I’ll go ahead and say what everybody’s thinking…Man, it’s hot here! The heat about did me in today. Well enough said…
Today was another trip on the subway to get downtown. If I lived here, I would be taking that subway train instead of driving any day! The traffic is crazy and the subway is FAST! Well, before you know it we’re at our destination, The American Philosophical Society. It was awe-inspiring to be in a place where such great thinkers have been meeting for many, many years. The original documents were beautiful as well as thought provoking. I am impressed with not only what they said and how they said it, but their beautiful handwriting. Will we lose this skill as our society progresses? I’ve had pricipals who said that teaching handwriting is a waste of time and money. Because of word processors, people don’t have to worry about handwriting. At the time I thought, it’s not like we will be carrying a computer and printer in our pockets. Well, low and behold, we are carrying computers in our pockets! However, now I worry about another problem that our society faces because of this. What is texting going to do to our spelling abilities? Will we go full circle and the arts of writing and spelling will be prevelent again someday? I doubt it.
Another thing that struck me was what our tour guide, Ursula said. She said that these great philosophers had one rule. You can disagree, but no personal attacks. If there’s anything I’d like to emphasize in my classroom, it’s respect for each other. Short little comments can say volumes. Always keep it respectful.
I have to say that I agree with you when we need to set guidelines for how we interact with one another and to be able to pull from the great minds of history the idea that we can disagree without attacking is wonderful! I think our kids need to know that these men often disagreed but did it in a way that showed respect for each other.
I must also comment on the handwriting. I feel it is a lost art and we have way too many people who feel it is a waste of time to teach it! I disagree and think that we need to show our kids that handwriting is important!
Many people argue that we don’t have the need to learn penmanship, to this I say that we always need a signature.