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break down hold up on occasion in times of a series of add up to run out of have access to set off be eager to |
In 1973, I was teaching elementary school. Each day, 27 kids1"The Thinking Laboratory". That was the2students voted for after deciding that "Room 104" was too3.
Freddy was an average4, but not an average person. He had the rare balance of fun and compassion(同情). He would5the loudest over fun and be the saddest over anyone's6.
Before the school year7, I gave the kids a special8, T-shirts with the words "Verbs(动词) Are Your9" on them. I had advised the kids that while verbs may seem dull, most of the10 things they do throughout their lives will be verbs.
Through the years, I'd run into former students who would provide11on old classmates. I learned that Freddy did several jobs after his12from high school and remained the same13person I met forty years before. Once, while working overnight at a store, he let a homeless man14in his truck. Another time, he15a friend money to buy a house.
Just last year, I was16a workshop when someone knocked at the classroom door. A woman17the interruption and handed me an envelope. I stopped teaching and18it up. Inside were the "Verbs" shirt and a19from Freddy's mother. "Freddy passed away on Thanksgiving. He wanted you to have this. "
I told the story to the class. As sad as it was, I couldn't help smiling. Although Freddy was taken from us, we all20something from Freddy.
Everybody knows how to learn. Learning is a (nature) thing. It begins the minute we are born. Our first teachers are our families. At home we learn to talk and to dress and to feed ourselves. We learn these and other skills by the (follow).
Then we go to school. A teacher tells us what to learn and how to learn. Many teachers teach us, and we pass many tests and exams. Then people say we are educated.
Are we really educated? Let's think about the real meaning of learning. Knowing facts doesn't mean being able to solve problems. Solving problems requires (create), not just good memory. Some people who don't know many facts can also be good at solving problems.
Henry Ford is a good example. He (leave) school at the age of 15 Later, when his company couldn't build cars fast enough, he solved the problem. He thought of the assembly line. Today the answer seems simple. Yet, just think of the many university (graduate) who never solve any problems.
What does a good teacher do? Does he give students facts to remember? Well, yes, we must sometimes remember facts. But a good teacher(show) how to find answers. He brings us to the stream of knowledge so we can think for ourselves. When we are thirsty, we know to go.
True learning combines intake output. We take information into our brains. Then we use it. Think of a computer; it stores a lot of information, it can't think. It only obeys commands. A person who only remembers facts hasn't really learned. Learning takes place only when a person can use what he knows.
Five years ago, when I taught art at a school in Seattle, I used Tinkertoys as a test at the beginning of a term to find out something about my students. I put a small set of Tinkertoys in front of each student, and said:"Make something out of the Tinkertoys. You have 45 minutes today—and 45 minutes each day for the rest of the week. "
A few students hesitated to start. They waited to see what the rest of the class would do. Several others checked the instructions and made something according to one of the model plans provided. Another group built something out of their own imaginations.
Once I had a boy who worked experimentally with Tinkertoys in his free time. His constructions filled a shelf in the art classroom and a good part of his bedroom at home. I was delighted at the presence of such a student. Here was an exceptionally creative mind at work. His presence meant that I had an unexpected teaching assistant in class whose creativity would infect(感染) other students.
Encouraging this kind of thinking has a downside. I ran the risk of losing those students who had a different style of thinking. Without fail one would declare, "But I'm just not creative."
"Do you dream at night when you're asleep?"
"Oh, sure."
"So tell me one of your most interesting dreams." The student would tell something wildly imaginative. Flying in the sky or in a time machine or growing three heads. "That's pretty creative. Who does that for you?"
"Nobody. I do it."
"Really—at night, when you're asleep?"
"Sure."
"Try doing it in the daytime, in class, okay?"
