Wednesday, February 20, 2008

An Aspect of Teaching

One of the most interesting aspects of teaching is the amount of knowledge I discover along the way to the lesson I plan to deliver each day. I can remember a lecture I gave on Moby Dick, and how I learned a great deal concerning the harvesting of large mammals that live in the sea.

The enormous amount of labor involved in simply cutting up a whale took me back a step or two at the time. I remember thinking that the sheer organization of manpower, and, of course, every person on the whaling ship was a man, must have required years of study.

Today, I like to think of myself as a drive by receiver of knowledge. I’m not looking for specific knowledge; it just comes driving by me as I stand on the corner of a novel.

I’m sure you have the same experiences as you prepare your lesson plans.

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