A simple click and that contest on facebook has been shared. Another click and that amber alert somewhere in another state or province has been shared. With all of the information available in a few clicks and seconds away we still seem to propogate a whole bunch of junk. Bogus contests, fake reports on deaths of famous people (a la Bill Cosby for one), fabricated amber alerts, speeches that were never made and so on. Why are we so willing to click and forward without even looking if it is real?
I know when the reports of Bill Cosby dying came about I took the time to look up more information, but I cannot remember if it was to see if it was real or to see what happened. This being said, there was an amber alert, supposedly out of Quebec, that came my way and I immediately forwarded it without thinking. A friend of mine on Facebook shared a link with me showing that this was a hoax, and one that had resurfaced on several occasions. Another one was a piece that was supposedly written by Ben Stein about the White House use of the Word Christmas Trees. I liked what was written but it was not the author it was reported to be. I still shared it without checking.
The ability to start and share rumours, make up stories, share false information or hatred in this day and age is shocking. There is more and more a pressing need to teach not only our students, but also the general population about needing to filter the information being shared. There is a tremendous need to change our mindset and not assume that because it is on Facebook or Twitter that is must be real. Deaths of celebrities and amber alerts are usually top news items in google, which are easily verfied. Contests by Disney and Costco are easily checked on their websites. Why don't we do it? Are we still stuck in the thought process that if it is written then it must be true? How do we break ourselved out of this mentality? Is it pure laziness, or based on false assumptions? How do we stop sharing junk, lies and misinformation? It has to become second nature to question all information and to cross reference it before we reference it. If there was ever a day and an age to be mindful about what information we are distributing, it is now.
If only those fake contests and stories werent so appealling!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Tears are not enough, what happens after a tragedy?
I have been thinking and wondering about all the conversations that I have been involved in, listened to, seen on the internet and read on Twitter about the tragic loss of Amanda Todd. There is a lot to think about, especially based on the publicity, the presence in social media and the reporting in all the media. The ones that have struck me the most have been under the #RIPAmanda hashtag on twitter. I have seen so many people sharing the story, saying how it reduced them to tears and being emotional about how the story impacted them. This has stirred some fear in me and a question, what happens when the tears stop flowing?
As I started to think about a "What next?" question, the Northern Lights song "Tears Are Not Enough" popped into my head and it struck a chord. Crying over something but not doing anything about it unfortunately accomplishes very little. What are you going to do differently? How are you going to act differently? How are you going to treat people differently? If we do not learn as a society, and more importantly as individuals from this, then unfortunately we risk to have it continue.
We must become the person that doesn't add to the mess. It is time to do something about the tears that have been shed, the bad memories that have come back, the thoughts that we could have done something or just the feeling of hopelessness. There must be a phoenix to rise from these ashes. There will be programs brought in, speakers hired, panels set up and other ambitious goals will come out of these conversations. There are all important steps to take, but not everyone is able to do something on a big stage. In my opinion it starts much smaller. Every person who has been touched by this story needs to do something small.
There is a small group of middle school students who have approached their principal, with request for anonymity, with a goal of doing random acts of kindness for students that they know are struggling. There are high school students who are making an extra effort to spend some time at middle schools doing after school sessions specifically targeting at risk students. Everyone can do something. It means doing something extra, doing something different. It means talking to your friends who are making one person the butt of their jokes. It means cutting out the cutting comments. It means not losing it on the poor telephone service operator who in all likelihood had nothing to do with your cable not working. It means not making a rude comment when some poor person is digging through their wallet or purse trying to find the money to pay for the groceries and you are being inconvenienced by a few minutes. It means taking the time to listen to that family member who can be a drag to listen to but that you know really needs someone to listen to them. It means take a few minutes of your time to make someone's day a little better, not worse.
Tears are not enough for this tragedy. There must be a significant shift in behaviour. The phoenix that must rise is how we respond to what has happened by altering our actions, our attitude our treatment of others and the respect we show ourselves, others around us and the environment we live in. Let's take a memory of a tragedy and do something about it to have some positive light come from this. It would be great to move from #RIPAmanda to #InMemoryOfAmanda and then mentioning some small deed you did to make the world a better place.
