< Greenholme Teachers' Forum>

Monday, 21 April 2008

Mindset

Here is an interesting story with a moral to share. It's called 'Mindset'
As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not.
I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

"Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free."
I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

Friday, 11 April 2008

Information for Field Trips/Excursions

http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/school/events/teacherevents/default.asp

http://www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/children/overview.htm

Casa Loma (Toronto)
http://www.casaloma.org/Main/MainDyn.asp
Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto)
http://www.rom.on.ca/?lang=en-CA
Toronto Zoo
http://www.torontozoo.com/schools/?lang=en-CA

The list of organizations offering free admission and discounts across Ontario keeps growing.

A number of recent examples among the growing list offering discounts to College members include:
- Adjustable Beds Plus (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA#bedsplus)

- Black Creek Pioneer Village (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA#black_creek)

- Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-
CA#bushplane)
- Dynamic Earth (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA#dynamic)

- Greg Frewin Theatre (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA#magic)

- Museums of Mississauga (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-
CA#mississauga_museums)
Mysteriously Yours (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA#mystery)

Toronto Heli Tours (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA#helitours)

Your membership card provides proof that you are a professional teacher licensed to teach in Ontario's publicly funded schools.
Be sure to show your card when you're purchasing supplies or visiting major attractions. Many book sellers, museums, zoos and office supply stores provide discounts to teachers.
For a complete list of organizations that offer discounts to members, see the College web site (http://www.oct.ca/discounts.aspx?lang=en-CA).
If you visit an attraction that's not on our discount list, you might ask them to consider participating in our discount program. Organizations can e-mail discounts@oct.ca for more information.

Wednesday, 9 April 2008

Aristotle's Ethics For Everyone

Aristotle's Ethics for Everyone
For Aristotle, there's really nothing mysterious about ethics. People do what they do because they want to be happy. If only they were a little wiser, they might actually get what they want--by doing what's right.
Empiricist Ethics
Aristotle was an empiricist. Unlike his teacher, Plato, he rejected the idea that philosophy should be based mainly on theoretical investigations. Instead, Aristotle argued that you should start by taking a good, hard look at the world and derive your theories from what you find.
Aristotle's primary assumption is that everything has a purpose, or telos. An excellent object is one that fully achieves its purpose. A knife's purpose is to cut, so an excellent knife is one that cuts well. A human being's purpose--the thing that separates us from other animals--is rationality. So an excellent person is one who is fully rational.
Applied Wisdom
Of course, Aristotle realized that we can't just sit around rationalizing all day. We have to use our heads to make real-world decisions, including ethical ones. Aristotle called this "practical wisdom": the capacity to react appropriately to changing circumstances.
People get better at practical wisdom as they gain life experience. Children, for example, often desire bad things until parents teach them what's good. Adults, on the other hand, ought to be able to judge for themselves. Of course, even adults sometimes want bad things, but practice makes perfect. Aristotle thought that by habitually doing good, you can align your desires with what wisdom says is right.
Have a Good God
So what's right? According to Aristotle, the most important human desire is for eudaimonia, a Greek term that literally means "having a good god." The term is usually translated as "happiness," but a better translation might be "success" or "fulfillment." Wanting eudaimonia makes perfect sense, Aristotle says--as long as you understand that it isn't some fleeting emotion. Rather, such "fulfillment" is a by-product of living your life right. It's the ultimate perk of virtuous living.
Every virtue, Aristotle argues, is a "golden mean" between deficiency and excess. Courage, for example, is a happy medium between cowardice and foolhardiness. People who can't find such "golden means" are neither virtuous nor truly happy. They can't reach eudaimonia. Only the virtuous can.
Politic Behavior
Aristotle also said that we humans are intrinsically political beings. Our lives take on moral purpose through our interactions with other people--our families, friends, and fellow citizens--and no truly virtuous act benefits an individual at the expense of the community. Rather, virtuous folks find fulfillment within societies they fashion together.
Since we develop practical wisdom and virtue through constant practice, society clearly plays a key role in moral education. But instruction alone is never enough. "With regard to virtue," Aristotle writes, "it is not enough to know, but we must try to have and use it."
--Mark Diller

Wednesday, 2 April 2008

Enjoy your Spring Garden

Springtime, Everyone!!!
Click on the link below. You will get a black page.
Click your mouse anywhere (& everywhere) on the page & see what happens! Better yet, click & drag your mouse over the black page... Enjoy!!
http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf

