I’ve been teaching for over 40 years, multiple subjects to multiple age groups and on three continents. It’s one of the things I do over and over like cooking. I’m starting to think it’s part of my life path.
Over that career I have been blessed to land among stellar educators every place I’ve touched down. You know . . . the ones who talk about strategies to get Johnny, who is very kinesthetic, to feel and see decimals. The ones willing to coordinate their social studies classes with your lit classes so that we all dress up for Tom Sawyer day and eat the food of his time and place. The ones who know that it’s our job to engage them and not their job to sit still, shut up and listen, in which event they may retain 5% of what we lecture at them.
One of the brilliant ones I’ve been around for the last 20 or so years is Nita. She’s a teacher in the Pi (an alternative multi-age program) and Hi-Cap (Highly Capable) programs at my local district and my dear friend. We talk about learning a lot. One of our ongoing discussions over the years has been about words . . . vocabulary. A huge piece of “learning a subject” is learning to speak in its tongue.
I’m learning to do this website by studying many web resources. I’m still in that frustrating place of “being in over my head,” but I know that this uncomfortable place of confusion is just part of the process. As I learn the vocabulary, things will get clearer. And, in fact, the learning of any subject may be simply the learning of its words. At least Nita and I think it’s a really important step to mastery and I trust her judgment. And mine. And if we agree, which we don’t always do, I trust the conclusion.
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p.s. It’s the next morning and after dinking around some more I realize that I have a very buggy software combo going. This visual editing mode isn’t working like it should and I don’t know html. Off to the forums next, but first I need to whack some thistles to get myself back on the ground.
You really shouldn’t be dinking before noon, you know.
The sun is always over the yardarm somewhere in the world. That’s what we used to say back in the day when I was the worst officer’s wife in the history of the U.S. Army.
Also …
“SAVE THE THISTLES!”
You’re welcome to them. I’ll send you their carcasses which may emit posthumous seeds, but I’m warnin’ you. They’re prickly and over the lawn-height limit in your neighborhood.
33427 Bendon Ct.
Westland, Michigan 48186
I’m seriously (really – no REALLY!) thinking of cultivating thistles in my flower-beds. They’re the only plants that survive my RoundUp campaigns, and I find them visually appealing – so I feel that they deserve this honor. Now … where do you purchase thistle seeds?
Milk thistle has herbal / medicinal value, though most people consider the plant a nuisance. Is there any chance that this project could accidentally infect my neighbors’ neatly groomed lawns? Wouldn’t want that to happen!
I might be able to harvest some seeds. I always seem to miss a few plants (I have 3+ acres of mostly old pasture). I won’t send the Canadian thistle variety. They’re a noxious colonizer here that will take over any broken ground and then spread by stolon to take over huge areas if you’re not vigilant. But the individual ones, which may be milk thistle, aren’t as invasive. Have you considered cardoons?