On Teaching - The following quotes were taken from speeches and articles
"Teaching is like five shows a day. You have to know the script, know your audience, deliver your lines honestly and with meaning, have a flair for the dramatic and above all, be at ease with improvisation. Teachers must be actors with a good sense of timing and a love of that stage we call the classroom."
"The first creative act in teaching comes when the teacher sits down in a quiet space and decides what is important for kids to know. This act alone makes the teacher the most important factor in a child’s education."
"There must be passion for your subject matter, for it is only then that students will conclude that if what you are teaching is that interesting and important to you, it may just give them permission to conclude that it may be important to know. Not everything that is important to know is interesting to learn, so without your passion in a classroom, without your love of knowledge, and without your love for imparting knowledge, a student’s drive to learn can constrict to mute."
"There are many valid objectives in education, but if I was forced decide on only two, I would have to say that teaching students to be decent human beings and teaching students that life is sacred, would be my choice. In the words of Dr.Victor Frankel, "‘There are only two races on earth: The decent and the indecent."
"Give your students a vision of tomorrow, for without a sense that there is a tomorrow for them, life becomes hopeless. When children loose hope, civilization becomes endangered."
"The first creative act in teaching comes when the teacher sits down in a quiet space and decides what is important for kids to know. This act alone makes the teacher the most important factor in a child’s education."
"There must be passion for your subject matter, for it is only then that students will conclude that if what you are teaching is that interesting and important to you, it may just give them permission to conclude that it may be important to know. Not everything that is important to know is interesting to learn, so without your passion in a classroom, without your love of knowledge, and without your love for imparting knowledge, a student’s drive to learn can constrict to mute."
"There are many valid objectives in education, but if I was forced decide on only two, I would have to say that teaching students to be decent human beings and teaching students that life is sacred, would be my choice. In the words of Dr.Victor Frankel, "‘There are only two races on earth: The decent and the indecent."
"Give your students a vision of tomorrow, for without a sense that there is a tomorrow for them, life becomes hopeless. When children loose hope, civilization becomes endangered."
On Humanity
"It is a pity we cannot teach that each of us is created in the image of God, for then we might be able to convince children that each human being is totally unique by design, and that each of us is that aspect of God that is in the process of becoming. If we could all see one another in this light, then we would also see the true value of another’s life and the true value of our own. And then we could not easily hate another or easily hate ourselves. Only then would life become sacred."
"Never be afraid to establish a standard for right and wrong and never be afraid to call evil, evil and good, good. It is only when we judge human behavior as good or evil, that we let people know who we are and for what we stand. When we take the lead in making moral judgements, we give others permission to make their own moral judgments. In a secular humanist world, morality floats and ethics are situational. Such teachings have led to moral relativism and a lessening of standards for human behavior."
"Never be afraid to establish a standard for right and wrong and never be afraid to call evil, evil and good, good. It is only when we judge human behavior as good or evil, that we let people know who we are and for what we stand. When we take the lead in making moral judgements, we give others permission to make their own moral judgments. In a secular humanist world, morality floats and ethics are situational. Such teachings have led to moral relativism and a lessening of standards for human behavior."
On the Arts
“As there is a low relationship between having a wall papered with degrees and certificates, and moral behavior. There is a low relationship between the arts and moral behavior. Because a person is a brilliant scholar, it does not automatically mean that this person is moral. Because a person is a brilliant painter or superior dancer or an elegant writer, it does not mean that this person is automatically a decent human being. Never imagine that a person who has gained celebrity status or riches because of their skill has become a kinder person because of that skill.” “Teachers of the arts need to instruct children on standards of quality, for if everyone’s effort is a “work of art,” than nothing is a “work of art.” While we should celebrate distinctiveness, we must not allow our encouragement of an individual’s effort to denigrate quality in the name of democracy. While all people may be equal under the law, the quality of their output is not. Teach them a criteria for judging excellence that they can carry with them.”
“Expose children to the arts at an early age so they do not grow up thinking that rock concerts are all that awaits them. There are those young people who will become excellent in their craft in other venues. They will need an audience.”
“Expose children to the arts at an early age so they do not grow up thinking that rock concerts are all that awaits them. There are those young people who will become excellent in their craft in other venues. They will need an audience.”
On gifted and talented
“If you want to broaden the base of the numbers of students you wish to identify as gifted and talented, lower the I.Q. expectation to that of those who refuse to fund it.”
“There are some adults who are more gifted than other adults and there are some kids who are more gifted than other kids. This is the nature of diversity among human beings. While the gifted adults can sometimes find their way and are free to explore their options and opportunities, many gifted students are caught in schools without opportunities and options and they lose their way at an early age. The gifted child’s need for stimulation is as great a need as is that of the special child’s need for basics skills and patterning.”
“There are some adults who are more gifted than other adults and there are some kids who are more gifted than other kids. This is the nature of diversity among human beings. While the gifted adults can sometimes find their way and are free to explore their options and opportunities, many gifted students are caught in schools without opportunities and options and they lose their way at an early age. The gifted child’s need for stimulation is as great a need as is that of the special child’s need for basics skills and patterning.”