Author Unknown GOOD FOR THE SOUL… The man’s name was Fleming and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in…
The Integrity Of “Ugly” (The Cat)
Author Unknown Everyone in the apartment complex knew who “Ugly” was. Ugly was the resident tomcat that loved three things in this world: fighting, eating garbage, and, shall we say, love. The combination of these things, combined with a life spent outside, had their effect on Ugly. To start, Ugly had only one eye. And,…
Lists Of Nice Things
By Sister Helen P. Mrosla He was in the first third grade class I taught at St. Mary’s School in Morris, Minn. All 34 of my students were dear to me, but Mark Eklund was one in a million. Very neat in appearance, but he had that happy-to-be-alive attitude that made even his occasional mischievousness…
So, You Think You Know Everything
— Author unknown A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. A crocodile cannot stick out its tongue. A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds. A “jiffy” is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of…
My Teacher’s Simple Three-Word Phrase
My life was dramatically transformed because a simple three-word phrase was delivered at the right time in just the right way. When I was three years old, my parents discovered I was totally deaf, a situation which forced them to make crucial decisions about my education. After consulting with numerous specialists and doctors, they made…
Teacher Anger: What to do When You’re Reaching the Breaking Point
Do you ever reach a point where you’ve just had it with your students—they still aren’t following directions you’ve repeatedly delivered, they’re still talking not so quietly in the back of the room, and too many of them are still turning in work that has been dashed off at the last minute? So what do…
Lipstick In School
— Author Unknown According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick, they would press their lips to…
Tales Of A Teacher: Terraces
– by James A. Plambeck, Copyright 1995 A teacher was walking with his students . . . A bit further along, the road turned to the right around a hill and a steep valley opened before them. The hillside above them was barren and rocky, but across the valley terraces had been built with rocks…
Dealing with Students Who Test Your Patience
Difficult students are a potential problem for every faculty member. This is why it’s important to learn ways to deal with inappropriate or disruptive student behavior. In an email interview with The Teaching Professor, Brian Van Brunt, director of the Counseling and Testing at Western Kentucky University, and Perry Francis, professor of counseling at Eastern…
What Teachers Make
He says the problem with teachers is, “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?” He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s true what they say about teachers: Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach. I decide to bite my tongue…