Dear Reader:
I, once, heard an educational speaker give this (paraphrased) quote and found myself literally shaking my head while mentally disagreeing with the statement. He gave this definition of the purpose of schools and subsequent learning.
” Children enter school with a question mark and leave with a period.”
“No!” I wanted to scream back. Children should enter school with a question mark and leave with a BIGGER QUESTION MARK! School is NOT a sentence that ends at a certain grade level with a final period beside it. A good school should have three periods (…) by the name of each student ..implying that real learning is a continuous process until we take our last breath.
As a teacher I always knew that my students were on temporary loan to me from home. They would be with me for a relatively short span of time before moving on to another’s domain. And this would continue… and continue….and continue…for as long as the learner kept asking questions. Education never ends. Lifetime learning is real and very important in adulthood!
I feel sure that my last words on Earth will be in the form of a question. Something like…”Father, Will you hold my hand along this final journey home?”
One of the great metaphors in life is that the more we know…the more we know that we don’t know as much as we thought we knew.
The greatest minds in history never worried about finding the right answer, as much as, asking the right question…In other words, finding the missing question in the puzzle.
I think if I were teaching again….my history tests would look very different. I would require students to create the right question to match the answers given. Interesting concept!
So until tomorrow…Let us surround ourselves with people who make us look at life with a different perspective and then start asking questions.
“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh
*Little Miss Eva Cate graced my home with her presence the last couple of days….we finally had time for her to get to see more of the heart of Summerville… the sculptures in the park, the lovely hidden paths around the beautiful landscape we often ride by and forget graces us with its beauty.
When I told Eva Cate that weddings took place in the large Gazebos in the parks she acted out the whole ceremony in her imagination …right down to the “I do.”
Eva Cate must have brought me good luck….the prettiest moon flower bloomed last evening so Eva Cate could see it. She spent much of the evening flying down the driveway in Jackson’s tractor….she’s got that ride down to the split-second.
ichaseferalcats
John Turner
Legally Ohm
Becky Dingle
The longer I live the more questions I have. I was the elementary student who drove the teacher crazy with questions. I gained a lot of information that way, but unfortunately, I can’t remember so much of it now. Early in my career, I learned it mattered how you posed the question. I remember one of my questions on a test was in the form of a statement, “Tell me all you know about a certain battle.” One student’s answer was, “Nothing”. I had to give him credit for answering correctly. It did help me understand that one might always get a different answer than she had in mind. You are absolutely correct that there should never just be a period to learning. I used to say, “Count the day lost that you don’t learn or see something new.” I am so glad that there are so many things that amaze me and make me wonder or question every day.
As usual, deaf friend…the best possible example yourself of a lifetime learner…you are so right on every account. A day without learning something new ir a day lost forever.
Right on Jo as usual- expressed do beautifully!
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