Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. | |
— Robert Louis Stevenson | |
If you are thinking a year ahead, sow a seed. If you are thinking 10 years ahead, plant a tree. If you are thinking 100 years ahead, educate the people. | |
— Kuan Tzu | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Unmistakable Progress |
Dom-De-Doo-Be Dom | |
Reviewing Austen | |
2020 | A Better Synthesis |
2019 | It’s Only Funny If You’re Old Enough To Know What “Film” Was |
2018 | Bourne Wicked Blonde |
First Things First | |
2017 | This Explains A Lot |
2016 | Me Too |
2015 | A Proper Price |
2014 | Well Hard |
2013 | Because I Can |
Eloquence, n. | |
2012 | Why Bother? |
2011 | Peculiar Notions |
Posts Tagged ‘Education’
Sowing The Future
Posted in Education, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Education, Harvest, Judgment, Kuan Tzu, Philosophy, Quotes, Robert Louis Stevenson, Seeds, Sowing, The Future, Trees on June 2, 2022| 2 Comments »
Get Outdoors More
Posted in Education, Environment, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Bernard of Clairvaux, Education, Environment, Philosophy, Quotes, Stones, Trees on May 8, 2022| 2 Comments »
The trees and stones will teach you what you never learn from the masters. | |
— Bernard of Clairvaux | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Re-institute The Wall Between Church And State |
Once In My Life | |
2020 | Early Knowledge |
Seen Any Messages Lately? | |
2019 | I Don’t Think We’ll Be Serving Them Cake |
2018 | New And Old |
2017 | Ever |
2016 | At The Center |
2015 | True Value In Life |
2014 | A Potential To Be Concerned |
2013 | Fine No More |
2012 | Have You Checked Your Height Lately? |
2011 | Are You Convinced? |
Desert Springs
Posted in Education, Philosophy, Quotes, Reading, tagged Andrew Carnegie, Community, Deserts, Education, Libraries, Other Blogs, Philosophy, Quotes, Reading, Springs on February 22, 2022| 2 Comments »
A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert. | |
― Andrew Carnegie | |
[Found at one of the blogs I follow: “I didn’t have my glasses on….“ | |
Located at: https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/ | |
The specific post is at: https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/2017/03/11/im-a-reflection-of-the-community-tupac-shakur/ | |
Please visit the original blog / site if you have a minute… — KMAB] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | And Usually The Former |
The Real Heir… | |
2020 | The Doggie Dab |
A Fork In The Road | |
2019 | #LyingDonald’s Problem With The News And Truth |
2018 | Oh, Hell |
2017 | No Welcome Mat Here |
2016 | Making It Up |
A Missed Beat | |
2015 | We Are All Explorers |
2014 | Still Trying To Cope |
2013 | Dear Diary (A good chuckle!) |
2012 | Conveniently Sequential |
2011 | King’s Speech Number Four |
Rational Probability | |
Does Blogging Count?
Posted in Education, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Art, Education, Experience, https://news.lettersofnote.com/, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., New York City, Other Blogs, Other web sites, Philosophy, Quotes, Soul Growth, Xavier High School on November 9, 2021| 4 Comments »
Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow. | |
Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. | |
— Kurt Vonnegut Jr. | |
From a letter to students at Xavier High School in New York City in response to an invitation to visit their school. | |
The quote is part of a larger response which was found on one of the blogs I follow: https://news.lettersofnote.com/ | |
The specific post can be found at: https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/make-your-soul-grow | |
[Please visit the original site if you have a spare minute. — KMAB] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Even Being President For Almost Four Years |
#45: Crying About The American Voters | |
Dying Isn’t Much Of A Way To Make A Living Boy | |
2019 | And Autumnal Foliage |
2018 | Up Hill, Both Ways |
2017 | Trump Carnivores – The Revolution So Far |
2016 | Election Results |
2015 | Speak Louder |
2014 | Why I Frequently Give In |
2013 | Am Remembering |
2012 | Sustained Fear |
2011 | Commitment |
Learning And Teaching
Posted in Career, Disclaimer, Education, Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, Work, tagged Disclaimer, Dr. Richard P. Feynman, Education, Frankfurt, Germany, Great Teachers, Learning, NCO Academy, Performance Oriented Training, Philosophy, POTs Training Technique, Quotes, Teaching, Work on November 1, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Feynman Learning Technique: | |
1) Take a piece of paper and write the concept’s name at the top. | |
2) Explain the concept using simple language (show examples to demonstrate you know how the concept works) | |
3) Identify problem areas in your explanation or examples and then go back to the sources to review the material / concept | |
