do no harm:


idit dobb-weinstein: "teaching is action and thinking at once. What I try to guard against most when I teach is not speaking as if my answer were conclusive, so as to avoid (to the extent possible) any kind of dogmatic appropriation. It is understandable why students might wish to imitate their teachers, but there are different modes of imitation. I try very hard to avoid the mimetic appropriation that is immediate, passive, and occludes thinking. One other reason is that if I made clear what my views were, and my views appeared as if they were final, it would preclude the possibility of first, students challenging me and second, learning from my students. The relation between the student and teacher is, to me, a dynamic relationship . . . Teaching and learning is a movement that occurs between. In other words, we are at once both agent and patient, both teacher and learner. If we are not very careful, we can do a great deal of harm. And that, too, I have learned from my teachers, Maimonides especially.

I believe my task is to provoke students to think and to engage them in genuine dialogue and questioning. To paraphrase a rabbinic saying, 'I have learned from my teachers, and I have learned from my peers, but I have learned most from my students.' And that is a continuous process of learning."

Tuesday, 4 May 2010

are you ready for an uplifting story yet?
Dr. Luther Guynes is the most kind graceful and respectful teacher at LACC.
he teaches business.
i found my class notes from last summer's business class with Dr. Luther Guynes.  so much wisdom about human relations . . . . if only he could lead my "classroom etiquette for teachers and students" class . . .

when everything got extra depressing i wrote him:


"now can you explain why these young teachers are so disrespectful to women in class?

if only you could teach them how to be graceful elegant and respectful!!!!"

he wrote back:



MARY SO NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU .YOU ARE A WONDERFUL AND BRIGHT STUDENT.I AM VERY SORRY TO HEAR WHAT YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH..THANKS FOR HELPING SOME OF THE STUDENTS IN MY CLASS.CALL ME ANYTIME


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