Mon, 3 Jul 1995
THE FUN OF IT ALL--A REPLY

Anna and Kathy:

I don't think it is a matter of technique per se. In that realm what works for me may or not be successful for another. The essential point is that there is a learning objective, a meaning and purpose to the"madness." And, Kathy, I don't think it is a matter of bribery. Every day we teachers are educational modeling for the students. The question I keep asking myself is, what kind of a model am I? Do I trudge along or dance the light fantastic? Do I plop the food for thought down care lesson a plate as if I was a grubby short-order cook at a Greasy Spoon or am I a chef who enticingly offers the food for thought as a tasty delicacy? How can students become lovers of learning, enjoying learning, when they don't see too many models of lovers? How can they get excited if we are not excited with the uniqueness of our world to discover and share? How can we demand that the students see more to learning than the vocational, "how can I use it," when they have so many "white-collared vo techs" as their educational models? What the students see is what we practice, and what they see is what they are going to practice. It's what we're getting so often in our classes and sending out from our classes. So, I have to say and live, "I want to be the best model. I want to model a joy of learning, of being a student and learner myself, a celebrating of the awe and wonder of new things, a greeting of learning as an exciting and expansive challenge rather than as a loathsome barrier; I want to model a learning that promotes an ever-growing person striving for his/her potential.