What I Remember Most from College Was...

...when I was in my junior year of college, I contemplated becoming a teacher. So, I began an internship at a large middle school in Portland, Oregon.  My first day, unfortunately, was cancelled due to shootings just outside of campus.  I was a teacher's aide in an ESL class for 4th through 6th graders since my Spanish was fairly decent at the time.  One student would randomly show up to class because half the time she had to babysit her high school aged sister's newest baby.  Because of the recently enacted "No Child Left Behind" George W. Bush brainstorm Act, I watched as the teachers painstakingly, yet carefully taught directly from a work book provided by the Department of Education.

When one student asked me what page we were on in the history book during 5th period, even I was confused, despite already having 16 years of education. If I felt lost at sea in a simple history class, he appeared to be drowning.  I did leave, however, with fantastic friends and the realization that, given the tools and the attention, any child is capable of greatness.

 

Here is a simple photo diary of my experience at the school, narrated by great writers of all eras.

"Only the educated are free."  ~ Epictus, The Discourses, 108 AD.

"The foundation of every state is the education of its youth."  ~  Diogenes Laertius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, 1432

"Teachers open the door.  You enter yourself."  ~ Chinese Proverb





















"Children have to be educated... but also have to be left to educate themselves."  ~ Abbe Dimnet, The Art of Thinking

"Great develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assigment."  ~ Baltazar Gracián y Morales, Criticón, 1651, 1653, and 1657.

" I have never seen a smile that was not beautiful."  ~ Author Unknown































"If you're not confused, you're not paying attention." ~ Tom Peters, In Search of Excellence, 1982


























"Everyone who remembers his/her education remembers teachers, not methods and technique."  ~ Sidney Hook, Education for Modern Man, 1946

 

" a snippet from student journal (that is turned in weekly so she'd know I'd read)

Question: If you could abolish just one thing in the whole world, what would it be and why?

Response: I'd abolish Ms. Molly. I'm tired of her. "
~from my cousin Molly...the teacher in training :), 2006

"Friends have all things in common." ~ Plato