We must become the person that doesn't add to the mess. It is time to do something about the tears that have been shed, the bad memories that have come back, the thoughts that we could have done something or just the feeling of hopelessness. There must be a phoenix to rise from these ashes. There will be programs brought in, speakers hired, panels set up and other ambitious goals will come out of these conversations. There are all important steps to take, but not everyone is able to do something on a big stage. In my opinion it starts much smaller. Every person who has been touched by this story needs to do something small.
There is a small group of middle school students who have approached their principal, with request for anonymity, with a goal of doing random acts of kindness for students that they know are struggling. There are high school students who are making an extra effort to spend some time at middle schools doing after school sessions specifically targeting at risk students. Everyone can do something. It means doing something extra, doing something different. It means talking to your friends who are making one person the butt of their jokes. It means cutting out the cutting comments. It means not losing it on the poor telephone service operator who in all likelihood had nothing to do with your cable not working. It means not making a rude comment when some poor person is digging through their wallet or purse trying to find the money to pay for the groceries and you are being inconvenienced by a few minutes. It means taking the time to listen to that family member who can be a drag to listen to but that you know really needs someone to listen to them. It means take a few minutes of your time to make someone's day a little better, not worse.
Tears are not enough for this tragedy. There must be a significant shift in behaviour. The phoenix that must rise is how we respond to what has happened by altering our actions, our attitude our treatment of others and the respect we show ourselves, others around us and the environment we live in. Let's take a memory of a tragedy and do something about it to have some positive light come from this. It would be great to move from #RIPAmanda to #InMemoryOfAmanda and then mentioning some small deed you did to make the world a better place.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Time to look in the mirror
There are times where the topic of bullying becomes more rampant than others. Amanda Todd's tragic story has brought it to the forefront, and rightfully so. There is much work to be done, and done with care and that is a topic all on it's own. There are many points to consider such as what is bullying and what is bad play or social emotional difficulties? Each one can be damaging, but each one also needs to be dealt with differently.
There is another important aspect to this that needs to be considered as well. What I am finding frustrating is the number of individuals coming out and talking about how we need to stop bullying and yet are publicly demonstrating similar behaviours to that which they are denouncing. It is also usually around this time that we will read comments about how awful the kids are today, how they lack respect and are becoming a lost generation. Truth be told it is at this time that we probably need to start looking in the mirror and thinking about what our actions, what we celebrate, what we watch and what we say around the children and youth around us and thinking about how our behaviours might be impacting them. Far too often it does appear to be "do as I say" and not "do as I do".
As we are in election year in the US and the provincial Liberals in BC are trying to stay in power, the attack ads are running. The same politicians who are denouncing bullying are supporting ads and social media driven agendas that essentially demonstrate what could be perceived as cyberbullying. They are directed at one person. repeatedly, targeting them sometimes mercilessly with a goal of humiliation, embarrassment and essentially trying to destroy the public image. In these ads, or ads in the past, personalities are attacked, mistakes from 30 years ago are aired and other points are raised trying to seemingly convince voters of the ineptitude of the opposition. At times it feels as though political parties have private investigators looking into finding as much dirt as possible on the opposition and ensuring that it is leaked, broadcasted and streamed via social media. It doesn't seem to matter if lives are destroyed, it seems to be all about winning regardless of cost.
In sports the trash talker or the agitator is often celebrated for getting under people's skin and getting them off of their game. We laud the fact that this person has said so much and been harassing the person to the point of getting them to lash out. A case in point would be the Zidane headbutting of Materazzi after comments were made to him. This was a defining moment in the World Cup Finals as Zidane was sent off and France lost the game. Materazzi was hailed for having successfully gotten the French star off of his game and lashing out. It is such a famous moment in sports that there is actually a statue erected commemorating the moment. Some football players, hockey players, basketball players and other athletes are known for verbally abusing their opponents to the point of retaliation or playing poorly because of the distraction. We cheer the fact that they successfully tormented their opponent. Slashes to the back of the leg, knees to the heads when coming out of a scrum, fingers to the eyes when coming up after a tackle, digging cleats into an opponents foot when possible... What does this teach our young athletes? How can we tell young athletes that it is OK to verbally taunt, torment or physically assault their opponents and not expect kids to think it is OK elsewhere in their lives. Truth be told, I don't think it has a place anywhere. It does appear that winning, no matter how it comes about is important. Break a leg, give the person a concussion, verbally abuse them until they react or wilt and so on. It doesn't matter if you don't have as much talent as they do if you can cheat, steal and physically beat your opponent.
