Gary, thanks for the compliments. You are the best! We remember Keith and Alice on the cruise, too–nice picture of them.
Hugs,
Geri
A few days ago someone mentioned Mrs. Conroy. Although I had
MANY good teachers through my schooling, Mrs. Conroy had to be my
favorite. She made school interesting and understood how to make 9 year
old kids take interest in otherwise menial lessons. For math
(arithmetic at the time) she had us do multiplication in our heads by
having one person give the problem verbally–9 X 5–and then tossing a
bean bag to the other person who needed to give the answer by the time
he caught the bag. I don’t know if she dreamed up the activity but it
sure made us think fast. She also knew that ‘hands on’ activities were
a way to get everyone involved no matter of level of intelligence or
ability. It may also have been her way to calibrate those two levels as
we were having fun. I really liked the things she had us do and every
day I looked forward to going to school. She was also a no nonsense
teacher and could be hard as nails if she needed to be. We all knew she
was as nice as could be unless you screwed up and if you did, you were
going to suffer the consequences. We ALL knew if she disciplined
someone harshly, that student had it coming–we accepted that. Whether
you believe that is correct or not, we sure had a smooth running
classroom and learned our lessons well. I’ve always believed there is a
big difference between obedience and respect. A teacher can command
obedience but has to earn respect. Mrs. Conroy knew that and for that
reason we respected her and totally trusted her good judgement. Sitting
in some of my college classes years later, I used to be amazed
(disgusted actually) at how some of the instructors didn’t understand or
even care about the students they were teaching. The most interesting
were the ones who had gone straight through school and college and grad
school and then took jobs teaching at the college. They had never been
out in the real world but would tell us how students will respond to
certain stimuli. That was what they read in a book written by another
person who also had gone through the same educational chain and had also
never been out of the college setting. The worst of the worst was a
class in Educational Psychology at UND. My dad and mom were both school
teachers and I heard the school stories every day of my younger life so
when the professors would get off on their tangent, many times I would
just sit and remember and smile at how far off the mark they actually
were. The problem with this scenario is that they are teaching
potential educators who in turn take their training out into the real
world. I don’t know how many other students had the same thoughts as I
did going through their heads but I hope a few did. Anyway, Mrs.
Conroy got us on the right path. My humble opinion. Thanks Gary!
Dick
Got this from a friend and thought it was wonderful!!!
Feel free to include in your blog. Although this involves a congresswoman, it is not a political message, but rather, it concerns our Veterans. And since many on your blog are veterans, I thought they (and you too, since you too are also a veteran) may enjoy and appreciate it.
Thanks Gary for all your do to keep us connected,
Keith Pladson (66)
Congresswoman Duckworth – talk about a smack down to a person deserving it
We need more Elected Officials like her. Congresswomen Duckworth was brilliant and brings to mind the fact that she is a real war hero. She held the rank of Captain and was a helicopter pilot. Her helicopter was shot down over Iraq and she lost both of her legs and use of her right arm.
Mr. Castillo ‘s business received $500 million dollars in federal business because he claimed he was a disabled veteran.
Mr. Castillo’s injury consists of hurting his foot while playing football at an elite college prep school!
He never served a day in the service of his country, but he claimed playing football at a college prep ROTC was the same as an injury in combat!
Watch what Duckworth says to Mr. Castillo, who has made millions from his “disabled veteran status”, while real disabled veterans live under viaducts and in alleys because of what they saw or did in the defense of this nation.
Give her four minutes to set this guy up before belittling him in front of a congressional hearing. And the speaker of the meeting let her talk longer than allotted regular time.