Wk2-Response to reading-Meagan Sample

Week 2_Reading_Everyone deserves an A

I really enjoyed the chapter titled It’s All Invented. Really it is all invented and I have been trying to explain this to others for years, but it is a difficult thing to get people to understand and accept because we have always played by the rules. Thinking outside of the box we live in can be done daily. We must constantly ask ourselves what assumptions we are making. This will help us see that we are creating rules to think and live within even if we do not realize it. We make assumptions all the time. Here I will give you an example. I have a friend who does not have a car and lives next door to me. She often asks me for a ride. I usually assume that if I say no, then I must give a reason. If I have no reason she might no longer consider me a friend. I then make my decision on whether to give her a ride on these assumptions. Just the other day I decided to look at the situation without those assumptions and I just told her no I would not give her a ride and offered no explanation. She said ok and got off the phone to find another ride. She did not ask for a reason and she certainly did not stop being my friend. I was playing by the rules I had invented. What I had invented to change the situation was the rules that maybe she just needed a ride and that I was just another person with a choice in the matter and that the choice was not going to be the end-all of our friendship. Now putting this into writing I feel really silly by living under such assumptions.

Megan stated:

We definitely live in a world full of measurements. I could easily relate to this chapter. I had a professor in college who told us “It isn’t about the grade. It is about what you learn and how you apply yourself. So these two things and you will have an A.” All semester I wanted to know my grade and he just kept reminding me that it was more about the learning experience. In the end I learned a lot and I got an A in the class, but because I am so used to living in such a measureable society it was a really painful semester because I didn’t know how I was measuring up as we went along.

Giving yourself an A. Well to be honest I have done that all my life and it is a great way to live. I love it. Yet I had not thought about giving others an A as well. I really liked what the author had to say here. I think that by giving others an A my relationships will have a positive growth and light on them.

Meagan,
the one thing I know about you is that you like finish your work early!  It seems like you finished all the reading, you must be on break.  I am like to finish early as well, and I can always count on you to have something posted before hand. I am assuming that you are an "A" type of student by the diligence to get your work done.  I like the experiment you did with your friend.   You assumed something about the friendship and it turned out to be incorrect, but it did reveal something to you that we shouldn't assume.  I assume about a lot of things, and sometimes I am dead wrong.  I assume to the point where I get anxious about happenings in my life and I can't sleep.  This chapter helped me also to think about the way I assume things, even with my students.  I liked the statement in the book that said, "We assume the students who pay the least attention, are the one's that are least committed", which is not true by the author's discovery and mine.