Intelligent Life

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. - Thomas Edison
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us."                  Calvin and Hobbes  (Bill Watterson)

Teachers

[There are several versions I see of this floating around in cyberspace. I will include as many as I can.]
  

THE CREATION OF THE TEACHER
Author Unknown

The Good Lord was creating teachers. It was His sixth day of 'overtime' and He knew that this was a tremendous responsibility for teachers would touch the lives of so many impressionable young children. An angel appeared to Him and said, "You are taking a long time to figure this one out."

"Yes," said the Lord, " but have you read the specs on this order?"

TEACHER:
…must stand above all students, yet be on their level
... must be able to do 180 things not connected with the subject being taught
... must run on coffee and leftovers,
... must communicate vital knowledge to all students daily and be right most of the time
... must have more time for others than for herself/himself
... must have a smile that can endure through pay cuts, problematic children, and worried parents
... must go on teaching when parents question every move and others are not supportive
... must have 6 pair of hands.

"Six pair of hands, " said the angel, "that's impossible"
"Well, " said the Lord, " it is not the hands that are the problem.  It is the three pairs of eyes that are presenting the most difficulty!"

The angel looked incredulous, " Three pairs of eyes...on a standard model?"

The Lord nodded His head, " One pair can see a student for what he is and not what others have labeled him as. Another pair of eyes is in the back of the teacher's head to see what should not be seen, but what must be known. The eyes in the front are only to look at the child as he/she 'acts out' in order to reflect, " I understand and I still believe in you", without so much as saying a word to the child."

"Lord, " said the angel, " this is a very large project and I think you should work on it tomorrow".

"I can't," said the Lord, " for I have come very close to creating something much like Myself. I have one that comes to work when he/she is sick.....teaches a class of children that do not want to learn....has a special place in his/her heart for children who are not his/her own.....understands the struggles of those who have difficulty....never takes the students for granted..."

The angel looked closely at the model the Lord was creating.
"It is too soft-hearted, " said the angel.
"Yes," said the Lord, " but also tough, You can not imagine what this teacher can endure or do, if necessary".

"Can this teacher think?" asked the angel.
"Not only think," said the Lord,. "but reason and compromise."
The angel came closer to have a better look at the model and ran his finger  over the teacher's cheek.
"Well, Lord, " said the angel, your job looks fine but there is a leak. I told you that you were putting too much into this model.  You can not imagine the stress that will be placed upon the teacher."

The Lord moved in closer and lifted the drop of moisture from the teacher's cheek.  It shone and glistened in the light.

"It is not a leak," He said, "It is a tear."

"A tear? What is that?" asked the angel, "What is a tear for?"

The Lord replied with great thought, " It is for the joy and pride of seeing a child accomplish even the smallest task. It is for the loneliness of children who have a hard time to fit in and it is for compassion for the feelings of their parents. It comes from the pain of not being able to reach some children and the disappointment those children feel in themselves. It comes often when a teacher has been with a class for a year and must say good-bye to those students and get ready to welcome a new class."

"My, " said the angel, " The tear thing is a great idea...You are a genius!!"
The Lord looked somber, "I didn't put it there."

===================================================================

God Created the First Teacher


On the 6th day, God created men and women. On the 7th day, He rested. Not so much to recuperate, but rather to prepare Himself for the work He was going to do on the next day. For it was on that day--the 8th day--that God created the first TEACHER.
This TEACHER, though taken from among men and women, had several significant modifications. In general, God made the TEACHER more durable than other men and women.
The TEACHER was made to arise at a very early hour and to go to bed no earlier than 11:30 p.m.--with no rest in between.
The TEACHER had to be able to withstand being locked up in an air-tight classroom for six hours on a rainy Monday.
And the TEACHER had to be fit to correct 103 term papers over Easter vacation.
Yes, God made the TEACHER tough ... but gentle, too.

The TEACHER was equipped with soft hands to wipe away the tears of the neglected and lonely student ... of those of the sixteen-year-old girl who was not asked to the prom.
And into the TEACHER God poured a generous amount of patience. Patience when a student asks to repeat the directions the TEACHER has just repeated for someone else. Patience when the kids forget their lunch money for the fourth day in a row. Patience when one-third of the class fails the test. Patience when the textbooks haven't arrived yet, and the semester starts tomorrow.

And God gave the TEACHER a heart slightly bigger than the average human heart. For the TEACHER's heart had to be big enough to love the kid who screams, "I hate this class - it's boring!" and to love the kid who runs out of the classroom at the end of the period without so much as a "good-bye," let alone a "thank you."

And lastly, God gave the TEACHER an abundant supply of HOPE. For God knew that the TEACHER would always be hoping. Hoping that the kids would someday learn how to spell ... Hoping not to have bus duty ... Hoping that Friday would come ... Hoping for a free day ... Hoping for deliverance ...

When God finished creating the TEACHER, He stepped back and admired the work of His hands. And God saw that the TEACHER was good. Very Good!

And God smiled, for when He looked at the TEACHER, He saw into the future. He knew that the future is in the hands of the TEACHERS. And because God loves Teachers so much, on the 9th day God created "Snow Days" and "Summer!"
-anonymous


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The Other Side. Is Evolution a New Religion?

Education?

Is Education what it was intended to be or has it become a religion?

I present here some links to Intelligent Design websites. I do so only because EVERYONE is taught about Evolution but FEW if any are ALLOWED to TEACH about the ideas about Intelligent Design.

Doesn't it strike you as odd, that scientists, and quasi-scientists like Dawkins DO NOT WANT to ALLOW ID to be presented alongside evolution??

If Evolution is purely science, should it not stand up to the questions and "but's" that intelligent people have raised about it?

Isn't an important element of education to hear BOTH SIDES of an argument and then select what you believe is most accurate?

Or have we degraded to the evolution religionists who COVER THEIR EARS and DO NOT WANT TO LISTEN to anything else except what they have been taught?

Could CENSORSHIP be leveled against the adamant evolutionist community? What else explains their lack of listening to the other side? Do they want to protect impressionable minds from being deluded? Or do they want to delude impressionable minds?

Intelligent Design is simply the idea that there is so much order and complexity in the universe of life that it is possible that life shows a design not simply an accident.

I can not as a former teacher agree that evolution is all about science. I have heard Duane Gish at McMaster University present ONLY SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS THAT SEEM TO BE A REAL PROBLEM TO EVOLUTION. He DID NOT MENTION RELIGION ONCE!

But as soon as questions were allowed, ALL OF THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST HIS QUESTIONS assumed that he mentioned religion. HE DID NOT.

NOT ONE of these objectors EVEN ATTEMPTED to answer the questions that HE RAISED in the presentation.

There was so much blindness, seemingly lack of paying attention to what he said, that it was shocking to me.

How in a university community could people who want their students to LISTEN carefully present such a poor example of LISTENING???

The only reasonable answer can be that there is such a prejudice and bias AGAINST religion that many think they hear "religion" when NONE is ever mentioned.

That is why the other side should be aired. Some are blind to anything except what they believe. If Galileo or Copernicus were in that lecture hall in a time warp going back 500 years or more would these same people who did not hear Mr. Gish also not have heard Galileo or Copernicus?

Unfortunately I see the same lack of listening on the part of many evolutionists.

So if you are open-minded at all, please at least look at the other side.

Should Evolution be Left to The Scientists?


Evolution in Education 2

Evolution Controversy

Notice:

Many of these articles are from newsletters that are sent to me. I include them because they are informative. I leave everything the same except the blurb at the bottom which was directed to me. I would suggest that if you like any of them you may wish to go to the website and subscribe to get your own copy.