Jeffisms
Posted by DrJeff
Copyright 2009 | About this blog
Every once and a while, I come up with a pretty cool thought that I just need to write down in a special place. Sort of like that monkey banging away at a keyboard who eventually types a real word, maybe even a sentence if he can survive over geological timescales. The only difference between me and the monkey is that I think I can recognize when I say something meaningful.
Note to my wife—I know you didn’t like it when I originally had these Jeffisms on my “Favorite Quotes” page along with the likes of T.S. Eliot and Dr. Seuss (even though I put mine at the very bottom of the page.) I heeded your warning, “Don’t you dare put yourself on the same page with world famous poets and explorers!” Yes dear. So I dedicate this Jeffisms page to you.
Likely crafted over a cup of coffee—
When we explore, we fulfill a commitment to our own humanity.
The journey is written in our genes … the book of knowledge is not.
To know a place called home … you must leave it.
Regarding content, science education is not about
forcing students to memorize useless information.
It is about conceptual understanding at an emotional level.
Math is the language of nature.
If you yearn to know how she operates, you need to speak her language.
Earth’s place in space is knowable in a tangible way—even for
elementary school students. The secret is placing
the universe in a context that is familiar.
Science is an art. It’s about asking the right questions, framing
a pathway to an answer, and reveling in seeing something new. In fact
science is often not about the knowledge at the end of the road
but the act of getting there.
Knowing that you’ve been able to pull back the veil of nature a little
and gain a deeper insight—feels wonderful.
It takes a community to educate a child …
and a network of communities to reach a generation.
In terms of the education of our children—there can only be one America.
This is why we tell stories. Ths is why we teach.
To pass a piece of ourselves to the next generation—
so that the young can aspire to cross frontiers none have crossed before.
Teaching is the eternal bond between young and old that is at its heart—joy.
We live in a moment in time. It’s the place where the accomplishments of
those that came before us meet up with what will be undertaken by future
generations. It’s a great place to be, especially if you’re part of the future generation.
It’s pretty powerful stuff. YOU are the link between the past and the future.
History is not ancient. It is alive and well. There goes another second.
And at any moment one can choose to jump into history and take
the entire world where we have never been. The power of ‘one’ is astounding.
Our children need to know that.
We are integrally connected to the universe,
and it to us—so to know the universe is to know ourselves.
… and while we may seem small in its shadow—beauty has nothing to do with size—
for the universe is revealed with something the size of the human mind.
Inspire … then Educate
—Jeff
Copyright 2009
One Response to “Jeffisms”
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Gene Gordon Says:
September 14th, 2009 at 11:22 amLiked your quotes! And my wife said the same thing to me when I created my first webpage. Who do I think i am? Who cares what you think? That was before the age of Blogs though…LOL!
