Inspirational Quotes (long post)

[rexboggs5]

Here is an email from a teacher in Australia:
"I still remember my history teacher at Gympie High School in the late 60s writing a proverb or inspirational quote in beautiful copperplate script on the blackboard (actually a green board) at the beginning of each lesson. Some specific quotes still return to me (in perfect green and white script).

This year I decided to follow the same custom and have found that many students tell me that they enjoy the quotes even (or especially) the ones they do not understand on first reading. Discussing these quotes at the beginning of each Maths lesson is another way for me to show students "the interconnectedness of all things".

**

When I read this, I thought "Wow! I wonder what I teach will still be remembered 40 years later?" Given that much of what I teach seems to be forgotten the next day, I am not too sure that _anything_ I teach will make the 40 year mark... :-(


The above email was prompted by this email I sent to an Australian Maths Teachers discussion list:
**
"Sanderson Smith is a maths teacher from the USA. He has an interest in inspirational quotes, so he started sharing them with his students, one per day. He found that his students looked forward to his daily quotes, so early in 2005 he started sharing his quotes via a monthly email to the AP Statistics email list.

I love these quotes, and I have been religiously saving his missives since then, though I must confess that I haven't been sharing them with my own students. Me bad, so I will start tomorrow with a daily quote for all of my classes.

Nine months ago, another AP Stats teacher offered to put Sanderson's monthly collection of quotes onto his website. So you can find the last 9 months of Sanderson's efforts at:
http://web.mac.com/statsmonkey/APStats_at_LSHS/Quotes.html

Here are a few from his March 2009 offering that I think are particularly apt for teachers:

Correction does much, but encouragement does more.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

If only I may grow: firmer, simpler, quieter, warmer.
Dag Hammarskjold

The wildest colts make the best horses.
Plutarch
**

So, think about sharing a quote of the day with your students. Sanderson's website will provide the fodder if you are a bit short on quotes.

I have attached a starter set of my favourite classroom quotes, gleaned from Sanderson's early posts to the AP Stats list..

And please share some of your favourite quotes with us, via this thread!

Cheers

Rex

[jsgillespie]

A quote or thought for the day is great! I have a variety of jobs and committees in my 6th grade classroom to involve the students in the day-to-day tasks.

One such job is "Chairman of the Board". It is the chairman's job to post the quote for each day, as well as the "Go Word", which is an interesting, obscure word that I use when we make transitions. The students love the quotes and the new vocabulary words, and they have fun searching for them.

[excelteacher]

Rex,
Thank you for the quotes, I am always searching for more. The quotes always generate lively discussions in my class.

JSGillespie,
I love the job title "Chairman of the Board". We select a "Technology Assistant" for each day who does similar tasks, but I like your title better. In our class, the Technology Assistant does everything technology and Promethean-related for the day...running the flipcharts, questions, accessing the internet, turning on/off all computers, and maintaining the expressions. They all love to try their hand at the slate, then they see that it is a bit more challenging than it looks.;) The students enjoy feeling empowered, especially when guests come to visit and they get to show off everything.

[cmansell]

I am a maths teacher, secondary (11-18). I have "Mr. Mansell's Wall of Words" in my classroom. On it I have the following:

Good advice of the week - this week "Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought"

Date of the week - this week: "8 December 1980"

Word of the week - this week "recrudescent"

Insult of the week - this week "What's on your mind, if you'll pardon the overstatement"

Mathematics Quote of the week - this week "In mathematics you don't understand things, you just get used to them"

Quote of the week - this week "It is the mark of the educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it"

Thought of the week - this week: "Making enemies out of friends is easy. Making friends out of enemies is difficult, but it is more worthwhile"

And

Song Lyric of the week - this week "The higher you build your barriers - the taller I become. The more you refuse to hear my voice - the louder I will sing!"

Some of my students can be seen gazing at the wall, and many ask about the words there. It gives them something to think about, and also shows them that I am more than just a maths teacher. I have interests and knowledge beyond the day-to-day that they may origianlly see.

Keep the quotes coming - I love 'em.

craig

[DavidFhu]

Everything can be justified until it happens to you.