once I was halfway through it I felt as though I really had a grasp on the concept. Creative ways to teach these types of ideas makes all the difference in the world to me. And who doesn't love Disney movies?!?

Creative Commons was taught to me early on in this degree program. I guess I have used it in the past, but never realized that there was actually a name behind the practice. I think it's a great way to be able use materials and also pay homage to the person who created it through giving them credit.  

MAC_Week 1: Comment#1

Created in Wordle.net

My comment for Hunter Menning:

I agree that original ideas are the best and very inspirational and I too love seeing it. When watching the reading videos on the people taking several artists music and combining them into a different song, to me that is just wrong. However, I do think that some new, very creative ideas can come from something in the past and build upon it to make something new.  Think that is what makes us move forward. I do think that honor and trust should be a big part of our respect for those who have created something unique, but think we are from the old school of thinking and most people, sadly, don’t have that respect. I also think that copyright was traditionally done to protect company logos, slogans, and so one; even though anyone could copyright. However, with the onset of the internet everything is different.

Hunter's Post:

Ok, how do we measure up in the copyright world? When I think of copyrights, I think of honor and trust. I respect people and their creations, because I hope that others respect my original works. I have submitted hundreds of items to be copyrighted and have studied these laws for several years. Copyrights give a creator the ability to enforce or restrict others from using something that the creator has previously invented. I love when someone creates something novel – wow, that alone, is what life is about. Original thought instead of others’ thoughts intrigues me. I have sat in meetings and heard people who only spout lots and lots of other people’s ideas from books that they have read. They are impressive and quite amazing sometimes; however, they are not original ideas. I am thankful for those who have unique and solid opinions. I appreciate those who birth new concepts – patentable, trademarkable, and copyrightable! Wow, I crave a conversation with them. Talks like that cause an hour or two to go by and it only seems like ten minutes. I believe that we should help protect each other’s work. We should report infringement to help the authors of the world. Originally inspired authors are very rare and valuable. It bothers me to find out that hit, star writers sometimes only get about 1% of the income from their works. That is because entrepreneurs get involved and take the lion’s share of the income. I guess 1% is better than 0% if the project would not have been published for anyone to see, hear, or experience it. The truth is that I tend to hang out with the creators more than the business types. What would I be like if I reversed that? Wow, which one do you hang out with more?