“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there.
It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.”
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Although our language for the vision of teaching is fuzzy, we sense as novices that we are destined to be much more than dispensers of information, sergeants of behavior, and captains of test prep. Had we more sophistication, we would agree that classrooms are places designed to forge democracy, dignity, and diversity. We would affirm that schools exist to prepare young people to contribute to their world as informed thinkers, thoughtful citizens, and decent human beings.
Tammy, thank you so much for sharing that quote from Fahrenheit 451! I've never read the book, but I definitely NEED that quote. I can see why it means so much to you! It's a great connection to the reading you've been doing! I am going to ask you to see if you can put Tomlinson's quotes (when you use them) in quotation marks, or set them apart with a different font style or color, and mention that she wrote them. I can usually recognize them, but you'll have other readers who might not. 5 pts.
ReplyDeleteI love the quote you shared form Fahrenheit 451. Very true and very inspiring. I also love the picture of the definition of Teacher. It is so true that a teach inspires, guides, enlightens, and motivates. We as teachers can/do make the world a better place and is definitely a tireless, dedicated profession. I love that. Teachers can either make or break a students. If we can take the time to remember everything we have learned these three semesters and take all of it into our classrooms I feel that we as teachers will be great and be able to prove the definition you posted correct! Taking the time to build positive environments, communication in the classroom, classroom routines, support systems, and responsibility in the classroom you are taking the the time to accept every student's need for affirmation, contribution, power, purpose and challenges. Students need all of these abilities to succeed in school and in life in general.
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