TV shows are also navigating a slippery slope that is definitely going to have a greater impact if the trend continues. If we look at the TV shows of the 70s and 80s there was an innocence to them. Many TV shows now seem to be all about snappy comebacks, put downs, setting people up for embarrassment. The language that is used on a daily basis is language on TV seems to be getting worse. The sexual overtones, gender portrayals, stereotyping and portrayal of women in videos and movies is sending an embrassingly wrong message to young girls. There are shows that celebrate people's embarrassments that are shown, all kinds of things put up on YouTube, too often without the person being embarrassed knowing, and especially too often without true consent versus pressured consent. It doesn't seem to matter what the message is as long as it is provocative enough to get enough attention to keep the show running for another year or to see how many hits you can get on your site.
Kids are told to talk respectfully to adults and yet they will see adults publicly put down and embarrass their colleagues, strangers, friends or other kids. We tell kids to be respectful to referees and opposition but when they come and watch us play we are berating the official, trash talking our opponents, deliberately hacking away at them to get them off of their game. We tell them to be careful about what they post on facebook and how they respond on other social media outlets and yet they see important adults in their lives posting pictures of themselves drunk, publicly insulting someone, posting a tweet with violent overtones directed at someone in anger. YouTube clips of others are posted without asking permission minutes after telling kids to not do the same thing. Yes, it can be argued that as adults we are better at interpreting social situations than kids, but they see what we do and want to mimic it.
There is no doubt that here is a significant and important teaching quotient that does need to be done to address these issues, but much of it is reduced when kids see adults behave in ways that contradict what is being taught. If we want the youth of today to make better choices, the adults of today need to show them how it is done. Perhaps today's adults need to look in the mirror and think about what message we are sending our kids by the way we are behaving, what we celebrate, what we watch and encourage, how we respond to situations, what we cheer for and how we treat others.
If this is a "Lost Generation", then we must examine how we have not done a good job of being guides for them.
There is another important aspect to this that needs to be considered as well. What I am finding frustrating is the number of individuals coming out and talking about how we need to stop bullying and yet are publicly demonstrating similar behaviours to that which they are denouncing. It is also usually around this time that we will read comments about how awful the kids are today, how they lack respect and are becoming a lost generation. Truth be told it is at this time that we probably need to start looking in the mirror and thinking about what our actions, what we celebrate, what we watch and what we say around the children and youth around us and thinking about how our behaviours might be impacting them. Far too often it does appear to be "do as I say" and not "do as I do".
As we are in election year in the US and the provincial Liberals in BC are trying to stay in power, the attack ads are running. The same politicians who are denouncing bullying are supporting ads and social media driven agendas that essentially demonstrate what could be perceived as cyberbullying. They are directed at one person. repeatedly, targeting them sometimes mercilessly with a goal of humiliation, embarrassment and essentially trying to destroy the public image. In these ads, or ads in the past, personalities are attacked, mistakes from 30 years ago are aired and other points are raised trying to seemingly convince voters of the ineptitude of the opposition. At times it feels as though political parties have private investigators looking into finding as much dirt as possible on the opposition and ensuring that it is leaked, broadcasted and streamed via social media. It doesn't seem to matter if lives are destroyed, it seems to be all about winning regardless of cost.
In sports the trash talker or the agitator is often celebrated for getting under people's skin and getting them off of their game. We laud the fact that this person has said so much and been harassing the person to the point of getting them to lash out. A case in point would be the Zidane headbutting of Materazzi after comments were made to him. This was a defining moment in the World Cup Finals as Zidane was sent off and France lost the game. Materazzi was hailed for having successfully gotten the French star off of his game and lashing out. It is such a famous moment in sports that there is actually a statue erected commemorating the moment. Some football players, hockey players, basketball players and other athletes are known for verbally abusing their opponents to the point of retaliation or playing poorly because of the distraction. We cheer the fact that they successfully tormented their opponent. Slashes to the back of the leg, knees to the heads when coming out of a scrum, fingers to the eyes when coming up after a tackle, digging cleats into an opponents foot when possible... What does this teach our young athletes? How can we tell young athletes that it is OK to verbally taunt, torment or physically assault their opponents and not expect kids to think it is OK elsewhere in their lives. Truth be told, I don't think it has a place anywhere. It does appear that winning, no matter how it comes about is important. Break a leg, give the person a concussion, verbally abuse them until they react or wilt and so on. It doesn't matter if you don't have as much talent as they do if you can cheat, steal and physically beat your opponent.
