Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Probably one of the best things I have ever seen...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tIyt8oSLVs


I advise that you click on the above link immediately. Really. You don't even have to finish reading this post (I'll understand, trust me). It's not often that I watch something that changes a part of my existence or view of the world, but this absolutely did.

I don't want to ruin what you are about to watch, but the video got me thinking about what the last years of teaching are going to be like. I'm not saying that I'll retire from teaching (you never know where life will take you), but if I were to teach until I'm old and gray, I wonder what I will want to leave as my final message to my students. Teachers spend years perfecting lesson plans, thinking up strategies to effectively manage their classrooms, and deciding on which locales will make the best field trips. I'm not satisfied with that. In order to be a great teacher-a remembered and honored teacher-you have to leave a stamp on a student's heart. Powerpoints and lecture notes are important, but at the end of the end, it's about the way you taught them to live.

Watch the video.

5 comments:

Dr. Luongo said...

One word.

Wow.

Thank you for sharing this.

Dr. Luongo said...
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Dr. Luongo said...
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Dr. Luongo said...

Susan,

I wanted you to know that I have shared this lecture with many collagues and plan on using it in class (not ours--I will not bore you)!

Thank you for bringing this video to my attention.

=)

Heather said...

This video is excellent. I actually took the time to sit down and watch his whole lecture. this was great that you brought this up. I also sent the clip you put up to a friend of mine that is the vice president of a company that designs after school programs for middle schools to mentor and tutor students.