Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The Shark and The Goldfish
Please read through page 29 in "The Shark and The Goldfish" and describe a time in your life when you were a Goldfish and when you were a Shark. What determined your attitude(goldfish or shark) in both situations? How do you think a "shark" attitude can increase your chances of success at GWC?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
As odd as it may sound, many times, I feel as if I approach situations as a goldfish and must remind myself that I am a shark. One such instance was a time back in 2006, when my husand and I were forced to make critical life changes for our family. There were many different things that were thrown at us during that year, and the formula E(events)+P(positive response)=O(outcome) has been proven true over and over in our lives. I don't have time or space to type everything that happened, but we found ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. My first response was to simply pack up and run. It just seemed too hard. I didn't see how we would make things better or get our of our situation. However, as I looked at my situration, it angered me enough to want better. I wanted to try harder. I was determined to change my situation. A shark does not simply let life happen around him. A shark may have ups and downs, but they are able to make things happen. They don't stop moving.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of who you are and where you are, events will always take place. Things are going to happen to us....good...bad....just expect them. However, I have found it is not the situation which defines a man, but rather, it is what we do while we are in our situations which shape us and enable us to grow. My all time favorite scripture, Romans 8:28, has guided my thoughs and also my "shark mentality". It simply states that all things work together for the GOOD of them who love the Lord. Since God's word frames my world, I walk accordingly. I try to see the bad as a stepping stone towards my good. I believe thinking like a shark will put GWC on the map this year. We can't sit around and allow things to simply happen, but we have to keep moving towards success. I'm excited to work with a group of like minded educators who refuse to simply sit around and allow students to fall between the cracks. At the end of the day, I would much rather prefer to swim out into the deep with the sharks to make things happen than to sit comfortably in a bowl with the goldfish who simply sit and watch and wait for things to happen for them.
~Mrs. K Taylor
test comment
ReplyDeleteMy first and second year teaching I can honestly say I felt like a goldfish. I had no idea of how I was going to make teaching my OWN. It seemed as if nothing was going as planned and on top of things my father was diagnosed with cancer and passed shortly after. I had good lessons but with all that was going on in my life professionally and personally, I was ready to throw in the towel. I prayed for answers and understanding and God revealed to me that I was teaching for a reason and I had a purpose for impacting those around me. Shortly after, I adjusted my attitude and knew that CAN’T was not an option. As my positive attitude and outlook grew, I not only encouraged myself, but others as well. At that moment I knew I was a shark. By that I learned that everyone will go through obstacles in life. The things that make a difference are one’s faith in knowing that God is in control and keeping a positive attitude….. SHARKS BABY!!!!!-Ride or Die-GWC
ReplyDeleteI was a goldfish when I was a child. My mother and grandfather spoiled me. I was an only child and the 1st grandchild. When I was in college my mother passed away and I had to grow-up very quickly. I had to change my mind set to a shark mentality. I had to take control of my life because there was no one else to take care of me. It was no more depending on others I had to depend on myself. By going through this it made me realize that no matter what I have to take action. I cannot sit and wait on others to do things for me. I believe that this will help GWC be successful we can't wait JUST DO IT.
ReplyDeleteL.Collins
I can say I was also a goldfish as a child, when I was growing up everyone expected me to be just like my father good at everything and great in some things. So as a kid I pushed myself to prove to others I can be great too and alot of times I failed miserably and I was devastated about it. I had to realize the only person I have to prove myself to on this earth is ME.......
ReplyDeleteJ. Vocals
I didn’t become a shark until I started playing sports and start finding my skill in singing. I truly boosted my confidence. I realize you have to earn everything that you get because if you don’t you will take for granted and you wont appreciate it as much. GWC has to earn a reputation of greatness and will take hard work and teamwork but in the end we will be on top looking down at the rest.
ReplyDeleteJ. Vocals
I know people get tired of me talking about this, but I always come back to it when I think about adversity. You know Taryn was a preemie... All of a sudden, I was thrust into single motherhood and was without experience or my family to support me. I was like the goldfish at first. I wanted to move back home with my parents and let them help me, but my mother wouldn't let me. She knew that I had the shark in me and encouraged me to stay in DFW. So, I did. Now, I am a shark mommy, running around doing what has to be done for my daughter. Some people ask how I do it. I giess I can say, "it's the shark in me. I feel that GWC will be successful if we let go of feed me, goldfish attitudes, embrace change, and become sharks, nothing can stop us!!
