The actual comment on the portable step”
“what do you expect me to do?…”stand up , sit down, bark like a dog’ at which point te whole class began standing up then sit down and then barking like dogs.”
alan
Year: 2023
-
post script to episode 829
-
EPISODE 829 TEACHING … WITH RESPECT, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. WITHOUT RESPECT NOTHING IS POSSIBLE.?
EPISODE 829 TEACHING … WITH RESPECT, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. WITHOUT RESPECT NOTHING IS POSSIBLE.?alan skeochMAY 30, 2023How would you handle this situation? My Grade 13 Home Form decided to play a joke on meTHEY took over the blackboard where I had drawn a gross caricature.Someone wrote“Mr. Skeoch ,alias E.T.” (the extra terrestrial movie had just been released)The drawing was mine…big nose, big mouth.The words were written by someone in 13D
Today, May 30, 2032, I asked Marjorie what she thought of E.T.“Who?”“Remember the movie E/T/. the extra terrestrial; who visited our planet…toured on a bicycle“Yes, that would be the late 1960’s, why do you ask?”“If you had to describe E.T. in one word, what would it be?”“Inquisitive…..he was curious”“Is that a good characteristic?”“”Of course it is.”“Then this picture must be flattering.”(Students felt secure enough to make fun of me and still have respect)WHAT THE PICTURE REVEALS1) I AM wearing a 3 piece suit so pic must have been taken around 19702) Picture reveals that my home form, 13D felt relaxed enough to write “Mr. Skeoch aliasE.T.” and sign collective name 13D3) The caricature was draw by me. Big nose, big mouth, brush cut. I think I was teaching Voltaire’s book Candide inwhich the boy Candide toured Europe with his teacher whose name in translation was“Big Mouth”, a name my students enjoyed.4) As a group we were relaxed enough to do give and take….i.e. join a conversation.“Why did Voltaire put ‘Big Mouth” in his novel?5) Famous line in the book? “If this is the best of all possible worlds, what then of the others?”6) My comment? Read Candide, you’ll love it because the chapters are only a couple of pages long.7) What was my own personal discovery about teaching? I remember my shock those first few daysas a teacher….the students all called me “Sir”….and they did this for my entire testing career.What did “sir” mean to me? It meant the kids respected me. As a teacher if you are respected thenall things are possible. If there is no respect then nothing is possible.i.e. We had a teacher at Parkdale C.I. who just could not get respect. One day when I slipped out for a coffeeI found him sitting on the step of his portable classroom.“What’s wrong?“The students have taken control.”“HOW?”“I was having difficulty with them.”(The classroom was full of noise and kids jumping up ad down…and laughing…hooting even)“God awful noise they are making…how did that happen?”“I lost control and said “What do you expect me to do…”stand up, sit down, act like a fool?”“Then all hell broke loose…they began jumping and sitting .jup and down…hooting.”“Odd.”“Worst thing is that they have now locked me out of the portable classroom.”“Call the VP”“Are you kidding. he will think I cannot teach…have no respect….so I will lsit here until the bell goes.”(And he did. He was still siting there when I cam back with my coffee. The hullabaloo was continuing…he never got respect and eventually gave up teaching. Very sad. Nice guy.)alanP.S. THE PICTURE WAS REATURED IN THE PARKDALE YEARBOOK AS I REMEMBER -
EPISODE 828 COYOTE…ALMOST INVISIBLE AT HIGH NOON
EPISODE 828 COYOTE…ALMOST INVISIBLE AT HIGH NOONalan skeochMay 30, 2023
We live in a frantic intersection of raw QEW and Hurontario highways in Misissauga.Currently the throughways are being ripped apart for an LRT.Within a stones throw of the construction is one of the places where coyotes feel at home. They have takenownership of a several acre woodland. And they are not afraid to show their ownership…their lack offear. Our dog Woody smells coyote spoor when I cannot see anything.I could see nothing that was alivedown the back oflot where an ancient dump rake rests. Nothing. Noting Nothing. Woody knew better.Evenutually the coyote slipped from the woodland camouflage into the daylight.No intention of running away. Daring Woody to dig under the fence. Hungry.
Back to being invisible in an instant. If your eyes are goodyou can see him or her beside the left wheel of the dump rake. I think, but not sure.In the small wilderness park a male and female coyote are raising three or four pups.Playful stage right now. Woody is now aware that coyotes prefer food to play. Dangerous shouldhe venture down the back of our lot. He learned that the hard way when heslipped through the gate and joined a coyote a while ago. Not a playful moment.The coyote took a bite out of Woody’s backside. Food. Woody skedaddled back home fast.Do not expect to see the coyotes. They are smart. They move around seeking, rabbits, garbage.Softly from place to place.Itinerent. They are not stupid. Why do they seem to prefer urban places to rural places?Food I believe. Not as many cats around here as their once were.Coyotes are not a big dangerto Woody Little dogs are more edibleI like the coyotes. Not everyone does. -
EPISODE 827 IMAGINATION AND A STUMP FENCE
EPISODE 827 IMAGINATIoN AND A STUMP FENCEalan skeochmay 27, 2023
What do you see here?There is more to a stump fence than meets the eye. However you will need a dash of imagination.Maybe a dollop of abstract thinking. Maybe it is possible to see things in a stump fence thatdo not exist except in our minds. A stump fence is a kind of woodenRorschach test…(an ink block test).Long long ago I remember sitting in Runnymede Presbyterian church when Dr. McQueengave his regular children sermon. He always did this before the adult sermon. I couldenjoy those sermons because he used stump fences as triggers for presenting big ideas.. “This weekI found this piece of a stump fence that looked like a woodpecker hunting for hiddengrubs.”IMAGINARY LESSON FROM A STUMP FENCE“This week we have a woodpecker in searchof food…a listener…a searcher for something unseen….a hard worker whose life depends onthe ability to pound out holes in search of treasure. Some humans do that every day.Work can be hard. Hard work, however, often leads to treasure. A good book can do that.I read one the other day titled Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. You would like that book.…presents big ideas that should concern us all. Like the dangers of pesticides.”All this from a chunk of a stump fence. yes. Imagination is wonderful. Use it.CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING IMAGINARY IN THESE STUMPS?DID you notice the sea otter about to be engulfed by big wave?
I see a young sea otter…or is it a duck?…Marjorie saw a mongoose.
alligator or snake about to eat a yellow flower
coiled python with head hidden
gaping mouth of the child python foundon a root about 20 feet away from the body…thatis one big Pythonl
FIND THE TINY HAND!Tiny hand reading out to greet. Can you find the hand in the original pic? I bet you cannot!
alan may 28,2023
(I SAW A TINY HAND REACHING OUT IN GREETING….does that mean anything?POST SCRIPT: RORSCHACH TEST -
EPISODE 826 CELEBRATING THE MONTH OF MAY 2023
EP[SODE 826 MONTH OF MAY IS BEAUTIFUL 2023alan skeochMay 26, 2023Wow…this has been a grand month..worth preserving A fragment.