TV shows are also navigating a slippery slope that is definitely going to have a greater impact if the trend continues. If we look at the TV shows of the 70s and 80s there was an innocence to them. Many TV shows now seem to be all about snappy comebacks, put downs, setting people up for embarrassment. The language that is used on a daily basis is language on TV seems to be getting worse. The sexual overtones, gender portrayals, stereotyping and portrayal of women in videos and movies is sending an embrassingly wrong message to young girls. There are shows that celebrate people's embarrassments that are shown, all kinds of things put up on YouTube, too often without the person being embarrassed knowing, and especially too often without true consent versus pressured consent. It doesn't seem to matter what the message is as long as it is provocative enough to get enough attention to keep the show running for another year or to see how many hits you can get on your site.
Kids are told to talk respectfully to adults and yet they will see adults publicly put down and embarrass their colleagues, strangers, friends or other kids. We tell kids to be respectful to referees and opposition but when they come and watch us play we are berating the official, trash talking our opponents, deliberately hacking away at them to get them off of their game. We tell them to be careful about what they post on facebook and how they respond on other social media outlets and yet they see important adults in their lives posting pictures of themselves drunk, publicly insulting someone, posting a tweet with violent overtones directed at someone in anger. YouTube clips of others are posted without asking permission minutes after telling kids to not do the same thing. Yes, it can be argued that as adults we are better at interpreting social situations than kids, but they see what we do and want to mimic it.
There is no doubt that here is a significant and important teaching quotient that does need to be done to address these issues, but much of it is reduced when kids see adults behave in ways that contradict what is being taught. If we want the youth of today to make better choices, the adults of today need to show them how it is done. Perhaps today's adults need to look in the mirror and think about what message we are sending our kids by the way we are behaving, what we celebrate, what we watch and encourage, how we respond to situations, what we cheer for and how we treat others.
If this is a "Lost Generation", then we must examine how we have not done a good job of being guides for them.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Frustration and Behaviour
I was having a conversation today at school today talking today about finding ways to better support students in the primary years. We talked about how frustrated these learners become as they get older and find the work harder and harder. They begin to notice that their peers are at a different level. They are given work that they don't get. They are asked to focus for extended periods of time. And so the conversation moved to talking about frustration.
I was thinking about the book I have been reading off and on, Lost at School. I was trying to put that frustration into perspective during our conversation. I was trying to put myself in their shoes and it is hard to do. I have never really struggled in school so I needed to think about other situations. I am a very even tempered person who rarely gets really upset. There are basically 3 situations that will usually cause me to swear and become frustrated. Missing a glorious scoring chance in soccer will usually result in a few inappropriate words and since none of my soccer mates are on twitter I will say that happens VERY infrequently... Then there is driving in Vancouver. The last is putting together furniture from a store that shall remain nameless.
The furniture example was the one I chose to use. It is one of the few times where I really feel like throwing something out a window and tend to use the occasional bit of profanity. Some of those instructions, in my opinion, are horrible, the pictures are hard to figure out and I usually have to restart a few steps here and there. Some of these projects should only take around 30 minutes and usually take over an hour. There are people out there who don't even need to look at the instructions and can just put them together. Those instructions are easy to follow for some and not for others. What if those students are experiencing the same frustration that I feel when assembling furniture?
I was thinking about the book I have been reading off and on, Lost at School. I was trying to put that frustration into perspective during our conversation. I was trying to put myself in their shoes and it is hard to do. I have never really struggled in school so I needed to think about other situations. I am a very even tempered person who rarely gets really upset. There are basically 3 situations that will usually cause me to swear and become frustrated. Missing a glorious scoring chance in soccer will usually result in a few inappropriate words and since none of my soccer mates are on twitter I will say that happens VERY infrequently... Then there is driving in Vancouver. The last is putting together furniture from a store that shall remain nameless.
The furniture example was the one I chose to use. It is one of the few times where I really feel like throwing something out a window and tend to use the occasional bit of profanity. Some of those instructions, in my opinion, are horrible, the pictures are hard to figure out and I usually have to restart a few steps here and there. Some of these projects should only take around 30 minutes and usually take over an hour. There are people out there who don't even need to look at the instructions and can just put them together. Those instructions are easy to follow for some and not for others. What if those students are experiencing the same frustration that I feel when assembling furniture?
