I'm chuffed with you, Charly, my Uncle Lou said the other day. Iffen ya hadta teach, it's a fine thing ya took a shine ta, Salvage Education.
He calls me Charly in tender moments. Neither he nor I know where or when he started calling me Charly but Aunt Fern said the first she recalled it was the day his Yella Cur, Charly, died of distemper.
You have the same dewy eyes, explained Aunt Fern, all misted up.
What's brought this up, Uncle Lou?
I jess heard that lad ya were atutorin' got hisself elected ta council.
There wasn't an election for that. Not lately.
Minor hockey council.
Oh, yeah. Hockey, minor or major, pro or shinny, is important in my fair village and anyone who gets invited to help the committee, not council as Uncle Lou would have it, can rightly believe he is regarded as a solid man.
Now the reason Uncle Lou calls Special Education, Salvage Education, is because he has always believed that there's money in salvage. Use what other folk throw out and ya'll do fine.
I collected bottles, cardboard, scrap iron, and junked cars, earning my way through high school and university. So by the time I entered teacher's college, it seemed natural to look for a salvage opportunity and sure enough, there was a pile of kids that no one wanted in their classrooms.
My mentors were less than helpful or encouraging. Are you nuts? Teaching is bad enough but Special Ed is ... burn out city! But Uncle Lou's wisdom won the day, with me at least.
What I quickly learned about the kids in Special Ed was that they didn't need fixing so much as the system of education needed it. Some folk don't fit the sit still work on this particular question until the bell rings and then work on another particular question which some one else had posed. That model of pedagogy is not based on the reality of human learning. It is a model of an assembly line.
When Mom sees her cute little tyke exploring the wonders of his toes, she encourages that exploration. She doesn't try to switch his attention to his fingers. You can observe this style of teaching in any society because it is natural teaching, and because it engages the learner's individual interest, it is efficient teaching.
Every athlete, artist, or mechanic I have known explored his (or her) own interests, be it a game, a medium, or tinkering with machines. Yes coaches and mentors can encourage folk to excel but the curiosity which motivates learners to want to excel is always self-generated.
All educational systems harm learners, even the A plus students. Some systems are less harmful to be sure but all systems through the collective of administration and implementers (teachers, in this case) exert a will of self-preservation. A system takes on a life of its own and it protects its existence.
A lot of kids lose out to the system and they get transferred to Special Ed. This admittedly is another system although much less organized and its populated by a lot of males who are anti-system. Oh dear, another politically incorrect observation.
I know a few top notch women Special Ed teachers, but most women in Special Ed classrooms are still trying to fix kids not let kids find a way to learn. This despite the fact that they let their own kids explore the world!
I know that's a subjective comment but I base it on the look of Special Ed classrooms. Most woman teacher's rooms are festooned with things a kid should learn, alphabets, number lines, time lines, and labels on every darn thing in the room.
The men's classes are usually less formally decorated and less hectic, because learning is an individual process best accomplished quietly and with focussed attention. If kids need alphabets, number lines, times line et al, most men will give the kid who needs it a copy for his desk.
If the male teacher is a self-seeker with dreams of sleeping at a desk in the board office, he falls in line with his pedagogical sisters. His room looks as if Martha Stewart teamed up with Maria Montesorri. The eye-catching room fools people into thinking learning is going on. Most of it is pure distraction. Try not to be fooled next time.
A Special Ed teacher should appreciate and value a student for who he is intellectually and not be trying to fix or change him. I know this runs counter to current thinking of test to find out what's wrong and develop a program to fix the problem. I've been teaching since 1972 and I have never seen an instance of that approach working. Kids grow out of ADD whatever that is. (There is NO medical or pedagogical test for ADD. NONE. NADA. PERIOD.)
If you allow a kid to explore his own interests, leaning will take place, because humans are learning animals. I am not saying that everyone can become Einstein, Rembrandt, Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky, or Gretzky but in 40 plus years of teaching, I have met no one, excepting severely brain-injured folk, who could not play a role in society. Without getting fixed.
Please note that I am speaking of kids who have been taught right from wrong. I am not suggesting that kids be allowed to explore criminal pursuits. But, though all men are sinners, I believe most men are not criminals, nor inclined to be criminals.
If you are looking for a project to endow with your trust fund, consider starting a school which allows every student to develop his or her interests in a moral setting. You'll be salvaging lives. And there's profit in that. In a lot of different ways.
Yeah, that what I said, Charly, Uncle Lou says suddenly.
What?
I agree that if you are looking for a project to endow with your trust fund, consider starting a school which allows every student to develop his or her interests in a moral setting. You'll be salvaging lives. And there's profit in that. In a lot of different ways. Uncle Lou is looking chuffed. He loves being re-quoted or alluded to. I also agree that most men are not inclined to be criminals. Just those who choose to be politicians.
