So,

Tomorrow, we start teaching again — I had vowed never to do it, but alas, I am doing it, again.  I do sense that this will be the last time I do it 'till 2013.

Don't believe what they tell you — teaching is exhausting.  There is a fundamental difference between wanting to know something and having to know it.

Furthermore, there is a difference between that and needing to know.  My job, and I do suspect it is not to teach anybody anything, but to create the 'environment' for them to learn it.

I'd go as far as to say:

nobody is ever taught anything.

I neither have the temperament to explain that nor do I have all my 'arguments' in line to support that — I only sense it.  I suspect someday, I'll come back to this, for now, lets roll with it.

I am some how looking forward to this academic year — I envision a good year, and that 'good' is not reliant on what the learners will be producing or of what calibre they are, all I know is:

… come end of December, they will be that good.

For someone who is almost an atheist, I tend to have a lot o' faith in things I am not in control of.  I never like the word belief, it sounds devoid of reason.

Okay, I digress — let me get back to planning for school.

Until, until.

I remember when I young, okay, when I was a child, grade 3 or something our gymnastic teacher used to repeat some limerick, over and over again.

It went something like this:

those that know they know not [something something something ] and those that think they know not but know not [something something ]

I had a conversation with my brother, early this morning (2am or so) and I was telling him I was getting annoyed by some young fellow who seems to lack the intellectual capacity to see the error of what he does.

and I came to this conclusion:

It is better to know what you do not know, than not knowing what you do not know

What that means, is, if you think you know something and you are not aware that you do not know it, how will you know what you are hearing (or reading, or seeing) is something you should know?

It will go over your head (as the metaphor goes) --- but if you are aware that you do not know something, it will present itself as 'new knowledge' and if I am right, no one can fight the mind in trying to learn something new, it's almost automatic, right?

Alas, in closing:

Don't people reflect on the work they do anymore?  Don't people try to make sense of what it is they have created?

Without reflection, how do you know you have 'created' anything, at all?

I need coffee, good morning.