Missing Members

Started by Cato, October 24, 2011, 07:14:12 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.

mc ukrneal

Quote from: jwinter on August 16, 2019, 06:05:01 AM
Happy to be back, and thanks for the kind thoughts :)

If anyone's curious, my long break had nothing to do with anyone or anything here...  as several others have mentioned, raising 2 children will tend to re-prioritize one's life.  I was obliged to spend a lot less time on the internet, as well as having greatly reduced opportunity for classical music listening (not to mention reduced funding for purchases).  It wasn't so much a conscious choice to leave as a case of getting distracted and pulled into other things.

But my kids are now in middle and high school, so my free time is opening back up.  I put on a CD a few months ago, which brought back to mind pleasant memories of GMG, and so I logged back in.  If I'm being honest, I've also been fighting back a bit of depression the past few months, since my mom passed away over the holidays -- feeling a part of a community helps a little, especially one that is a complete shift from my day-to-day life (not many folks in my circle of friends who've even heard of Bruckner, much less can hold up an argument on Jochum EMI vs DG in the 8th). 


I've been re-reading some of the old stuff (dug up my copy of the old "Fighting About Chopin" thread, and have been slowly working my way through Gurn's Haydn Haus, all 200 + pages of it).  Funny how one's taste changes over time.  It is a bit sad to see so many of the old familiar names gone, though I guess I'm not in a position to talk :)  Though hopefully some of our missing folks are in a similar situation to mine, and may stop by again when life turns back around, as it often does... and it is good to see some newer members as well, with whom I hope to become better acquainted. 


Cheers!
Glad to hear you are well, if perhaps a bit busy!! :)
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

kyjo

Just in case anyone thought I was "missing", I thought I'd post here. This semester at school is turning out to be a busy one for me (unsurprisingly  ::)) and I haven't had as much time to contribute here as I would like. Even so, I still log on every day or so and enjoy reading everyone's latest contributions. I'll try to post more often whenever I have a spare minute or two. Just wanted to reassure everyone that I haven't gone "missing in action"!  :)
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

SymphonicAddict

Quote from: kyjo on September 24, 2019, 04:19:28 PM
Just in case anyone thought I was "missing", I thought I'd post here. This semester at school is turning out to be a busy one for me (unsurprisingly  ::)) and I haven't had as much time to contribute here as I would like. Even so, I still log on every day or so and enjoy reading everyone's latest contributions. I'll try to post more often whenever I have a spare minute or two. Just wanted to reassure everyone that I haven't gone "missing in action"!  :)

Take your time, Kyle. I suppose and hope you'll have lots of good recommendations when you can post.  :)

André

Rest assured, we'll wait for you to be back. And, we all love you, Kyle !!

Karl Henning

Quote from: kyjo on September 24, 2019, 04:19:28 PM
Just in case anyone thought I was "missing", I thought I'd post here. This semester at school is turning out to be a busy one for me (unsurprisingly  ::)) and I haven't had as much time to contribute here as I would like. Even so, I still log on every day or so and enjoy reading everyone's latest contributions. I'll try to post more often whenever I have a spare minute or two. Just wanted to reassure everyone that I haven't gone "missing in action"!  :)

Good to see you.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

vandermolen

Quote from: kyjo on September 24, 2019, 04:19:28 PM
Just in case anyone thought I was "missing", I thought I'd post here. This semester at school is turning out to be a busy one for me (unsurprisingly  ::)) and I haven't had as much time to contribute here as I would like. Even so, I still log on every day or so and enjoy reading everyone's latest contributions. I'll try to post more often whenever I have a spare minute or two. Just wanted to reassure everyone that I haven't gone "missing in action"!  :)

I was just about to add you to the list of those who have gone 'AWOL' as I was aware that you hadn't posted for a while. Good to see you here again Kyle.
:)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Cato

Quote from: vandermolen on September 24, 2019, 11:11:12 PM
I was just about to add you to the list of those who have gone 'AWOL' as I was aware that you hadn't posted for a while. Good to see you here again Kyle.
:)

Amen!  Yes, stay with us, please!