I've got to stop thinking aloud!
He calls me Charly in tender moments. Neither he nor I know where or when he started calling me Charly but Aunt Fern said the first she recalled it was the day his Yella Cur, Charly, died of distemper.
You have the same dewy eyes, explained Aunt Fern, all misted up.
What's brought this up, Uncle Lou?
I jess heard that lad ya were atutorin' got hisself elected ta council.
There wasn't an election for that. Not lately.
Minor hockey council.
Oh, yeah. Hockey, minor or major, pro or shinny, is important in my fair village and anyone who gets invited to help the committee, not council as Uncle Lou would have it, can rightly believe he is regarded as a solid man.
Now the reason Uncle Lou calls Special Education, Salvage Education, is because he has always believed that there's money in salvage. Use what other folk throw out and ya'll do fine.
I collected bottles, cardboard, scrap iron, and junked cars, earning my way through high school and university. So by the time I entered teacher's college, it seemed natural to look for a salvage opportunity and sure enough, there was a pile of kids that no one wanted in their classrooms.
My mentors were less than helpful or encouraging. Are you nuts? Teaching is bad enough but Special Ed is ... burn out city! But Uncle Lou's wisdom won the day, with me at least.
What I quickly learned about the kids in Special Ed was that they didn't need fixing so much as the system of education needed it. Some folk don't fit the sit still work on this particular question until the bell rings and then work on another particular question which some one else had posed. That model of pedagogy is not based on the reality of human learning. It is a model of an assembly line.
When Mom sees her cute little tyke exploring the wonders of his toes, she encourages that exploration. She doesn't try to switch his attention to his fingers. You can observe this style of teaching in any society because it is natural teaching, and because it engages the learner's individual interest, it is efficient teaching.
Every athlete, artist, or mechanic I have known explored his (or her) own interests, be it a game, a medium, or tinkering with machines. Yes coaches and mentors can encourage folk to excel but the curiosity which motivates learners to want to excel is always self-generated.
All educational systems harm learners, even the A plus students. Some systems are less harmful to be sure but all systems through the collective of administration and implementers (teachers, in this case) exert a will of self-preservation. A system takes on a life of its own and it protects its existence.
A lot of kids lose out to the system and they get transferred to Special Ed. This admittedly is another system although much less organized and its populated by a lot of males who are anti-system. Oh dear, another politically incorrect observation.
I know a few top notch women Special Ed teachers, but most women in Special Ed classrooms are still trying to fix kids not let kids find a way to learn. This despite the fact that they let their own kids explore the world!
I know that's a subjective comment but I base it on the look of Special Ed classrooms. Most woman teacher's rooms are festooned with things a kid should learn, alphabets, number lines, time lines, and labels on every darn thing in the room.
The men's classes are usually less formally decorated and less hectic, because learning is an individual process best accomplished quietly and with focussed attention. If kids need alphabets, number lines, times line et al, most men will give the kid who needs it a copy for his desk.
If the male teacher is a self-seeker with dreams of sleeping at a desk in the board office, he falls in line with his pedagogical sisters. His room looks as if Martha Stewart teamed up with Maria Montesorri. The eye-catching room fools people into thinking learning is going on. Most of it is pure distraction. Try not to be fooled next time.
A Special Ed teacher should appreciate and value a student for who he is intellectually and not be trying to fix or change him. I know this runs counter to current thinking of test to find out what's wrong and develop a program to fix the problem. I've been teaching since 1972 and I have never seen an instance of that approach working. Kids grow out of ADD whatever that is. (There is NO medical or pedagogical test for ADD. NONE. NADA. PERIOD.)
If you allow a kid to explore his own interests, leaning will take place, because humans are learning animals. I am not saying that everyone can become Einstein, Rembrandt, Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky, or Gretzky but in 40 plus years of teaching, I have met no one, excepting severely brain-injured folk, who could not play a role in society. Without getting fixed.
Please note that I am speaking of kids who have been taught right from wrong. I am not suggesting that kids be allowed to explore criminal pursuits. But, though all men are sinners, I believe most men are not criminals, nor inclined to be criminals.
If you are looking for a project to endow with your trust fund, consider starting a school which allows every student to develop his or her interests in a moral setting. You'll be salvaging lives. And there's profit in that. In a lot of different ways.
Yeah, that what I said, Charly, Uncle Lou says suddenly.
What?
I agree that if you are looking for a project to endow with your trust fund, consider starting a school which allows every student to develop his or her interests in a moral setting. You'll be salvaging lives. And there's profit in that. In a lot of different ways. Uncle Lou is looking chuffed. He loves being re-quoted or alluded to. I also agree that most men are not inclined to be criminals. Just those who choose to be politicians.
I've got to stop thinking aloud!
