Quotables

"I know you're really pissed at me."

OK, that quote along doesn't say much. But if you heard her tone, saw the look on her face, you'd have wanted to laugh as well!

And I wasn't. I told her I was not mad at her, but wasn't happy with the way she was acting.
For the record, this is an 11 year old girl w/ intellectual disabilities. She's been a pill the last two days. Things only got worse today about 15 minutes later. It was interesting to say the least. Thank goodness tomorrow is a new day!

Quote of the Day

"The great secret...
is not having bad manners or good manners...
but having the same manner for all human souls:
in short, behaving as if you were in
Heaven,
where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another."

George Bernard Shaw

Positive Quote of the Day

You are not happy because you are well. You are well because you are
happy. You are not depressed because trouble has come to you, but
trouble has come to you because you are depressed. You can change
your thoughts and feelings, and then the outer things will come to
correspond, and indeed there is no other way of working.

-- Emmet Fox

I liked the above. I haven't had time to blog lately, but thought I'd pop in and share something worthwhile.

Quote

I like the following quote and thought I'd share.

Mother Teresa said, " We must know that we have been created for greater things, not just to be a number in this world, not just to go for diplomas and degrees, this work and that work. We have been created in order to love and be loved"

A Couple More Quotes

This is one I forgot about but really like.

In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have.
~Lee Iacocca

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
~Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead--I used to want to be like her! When I was in 5th or 6th grade, I read a biography about her and her times in Samoa. I decided then that I wanted to be an anthropologist. At some point, I changed my mind and wanted to be an ethologist . I think this desire was the result of watching some sort of National Geographic show on TV. Of course, there were times when I wanted to be a circus acrobat, a doctor who helped cure cancer, a nurse, and a fire prevention engineer (thanks to my dad's influence as a firefighter). Never did I dream about being a teacher. Or a statistician/analyst (what I was in my previous career).

I guess my point to all this is regarding the various influences we encounter and how they guide us through life. Granted, the earlier influence of reading a Margaret Mead bio didn't guide me far, but it did plant some seeds of curiosity. What ultimately influenced me to become a special education teacher started with my nephew Dakota. He was the most powerful and influential reason for me to take the path I have. This path started with him, but also passed through the lives of many children with exceptionalities through Children's Medical Center of Dallas, at Camp Esperanza, and at Night OWLS , a family health ministry for families with children that have exceptional needs. These kids have just reached out and grabbed my heart. They are so special and at times I think they teach me more than I teach them! I don't think I ever would have found this way had it not been for sweet Dakota and all of the other kids I met on this path that began with him, so to them all I am forever grateful.

Back to School!

In less than 48 hours, I begin my 2nd year of my 2nd career as a Special Education teacher to middle school students. I suppose my next few entries will be education related (hopefully with some food stuff thrown in-I have to eat).

For tonight, here are some quotes related to teachers and education. Feel free to add any you know to the comments section.

"Awaken people's curiosity. It is enough to open minds, do not overload them. Put there just a spark." - Anatole France

"A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary." - Thomas Carruthers

" A teacher who is attempting to teach, without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn, is hammering on a cold iron." - Horace Mann (1796-1859)

"Education costs money, but then so does ignorance." - Sir Claus Moser

"Education...is a painful, continual and difficult work to be done in kindness, by watching, by warning,... by praise, but above all -- by example." - John Ruskin

"Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one." - Malcolm Forbes

"Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb

"Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers." - Josef Albers

Quote of the Day

During a sunrise walk, a person was seen dancing through the waves in the sand. Every now and then the person would bend over and pick up a starfish and toss it back into the ocean. I asked the person, "Why?" He said, "The tide is going out, if I don't throw them in, they will die." I said, "Since there are so many starfish laying on this huge beach, you can't make a difference." Bending over and picking up another starfish, the person stated, as he threw it into the ocean, "It made a difference to that one."