Column 42 for June 4, 2000
Was it the chicken or the egg? Some mysteries may never be solved, but I think we can learn a lesson when we watch the Atlanta Braves. Which comes first, success with what we do, or having fun doing it? The Braves have cleared up this mystery for me. Just watch for the grin on Andruw Jones face, Galarraga’s infectious smile, or Greg Maddux’s sly smirkish-grin. When you see the players having that much fun, you’ve got to put your money on another Braves win! You can tell they love the game, their smiles would be completely different if it were just their multi-million dollar contracts!
I’ve always said that if I couldn’t have fun with what I do for a living, I should be doing something else. I’m still having fun teaching, as I’m hopeful most of my peers are also. Learning should be fun for the students too. Let’s hope that the impact of the new "reform" doesn’t turn both teaching and learning into a drudgery of drills for the next standardized test. I’d hate to miss out on stories like the following:
TO FIND THINGS OUT
A math teacher walked into her classroom on the first day of school and asked her students to name the sum of two squares.
"Two?" asked a boy in the back.
"Yes, that's right," said his teacher.
So Abel was marked as a genius right from the start. His teacher, Mrs. Johnson, expected good things from him, and he didn't want to disappoint her. He studied hard, and laughed about how he had made that first impression, if he thought about it at all. Although he had been an average student before, the interest that Mrs. Johnson showed in him, that shared enthusiasm, and tutoring after school, all of that paid off and he excelled.
All of the patterns that were mathematics, all of the things that were mathematical gradually made sense to him, and the boy that had been Abel then grew into that later Abel. He grew to understand something of the beauty of the world, something of the intricate network and patterns, of relationships between the things and their ideas. Abel was later to go back and thank Mrs. Johnson for the gift that she had given him, that learning fire that was fed by learning, that she had nurtured by example, by her interest in Abel and the dreams of things that he could do.
"Thank you," said Abel.
And Mrs. Johnson could only smile, and try to hold back her tears, because her dreams came true.
"I wasn't sure what you had meant," said Abel.
"That's ok," said Mrs. Johnson, "You were interested in the question, and made the effort -to find things out." ã 2000 Andy Miller
Several hundred local students start attending summer school tomorrow. For most, it will be eight weeks of intense study. No week at the beach, no sleeping in until noon. Let’s hope that beyond earning credit, together these students and teachers discover sparks of inquiry that can help - to find things out… tomiswho@mindspring.com