The daze of college days!  Ah yes, I remember those well!   0:)    Ancient Greek, German, Latin, Ancient, Byzantine, and Western European Medieval History!!!

Fun times!   :D

Not every course was fun: the few "Education" courses needed to become a teacher 50 years ago were not quite as ridiculous as they are today, but were not even close to the high level of my majors listed above.

I am reminded of one incident which showed me something about Education professors.  I happened to be walking by the office of an Education professor, whose class I had endured with less displeasure than the others.  In his office were two other profs who were unknown to me, and all three were looking at a large book.  My former professor spots me and says: "Oh!  YOU would know the answer!"

Yes, even back then, I had a reputation as a walking "Fount of Knowledge!"  8)   ;)

So I stopped and looked helpful.  He said: "We're putting together an invitation to a reception for a speaker.  How do you spell...hors d'oeuvres ?" 

Yes, the large book was a dictionary opened to the "O" section.  So I spelled it, and as I spelled it, one of them checked it in the dictionary and says with some astonishment: "He's right!"  I did not take that as an insult, but recall giving a little laugh and explaining: "Well, it's a French word."   0:)

No, there was no foreign language requirement - even back then - for a doctorate in Education.  And - even back then - Education professors were considered the bottom of academia's pecking order.

"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Moonfish

Quote from: Cato on September 25, 2019, 04:21:34 AM
Amen!  Yes, stay with us, please!

The daze of college days!  Ah yes, I remember those well!   0:)    Ancient Greek, German, Latin, Ancient, Byzantine, and Western European Medieval History!!!

Fun times!   :D

Sounds like a blast!  Ah, history!!!!
"Every time you spend money you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want...."
Anna Lappé

JBS

Quote from: Cato on September 25, 2019, 04:21:34 AM
Amen!  Yes, stay with us, please!

The daze of college days!  Ah yes, I remember those well!   0:)    Ancient Greek, German, Latin, Ancient, Byzantine, and Western European Medieval History!!!

Fun times!   :D

Not every course was fun: the few "Education" courses needed to become a teacher 50 years ago were not quite as ridiculous as they are today, but were not even close to the high level of my majors listed above.

I am reminded of one incident which showed me something about Education professors.  I happened to be walking by the office of an Education professor, whose class I had endured with less displeasure than the others.  In his office were two other profs who were unknown to me, and all three were looking at a large book.  My former professor spots me and says: "Oh!  YOU would know the answer!"

Yes, even back then, I had a reputation as a walking "Fount of Knowledge!"  8)   ;)

So I stopped and looked helpful.  He said: "We're putting together an invitation to a reception for a speaker.  How do you spell...hors d'oeuvres ?" 

Yes, the large book was a dictionary opened to the "O" section.  So I spelled it, and as I spelled it, one of them checked it in the dictionary and says with some astonishment: "He's right!"  I did not take that as an insult, but recall giving a little laugh and explaining: "Well, it's a French word."   0:)

No, there was no foreign language requirement - even back then - for a doctorate in Education.  And - even back then - Education professors were considered the bottom of academia's pecking order.

At about age 30 I considered switching careers and becoming a teacher. I therefore audited the few courses necessary to gain certification at our local state university.
The quickest way to describe the experience would be to invoke Shaw's jibe that those who can, do; those who can not, teach and invite the reader to reflect on what that implies regarding those who teach the art of teaching.

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

Ken B

Quote from: JBS on September 25, 2019, 04:57:53 PM
At about age 30 I considered switching careers and becoming a teacher. I therefore audited the few courses necessary to gain certification at our local state university.
The quickest way to describe the experience would be to invoke Shaw's jibe that those who can, do; those who can not, teach and invite the reader to reflect on what that implies regarding those who teach the art of teaching.
My mother was briefly a teacher. Her saying was "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach; those who can't teach, teach teachers." She last taught in 1955. I remember that saying from when I was a child.

Cato

#2430
Quote from: Ken B on September 25, 2019, 05:13:44 PM
My mother was briefly a teacher. Her saying was "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach; those who can't teach, teach teachers." She last taught in 1955. I remember that saying from when I was a child.