4) Pinpoint any complicated terms and challenge yourself to simplify them. | |
Several days ago, I posted a quote and made a comment about excellence in teaching. (Why We Have So Few Personal Favorites ) Basically, my proposition was that it is extremely difficult to evaluate the competence and productivity of a teacher because of the number of variables and an inability to control them to a point sufficient to determine what are the tools we could provide the “most effective” teachers to make them better (or any teachers for that matter). | |
I never gave much thought about teaching until I joined the Army and they insisted I learn, participate in and practice “Performance Oriented Training” (POTs training) when I attended the NCO Academy in Frankfurt, Germany. Essentially, POTs stipulates that until the student can perform the task, the training has not been effective. There were three elements: 1) the instructor demonstrates the task to be performed / explaining the objective of the task, the reason for the task, and each step necessary to complete the task; 2) the instructor then walks / talks the student through each step as they (the student) follows along with each step; and, 3) the instructor asks the student to perform the task independently. If the student fails in performance (step 3), the instructor must return to element 2. Re-cycle through elements 2 and 3 until 3 can be accomplished independently. At that point, the student can perform the task and the training has been effective. (Of course long term retention of the knowledge / skill is a different matter.) | |
This training methodology served me very well during my working life / career as I was frequently called upon to instruct on topics in the military, and then as a civilian: from credit card fraud prevention, to correspondent banking, to numerous Information Technology topics (basic trouble-shooting, using spreadsheets, using word processing applications, server and network administration, setting up databases, conducting data analysis and creating web pages to display the analysis / data). | |
Rather late in my career, I “discovered” (i.e. read about) Dr Richard P. Feynman (PhD) and his personal learning methodology. Post-employment (i.e. in retirement), I’ve now watched bits and pieces of Professor Feynman’s lectures (on YouTube) and I believe his methodology is a civilian / academic equivalent of personal POTs training. That is: how we should expect to teach ourselves and verify our own knowledge / competency in a subject. I shudder to think of the number of lectures / classes / training sessions I’ve attended where the instructor either did not have this level of personal expertise or expect the student to demonstrate understanding at the end of the session. Which, (again) is why we remember our few “great” teachers over our lifetimes. | |
Disclaimer: The list of four steps above are available in several books and on the web and the exact wording is neither mine nor exclusive to any specific source so I have not bothered to cite any “original” source. I apologize in advance if anyone reading this feels I have used their exact language describing Dr. Feynman’s technique. | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Does Anyone Else Look Forward To The Last Lawn Mowing ‘Til Spring? |
Only For You | |
2019 | 10,000 Tries |
2018 | Keep America Great – Vote This Tuesday |
2017 | Old Style Ear Candy |
2016 | Next Tuesday |
2015 | Wanna Trade? |
2014 | Brothers And Friends |
2013 | So Suddenly |
2012 | At The Center |
2011 | Live Long And Thinner |
Got Health? | |
2010 | SF Giants – 2010 World Series Champions!!! |
52 – 54 – 56 – 58 | |
2009 | Diet Update |
Pictures from Chicago Trip… | |
Why We Have So Few Personal Favorites
Posted in Quotes, Science and Learning, Philosophy, Education, tagged Philosophy, Quotes, Education, Teaching, Peter Drucker, Teachers, Tools, Performance, Competence on October 28, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Teaching is the only major occupation of man for which we have not yet developed tools that make an average person capable of competence and performance. In teaching we rely on the ‘naturals’, the ones who somehow know how to teach. | |
— Peter Drucker | |
[One of the few times I don’t agree with Drucker… I believe we rely on ‘willing to’ rather than ‘naturals’ to become teachers and then hope most rise to a level of competence and performance. First, I’m not convinced “average” people are capable of being competent teachers. I don’t think the ability to teach academic subjects is a skill the average person has. I do believe that everyone can teach “some” things – just not academic topics, and certainly not at all levels. Second, I believe “tools” make most people better at “some” things, but do not necessarily make average people competent or able to perform in academic areas. I’m not convinced tools necessarily make a below-average (whatever that is) person average (whatever that is); just better than they might have