Sunday, 30 March 2008

Character Development

"Good Character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are to some extent a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to built it piece by piece - by thought, choice, courage and determination." John Luther
"Character is the firm foundation stone upon which one must built to win respect. Just as no worthy building can be erected on a weak foundation, so no lasting reputation worthy of respect can be built on a weak character" R. C Samel
Character Education:
The main goal for Character Education is to help schools create a frame work that will help shape the lives of children in assisting them to become fully developed and well-rounded persons, who will become contributing members and assets to their society.
Character Development
The Finding Common Ground: Character Development in Ontario Schools, K-12 is the Ministry mandate which involves a community consultation process to identify character traits that everyone can embrace to infuse Character Development into the curriculum. In late fall, the Director, Gerry Connelly, shared the Character Development consultation process developed to engage school communities in helping to define what character really means for all of us in the TDSB. Some of you may have seen her speak on a video as she spoke to a group of grade sixes at Pierre LaPorte Middle School.
In her Director’s BLOG, Gerry expresses the shared belief that student success is dependent on a safe, caring, inclusive learning environment where every student feels valued. She stated that, in addition to academic improvement, we continue to focus on the social, physical and emotional development of our students. Much of this starts with teaching our students about the value of character – respecting themselves and each other, making positive contributions to their school and community, thinking critically and creatively. By supporting the heart and art of teaching and learning in our classrooms, hallways, and our communities, we are nurturing the joy of learning. From there, everything is possible.
Following are the attributes Chosen for TDSB schools:
Respect, Co-operation
Responsibility, Teamwork, Honesty
Kindness & Caring, Empathy
Integrity, Fairness and Perseverance
To see the Director's announcement click here.
Useful Websites on Character Educatuon
Ministry of Education:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/literacy/booklet2006.pdf
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/shared.pdf
http://www.curriculum.org/edu/character/
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/character.html
Other Sites
http://www.charactermatters.ca/
http://www.character.org/
http://www.cfchildren.org/
http://www.characterfirst.com/education/index.html
http://www.charactercounts.org/
www.positivecoach.org/
http://www.giraffe.org/
http://www.ethicsed.org/
http://www.amenetwork.org/
http://globalethics.org/
http://www.devstu.org/
http://www.characterplus.org/
http://www.bu.edu/education/caec/
http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/
http://www.ethics.org/
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/SchoolsOnline/character.html
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Chacter_Education/
http://www.uen.org/utahlink/activities/view_activity.cgi?activity_id=5399
http://www.cortland.edu/www/c4n5rs/
http://www.ascd.org/
http://www.makeadifference.com/
http://www.dontlaugh.org/
http://education.ufl.edu/web/?pid=305
http://www.nncc.org/Perents/ga.angry.html
http://www.tweensandteensnews.com/index.php
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/inclusiveeducation/findresources/behavioursupporttoolkit.asp
http://sitc.education.ed.ac.uk/Dealing_With_Disruption
http://lacoe.edu/
http://www.actsofkindness.org/
www.hwdsb.on.ca/characterbuildshamilton/
http://www.freethechildren.com/
http://www.futureaces.org/
http://www.kidsareworthit.com/
http://www.metowe.org/
http://www.moralintelligence.com/
http://www.cfchildren.org/
http://www.tribes.com/
http://www.realdiscipline.com/
http://www.characteredu.com/
http://www.primaryideas.co.uk/index_files/otherstuff.html
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/publications/banda/behaviour_nqt_course/ (This is a complete management course for new teachers.
http://www.senteacher.org/wk/certificates.php#
Signs(sign language ) for classroom management
http://www..drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2006/08_August/pg06a.html
Quotations
Looking for inspirational quotes on particular topics? Try the following websites.
http://www.quotationspage.com/qotd.html
http://www.quotesandsayings.com/finquoteframes.htm
Books
Character Matters: How to Help our Children Develop Good Judgement, Integrity, and Other Essential Virtues by Dr. Thomas Lickona (Simon & Schuster, New York)
Growing Character: 99 Successful Strategies for the Elementary Classroom by Deb Austen Brown (Character Development Group Inc., Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Once Upon a Time: Storytelling to Teach Character and Prevent Bullying by Elisa Davy Pearmain (Character Development Group Inc., Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Parenting for Good: Real World Advice for Parents by Marvin Berkowitz (Character Development Group Inc., Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Shouting Won't Grow Dendrites by Marcia L. Tate (Corwin Press, California)
Smart & Good High Schools: Integrating Excellence and Ethics for Success in School, Work, and Beyond by Drs. Matthew Davidson and Thomas Lickona (Center for the 4th & 5th R's, State University New York, Cortland)