ReplyDeleteWell I'm sure we all have had several shark and goldfish moments. My most memorable and life-defining goldfish experience was when my mother passed away. I had no idea how I could go on day to day without her. She was the rock of our family and truly my best friend. There hadn't been any difficult situations or even celebratory events that I didin't have her to share them with. How was I suppose to "learn" to "live" without having the core of my support system? I had no idea of how to "feed" myself without her being here to guide me.
ReplyDeleteHere I am later almost one year to the date of her passing and I am beginning to experience my greatest shark moment. Because of my mom and how she raised me, I have realized that she provided me with everything that I needed to survive through the pain of losing her. She taught me how to be a shark and find my own way even through the difficult times. This very shark nature that she instilled in me is the reason why I can now smile and realize that my goldfish moment allowed me to see the strength in myself that I honestly didn't know I possessed.
This will certainly help me at here at GWC because I know if I can survive the loss of my wonderful mother, I can surely handle the bumps we my encounter here. My goldfish and shark moments have shown me how to smile,sometimes laugh and persevere in the face of adversity even when I am afraid. We all have to learn that we can only accomplish success if we do all three! :)
I feel like I have been a shark all of my life. I have had to endure and perserve through a lot of hard times. I have gone through almost losing everything I had to even losing a newborn baby. With the help of the Lord and angels all around me I made it through. I know feel like a goldfish late in my professional career. It seems like I am battling to survive. I want to become a shark again. I am trying to do everything I can. With hard work and a lot of faith I believe I can.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult for me to pinpoint an exact turning point wherein I was functioning solely as a goldfish and began functioning like a shark. Honestly due to various life experiences, there may have been very limited spans of time during which I exhibited goldfish behavior.
ReplyDeleteOne span of time that I could think of is when I graduated from college (Howard U!)and a few months later Hurricane Katrina hit my hometown...like many stories that the world is now familair with there was significant loss of lives and things that I valued. From my perspective, suddenly I was the only source of shelter and income for my parents and younger brother...a severe role-reversal at the time.
It wasn't long at all that I was able to dwell on the reality of what had happened; as the circumstances called for immediate action in many of life's aspects that we take for granted (i.e. food, clothes, work, school, family, church, etc). I simply remember realizing that things were dramatically different so I had to be (think, act) differently as I knew that things (and myself) would never be the same.
If I had been going along with the flow of things...focus in school, get a degree, get a decent job at a big company...it was not an option anymore. I felt that in order for my family to cope somewhat, I had to make adjustments. At that point, I began to address one issue at a time...taking on a different role in family life than a 22 year-old normally would...moreso thinking like a shark.
That experience dictated a mindset of thinking outside of the box, meeting challenges with grace and vigor, and locking-in on my purpose. All of which I feel will help me in a successful year at GWC
Goldfish to Shark… When did I turn? Well, because I have been rather shy all of my life, I would always keep to myself. Being the middle child of five children I was very good at finding some ME TIME. If you were to look up timid in the dictionary, there would have been a picture of a big head, skinny body little girl with big puffy pig tails. I used to think that if I kept to myself I would never have to prove anything to anyone else, but that truth was short lived. As I think back I found myself to be a goldfish just about all of my childhood. I was very dependent on others. So much so, that I would ask others their opinion on things before I would even form my own. On the flip side, one of my most proud Shark moments was when I dropped everything and left my day to day life to attend college. Unlike stories that I have heard from other individuals college was not a final destination in my family. Higher education to my family was defined by the United Sates Military. Although, at the age of 18 I started my career as a Target supervisor, thanks to my military stepdad, which was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, so I knew I had to find something better. I left home one early Tuesday morning on my college quest. Not caring where I landed, and not quite knowing what to expect, just wanting something better. This was not something that that shy kid would have had the courage to do on her own. Thanks to my hard work and focus that I put into my primary education I was able to enroll and start college that following Friday, with a full academic scholarship. JCC was the place to be for me. I must say there were other situations in my life that I have had the shark mentality, but I feel as if this time was the most meaningful and made the greatest impact on my life. It was not because of where I was that made me make a change; it was because of where I didn’t want to stay. I feel that way when I think of GWC. This is my fourth year teaching 6th grade for LISD. But I still carry the reputation of individuals that were here before me. I would like for us to put our feet down and get on the good foot. I feel that this year is our new slate. For the first time we get to start over and create our own reputation. Let’s make it worth talking about in a positive way, because no one makes excuses for our success.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in a Christian household, I avoid confrontations at all cost because it usually led to more conflict. But under the wise leadership of an elementary principal in Dallas, she showed me that confrontations do not have to always be negative but confrontations can be used to bring about positive change. It was during a faculty meeting, she confronted each grade level about their benchmark assessment scores. She used the data to challenge us. She expressed the disappointment she felt without attacking us personally. She presented the data showing how our school fares with other schools in our area. Our school was at the bottom. She ended the meeting with the question what will we do about it. Prior to the faculty meeting, I had a mentality of goldfish. I was thinking that my students performed poorly on the benchmark test because they came to me with little or no background knowledge in science due fact the earlier grades place a greater emphasis on math and reading instruction.
