You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself (Galileo Galilei)

Galileo Galilei 1640

This post could centre on the unfortunate way women were excluded from so much thinking by men back in the day (the 17th century for Galileo), but it doesn't.

Instead, let's change it to a gender neutral - you cannot teach anyone anything; you can only help someone find it within themselves.

Then again, he may have just been talking about males, right?

Anyway, a good debate topic.

As I teacher I'd like to think I can teach someone something (a new skill perhaps), but I suspect Galileo is correct - the impulse/receptiveness must come from within.

The pirate code

My classroom operates on a behaviour system that I have dubbed The Pirate Code. I refer to it a lot!

The first line in The Pirate Code is also the most important:

Do the right thing, now.

Why?

Because as Hyman Rickover says: Any system of education which does not inculcate moral values simply furnishes the intellectual equipment whereby men and women can better satisfy their pride, greed and lust.

There's already enough of that stuff out there in the world.

I think it's important to inculcate moral values - how to be good people - at home, in the classroom, and out in the world.

I trust that one day my students figure that out.

Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it (Marian Anderson)

Photo by Skyler Gerald on Unsplash

Understanding the needs of others is the most important aspect of this quote. That's at the heart of servant leadership.

In schools, 'others' includes students, parents, teachers, support staff. So, it's obviously tricky for leaders who find themselves needing to balance a variety of competing needs, but Marian's words hold a basic truth than many leaders struggle to appreciate.

Seth Godin frames this as a great question for leaders/ managers: How do we create the conditions for our people to get to where they are heading?

Pretty in pink (The Psychedelic Furs)

The anti-bullying campaign has pink as its theme. Not really in my colour wheel, but for a great cause I'm prepared to stow my pink misgivings.

Friday arrived and awareness was duly heightened - I mean, it's pink, right! Hard to ignore.

And Angel provided the pink donuts, so there was that as a bonus.

We acquire the strength we have overcome (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Photo by Venyamin Koretskiy on Unsplash

Not sure about that Ralphy.

Mondays can be a struggle at times, especially when I remain a smidge in holiday mood, and Year 10 English are doing their thing.

A key point to bear in mind...you're better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve (Marcus Aurelius)

Photo by Filip Szalbot on Unsplash

Marcus is like a postman, he always delivers.

We all get caught up in the day to day. Being a teacher means there is always something to mark, always some prep to do, always demands on our time, always new emails.

At the time, those things may seem really important.

I spent a lot of time during a lesson yesterday discussing some fundamentals, like knowing when something is right or wrong, with one of my senior classes. My point being - a teacher can assist in this by getting students to think about their responses to situations, weighing up the pros and cons, considering the consequences and the implications for themselves and others.

My example was me on Friday night - I'd had a few drinks at my daughter's wedding and was asked to drive a van home. My superego was egging me on - I felt fine and okay to drive but I thought about all the things that could go wrong.

• It was a rental van, and not in my name
• I was in America (more lawyers than you can shake a stick at)
• I'd had a few drinks 
• I was at a mile above sea level in Denver (that means an increased alcohol affect)

I took the keys, but we got an Uber home. I returned the next day to get the van.

That was the important stuff - and worth giving more time to. But all the marking, planning, demands and emails?

Small stuff in comparison.

Take me out to the ball game

Jade, Rachel, Samantha and Chris' ear at the ball game

During our visit to Coors Field to watch the Colorado Rockies annihilate the Atlanta Braves 2 to 1 in an early afternoon game, I noticed a huge number of school kids being supervised by various teachers (they had the kind of look in their eyes that I recognised).

Apparently, they were on a field trip for STEM purposes. 

Genius!

Science component - exploring the natural world (plenty of blue sky and cloud movements to observe to say nothing of the humans in attendance).

Technology - balls, bats, foul ball velocity, cause and effect ever present, stadium seating, safety barriers (sketchy in places).

Engineering - the stadium (Coors Field) is mighty impressive, the design of the baseball field is also worthy of study.

Mathematics - numbers and patterns for modeling and predications, and statistics abound. Mind-bogglingly so.

What a great way to engage the youngsters in STEM, while also supporting the local team!