Week 1 response to Katie Lovette

Katie, in your discussion about the Tennessee Board of Regents you mentioned all of the rules ands protocols that you need to adhere to, it is similar to all the rules I face at my job. They are necessary because they can help you deal with 80% of students and situations but they are unable to deal with the 20%. The other 20% need out of the box thinking and out of the box ideas to help them get through.  And that is exactly what you are doing to help your son. Good Luck.

Katies Blog

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?

Thinking outside the box is my youngest son’s way of life. He was born unable to communicate as the rest of us. He didn’t talk until he was four and most times we had to keep rewording a concept until we found a way to state it that he would understand. The doctors and school psychologist decided to declare him special ed so he would be able to receive help that he needed. By declaring him special ed, many “professionals” immediately put him in a category of mental retardation. But he wasn’t. I remember speaking with a college professor at the time about my son, about how the “professionals” wanted us to find a way for him to work and learn inside the box with everyone else. My professor smiled and said “Katie, he doesn’t live outside the box, he lives in his own box.” Although I had worked with my son his whole life, teaching him how to survive, the colors, his personal information, the alphabet, animals, etc. I never looked at the situation in that way. When I did a whole new world opened up. Instead of how can I get my son to learn this concept in the way it is being taught, my attitude became how can I manipulate the teaching method so he can learn the concept. It’s not about what everyone else does, how everyone else learns or works, it’s about how we can connect, learn, achieve the concept. What avenue is right for us? It doesn’t matter how we get there. It just matters that we arrive. BTW my son, who was considered mentally retarded by those who consider themselves experts, is now a performer. He dances and acts with several professional theaters and is studying to be an audio engineer and works as an audio tech for many clients. 

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?

As an instructor, I have rules, standards and protocol that I must follow according to the Tennessee Board of Regents. And Heaven forbid if I deviate from those. I agree with most but there are some that I am against. When having to comply with the ones I disagree with, I find that my thoughts and actions are mostly negative. For instance, when my multicam class is on-location and I’m dressed according to the rules I’m uncomfortable and have a tendency to have a don’t care attitude. I have to work to be enthusiastic about the assignment. For the most part I have found a way around this and dress for comfort. But in the beginning it was an issue.

I truly love my job. Yes, there are some things that I disagree with, but for the most part it is awesome. Because of this I find that I like going to work and my days tend to go by fast. Because of this my thoughts and actions outside of school reflect my enjoyment with my work environment. I realize that my home life is positive and there isn’t a dread of Monday morning or the next day. Most students are great to work with, yes, every so often one comes through who is difficult, but being a niche area, most students are there to learn and have a tremendous desire to be in the industry. Their enthusiasm is hard to miss and it rubs off. Together, the thoughts and actions of faculty and students, toward the classes and productions offer others a positive insight to our program and the local industry. 

Chapter 3. Giving an A: Giving Yourself an A.

I think this is one of the hardest things a teacher has to over come. Over the years, I have had students go through the curriculum, who have disabilities. One, in particular, has Ashberger’s and his world is all about him. He disturbed class and talked out of turn. No one wanted to work with him or have him involved in his or her production. Over the last four years, this student has matured. Although he still has the disease, he has found his niche in life. Most of the faculty in the department has had him in class and has had to find a way to keep him from disturbing the other students. In the beginning, there were so man complaints, but lately we have noticed there wasn’t as many. After speaking with the other instructors, we have learned that there are still issues but the student has calmed down. Example, when the student was in my multicam class I wasn’t sure what I could have him does while on-location. The client wouldn’t be happy with a PA talking out of turn or doing something totally out of context. What I finally discovered was to give the student a camera, tape, batteries, and a tripod and have him keep an eye out for anything happening off the set or stage that would benefit the production. To my amazement this worked. The student not only caught some amazing stuff on tape, but he was quiet and didn’t disturb the production. I gave this student an A, even though there have been complaints as to why we, the faculty, would even consider passing a student like this. For me, I had to disregard all the standards that I grade by and his disabilities and look at the student’s accomplishments. When I wrote down everything this is what I found. The student attended all classes and shoots. He produced the footage I required of him. He kept the logs immaculately and performed his duties on-location according to the required steps. This student might have disturbed others but he earned his A.