Never mind the cream; it will always rise to the top. It’s the skim milk that needs good teachers.
BEL KAUFMANMy mother, for example, has the pleasant notion that my day consists of nodding graciously to the rustle of starched curtsies and a chorus of respectful voices bidding me good morning.
More Bel Kaufman Quotes
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I like the word OLD. Not senior, that’s for proms. Older? Older than whom? ‘Old’ is honorable and ripe
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Education is not a product: mark, diploma, job, money-in that order; it is a process, a never-ending one.
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“Let it be a challenge to you” means you’re stuck with it; “interpersonal relationships” is a fight between kids; “ancillary civic agencies for supportive discipline” means call the cops.
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I suggest just Good and Bad at the end of the term on report cards. Or maybe nothing. Frank Allen
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Learning is a process of mutual discovery for teacher and pupil. Keep an open mind to their unexpected responses.
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The preciousness of every moment is emphasized with every tick of the clock. Isn’t it a magnificent day today?
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Teachers try to make us feel lower than themselves, maybe because this is because they feel lower than outside people. One teacher told me to get out of the room and never come back, which I did.
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A teacher is frequently the only adult in the pupil’s environment who treats him with respect.
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You can’t laugh and be angry, you can’t laugh and feel sad, you can’t laugh and feel envious.
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… good teachers, like Tolstoy’s happy families, are alike everywhere.
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To the outside world, of course, this job is a cinch: 9 to 3, five days a week, two months’ summer vacation with pay, all legal holidays, prestige and respect.
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Best marks go to cheaters and memorizers. Marks depend on memorizing and not on real knowledge. When you cram into your head for a test you may get a high mark but forget it the next day. That’s not an education.
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The clerical work is par for the course. “Keep on file in numerical order” means throw in wastebasket. You’ll soon learn the language.
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Love is the ultimate giving, an expression of one’s best self.
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When giving comes directly from the heart, it can never disappoint or embarrass.
BEL KAUFMAN