Sometimes it is good to just end the week on a positive
note, no matter what is glaring at you. I enjoyed this article, so it is time
to share!
“Teachers, Don't
Forget Joy”
“As
another school year moves into high gear, I would like to offer a few thoughts”.
“Not
long ago, the room where classmates and I met for our 50th high school reunion
buzzed with all the conversations you'd expect: children, grandchildren,
retirement, travels, and where we lived. But there was also another equally
important conversation—about our teachers and why we remembered them. "She
told me I was a writer," one former classmate said. "I loved math
because of him." "I wish he'd only lived a little longer; I had so
hoped to tell him of the impact he had on my life." "I became a
teacher because of her." I wondered as I listened and shared similar
musings what my former students might say about me when they think of our time
together. Would joy come to their minds?”
“Shortly
after the reunion, a group of colleagues gathered in my den to spend a day with
a noted literacy expert. We talked of all the rich research we have to help our
students grow smarter as readers, writers, and thinkers. We talked of programs
and the promises they make, and what they can't and don't deliver. We lamented
the squeeze on educational funding. And we pondered the role that poverty and
the absence of books in homes plays in children's lives. As I sat with some of
the smartest and most dedicated educators I know, I couldn't help but sense
that we had overlooked something in our discussion”.
“And
then suddenly it hit me as I was sitting there, learning among my friends and
colleagues. It was joy. A simple, three-letter word we take for granted. Struck
by its simplicity, I wondered if joy is what we've been missing in the recent
conversations about education that we've been having as a country”.
Read
the whole thing here: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/10/16/08wallis.h33.html?tkn=ZMQFmJDCivafjXJz2uXHv%2BMFC2byLnbe4PmS&cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS1
Have
a joyous weekend
Dr Flavius A B
Akerele III
The ETeam
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