Always a Place for Hope, Kindness, Respect..

"Optimism syndrome"

"The most famous class at Harvard University, attended by some 900 students twice a week, is a class on Positive Psychology taught by a young professor named Taal Ben Shahar. This class focuses on providing insight that leads students to the path of happiness, optimism, and hope. There are more students enrolled in this class than classes that teach them how to make more money and become rich, i.e., Economics. This goes on to show that people value virtues and positive life experiences, even more than money and success in career." http://www.affectiveteaching.com/?p=260

This posting is very uplifting, especially at this time when there are soooooo many things happening in our community, and in our personal, professional and academic lives. Lessons, discussions, and practice regarding values allows an individual to create a path and guidelines for themselves in order to actively engage in all important matters that come their way in a sensible ethical manner.
Someone mentioned to me once that a teacher has no time or right to teach values because if we do we are taking the role of a parent and displacing them and not spending enough time on the really important matter of curriculum.
I have always believed that an important part of a teacher's responsibility is to model and share all that allows us to collaborate and communicate in a positive, productive, and inspiring fashion. Our global village members might be wise to remember it takes a village to raise a child!