ReplyDeleteMy shark moment came when my team members and I gathered all students together in one classroom to discuss their benchmark assessment scores. I confronted my students about their benchmark assessment scores in science. I expressed to them how disappointed I was with their performance and knew they were capable of performing better than that. I presented them with data showing how they compare with other students in the other schools showing them they were at the bottom. Some of my students who I knew were capable of academic excellence but they lack the effort and motivation, I had one on one conference to challenge them academically. When results came back for Science TAKS test our school score was above the district and state average in 5th grade science.
How this applicable at GWC? Some students we can inspire them to reach a level of academic greatness by providing them with nurturing and caring atmosphere. Whereas other students we have to be willing to confront them about their lack of effort and challenge them to achieve academic excellence .
Ms. Perrodin
At the beginning of my marriage, I was definitly a goldfish. I relied on my husband to take care of my basic needs and wants. After graduating from college,home life was still a comfortable and safe place. So, I decided to work from home part-time. I can describe my time as a goldfish as comfortable, worry-free, stagnant, dependent, and selfish.
ReplyDeleteFast forward....Twelve years later!
If I must consider a time in my life when I became a shark, it would have to be when I became less dependent on my husband.I have been thrown into many situations where I had nowhere to run or no one to turn to. I have been forced to get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself in the face of adversity. I can describe myself now as strong, dependent, busy, appreciative, giving, and focused.
A "shark" attitude can increase my chances of success at GWC because regardless of what events take place this school-year, I can control how I will react to them.
C.L.
I am a shark, through and through. I've always been a shark. The unique part about me is that I appear to be a goldfish, people who do not really know me think that I am not capable of doing things on my own but I do.
ReplyDeleteThe time when I was a shark was recently when my daughter was born. Valencia was born with a special condition and I never thought twice about it, I put my shark face on and vowed to do whatever is necessary to help her and to help her develop the attitude that I have which is a shark mentality. Challenges happen everyday throughout life and they are not excuses they are reasons to choose faith over fear. I try to impose this in my classroom as well, our kids come from all sorts of backgrounds it doesn't make it an excuse, when they come out on the other end they will have more "food" than others because of their experiences.
However, recently I felt like a goldfish, as this is my first year. At my other jobs I was used to knowing exactly what needed to be done and exactly how to do it as well as having all the resources to do it. My first teaching job has pulled me out of my fishbowl and directly into the deep end of the ocean I felt completely like a goldfish, however with my support system around me they have lovingly reminded me and I am a shark and that I can thrive.
I look forward to this year and the experiences that learning how to be a shark in the middle of a "school" of fish will be. The fish of course being the students as they have yet to get out of the fishbowl just yet that what us sharks are for.
As early as I can remember, I’ve always been a shark. I was raised to be independent, strong and a confident woman. My family always encouraged me to set high standards, be self-sufficient, work hard and reach my goals. Like the shark, I use my challenging moments to thrust myself into achievement. I also developed my skills as being more of a shark by caring for my sisters. This role prepared me for almost anything and it definitely ensured my position as a shark. Just like a shark I knew I had to eat or be eaten and I had to care for my sisters in that same manner. The only time I felt most like a gold fish was my first year of teaching and I felt like a fish out of water more or less and I did not know what to expect. Even though I had this feeling it was completely filled by the joy of making a difference in a child’s life; which is my ultimate goal at GWC.
ReplyDeleteI attended DISD public schools during the time when Judge Barefoot Sanders required busing to north Dallas schools because that was where the best teachers and resources were. As a result, I thrived and believed everyone held my best interest at heart. As I entered a more competitive high school environment, and realized that the real world was just a stone's throw away, as a first generation college student, my gold fish mentality was not getting me scholarships so my shark mentality was exposed. School personnel showed me real quick that if I wanted it, I would have to go for it. Learning to rely on my instincts helped me to find opportunities to get my fill.
ReplyDeleteThe shark species has thrived while others have become extinct. As we engineer the future here at GWC, I will do my part to identify and impart characteristics necessary for the success of our students and staff. We are engineering academically strong scholars!