been otherwise. Third, I’m not convinced we have adequate testing methodologies to rate an academic teacher’s competence and / or performance. Students are living beings and not subject to controlled experiments as inputs or as outputs. The “best” we can do is use statistics to estimate student competence / performance under very limited circumstances and, therefore, the results of the comparisons may or may not be widely applicable across wider groups in society. Even the world’s greatest high school math teacher may not be good (or average) in a grammar school or at a university, let alone at another high school or in other subjects. Finally, we believe we can use standardized tests to measure the students performance and, therefore, “measure / determine” a teacher’s competence. This is an assumption which may or may not be valid. In any case, my understanding is that social / economic banding is the most common important factor for economic progress / success. This banding has very little to do with an individual teacher’s ability or a student’s performance. The same teacher can teach multiple siblings at the same school and still end up with a wide variance of sibling performance success. — KMAB] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Why We Must Vote #45 Out |
If You Believe | |
2019 | Sometimes I Still Have Trouble Sleeping |
Public Ridicule For Office Holder | |
2018 | And Flights Of Fancy |
Dodgers Lose 2nd Consecutive World Series!! | |
2017 | By Their Acts Thy Shall Know Them |
2016 | Remembering |
2015 | One |
2014 | Sure Experiments And Demonstrated Arguments |
2013 | Irrational Complacency |
2012 | Why Criticize? |
Giants Sweep 2012 World Series With Game 4 Win (4 To 3)!!! | |
2011 | Saying Just Enough |
2010 | Giants Win Game 2 Shutout of Rangers – 9 to 0!!! |
Three Or Four Elements
Posted in Education, Guitar, Music, tagged Arts And Culture, Dynamics, Education, Google, Guitar, Harmony, Melody, Music, Rhythm, Wikipedia on October 7, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I have been learning to play guitar since January of this year. Although I’ve always liked music and songs, I’ve never given much thought to what music is. I mean, I’ve always considered it as “sound” (in a physics sense), but learning to “play” music (make sounds) as turned into a deep and enriching exercise in itself. Last night, I read someone’s definition of “music” as a combination of three things: rhythm, melody and harmony. I thought this was interesting, so, today I went on Google and Wikipedia to see what they had to say about it… | |
There seems to be a (little / minor) disagreement about what “makes” music. Most of what I read agrees with the three parts above, but I also found other sources which added a fourth: dynamics. | |
This is my simplistic understanding of each: | |
1) Rhythm: the beat and speed of the sound(s); | |
2) Melody: the grouping of the sounds (typically making it – the “music” – distinctively memorable) into start, order and ending; | |
3) Harmony: the mixing of sounds for effect (happy / sad, blending / discordant); and, | |
4) Dynamics: how loud or quietly / soft or hard something sounds. | |
I’m sure any readers who are “real” musicians will find my explanation / understanding of these elements of music simplistic, and I’m okay with that. LoL! I think it’s amusing (amazing) I’ve enjoyed music my whole life, but never thought about ANY of this. And, to be honest, I have large blind spots about most things under “arts and culture”. I know I don’t know about them, but I have no idea how much I don’t know about them. It’s fun starting to learn! | |
C’est la vie… | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | I Am Shocked! Shocked I Say! |
But You Gotta Have Faith | |
But Only Half | |
2019 | …And Bullet-Proof Suits |
The Bottom Line (Is No Surprise To Me) | |
2018 | What Do You Hear? |
2017 | I’ve Got A Pocket Protector |
Word Up! | |
2016 | Better Value |
2015 | Any Port In A Storm |
2014 | Babies (II) |
2013 | Why The Young Stay In College Longer These Days |
2012 | Perceptions Of Worth |
2011 | Flavor |
2010 | Giants Win 1-0 !! |
How Learning Infections Begin
Posted in Education, Music, Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Children, Education, Learning, Leonard Bernstein, Music, Philosophy, Quotes, Teaching on August 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »
We destroy our children’s songs of existence by giving them inhibitions, teaching them to be cynical, manipulative, and all the rest of it… You become hardened, but you can find that playfulness again. We’ve got to find a way to get music and kids together, as well as to teach teachers how to discover their own love of learning. Then the infectious process begins. | |
— Leonard Bernstein | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Policies Not People |
Just Thinking To Myself | |
2019 | Should I Start With My Religion? |
2018 | Fear And Hope |
Day 33: Good News & Prep | |
