Matthew Harrison Brady: I do not think about things I do not think about.
Henry Drummond: Do you ever think about things that you do think about?
---Inherit The Wind, 1960.
"Provides time for students to reflect on what they’ve been taught."
---From a teacher evaluation template.
MFP is with people who don’t think about the things they think.
I am a teacher. I make people think about things they don’t want to think about. I do this for money. That means I am a "professional." I gave up my amateur status a long time ago, though I am called upon, from time to time, to use my expertise for some perceived benefit. Sometimes I do it just for sport.
Teachers have to go through sessions of "professional development." That means people are paid to stand in front of teachers and tell us how to do our jobs. Sometimes these people are consultants, which means they professionally tell professionals how to do their jobs. Sometimes these people are people who work for the school district but don’t work in the classrooms. These people also tell professionals how to do their jobs.
It’s not too surprising to say but often these people do not know how to teach. They break all of the rules that teachers are told to not break, such as "Don’t be the sage on the stage" and "Change styles and methods while you teach so that your teaching is not monotone" and, here it comes, "Give students time to reflect on what they’ve been taught." It’s a rare day to have a teacher of teachers up in front of teachers and that person...just...stops...talking. I guess it’s a scary thing to let intelligent people think.
And, you know, I like to listen to other people think. I like to read what other people think about, especially when they challenge me to think about it (whatever "it" is), too. I have a friend who wrote to me about the word, "decadence." Hey, stop smiling and go think about it. Reflect on your understanding of the word. Reflect on your experience.
Hey, take a few minutes and just think about one thing. Pick a topic. Don’t make any plans; just think. Reflect.
Scary, isn’t it?
Update: My upbringing requires me to say "Thank you" for allowing me to be on the Rec List for the very first time under my own...er...name. There was this Brothers and Sisters before...ah, hell, it's not me, is it? It's the nature of community diaries, which allow people to create the larger community from many parts and many personalities, pooties and all. I'm doing the Brothers and Sisters on the first Sunday in September. Y'all check back.