Teacher as Transformer

Schlumbergera truncata (Christmas Cactus)

Posted on December 21, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

When we went to the farm for Christmas the Christmas Cactus in the front porch area would be blooming some years to greet us. They are absolutely breathtaking in full bloom.

Journals from the Caribbean

Happy Holidays to all! I will be back shortly with the Pinwheel Flower’s corrugated cultivar form, but I was interested in posting about the Christmas Flower Cactus plant because I was able to acquire a flowering specimen, and was amazed to see the flower in full bloom for the first time. Contrary to my beliefs, these cacti are exclusive to Brazil’s coastal mountain forests.

Schlumbergera truncata (Christmas Cactus) Aka Christmas Cactus, Thanksgiving Cactus, Crab Cactus, or Zygocactus, is native to Brazil, Rio de Janeiro (Serra do Mar and Serra dos Orgãos), to the coastal forests and jungles at an altitude of 100-1500 m. In its native environment it is an epiphyte (occasionally lithophytic, growing on both trees and rocks). They grow their roots into the bark of their host tree. Their only access to moisture and nutrients is from rain and droppings that fall from above. They also always grow under a…

View original post 259 more words

4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

QUOTE…by John Lennon

Posted on December 20, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Love is something that we need to nurture and cultivate. It is only in giving we receive it.

Rethinking Life

We’ve got this gift of love,
but love is like a precious plant.
You can’t just accept it and
leave it in the cupboard
or just think it’s going to get on by itself.
You’ve got to keep watering it.
You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.

–John Lennon

View original post

4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Variations on a theme

Posted on December 19, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

This gallery contains 7 photos.

Originally posted on Bright, shiny objects!:
Click to enlarge

Lessons in Life

Posted on December 18, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Dr. Seuss is such a great philosopher whose work does not lose anything over time.

Practical Practice Management A Division of Top Practices

Remember you can be a gift to those you know and those you encounter

each day!

View original post

8 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

“If You Don’t Become the Ocean…”

Posted on December 17, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Charles Bukowski and Leonard Cohen quotes in one post. That is enjoyable and incredible.

A Day in the Brine

“I was a man who thrived on solitude… I took no pride in my solitude; but I was dependent on it. The darkness of the room was like sunlight to me.”
– Charles Bukowski, Factotum
“If you don’t become the ocean, you’ll be seasick every day.”
– Leonard Cohen
“The most painful state of being is remembering the future, particularly the one you’ll never have.”
– Søren Kierkegaard

View original post

6 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Enjoy your week

Posted on December 16, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

A nice Calvin and Hobbes reminder for each of us as we enter each day. Take a few moments, set the busyness aside, and smile with the world.

Otrazhenie

life quotes From http://osarobohenry.wordpress.com

Enjoy your week!

😉

THE END

View original post

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

If you want to write or paint,then do it !

Posted on December 13, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

If you want to write or paint,then do it !.

As I get ready for a Sabbath break this week, I am also shifting my focus a bit. I found this post the other day and was not sure what it meant at the time. Today, it is suggesting more focus on dissertation writing and less on blogging.

I will visit blogs and post less in the next month . I want to deliver a clean, preliminary writing of the first three chapters by January 20. I am re-organizing more than writing fresh.

Thoreau‘s quote speaks to me. The world is a canvas and I am exploring them both. My topic is the phenomenology of teaching and how becoming a particular teacher is a continuing process. Phenomenology is wondering about phenomena we encounter, including ourselves and other humans, and how we experience encounters.

Parker Palmer suggests truth, from the word troth, reveals itself through living in the world, relating to its sentient and non-sentient beings.

27 Comments

Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Reflective Moments, Sabbath, Uncategorized and tagged community, creativity, Henry David Thoreau, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, Parker Palmer, teacher as transformer, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

Gnarly

Posted on December 12, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Gnarly.

When I was still teaching, students would throw around their favourite slang, usually in proper ways. Gnarly was a favourite word of one of the young men I taught for five years.

A young woman used beast. The first time I heard her say that I was unsure what she meant, but it described her play as the Michael Jordan of her basketball league.

Mike photographed a tree and entitled the post Gnarly. It is cool which is what the young man meant when he used gnarly. It is cool there is wisdom in that tree as it does its work. It is also cool to find wisdom in the everyday world of words.

20 Comments

Posted in 21st Century Education, Community, Mindful Life, Photography, Poetry, Uncategorized and tagged community, conversational journey, creativity, education, Michael Jordan, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Be grateful

Posted on December 12, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Images do have power that words cannot always bring about. What would it be like to feel such a small, frail, gaunt hand in mine?

Mustard Seed Budget

As a wordsmith, I’ve always envied the simple and compelling power of pictures. This one, of a gaunt, starved African child’s hand, speaks volumes to Westerners about the blessings we take for granted. No matter how poor you are, compared to other nations, you are rich, simply because you live in the First World. We ought to be grateful for the blessings GOD has bestowed on us.

View original post

8 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Old Habits

Posted on December 10, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Old Habits.

The picture at Kenne’s post drew me in with questions about old habits. What are the person’s old habits? Is he someone’s old habit?

We wear habits in a way. There is a corporal nature to them including ways we conduct ourselves, think about ourselves and the world. This corporeal nature, habitus, is connected to the word habitat. We inhabit habits and they inhabit us.

When we look in the mirror and see ourselves, perhaps we see the habits in a taken-for-granted way. They just are part of us. Or, do we have someone who is our mirror? Someone who helps us see who we are in clearer way with their honesty and candor?

In Buddhism, others can serve as mirrors. Sometimes, it is in their silence we find ourselves become clearer. Certainly, there is still a graininess to the image and a smokey filter but mirrors help dissipate the graininess and smokiness. The external ordering becomes a patient, compassionate internal ordering.