2005 Celebrating Teachers

1. 2005 Celebrating Teachers Association for Childhood Education International Washington D.C.

2. Reaching Out to Others

3. Created by: Judy Williston, Professor Emerita Sue Grossman, Associate Professor Brian Filipiak, Technical Assistant Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI

4. On Education . . .

5. Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another. G. K. Chesterton

6. Forget conventionalisms; forget what the world thinks of you stepping out of your place; think your best thoughts, speak your best words, work your best works, and look to your own conscience for approval. Susan B. Anthony

7. One cannot consent to creep when one feels the impulse to soar. I was only a little mass of possibilities. It was my teacher who unfolded and developed them. Helen Keller

8. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education. The time is always right to do what is right. Martin L. King, Jr.

9. I touch the future. I teach. Christa McAuliffe

10. In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less. Lee Iacocca

11. Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. John Dewey

12. Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom. George Washington Carver

13. The gains of education are never really lost. Books may be burned and cities sacked, but truth, like the yearning for freedom, lives in the hearts of humble men. Franklin D. Roosevelt

14. To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. Theodore Roosevelt

15. To me, the sole hope of human salvation lies in teaching. George Bernard Shaw

16. Nothing that anyone ever does to help a child is ever wasted. Garrison Keillor

17. Some see the glass as half-empty, some see the glass as half-full. I see the glass as too big! Anonymous

18. On Leadership . . .

19. A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go but ought to be. Rosalynn Carter

20. The best leaders . . . almost without exception and at every level, are master users of stories and symbols. Tom Peters

21. The true test of a first-rate mind is the ability to hold two contradictory ideas at the same time. F. Scott Fitzgerald

22. Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people. Admiral Rickover

23. Since when do you have to agree with people just to defend them from injustice? Lillian Hellman

24. You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Gandhi

25. You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas. Shirley Chisholm

26. Don’t just dream about grandiose acts of doing good. Every day do small ones that add up over time to positive patterns. Marian Wright Edelman

27. Nanotechnology will ultimately create a nanocomputer 1,000 times faster than today’s electronic minicomputers. Anonymous

28. The challenges of change are always hard. It is important that we begin to unpack those challenges that confront this nation and realize that we each have a role that requires us to change and become more responsible for shaping our own future. Hillary Rodham Clinton

29. Good leaders take no credit, and because they take no credit, credit never leaves them. Anonymous

30. No single skill relates to leadership more strongly than the ability to communicate effectively. Anonymous

31. On Reaching Out to Others . . .

32. RSVP: Reach Someone Very Personally. Anonymous

33. If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. Mother Teresa

34. We are different so that we can know our need of one another, for no one is ultimately self-sufficient. A completely self-sufficient person would be sub-human. Archbishop Desmond Tutu

35. Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals who can go it alone. Margaret Wheatley

36. Congeniality suggests people getting along with one another . . . friendly, cordial associations . . . people enjoying each other’s company. Schools need it [congeniality]. So what is collegiality? It is the flip side of parallel play. It is not sandboxes, but honeybees. Ronald Barth

37. How did I get so lucky to have my heart awakened to others and their suffering? Pema Chodron

38. When I find myself fading, I close my eyes and realize that my friends are my energy. Anonymous

39. I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again. Simple, honest, human conversation. Not mediation, negotiation, problem-solving, debate, or public meetings. Simple truthful conversation where we each have a chance to speak, we each feel heard, and we each listen well. Margaret Wheatley

40. When I share information, I do not lose it. Nor does its value necessarily erode as I share it. In fact, sometimes it increases in value. Siva Vaidhyanathan

41. For all of us . . . may we not be separated. Margaret Wheatley