So, I intend to spend my time trying to make a more merciful world. It is a world where we give everyone our best, whether or not they deserve it. It is a world where there is more fun and more laughter and perhaps a little bit more whimsy. I'll leave matters of justice to people who are wiser than I. Today, I am just going to try to make a world where other people smile a little bit more often.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Moustaches #hashtag
In previous classes, we have talked about trying to make a more just world. I'm not sure that I want to spend my time trying to make a more just world. It's not that I have anything against justice. It is only that I am not sure what justice is. If justice is people getting what they deserve, what are the chances that I know what they ought to get? So, justice becomes something that I can talk about, write about and think about, but something that I am completely incapable of identifying in the real world. I can create scenarios where I ponder the implications of what justice is, but I will never have the kind of detailed information in real life that I would have in a scenario.
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Greg great post man! I have often contemplated the same idea of what exactly is justice, and how does one apply it to life inside the classroom. I really appreciate your last paragraph on creating a more merciful world "where we give everyone our best, whether or not they deserve it." The world does need more laughter as you stated! I hope to take this same approach into the class, for life is too short for any other approach.
ReplyDelete“Nick” – While I love this post and the title, I don’t know how they connect to each other or to tech! However, that is part of the beauty of why I love it. I love what you said about justice and how its not something you can “identify” in the real world. I think there are so many concepts like that – such as love, hate, friendship, and for many people, God. I think the fact that so many people write, talk, and think about such things, but that no one can identify the precise ‘formula’ to identify any one of these things is perhaps a reason for why we have so much trouble in the world! If we had specific formulas for how to create intangible objects, life would be just too easy ☺ Pleasure to live in the mystery with you!
ReplyDeleteI used the #hashtag in the title, as opposed to "ED504" in the title, to distinguish between my ramblings versus posts related to Teaching with Technology. As for the connection between the title and the text, it helps to give some insight into my awesome moustache on Friday. I know that by being a bit ridiculous I was able to bring more laughter and happiness into the world.
DeleteIt got me thinking about the small things that we can do to make the world a better place. That relates back to teaching in the day-to-day way that we run our classes. We should have big goals for our students: making sure that they are equipped to change the world. However, not everything we do has to be a big deal. We should also remember that there are going to be times when kids are struggling to get through the week. If we can do something to make the world seem a little bit lighter, that might help them through a dark day. (Ok, I've come dangerously class to talking about creating a positive classroom environment).