Sharks possess abilities that have made it possible for them to outlive species, including the dinosaurs. As a member of GWC, I am going to
When coming to LISD last year it was the first time I had worked in three years. I was fortunate to spend the prior three years engaged in full time academic study where I felt comfortable in the fish bowl of theoretical engagement. The pressures of relocating my family from out-of-state, acculturating into a new environment, finding a job, securing a residence, in addition to the other requirements and demands of everyday life had me rocking and reeling…I was definitely fatigued under the weight of adversity and discouragement. Like Gordy I was near collapse from starvation and saltwater!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, to some degree, I continually acquiesce between the two polarities of the goldfish and shark attitude. I do find, however, that I am most like a shark when I am rested and fresh and most like a goldfish when deprived of necessary rest and detachment from the prolong exigencies of work and school. Consequently, I try to monitor my attitude and recognize when the adjustments need to
As a child, raised in the rural area with only sibling and relatives, I was never unnourished or without. Upon entering high school there an era of wealth and poverty due to the economy. But as I embarked on adulthood I quickly learned survival skills that I had to embrace for myself and family. Through this process I learned the process of depending on my faith, beliefs and actions to pull me through. As long as we live we will always face adversity especially here at GWC with the title and the expectations of a technology campus. But I am confident that as educators we will mold our students to pursue a lifelong lesson during their tenure here. They may come to us as goldfishes but leave as sharks.
ReplyDeleteAs a child being the baby of the family I always had the "Goldfish" mentality. I was born on my youngest brothers 11th birthday. My other brothers and sisters were teenagers, so it was like I had multiple parents. They catered to me and I enjoyed every bit of it.
ReplyDeleteFour years ago, I lost my dad and a month later do to the mortgage banking industry crash, I was out of a job with a wife and two kids. It would have been easy to keep the "Goldfish" mentality, but it was during this time that I transformed to the "Shark" mentality. I realized that I had to rely on my strength and faith in God. It would have been easy to give up, but instead I kept a positive attitude and I quickly learned that life is what you make it. The waves will come, they will toss you, but instead of drowning I rode the waves. Like Joseph, what was meant for bad, worked out for my good.
This will help me at GWC, because nothing is going to be given, we are going to have to go get it. Go "Sharks"!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy goldfish moment was when I was working for a homebuilding company. I started there straight out of college. We were in the middle of a housing boom and all I had to do was show up to work and the money rolled in! Bonuses and gifts galore! We were all goldfish living high off the hog. Little to my knowledge, we were contributing to America's debt crisis. Soon we were laying off left and right. I held on for a year and then right when I thought we were good, they laid me off. I was distraught and confused. I had done everything "right". I was just like the goldfish for a while. I was depressed and angry. I felt like less than a person because I was not working.
ReplyDeleteThen my shark instincts kicked in. I realized that I could not stay down for long. After getting turned down from a few jobs, I stopped looking at jobs that would pay me, and started looking at careers that would fulfill me. I started paying my dues and networking. I essentially let the light that God gave me shine through. And after 2 long years of unemployment, I was finally offered a job. Now I am learning new things here at GWC and happy. I also have testimony as to what having faith in troubled times will do for you. With my shark attitude I know that I have to get in here (GWC) and do whatever it takes to inspire kids to learn. I also can't be timid in this working environment. The rest of the teachers here are sharks so I have got to follow suit of the best!
Shark vs. Goldfish, I guess that pretty much sums up the differences between college and high school for me. High school was mostly goldfish with me simply showing up ....doing my best, and getting good grades. Did a learn, yes, but did I work on learning anything no. Pretty much if you pay attention you would get the knowledge, and if you practice it you would be alright in the end. Though when I went to college I found myself having to be more of a shark. Yes, we were given information, yes, it was enough to pass the class ....but I quickly found that if you do more than just the status quo ....a lot of doors would open and I learned more than what was given in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteSo, I guess that was my goldfish and Shark moment.
I forgot to mention that this will help me at GWC ....by I am not really sure. I mean, being a Goldfish isn't bad, and being a Shark isn't always good. There are times when you need to follow and times when you need to lead. There is time to be a goldfish and time to be a shark, but I guess from the book it's the can do attitude that really is being put to question here. And, that means I will be a shark when it comes to motivating our students to learn ...to try and get more from their education than what is given simply in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteWhat am I striving to be this year? I am striving to be a "shark" personally and professionally. I am striving for excellence every day. I believe that "there is no substitute for hard work." I believe in a shark school for goldfish. This year we can teach goldfish how to fish for food in shark world. I do know that there are all kinds of fish. If we plant the seed, the increase will be afforded if we just believe and remain positive in our thoughts and actions. We will change perspectives beginning with us.
ReplyDelete