Tag Archives: inspirationmotivation

category SLIS as Education Leader – Librarian Professional

Looking Back @ the Past Decade(s)

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Looking Back @ the Past Decade(s) - Looking backward at the past decade—and the many decades of my life before that—I see so many changes in our lives, yet I also see that we have so many ways we can improve. Let there be peace on earth...and let it begin with me. #NoSweatLibraryAs 2019 draws to a close, bloggers and media outlets are reflecting on this past decade. As for me, I’m nearing a milestone in my life, so I choose to reflect back on the many decades I’ve lived on this planet Earth. This is a purely personal blog entry, so read or skip as you will…

I’ve seen the birth of the US Highway System and Rock & Roll, of McDonald’s and Disneyland, of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood & Sesame Street, of the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Rights Movement, the Gay Rights Movement, and the Environmental Movement. But I’ve also seen the tragic deaths of President John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, John Lennon, and Princess Di.

Christa McAuliffe - NASA public domain photo

I touch the future; I teach.

I’ve seen the first launch of a chimp into space, man’s first Earth orbit & walk on the moon, the successful return of ill-fated Apollo 13, launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, and the building of the Space Station. But I’ve also seen the fiery deaths of 3 different groups of astronauts, including teacher Christa McAuliffe.

I’ve seen love-ins & Woodstock, Brown vs. Board of Education, Miranda vs. Arizona, and Roe vs. Wade, 3 Constitutional Amendments and the addition of 2 States to the U.S., the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the USSR. But I’ve also seen Watergate, 2 Presidents impeached, race riots in Watts, Detroit and 100 other cities, racial shootings that motivated Black Lives Matter, and school shootings in Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and Parkland.

I’ve lived through the Korean War, the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the war against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ve also lived during the time of peace activists like Albert Schweitzer, Cesar Chavez, Mother Teresa, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela, Joan Baez, and Malala Yousafzai.

Symphonies Of The Planets 1 - NASA Voyager RecordingsI’ve listened to music on 78rpm records, 33rpm albums & 45rpm singles, on 8-tracks & audio-cassettes, on CDs & iPods, on Sirius & Pandora. I’ve heard harpsichords & zithers & pan-flutes, madrigals & Dominican chants & Celtic ballads, Big Band sounds & folk songs & heavy metal, yet my favorite background music is electronic sounds from space.

I’ve watched television on a 14” black & white screen with vacuum tubes and a rabbit-ear antenna, on a solid state 26” color screen with an outdoor roof antenna, on a 4-ft rear projector TV with cable, and an LCD HD flatscreen from a small satellite dish on my roof. I’ve viewed 4 channels broadcasting 6am-midnight to hundreds of channels broadcasting 24/7, and I’ve watched Betamax & laserdiscs & VHS & DVDs & on-demand live streaming at the touch of a remote. All that, yet I mostly read books.

I’ve seen the development of UNIVAC, IBM, Cray, DEC/VAX, HP, Wang, Commodore, Compaq, Apple & Mac, Chromebooks, Atari, Nintendo, Playstation, and Xbox; Fortran, COBOL, BASIC, PASCAL, UNIX, C++, MS-DOS, Windows, LINUX, HTML, and Javascript; ARPANET, Ethernet, TCP/IP, DNS, LISTSERV, Gopher, FTP, HTTP, and the World Wide Web. My livelihood for the past three decades has been tied to technology, yet my relaxation is putting together a 500-1000 piece jigsaw puzzle.

Punchcard

Punchcard

I’ve used a dial phone, push-button phone, Princess phone, Nokia phone, flip-phone, and Smartphone. I’ve typed—as fast as a person talks—on a manual typewriter, an electric typewriter, a punch-card machine, and a computer keyboard. And I see students who can message that fast with their thumbs on a phone, yet they hunt & peck on a keyboard because we can’t take time to teach them how to touch-type.

I’ve seen public education go through 3 iterations of the same things given fancy new names—including the rise & fall of standardized testing and the respect & denigration of the teaching profession. We churn out the best & brightest of scholars, yet we lament that high school graduates can’t read, spell, form a complete sentence, or add numbers in their head.

Peace builders - Let there be peace on earth...and let it begin with me.As I ponder our achievements and fiascoes, I realize that nothing has really changed. We are still the same imperfect humans, trying our best to make our way in the world and to make the world a better place. My life has been much the same: I can take pride in my finest achievements and shrink in shame at my lowest failures, yet I remain hopeful that all is working its way toward a better future.

Let there be peace on earth…and let it begin with me.

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Looking @ the ‘Giants’ Who Empowered This Teacher Librarian

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Looking @ the 'Giants' Who Empowered This Teacher Librarian - On World Teachers Day it's fitting to reflect that great mentors empower us to make a difference in the lives of others. Sir Isaac Newton captured my thoughts perfectly: "If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of Giants." Thank you to the 'giants' who have influenced my life. #NoSweatLibrary #inspirationWorld Teachers’ Day, celebrated every year on October 5th, is the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. That document begins with the assertion that “the right to education is a fundamental human right” and then recognizes “the essential role of teachers in educational advancement and the importance of their contribution to the development of man and modern society.” The recommendation continues with a set of 146 standards outlining the rights and responsibilities for teachers throughout the world.

The theme for the year I write this article is “Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers” and I reflect on why I became a teacher and who empowered me to pursue this noble profession?

Why did I become a teacher?

From my earliest years I heard my paternal grandmother talk about her teaching experiences, and my mother told me I talked of being a teacher even before I began school. Throughout my own schooling I admired all my teachers and worked hard to be a good student, even if my behavior taxed their patience. I loved learning, and I often helped other students understand complex concepts or work through assignments they struggled with. In college, students I didn’t know would approach me to help them, having heard from others of my willingness to tutor peers.

I spent my first 2 years of college in Science, a year in Business, then switched to Social Science, but inevitably I fulfilled my inner desire and earned my teaching certification—it took an extra year of studies, but I found my true purpose in life.

The joy from seeing someone finally “get it”
cannot be surpassed!

I later became a School Librarian to expand my teaching beyond a single classroom, and that’s another decision I know was right for me. Being a School Librarian has enlarged my vision of education to encompass every student, every teacher, every subject, and a myriad of effective teaching strategies for any need. When health issues made it necessary for me to retire, I continued sharing my expertise through LM_NET, through this Looking Backward blog, and through No Sweat Library, my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Who Empowered Me?

During my writing journey for this blog I frequently think of those who have most influenced me as a writer, as a Teacher, and as a School Librarian. In a 1676 letter to Robert Hooke, Sir Isaac Newton wrote “If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of Giants,” paraphrasing the words that John of Salisbury attributes to Bernard of Chartres, 500 years before Newton:

We [the Moderns] are like dwarves perched on the shoulders of giants [the Ancients], and thus we are able to see more and farther…because we are carried aloft and elevated by the magnitude of the giants.

My mentors gave me the power to make a difference in the lives of the students and teachers with whom I come in contact. Thus I share with you readers my paraphrase of Newton and a dedication to the incredible people who have most influenced my life path, who have helped me become the Teacher and School Librarian I wanted to be, and who continue to inspire me to share with others, so they, too, can realize their dreams.

Dedication to those who have helped me become what I am and to do what I do.

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