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Making music magic happen in the classroom, my dad the music teacher
When it became apparent that my time with my father was getting near the end I began thinking about all of the things that made my dad amazing. There were two faces to my dad, the head of the Collins household and the music teacher at Van Tech. I am not ready to write about my dad on a personal level yet, but I thought I could write about him as a teacher. He was an incredibly talented musician, one who could listen to a song on a tape a few times and then go to the piano and play it. For 35 years my dad passionately taught music to grade 8-12 students at a school on the east side of Vancouver at a school called Vancouver Technical Secondary (Van Tech).
When he passed away on September 18th, 2011 I decided to set up a memorial page in his name on Facebook, hoping to get a few stories about a side of him that I did not get to see much. I was not sure what would the response be as he retired nearly 10 years ago. I have been blown away by the response of former students and I would like to thank them for taking the time to remember my dad, as all I now have are memories. Many of the stories that have been shared are personal and have brought a lot of joy to my family as we always knew he was a special person.
My dad never sought attention, limelight and did not like to be the center of attention. His focus was always on his students. I would often see him sitting at his workbench with a collection of tapes listening to music that his students had given him to listen to and consider using in his class. My dad taught me a long time ago that in order for students to be motivated to participate in classes they have to be interested in what is happening. He chose music that would engage his students, and created a classroom environment that made students want to come.
He had over 300 students taking in his choir classes every year. All he asked was that you give it your all. His classroom was always open at lunch and students would come in and spend their lunchtime singing. My dad would record himself playing songs requested by his students who wanted to practice certain songs or enter competitions. If he could play the song on the piano and the lyrics were acceptable he was game. Students loved coming to his class.
His memorial page after about 48 hours has over 130 people. Words that keep coming up are passion, energy, kindness, welcoming, enthusiasm, belonging, joy and respect. Students from years ago can still name the songs that they sung. The funny part of that is that the very songs they mention are the ones I remember my dad playing on his stereo at home. I remember his playing the Phantom of the Opera over and over again. I remember giving him the Proclaimers tape and I also remember the Lion King. These are just some of the songs mentioned by former students.
Former students credit him for becoming teachers. Others would invite him to their weddings because of how important he had been to them. Others were naming songs that make them think of my dad every time they hear them. So many students commented on the connection that my dad seemed to be able to make with so many students. Every time I bumped into a former student of his they would ask me to say hi to him. I would pass on the message and my dad 9/10 would remember the student and also name any siblings the students had. When he could not immediately remember the student he would immediately go and grab a yearbook, find them and then be able to tell me a story about that student which I would pass on when I would see that student again. He loved his job, his students and his school and his memorial page shows that.
This all brings me to ask a crucial question- if you had a memorial page, what would your former students write about you? What would they remember? What words would they use to describe you? Something to think about as you prepare your next day’s lessons. Is your class one that students would be able to passionately describe 10 years later? How about 20? How about 40? If not, why not? What could you do differently? How are you going to be remembered?
Please feel free to visit his memorial page and see what an amazing teacher he was http://www.facebook.com/groups/273224379363786/
I miss him so much, but I am glad that his memory lives on in so many people. Thank you.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Teaching Social Responsibility with Musicals
There are many ways that as educators we look at ways of working with children on self-regulation, social responsibility and bullying. We tend to bring in artificial scenarios that the kids cannot relate to, blatantly obvious situations that the kids see right away but rarely happen in real life or we preach. If the only time these lessons are taught is a contrived environment we risk losing them.
A few weeks ago I went to see Wicked with a friend of mine and had a chance to talk about all the different musicals we saw. There is something about a good musical, the way the music just captivates you. There are 3 musicals that really stand out for me for a variety of reasons. The first is Les Miserables, I love the story first and foremost, and I am in the process of reading the novel by Victor Hugo again. The second one is Wicked and the third one is Hairspray.
Les Miserables is an amazing story of personal transformation by a man who finally had someone believe in him. The change in Jean Valjean when he is brought back to the Bishop's residence with the silver that he had stolen. It is during this part that it comes to one of my favourite literacy moments:
This leads to the amazing change in Jean Valjean from hardened criminal to heartened citizen. He becomes an upstanding citizen who never forgot the opportunity he was given. There were times where he could have faltered but did not. In the end he ends up making the lives of those around him better, because someone gave him a chance and believed in him.
This clip takes you from his time in prison to his meeting with the bishop.
