Teachable moments! (class, teacher, PhD, school)

[Sagitarrius48]

All of this negativity in this section (mine included), needs to thrown out the window for a bit as I want us to think of our BEST teachable moments, meaning those you could not have planned for, and share with all who read this section!

For me, it was when I was discussing The Declaration of Independence, and the part that says (and I am paraphrasing) that people will suffer when thing are sufferable rather than right them, and I ask the students of cours what that means and then then to give an example. What usually comes up in the discussion is Cuba, and I then tell them in 1994, many rafts washed up where I live and became an interest to many. I felt compelled to bring one to my school to show my students what people would do to leave "sufferings" that were obvioulsy no longer "bearable" for them. I asked the National Guardsman about securing one, and after calling the apporpriate people, I got permission to take one, but had to promise to disinfect it. A long story about how I got it to my house, two blocks away, but it got to school, was cleaned up and then put in the library for our 3000 students to see.

I had photos to show my classes after that year as it was now 2000, and as I passed them around, I could hear students muttering about what the heck WAS this made of (inner tubes from old car tires, canvas and wood bottom and wood and rope seats) and BOY it was small (about 6 x 12). As I watched, I noticed one girl was not only hardly looking, but it looked like she was going to cry. I asked her if she was ok, and she said that she was but.... that she and her mother had been on of those people coming over in '94 on a raft similar to this one! I was LIKE WHAT????? The students who had heard, all stopped and looked at her and she told a bit of her story. She told that she was 9 and her mother left her brother and father there as they didn't want the whole family to parrish if they didn't make it. They did, but her dad and brother were still in Cuba waiting to get out at some point in time. Well... you could have knocked over everyone with a feather, for they had never experienced anything like this before, nor had I. And... what can one say after something like that???

Anyone else have something to share, proving too, that this is a moment that computers/cyber school can never dupilcate.

[robabeatle]

Here is one:
I was in charge of interviewing a possible physics teacher, he held a PhD from Columbia. He was demo-ing in front of one of my AP classes. He left the class by saying " may the gradient of the potential be with you." One of my students corrected him saying " it is may the negative gradient of the potential be with you."
LOLz!