One must learn by doing the thing.
For though you think you know it,
you have no certainty until you try.
Sophocles (BC 495-406, Greek Tragic Poet)
How often have we encountered a poignant quote at the beginning of a chapter in a book we are reading, on a billboard or public transportation ad, in a Chinese restaurant. Good quotes ignite thinking, spark a conversation, introduce an essay question in Task IV of the New York State English Language Arts Regents Exam. Many speakers begin a speech with a joke or a quote that will be used to introduce the contents of the speech. A good quote is also used at the end of a speech as an aphorism or truth the speaker wishes to impart upon the audience. Quotes come from religious texts, ancient and modern philosophers, writers from all ages. Many quotes are well known, used often, and always appropriate. The Sophocles quote above heads my Class Webpage. I want to encourage the scholars to try anything that will help them in life, especially the technology. They may say they understand something, know something; but until they speak about it or write about it, I'm not convinced they do know it. It's like me when I watching a sporting event, I can do that. Then I try and realize I can.
As a teacher, I use quotes often. Our scholars are inundated with information. I can't count the number of times a scholar has told me that they were taught something or told to do something in a certain way by another teacher when I suggest another way or method. In my class we use the Internet more than books. In both cases I have to remind the scholars that they need to verify the information they are finding. Just because it is in a book or in Wikipedia, that information is NOT necessarily true. We need to do further research and verify, verify everything. Franklin's quote is very useful and a constant reminder to us every minute of the day to pay attention and to be alert.
One of the worst plagues we have as teachers is plagiarism. It is the scourge of scholarship. Scholars have always been tempted by the quick and easy method of copying someone else's work so as to finish their own. We also see this in a manner of dress in our scholars. Ironically in their attempts to be unique, they often imitate others to create a uniform. As scholars create their own digital pages, I am constantly reminding them of NOT copying. I use the Emerson quote as a model in an assignment about quotes.
This classic Lao-Tzu quotes helps justify what we do in schools everyday. The scholars understand this one real fast. They know it whenever a teacher doesn't provide an answer and insists that they look it up or find the answer themselves. We are constantly helping our scholars learn how to learn. The fishing metaphor is useful and quickly understood. They may not like it, but they know it to be a great truth.
At least one day every week I use a quote as Do Now to begin class. I will do this as a Blog post or simply provide a quote on a piece of paper and ask the scholars to explain the meaning of the quote and to provide an example of how this quote has applied to them, a simple text to text application.
For though you think you know it,
you have no certainty until you try.
Sophocles (BC 495-406, Greek Tragic Poet)
How often have we encountered a poignant quote at the beginning of a chapter in a book we are reading, on a billboard or public transportation ad, in a Chinese restaurant. Good quotes ignite thinking, spark a conversation, introduce an essay question in Task IV of the New York State English Language Arts Regents Exam. Many speakers begin a speech with a joke or a quote that will be used to introduce the contents of the speech. A good quote is also used at the end of a speech as an aphorism or truth the speaker wishes to impart upon the audience. Quotes come from religious texts, ancient and modern philosophers, writers from all ages. Many quotes are well known, used often, and always appropriate. The Sophocles quote above heads my Class Webpage. I want to encourage the scholars to try anything that will help them in life, especially the technology. They may say they understand something, know something; but until they speak about it or write about it, I'm not convinced they do know it. It's like me when I watching a sporting event, I can do that. Then I try and realize I can.
"Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see."
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
As a teacher, I use quotes often. Our scholars are inundated with information. I can't count the number of times a scholar has told me that they were taught something or told to do something in a certain way by another teacher when I suggest another way or method. In my class we use the Internet more than books. In both cases I have to remind the scholars that they need to verify the information they are finding. Just because it is in a book or in Wikipedia, that information is NOT necessarily true. We need to do further research and verify, verify everything. Franklin's quote is very useful and a constant reminder to us every minute of the day to pay attention and to be alert.
Imitation is Suicide.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo 1803-1882 American Poet Essayist
Emerson, Ralph Waldo 1803-1882 American Poet Essayist
One of the worst plagues we have as teachers is plagiarism. It is the scourge of scholarship. Scholars have always been tempted by the quick and easy method of copying someone else's work so as to finish their own. We also see this in a manner of dress in our scholars. Ironically in their attempts to be unique, they often imitate others to create a uniform. As scholars create their own digital pages, I am constantly reminding them of NOT copying. I use the Emerson quote as a model in an assignment about quotes.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Lao-Tzu (BC 600-?, Chinese philosopher, founder of Taoism)
Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Lao-Tzu (BC 600-?, Chinese philosopher, founder of Taoism)
This classic Lao-Tzu quotes helps justify what we do in schools everyday. The scholars understand this one real fast. They know it whenever a teacher doesn't provide an answer and insists that they look it up or find the answer themselves. We are constantly helping our scholars learn how to learn. The fishing metaphor is useful and quickly understood. They may not like it, but they know it to be a great truth.
At least one day every week I use a quote as Do Now to begin class. I will do this as a Blog post or simply provide a quote on a piece of paper and ask the scholars to explain the meaning of the quote and to provide an example of how this quote has applied to them, a simple text to text application.
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."
Buckminster Fuller
In my email signature I have this Fuller quote. I love the reaction I receive from it as I correspond with others. It is an appropriate quote for me because it is all about CyberEnglish, CyberSchool, and my practice.
Buckminster Fuller
In my email signature I have this Fuller quote. I love the reaction I receive from it as I correspond with others. It is an appropriate quote for me because it is all about CyberEnglish, CyberSchool, and my practice.
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