The clip shows you the new Jean Valjean and the way he is still viewed by the police officer.
Wicked was a musical that I saw for the first time at the end of June. It was an interesting look into school life. The way it delves into relationships, bullying, friendships, perceptions, seeing the person for who they are on the insider and many other lessons we try to instill in our students is remarkable. There are so many rich conversations that could be had because of it.
A great clip from the musical of Elphaba standing her ground.
Hairspray is another great story that explores relationships on so many levels. The story takes place in 1962 and delves into body image, racial relations, separation and segregation and again seeing the good in people, not just how good they look. The ending of the musical is quite powerful and a heck of a lot of fun.
Great music, wonderful story lines, amazing life lessons and fantastic opportunities to discuss choices, acceptance, inclusion and giving people a chance. A fun learning environment through music, why not?
A few weeks ago I went to see Wicked with a friend of mine and had a chance to talk about all the different musicals we saw. There is something about a good musical, the way the music just captivates you. There are 3 musicals that really stand out for me for a variety of reasons. The first is Les Miserables, I love the story first and foremost, and I am in the process of reading the novel by Victor Hugo again. The second one is Wicked and the third one is Hairspray.
Les Miserables is an amazing story of personal transformation by a man who finally had someone believe in him. The change in Jean Valjean when he is brought back to the Bishop's residence with the silver that he had stolen. It is during this part that it comes to one of my favourite literacy moments:
The Bishop drew near to him, and said in a low voice:--
"Do not forget, never forget, that you have promised to use this money in becoming an honest man."
Jean Valjean, who had no recollection of ever having promised anything, remained speechless. The Bishop had emphasized the words when he uttered them. He resumed with solemnity:--
"Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I buy from you; I withdraw it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God."
This clip takes you from his time in prison to his meeting with the bishop.
The clip shows you the new Jean Valjean and the way he is still viewed by the police officer.
Wicked was a musical that I saw for the first time at the end of June. It was an interesting look into school life. The way it delves into relationships, bullying, friendships, perceptions, seeing the person for who they are on the insider and many other lessons we try to instill in our students is remarkable. There are so many rich conversations that could be had because of it.
A great clip from the musical of Elphaba standing her ground.
Hairspray is another great story that explores relationships on so many levels. The story takes place in 1962 and delves into body image, racial relations, separation and segregation and again seeing the good in people, not just how good they look. The ending of the musical is quite powerful and a heck of a lot of fun.
Great music, wonderful story lines, amazing life lessons and fantastic opportunities to discuss choices, acceptance, inclusion and giving people a chance. A fun learning environment through music, why not?
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
School did a good thing
I was reading Lyn's post on reading which was inspired by@thenerdyteacher's #schooldidagoodthing idea and I thought that I would add my own. I was really lucky to have many wonderful teachers in my school life, whether it be at elementary, secondary or university. The ones who really stood out for me were the science teachers, or the teachers who loved science. My Grade 5, teacher, M Raoul, loved science and I am pretty sure that he was the teacher that gave me the bug for loving science. Now, I will be honest, some of this may gross you out, but here comes the story.
He was very much a teacher who liked to let us explore science. We got to eat it, live it and breath it. At one point he brought in pigs' stomachs for the class to cut open and look inside the contents. I loved it! We had containers where we emptied the contents to look at the different stages of digestion which he lined up. He brought the science from the text book and the sheets of paper to life. It was awesome! I know some of my classmates did not feel quite the same way I did because some seemed to turn a nice shade of green and had to leave the room, but I felt I was in my element. We also looked at other animal organs and got to dissect those as well. He was always so passionate about everything that he taught. There was no doubt in my my that he was favourite teacher, and even some thirty years later, left a memory that is still fresh in my mind.
Merci M Raoul.
He was very much a teacher who liked to let us explore science. We got to eat it, live it and breath it. At one point he brought in pigs' stomachs for the class to cut open and look inside the contents. I loved it! We had containers where we emptied the contents to look at the different stages of digestion which he lined up. He brought the science from the text book and the sheets of paper to life. It was awesome! I know some of my classmates did not feel quite the same way I did because some seemed to turn a nice shade of green and had to leave the room, but I felt I was in my element. We also looked at other animal organs and got to dissect those as well. He was always so passionate about everything that he taught. There was no doubt in my my that he was favourite teacher, and even some thirty years later, left a memory that is still fresh in my mind.
Merci M Raoul.
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