Bukhansan Mountain, Seoul, South Korea
The founders believed that because people were ignorant by nature, and thus incapable of understanding what was best for the common good, education was absolutely essential to the survival of the American republic. This is why Jefferson founded the University of Virginia, the nation’s first public university. This is why George Washington, in his 1796 message to Congress, called for a national university that would teach the arts and sciences.
When the founders talked about education, they did not mean vocational training or apprenticeships. While this type of training was certainly important, they also wanted a citizenry trained in government, ethics (moral philosophy), history, rhetoric, science (natural philosophy), mathematics, logic, and classical languages, for these subjects made people informed and civil participants in a democratic society.
In other words, the founders understood that a liberal education was important to the democratic-republic they were building.
(Source: azspot)
LA Lesson #1: Rhyming Words
For my first language arts center, I read The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Suess to my kindergarteners and had them touch their noses each time they heard a rhyme (corny, but effective). I called on one of my three students and asked them to tell the group what rhyming words they heard.
After finishing the book, they wrote some of the rhyming words on dry-erase boards.
Overall, it went well. They enjoyed the book and were very eager to find the rhymes. I could have made the after-the-book part more engaging..I will think of something.
Wednesday’s activity is going to be a good one, so stay tuned.
(Source: seekelslearn)
Taipei, Taiwan.
Internet Illiterates Making Internet Law (branded version), from Recent Uploads tagged occupywallstreet http://bit.ly/w7rKNs
"Yet if King could see America now, I believe that he would be disappointed, and feel that his work was nowhere near done. He dreamed of a nation in which his children “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” But what we actually became is a nation that judges people not by the color of their skin — or at least not as much as in the past — but by the size of their paychecks. And in America, more than in most other wealthy nations, the size of your paycheck is strongly correlated with the size of your father’s paycheck. Goodbye Jim Crow, hello class system."
— Paul Krugman (via azspot)
(via think4yourself)
A Lock of Love
Originally posted at The Ten Three
It’s their fourth visit this year, but today is extra special. Everything looks the same: the view is still breathtaking; the place is still plagued with couples who have the same agenda; and the locks are still there, maybe a few more have accumulated since their last visit. It has been a few months. They watch as Koreans, Americans, Canadians and everyone else walk hand in hand around the viewing tower. One young girl bought a special purple marker for her lock. It must be her favorite. She writes in Korean, “I give myself to him from now until the end of time. I will love him forever.” Her boyfriend, fiancé, husband or whatever stares at her, eyes a wonder, and writes something similar on his lock. They close them together and tie them to the fence. They gaze at their promise for a minute and then walk away wrapped around each other so tightly; it looks like they really won’t ever let go.
In a place like Korea where being in a relationship is a social necessity, it could make a person cynical, sick to their stomach even. Everything is adorable. Everything is cute, especially around Christmas time. Marketing campaigns are targeted to the young, new couples all the way up to the hopelessly in love married soul mates. Matching promise rings and ID bracelets are all the rage. One of the first questions asked upon meeting someone is, “Oh, you have boyfriend, husband?” If the answer is, “no,” that is the end of that, but not before a look of pity from the ahjumma, or older woman usually asking you the question. But if the answer is, “yes,” that begins a 20-minute interrogation about what he’s like, how long you’ve been together and any other question she can come up with that has nothing to do with who you are.
If you are in a meaningful relationship filled with mutual understanding, love and friendship, standing at the top of a mountain overlooking a whole new world can do something to you. It makes you look at your life with this person differently. You become less cynical and more sickeningly cutesy with them. You want to hold their hand just like the other lovers surrounding you. You want to write a note about your everlasting love on a lock for others to read and for you to one day come back to and see is still right there where you left it.
The concept of “soul mates,” the idea that there is only one person out there among the seven billion people of the world, is really like a crapshoot. What are the chances that you have really found the one person who truly understands you and will love you until the day they die?
We want to believe this is possible because otherwise life would really be meaningless, wouldn’t it? Walking at the top of that mountain alone, watching the people who have seemingly beaten the odds, watching as they carve their initials inside a heart on the benches, is all too sad to endure. But it’s okay to be alone. It is only then that we can really open ourselves to someone. Isn’t it supposed to happen when we least expect it? If we planned the minute we were supposed to find the love of our life, would it mean the same to us? If we knew exactly when they were going to walk through that classroom door, would it make that moment special at all? Love at first sight does not exist. It takes longer than a brief glance to realize you are meeting the person for you. It takes a conversation, a kiss, a laughing session, a crying session, a goodbye at the airport, a short phrase, a walk up a mountain, a longing look that’s longer than a brief moment.
It is possible that there is more than one person out there for us. With seven billion people, it’s hard to accept that only one of them is someone we could share our lives with. But at the same time, it’s a beautiful idea. Why else would hundreds of people choose to hang locks with someone promising to be with them forever unless they really did believe in that idea? Maybe it’s that idea that keeps us going, keeps us searching. Without it, what’s the point?
It’s Christmas day and she can’t imagine being anywhere else. The trek up here killed her calves, but it was worth it. She never thought Seoul was as big of a city as it really is. When you live in such a big space, you get so fixated on your little hub of it that you forget where you really are. You forget that there are so many other people – people different from you, people looking for the same thing, people feeling the same way as you or just people living their lives beside you – that it takes a trek up a mountain to change your perspective.
The air is bitter and it’s getting harder to feel her toes. She didn’t think it would be this cold today. She’s happy she wore her thick green coat and two pairs of socks. Some of the women here are in heels and tights. She can’t imagine that can be very comfortable, but the men these women are with seem to like it. They can’t seem to keep their hands off the tight dresses and thin skirts. But then he comes over. He doesn’t care that she’s in her thick coat and jeans. He likes her better that way.
They stand next to each other and look out at the city, their new home. They’ve only been here a mere few months, but it feels like a lifetime, a lifetime they’ve always wanted with someone. Maybe “endless love” is possible. Maybe all it takes is a few hundred cutesy locks of love to believe it could be true. Maybe, just maybe.
"Education is not a corporate endeavor. Educating children is not about producing widgets, winning the highest scores on international tests or standardizing results . Educating children is a creative process that emerges when caring, smart adults guide a child to his highest potential. It is about growing talents, discovering interests, cultivating focus, developing values, understanding culture, being challenged, and contributing to society."
— Help Oregon PTA! (via humanscaleschools)
(via adventuresinlearning)
"I am but too conscious of the fact that we are born in an age when only the dull are treated seriously, and I live in terror of not being misunderstood. Don’t degrade me into the position of giving you useful information. Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."
— Oscar Wilde (via dailystendhalnitesaudade)