I would add a corollary: "Those who think they are the best teachers, but are actually the worst, often become administrators." 

MRS. CATO IS AN EXCEPTION TO THAT!!! :D 8)

There is a case to be made for using a medieval approach for teacher training, i.e. an apprenticeship-and-journeyman process.  First, however, the best teachers must be identified, and there are so many awful ones it could be difficult.  ;)

I always kept in mind the best teachers in my past, and tried to model my style upon theirs, while also inventing techniques of my own along the way.

As a general rule, no sports coaches/teachers should ever be imitated!  (In my nearly 50-year career I have found less than a handful of coaches who were decent teachers, and less than a handful of administrators who could handle a classroom.)
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

vandermolen

Quote from: Cato on September 26, 2019, 04:32:31 AM
I would add a corollary: "Those who think they are the best teachers, but are actually the worst, often become administrators." 

MRS. CATO IS AN EXCEPTION TO THAT!!! :D 8)

There is a case to be made for using a medieval approach for teacher training, i.e. an apprenticeship-and-journeyman process.  First, however, the best teachers must be identified, and there are so many awful ones it could be difficult.  ;)

I always kept in mind the best teachers in my past, and tried to model my style upon theirs, while also inventing techniques of my own along the way.

As a general rule, no sports coaches/teachers should ever be imitated!  (In my nearly 50-year career I have found less than a handful of coaches who were decent teachers, and less than a handful of administrators who could handle a classroom.)

Some of the worst teachers I knew in my 40 year teaching career ended up as school inspectors. One reason why I have no respect for school inspectors.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

aligreto

Is there not some Management Law somewhere which states that one is promoted to the level of one's incompetence?  ;D

Cato

Quote from: aligreto on September 26, 2019, 08:48:19 AM
Is there not some Management Law somewhere which states that one is promoted to the level of one's incompetence?  ;D

YES!!!  It was in a book called The Peter Principle from the 1960's or early 1970's.

See:

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/peter-principle.asp

A wise old teacher, who had worked as a newspaper editor, once remarked that any local news item about a teacher becoming a principal or administrator of any kind would never have the word "promotion."  The policy was to describe the change as a "re-assignment" or a "new assignment."   0:)

I always liked that!
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

North Star

But if you apply the Peter Principle here, the conclusion would be that the teachers who move to administrative positions, school inspectors and such, is that they were competent teachers, perhaps more so than the others. Which is clearly not true in many cases.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Karl Henning

Quote from: aligreto on September 26, 2019, 08:48:19 AM
Is there not some Management Law somewhere which states that one is promoted to the level of one's incompetence?  ;D

The Peter Principle, I think.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Quote from: North Star on September 26, 2019, 09:14:52 AM
But if you apply the Peter Principle here, the conclusion would be that the teachers who move to administrative positions, school inspectors and such, is that they were competent teachers, perhaps more so than the others. Which is clearly not true in many cases.


Surgically done.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Ken B

Quote from: North Star on September 26, 2019, 09:14:52 AM
But if you apply the Peter Principle here, the conclusion would be that the teachers who move to administrative positions, school inspectors and such, is that they were competent teachers, perhaps more so than the others. Which is clearly not true in many cases.

Mr Peter had been promoted shortly before he formulated his principle.

aligreto

Quote from: North Star on September 26, 2019, 09:14:52 AM
But if you apply the Peter Principle here, the conclusion would be that the teachers who move to administrative positions, school inspectors and such, is that they were competent teachers, perhaps more so than the others. Which is clearly not true in many cases.

I had not thought of the Peter Principle that way before Karlo  8)


Florestan

Quote from: North Star on September 26, 2019, 09:14:52 AM
But if you apply the Peter Principle here, the conclusion would be that the teachers who move to administrative positions, school inspectors and such, is that they were competent teachers, perhaps more so than the others. Which is clearly not true in many cases.

Not quite. Actually, the correct conclusion would be not that they were competent teachers, but that as teachers they were not incompetent enough.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini