Date Archives → September 2014

Question & Thought and ANDS for last day of September 2014!!!

Question & Thought and ANDS for last day of September 2014!!!

Good Tuesday Morning!

1. Question – Who said, “You must not talk that way to the President!”

2. Thought – Perry borrows from MacArthur’s autobiographical Reminiscences to give the general’s own account of a White House confrontation over a Roosevelt plan to cut military spending. As MacArthur recalled, he told the president “something to the general effect that when we lost the next war, and an American boy, lying in the mud with an enemy bayonet in his belly and an enemy foot on his dying throat, spat out his last curse, I wanted the name not to be MacArthur, but Roosevelt.” Shocked, Roosevelt bellowed: “You must not talk that way to the President!” MacArthur quickly agreed and apologized. (“Douglas MacArthur Is The Man”? from a book review section of The New American Magazine September 2014 issue)

​See Ya September!​

Mark

Question & Thought & ANDs…

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​AND:​I could not have said it better myself…well put, to the point.  I will say this, if society doesn’t want to know the truth of what a person thinks about certain controversial situations, then don’t ask.  By asking, the media itself is initiating a witch hunt.  A person’s belief is his or her own, and by the very asking, the reporter is simply trying to condemn by popular opinion and in a ruthless attempt to elevate self at the expense of another person’s reputation.  I would love to see the witch hunt go after the bad guys for a change.

AND:The issue today is not that good men do nothing it is that men do not know what to do. We have become a society of its ok as long as its ok with me. Society looks down on those of strong character and a black and white belief system.  So what does this mean. It means that we do not present and determined will to root out and destroy evil simply due to the fact we refuse to recognize its existence.  This tepid politically correct focus of the country will destroy us in the end, and do not misunderstand the end is getting larger in the windscreen.

​AND:​ heard a great statement regarding current liberal positions on same sex marriage and government. The statement pointed out that when asked President Obama strongly advocated the importance of having women serve on the Supreme Court because they bring perspectives that men cannot, and that diversity of opinions and skills was critical to have a strong court. I think most people would agree. To that point, his last two appointees were women. Yet when it comes to marriage and raising children he advocates the position that sex doesn’t matter at all. Two men or two women can do the same job as a man and a women. How is it that it is critical for the court, but it us not for the most important stabilizing force in any society – the family?

AND:If there ever was a time to do a double duty of prayer for our troops, it is now.

AND: I THINK WE PUT TO MUCH PRESSURE ON

OURSELVES…  TRYING TO DO TO MUCH…

BE TOO MUCH…

Questions & Thought for 9-29-2014!!!

Questions & Thought for 9-29-2014!!!
Good Monday Morning!
1. Question – Why don’t she understand? Why doesn’t he get it? Are we from different worlds?
2. Thought – Imagine that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. One day long ago the Martians, looking through their telescopes, discovered the Venusians. Just glimpsing the Venusians awakened feelings they had never known. They fell in love and quickly invented space travel and flew to Venus.
The Venusians welcomed the Martians with open arms. They had intuitively known that this day would come. Their hearts opened wide to a love they had never felt before.
The love between the Venusians and the Martians was magical. They delighted in being together, doing things together, and sharing together. Though from different worlds, they reveled in their differences. They spent months learning about each other, exploring and appreciating their different needs, preferences, and behavior patterns. For years they lived together in love and harmony.
Then they decided to fly to Earth. In the beginning everything was wonderful and beautiful. But the effects of Earth’s atmosphere took hold, and one morning everyone woke up with a peculiar kind of amnesia – selective amnesia!
​Both the Martians and the Venusians forgot they were from different planets and were supposed to be different. In one morning everything they had learned about their differences was erased from their memory. And since that day men and women have been in conflict. (​Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray, Ph.D.)

 

Mark

Question & Thought & ANDs…

Question – Thought & AND for 9-26-2014!!!

Question – Thought & AND for 9-26-2014!!!
Good Friday Morning!
1. Question – What are four things you would do to ensure your classroom is a place of excellence without resorting to ‘fear’ to keep kids in line?
2. Thought – Here are four things I do to ensure the class remains a place of academic excellence without resorting to fea’ to keep the kids in line?
  • Replace fear with trust. I answer all questions. It does not matter if I have been asked them before. It does not matter if I am tired. The kids must see that I passionately want them to understand, and it never bothers me when they don’t. (See AND below!)
  • Children Depend on Us So Be Dependable. Parents and Teachers have to come through. If I tell kids we are beginning a special art project on Friday, I have to deliver, even if it means running out to Home Depot at 4:00 A.M. to get extra wood and brushes. And, we do not need to lecture the students about how we came through on a promise; let them figure out that they can trust us.
  • Discipline Must Be Logical. Children do not mind a tough teacher, but they despise an unfair one. Punishment must fit the crimes, and too often they do not. Once the kids see you as unfair, you’ve lost them. A child is acting up in class; the teacher decides the entire class will miss playing baseball that afternoon. The kids take it, but they hate it. Many are thinking, Kenny robbed the bank – why am I going to jail?
  • You Are a Role Model. Some of my students laugh bitterly at a teacher they once had. They discuss her in the most unflattering of terms. She often comes to school late. She doesn’t even realize it, but she’s lost them. Why would the kids listen to her lessons when her constant tardiness tells them they are not important to her? When she lectures them, they smile and nod their heads. Inside they are thinking, Screw you lady. Another teacher talks on her cell phone constantly. Even when the kids are being taken somewhere, their fearless leader walks in front of them gabbing on the phone.
        

Mark

​- Have a great last weekend​ in September 2014! No texting and driving. Water and a little exercise. The weather is great! Maybe even grow with a book!
Question & Thought & ANDs…
 
​AND:​We are all teachers whether we choose to be or not.  We are also continually being instructed, regardless our age.  Fear.  It has its place in learning.  Remove all fear, and there is no need to learn.  You see, in an environment where fear is removed completely, all needs are being more than met.  There is no drive to learn…only a drive for entertainment out of boredom.  I have seen this in most children and young adults in our society today.  Now interject some fear…fear of not having food to feed the family due to lack of knowledge in farming to grow crop or cattle.  Fear of not being able to evacuate a burning structure due to illiteracy that impacts ability to read the exit signs/maps.  Fear of being robbed by merchants because of a lack of math skills to manage financial exchanges.  Fear of being ensnared and enslaved by a written legal contract because of illiteracy.  Fear of being overtaken by tyranny due to political ignorance.  We are human.  We need motivation.  Fear is just one part of that motivation.

We also need encouragement as well as a safe environment that fosters learning.  As for instructing each student without resorting to fear…that’s laughable.  If we are instructing truths, then the purpose itself for instruction will be evident and incorporated at the start, the middle, and the end of the instruction.  The truth behind that purpose is driven by some level of fear.  Otherwise, why would it be a part of learning.  We learn because there is a need to know.  Why do we have such a need?  And we must not forget we are to fear God Almighty as well as love and adore and worship Him.  It is the fear of God that we keep the faith…the result of which is peace and often prosperity and to some degree happiness through security…all from fearing God and obeying His instruction.

This ‘motivating’ fear is truly driven from a combination of concern and comprehension of the devastating consequences as a result of the lack of knowledge to sustain any necessary aspect of life.  In American culture today, we lack such motivation in faith and education.  The moral decay of our society is a direct result of lack of fear in our God…abortions, turning a blind eye to rape and other assaults, coveting what others have, murders, etc.  Our students’ academic performance proves no motivating fear exists by the very evident poor academic statistics through the past couple decades.  Instead of raising the bar on education, it’s been lowered and watered down so that our percentages of educated people will look excellent on paper.  Human being be damned!  It’s all about the numbers, and how those numbers impact elections…never about the state of deficiency each child is left.

It used to be that to be on a sports team as a kid, one had to work hard to develop the skills.  The kid had to learn the rules of the game and had to have the skills to be a team member.  Learn.  Develop skills.  Team player.  He was motivated by his desire to attain a goal.  He also was motivated by internal fears of not making the team due to any skill deficiency or major personality conflicts.  Fear of loss motivates the player to do his best and to learn how to be his best…not only for himself but also for the team.

Fear does impact learning.  The type of fear makes a difference.  I no longer subscribe to pop culture psychology that forces a belief that fear is unhealthy and that we must eradicate all of it out of existence.  The right type and the right level of fear motivates…good or bad…it undeniably motivates.

Question – Thought for September 25th, 2014!

Question – Thought for September 25th, 2014!
Good Thursday Morning! (3 Months till Christmas!!!)
1. Question – Are classrooms in America managed by fear?
2. Thought – The simple truth is that most classrooms today are managed by one thing and one thing only: fear.
The teacher is afraid: afraid of looking bad, of not being liked, of not being listened to, of losing control. The students are even more afraid: afraid of being scolded and humiliated, of looking foolish in front of peers, of getting bad grades, of facing parents’ wrath. John Lennon got it right in “Working Class Hero” when he sang of being “tortured and scared…for twenty-odd years.”
Painful though it was, I had to admit that many children in my class were behaving the way they were because they were afraid. Oh, lots of kids liked the class and quite a few learned all sorts of wonderful lessons. But I wanted more. We spend so much time trying to raise reading and math scores. We push our kids to run faster and jump higher. Shouldn’t we also try to help them become better human beings? (Teach Like Your Hairs On Fire by Rafe Esquith)
3. Question – What are four things you would do to ensure your classroom is a place of excellence without resorting to ‘fear’ to keep kids in line?

—

Remick

Question & Thought & ANDs…