When you have traffic with no traffic policeman, you have gridlock. An education should provide the traffic as well as a way to guide it. A multiple-choice test lists choices A-B-C-D-E. But there's sometimes another category - "OTHER". Civilization consists, in part of being able to respond, "OTHER". You have to know about the range of choices, available to you; you have to know the limitation of those choices; and you have to be able to reject all, and seek a new solution. (Dr. Vartan Gregorian)
WELCOME TO MR. DI GAETANO'S WEBSITE
Okay, first ... about the photo. (Yes, it is of me ... around 6 yrs old ... My mother thought live parrots on my body was cute ... I have one word to describe this experience...That word is, talons)
Well the photo "hooks" (like a talon, albeit indirectly), into a simple, but important message for my students. Please ensure that you work to make your education something more than simply parroting back information.
I keep recalling what Mortimer Adler wrote.
"The telephone book is full of facts, but it doesn't contain a single idea."
I am hoping that you find that as meaninful, as I do. Don't limit yourself to becoming a telephone book, or a dictionary of terms.
Now, please understand, I am big on terms ... they are vitally important, but they are just the building's bricks, and while they may be artfully constructed and even more artfully used, they are nonetheless, just basic components - not end products. Become more! Strive to build for yourself beneath and beyond the stars! (a la, Edward Young's statement)
And that thought leads me to explain the quote that appears on every quiz and test - because this activity called education, is more than quiz grades.
It is a slight paraphrase of a line written by that genius physicist / mathematician, Henri Poincare ... "Just as a house is made of stones, so too is science made of facts, but a pile of stones is not a house, and a pile of facts is not a science"
Yep...as with a science, an education must be more than just a pile of stones, (or bricks, or facts).
This thing called education is a big task. It is as big as life ... and that makes it wildly worthwhile. Commit to work at developing an education, for yourself and others. Get the traffic moving! Dr. Gregorian really was correct ...We have nothing less than the very nature of our civilization at stake.
So there's my pitch ... and it comes with an offer to help, when you want that help.
As part of that ongoing education, use the bits and pieces found on this website to help you.
My contact information is at the very bottom of this Welcome page. Each of my courses has its own set of pages, replete with helpful external links, assignments, calendars, links to documents etc... Use the tabs and drop down menus towards the top of each page, to navigate around. So, get moving, and with a nod to Dr. Grace Murray Hopper, allow me one more, but slightly different metaphor .... "A ship in harbor is safe ... but that is not what ships are built for" ... Set sail folks ...set sail...
Well the photo "hooks" (like a talon, albeit indirectly), into a simple, but important message for my students. Please ensure that you work to make your education something more than simply parroting back information.
I keep recalling what Mortimer Adler wrote.
"The telephone book is full of facts, but it doesn't contain a single idea."
I am hoping that you find that as meaninful, as I do. Don't limit yourself to becoming a telephone book, or a dictionary of terms.
Now, please understand, I am big on terms ... they are vitally important, but they are just the building's bricks, and while they may be artfully constructed and even more artfully used, they are nonetheless, just basic components - not end products. Become more! Strive to build for yourself beneath and beyond the stars! (a la, Edward Young's statement)
And that thought leads me to explain the quote that appears on every quiz and test - because this activity called education, is more than quiz grades.
It is a slight paraphrase of a line written by that genius physicist / mathematician, Henri Poincare ... "Just as a house is made of stones, so too is science made of facts, but a pile of stones is not a house, and a pile of facts is not a science"
Yep...as with a science, an education must be more than just a pile of stones, (or bricks, or facts).
This thing called education is a big task. It is as big as life ... and that makes it wildly worthwhile. Commit to work at developing an education, for yourself and others. Get the traffic moving! Dr. Gregorian really was correct ...We have nothing less than the very nature of our civilization at stake.
So there's my pitch ... and it comes with an offer to help, when you want that help.
As part of that ongoing education, use the bits and pieces found on this website to help you.
My contact information is at the very bottom of this Welcome page. Each of my courses has its own set of pages, replete with helpful external links, assignments, calendars, links to documents etc... Use the tabs and drop down menus towards the top of each page, to navigate around. So, get moving, and with a nod to Dr. Grace Murray Hopper, allow me one more, but slightly different metaphor .... "A ship in harbor is safe ... but that is not what ships are built for" ... Set sail folks ...set sail...
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS ... HEY, DID YOU KNOW...
Cattails (Typha latifolia)
Rosy Periwinkle
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CONGRATULATIONS SENIORS!
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SCHEDULE, COURSE DESCRIPTIONS, & CONTACT INFORMATION
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Hey I'm retired! And, in the words of Hunter S. Thompson:
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! Thanks so much North Salem!!!!! |
