Lifelong Learning

Author

Active Minds

Posted on

Jun 02, 2010

Book/Edition

Colorado - Denver Metro , Colorado - Denver North Metro , Colorado - Denver South Metro

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Whether you've been a teacher or a student, the typical pattern of classroom education is familiar: The instructor shares the material and the students listen and learn. The information flows primarily one way. Occasionally, however, under just the right circumstances, a wonderful reversal can occur in which the student becomes the teacher by sharing a moment in their own life that has been reawakened by the topic. These snapshots of personal history can take your breath away. Here are a few of our favorites.
For several years, Active Minds has taught a class on the history of the game of baseball. It runs the gamut from Abner Doubleday to Barry Bonds and tells several good stories in between. On a crisp fall day, with the Colorado Rockies in the hunt for post-season play, the instructor was winding up this topic when he noticed one of the attendees seemed to have something to share. With a little encouragement she began, When I was a young girl, I worked as a waitress in a diner in Baltimore. One afternoon, the other waitresses stopped me in the kitchen and asked, Do you know who you're waiting on? I didn't know, so they told me. I served Babe Ruth. And he tipped two dimes and a nickel.
One evening, we were providing a class in a retirement community on the nuclear threat posed by North Korea. A gentleman toward the front of the room raised his hand, accompanied by a quick buzz of hushed comments in the back of the room. When the instructor paused to call on him, he began his comment with, Well, when I was working with Oppenheimer on the Manhattan project
Another afternoon we were presenting a program on the G.I. Bill. A gentleman volunteered that he had been the Captain of the USS New Jersey in World War II. When pressed to tell a story, he at first demurred, then commented, Well, our first voyage out of dry dock, we sank three submarines. The person on his left, mouth open, responded incredulously, You sank three German subs??? To which he replied, with a wry smile, Well, I sure hope they were German!

Whether you want to listen, comment, question, or share, lifelong learning programs have much to offer and maybe so do you!

Zane Robertson is the President of Active Minds, a Denver based provider of educational programs for seniors. He is a frequent speaker on lifelong learning and senior education and serves on the Denver Commission on Aging and the board of the Denver Coalition for Seniors. Active Minds programs are available in most Denver senior residential communities as well as a variety of public venues. For more information, contact Mr. Robertson at 3033207652 or visit www.ActiveMindsForLife.com.

Copyright 2009-2010 Active Minds. All rights reserved.

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Local Services By This Author

Active Minds

Life Long Learning 990 Krameria St S, Denver, Colorado, 80220

Our mission is to expand lives and minds by providing outstanding educational programs. We believe in lifelong learning and fostering active minds for life.We achieve this by combining excellent teaching with thoroughly researched, compelling topics that matter. We deliver programs on-site, customized to each audience, but always presented objectively so that all perspectives are honored.