2017 | Directions |
2016 | Handle With Care |
2015 | Nothing But Pride |
2014 | Go |
2013 | Well, Does It? |
2012 | Near Misses Aren’t Successes |
2011 | Uncomfortable Feelings |
2010 | San Francisco (favorites)… |
Bullets or Butter? | |
Awaiting The Polisher
Posted in Education, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Education, Inherent Beauty, Joseph Addison, Marble, Philosophy, Quarry, Quotes, Souls on August 13, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I consider a human soul without education like marble in the quarry, which shows none of its inherent beauties till the skill of the polisher fetches out the colours, makes the surface shine, and discovers every ornamental cloud, spot and vein that runs through the body of it. | |
— Joseph Addison | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | I Don’t Want To Get Any Older… |
Maybe I’ll See You There | |
2019 | Free At Last! |
2018 | Some Basic Virtues |
Day 17: Fit In 48’s | |
2017 | Too Soon We Part… |
Rigorous And Difficult | |
2016 | Where And Why |
2015 | The Beauty Of Thy Voice |
2014 | Faith In Men |
2013 | An Average Verge |
2012 | Dew Drop Secrets |
2011 | Champion Freedom |
We Are More Alike
Posted in Education, History, Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Education, History, Philosophy, Quotes on July 28, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I would encourage us all, African Americans, Asians, Latinos, Whites, Native Americans to study history. I long for the time when all the human history is taught as one history. I am stronger because you are stronger. I am weaker if you are weak. So we are more alike than we are unlike. | |
— Maya Angelou | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | One Lesson In Diversity |
2019 | And Yet, I Believe |
2018 | Beats |
First Step: Starting Cleansing (Again) | |
2017 | Effective Stimuli |
2016 | Dave’s Not Here, Man |
2015 | Blink |
2014 | The Struggle To Educate America Continues… |
2013 | On Elections |
2012 | Warm Smiles |
Pick Your Poison | |
2011 | Straight Shooters |
Don’t Forget Luck
Posted in Education, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Achievement, Dreams, Education, Goals, Insight, Knowledge, Luck, Mark Twain, Philosophy, Quotes, Training on July 15, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Inherently, each one of us has the substance within to achieve whatever our goals and dreams define. What is missing from each of us is the training, education, knowledge and insight to utilize what we already have. | |
— Mark Twain | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Plumbers, Philosophers Or Presidents |
2019 | Watching |
2018 | Even #45 Shall Pass To Sand |
2017 | Shedding Light |
In The Neighborhood | |
2016 | The Responsibility Of Freedom |
2015 | Face It |
Birdfight | |
2014 | Honoring Firefighters |
2013 | And Never Will |
2012 | The Human Adventure Continues |
2011 | Almost Never |
Best To Be Trained And Educated
Posted in Education, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Education, James P. Carse, Philosophy, Preparation, Quotes, Surprise, Training on June 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »
To be prepared against surprise is to be trained. To be prepared for surprise is to be educated. | |
— James P. Carse | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Diversity And Uniqueness |
2019 | Ebb And Flow |
2018 | America: Paging #45 |
2017 | Near By |
2016 | Maybe Someday |
2015 | How’s The Cow? |
2014 | Mind Made Up |
2013 | On Purpose |
2012 | The Dream |
2011 | What Could Be More Comfortable? |
Start Reading / Start Building
Posted in Education, Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Books, Education, George Washington, Knowledge, Philosophy, Quotes on June 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I conceive a knowledge of books is the basis upon which other knowledge is to be built. | |
― George Washington | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Nurturing Trees And Plants |
2019 | Seeking Needs |
2018 | Not Sure Anyway… |
All Clear Nuclear And Burn | |
2017 | Forms Of Conservation |
2016 | Oh, So Lacking |
2015 | e pluribus unum |
2014 | Nothing So Far Removed |
2013 | Positions |
2012 | Two Errors |
2011 | Long Live The King! |
Spending A Lifetime Learning To Draw
Posted in Education, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Art, Drawing, Education, Eleanor Roosevelt, Eraser, John W. Gardner, Life, Philosophy, Quotes on June 15, 2021| Leave a Comment »
All of life is a constant education. | |
— Eleanor Roosevelt | |
Life is the art of drawing without an eraser. | |
— John W. Gardner | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Light And Dark |
2019 | My Dog Scratches At The Bedroom Door |
2018 | One Person Can |
2017 | Been There, Thought That |
2016 | Diligent Students |
2015 | Unanswered Prayers |
2014 | Pray, v. |
2013 | As I… |
2012 | But We Need Room |
2011 | A Definition Of Leadership |