I went ahead and “googled” what Wisdom meant. It gave me a rather vague definition that stated: the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise. Wisdom can thus entail knowledge in a variety of different arenas, ranging from the knowledge expounded in a classroom, or simply good life skills taught in the real world. Whichever the case, I tried to exercise the practice of not only absorbing wisdom this week, but transmitting it to others.
Academics: Inside the classroom I absorbed useful and not so useful knowledge in my respective EDSC 442S (Methods) and EDSC 440S course. I also got to teach a variety of different subjects this week ranging from the Industrial Revolution, the development of trusts and monopolies, as well as the various events that transpired during the French Revolution. Subbing for a day also gave me a limited perspective as to what my future profession will ultimately look like on a day-to-day basis (although I’ll have to eventually design all of my own lesson plans).
Social: I teach social skills on a day to day basis at the YMCA, trying to communicate to kids that are perhaps more shy, and obviously teaching them how to be happy with what they have (which is rather ironic in a sense, considering I’m still aspiring for something more). At the same time I try to get them to refrain from using cuss words and speaking in an unprofessional manner in a public social setting. Speaking of which, I acquired one-year residency at the YMCA (or at least got my certificate) this week. Of course, dealing with elementary kids at Fairmont gives me the opportunity to correct how students should behave in a playground setting.
Extracurricular: The power of the Internet now allows us to absorb knowledge in subjectively useful and not so useful manner through the various sites I encounter on a day to day basis. This includes all the top 10 lists I read, the reddit pages I encounter, the Wikipedia pages I stumble upon, and the not-so-objective news sites that address all issues which obviously include the advent of the government shutdown and its immediate and not-so-immediate ramifications.
The End Result: I will push forward towards my goal of educating students, not only in the acquisition of social studies content area knowledge in the future, but critical life skills such as reading, writing, and of course thinking about the place they want to leave in the world in which they live.
Next Week: Work (THE FINAL MORAL OF THE YEAR!)
