Copyright © Louis Schmier and Atwood Publishing.
Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 07:09:18 -0500 (EST)
1. it is an illusion to assume that high grades or GPAs is goodness; we shouldn't confuse the good grade with the person who makes the grade any more than we should confuse a mistake with the person who makes a mistake 2. There are subtle differences to the waves rolling onto the beach. No two waves are alike, just like snowflakes--and students. 3. you know, it is not obligatory for a "good" class to have honors students 4. Every student is a somebody; each student is very special and worth fighting for. 5. We can respect a student more if we can see beyond his/her image into her future potential, if we understand that each student is a seed of tomorrow's yet-to-seen flower. But, you won't know that unless you're looking for it and reach through doing what is "company approved." 6. We can make majors, but the important thing is to help in the process of becoming better human beings 7. It is tragic that one student who has the capacity should be allowed to fail. The second we don't have the time for that one student is the time when we have to make available twice the time, for every moment we spend now will earn untold years in the future. And when you believe the benefits are worth the effort and risk, you put the risks behind you and focus on the benefits. 8. We cannot suppose that some have a right to be educated and some do not 9. My heart is the student's real classroom 10. Einstein was right when he said that the supreme art of a teacher is not the transmission of information but the awakening of joy in creative expression 11. Imagine the wonders we would discover if we entered the classroom as excited seeders and enthusiastic feeders and optimistic cultivators rather than as stern weeders and grim reapers. 12. Hug a student, don't tug at him or her. Tug is a sign of contention, conflict, friction, disdain, disrespect; hug is a sign of embrace, partnership, community, commonality, understanding, sharing, love. 13. You always must ask you to ask yourself: if you truly do not care whether these students love you why do you obviously care if they dislike you? If you don't want to be in community with them, why should they be with you? 14. Look around in those eyes, faces, hearts. Let's stop abstracting, generalizing, theorizing; let's stop drawing up impersonal diagrams, dehumanizing charts, and statistics. Who are the untouchables? Who are the unteachables? Who are the unreachables? Who are the hopeless? Who are the too dumb to learn? Who are the too stubborn to learn? Who should we lose? Tell me, who? Are they really real people except in the superficial, cold heart, distance stand, and blind eye of the beholder? Are they the result of our failures as teachers rather than their failures as students? 15. Leopards can change their spots. We are not captives of "reality." We are not slaves of "system." We are not imprisoned with the locked cells of "that's not me" or "I'm not comfortable with that...." or "I can't change the way I....." We have choices. We make choices. Even when we choose not to choose, that is our choice. We always have the option of seeing truth, no matter how blind and prejudiced we may be; we always have the option of changing, no matter how uncomfortable and even painful that may be; we always have the option of moving on, no matter how tied up we may be.
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Make it a good day. --Louis-- Louis Schmier lschmier@valdosta.edu Department of History http://www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html Valdosta State University Valdosta, GA 31698 /~\ /\ /\ 912-333-5947 /^\ / \ / /~ \ /~\__/\ / \__/ \/ / /\ /~ \ /\/\-/ /^\___\______\_______/__/_______/^\ -_~ / "If you want to climb mountains, \ /^\ _ _ / don't practice on mole hills" -\____ |