教师节特辑|及时行乐，活在当下 Seize the moment
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「 老师会种下一颗永远生长的种子 」
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Carpe diem,
seize the day, boys,
make your lives extraordinary.
及时行乐，
孩子们，
让你的生命超越凡俗。
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· 壹 ·
在每年的教师节，我都会花时间去回忆为我带来的影响最为深远的老师，思考他教会我的一切。
同时，我也会思考如何把我从恩师那里得到的指导与智慧分享给我自己的学生和粉丝们。
每当这个时候，我也喜欢回顾那些给我的教师职业带来启发的书籍和电影。其中，《死亡诗会》is at the top of my list （是首要选择）。
在这部电影里，由罗宾·威廉姆斯扮演的约翰·基廷是一位美国独立寄宿高中的老师。
这所学校保持着一套十分严格的课程制度，旨在保障学生们进入常春藤盟校。
由于这种原因，这里的老师们从不会鼓励学生去独立思考，反而是在一个压力无所不在的环境中follow tradition（遵循传统）。
基廷老师
基廷老师是一名新来的英语老师，他对诗有着很大的热情，同时他讲课又十分风趣幽默。
他的激情逐渐感染了学生们，他们开始考虑跳脱出父母为他们设定的职业道路，to find their own passions（去寻找他们自己的心之所向）。
最终，学生们在基廷老师的带领下与学校领导、学生父母们发生了不可避免的冲突。
当然，最后电影也有一个令人意想不到的结局。
死亡诗会经典镜头
· 贰 ·
当我第一次看这部电影时，我刚刚从高中毕业。
基廷老师让我想起我高中时有三位对待工作非常热情的老师们，他们分别是教我世界历史的卡罗·莫克利老师，教我西班牙语的凯西·波恩老师和约翰·吉本斯老师。
他们对我的影响非常深远，因而直到现在，中国历史文化和外语学习仍然是我最感兴趣的领域。
Kathy Bonn老师
老桑高中
· 叁 ·
电影中，基廷老师在第一天上课的时候就让学生读一首罗伯特•赫里克的诗。
通过精彩且有内容的教学，他把诗带到了同学们的生活中，并让他们产生了特殊的联系。
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying
花开堪折直需折
时光易逝
今日轻绽浅笑的花朵
明日便将凋零
他用拉丁语中的一个词语解释“花开堪折直需折”的意思：carpe diem（及时行乐）。他鼓励学生们要充分利用时间来超越自我。
及时行乐
他在电影中说的那句“及时行乐，孩子们，让你的人生超越凡俗。”也成为美国电影史上最著名的名言之一。
我试图将这个理念传递给我的学生和粉丝们，希望能够给他们带来启发和思考——及时行乐，把握机会，不要被自己所束缚，Live to your fullest capacity （一定要竭尽所能），活在当下。
活在当下
之后，基廷老师将人类比作一部由我们所有人共同书写的话剧。他引用了沃尔特•惠特曼的一首诗来阐述我们生存于世的意义：
That the powerful play goes on,
and you may contribute a verse
这强有力的戏正在上演
而你可以为它贡献一一首诗
然后他问学生：“What will your verse be?” (“你会贡献一首怎样的诗呢？”)
学生们陷入了沉思。这时，他鼓励道：“You must strive to find your own voice.” （“你们必须努力寻找自己的声音 ”），发现自我。
find your own voice
· 肆 ·
我认为基廷老师的教学模式对我们每个人都能带来启发。
我们不仅仅要及时行乐，同时我们还要书写出属于我们自己的诗歌。
要去思考我们将会如何被人所铭记，更不能在时间白白流失后因未曾好好利用光阴而独自叹息。
老师很特别
实际上，基廷老师的出身背景非常不一般。
在电影中的一个场景里，他的一位学生问他为什么选择来这所学校教书，“你可以到任何地方去”，随心所欲做你想做的事，“你怎么能够忍受窝在这里仅仅当一名老师呢？”
基廷老师没有丝毫犹豫地回答道，“因为我喜欢教书，我不想到别的地方去。”他认为他属于这里，这里才是他的生命之所在。
“我喜欢教书”
· 伍 ·
同样作为一名老师，我也十分热爱教学这一非常光荣的事业。
对我来说，教学的意义不仅仅在于讲授知识和批改试卷，而是在于能够教学生以不同的视角看待世界。
更重要的是，我希望能够通过我的努力，帮助学生们挖掘出他们从未意识到的潜能。我认为这些特征也是让基廷成为一个出色的老师的原因。
基廷老师和学生
在教师节这一天，
请花点时间回忆一下曾经为你的人生带来积极影响的老师们，
把你们最真诚的的祝福送给他们吧。
同时，我也希望你能够意识到你自己可能也是他人的老师。孔子说：“三人行，必有我师”。我们能从身边的人身上学到很多东西。但同时，我们也能以我们自身的行动影响别的人。
这是一个伟大的责任，我希望你也可以把它当作你个人使命的一部分，用积极的态度影响身边的人。
三人行，必有我师
在中国，我们会在每年的9月10日庆祝教师节。
在美国，我们则会在每年5月的第一周庆祝国家教师节。
但无论如何，“教师节”的精神始终存在于我们生活中的每一天。
花开堪折直需折
· 完 ·
教师节快乐
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老桑和他的学生们
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On Teacher’s Day, I take time out to reflect on the teachers who influenced the person I have become, while also thinking about how I can share this guidance and wisdom with my own students and blog readers. Around this time, I also review books and movies that inspire me as a teacher. Dead Poets Society is at the top of my list.
In this movie, Robin Williams plays John Keating, a teacher at an exclusive boarding school. The school maintains a rigid curriculum designed to help students enter Ivy League colleges. Students are not encouraged to think independently, but rather follow tradition in a high-pressure environment.
John Keating is a new English teacher with a great passion for poetry. He’s funny and interesting. His enthusiasm infects the students, causing them to consider stepping away from the career paths set for them by their parents and finding their own passions. The students and Keating ultimately come into conflict with the school administration and parents, and the movie has a very unexpected ending.
I had just graduated from high school when I first saw the movie, and Keating reminded me of three of my own high school teachers who also had great passion for their subjects: Carol Moakley in World History as well as Kathy Bonn and John Gibbons in Spanish. To date, Chinese history and foreign languages remain among my greatest interests.
Keating asks the students on the first day of class to read a poem by Robert Herrick. Through masterful teaching, he brings the poem to life and connects it to the lives of the students.
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying
He restates “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” with the Latin term for that sentiment: carpe diem. He encourages the boys to make the most of their lives, making what has become one of the most famous quotes in American movie history, “Seize the day, boys, make your lives extraordinary.”
I try to inspire my own students and blog readers with this mindset. Seize the moment. Take advantage of opportunities. Don’t limit yourselves. Live to your fullest capacity. Now is the time.
Keating later compares humanity to a giant play that we all help write. He quotes Walt Whitman, saying that by virtue of your being alive on this earth,
That the powerful play goes on,
and you may contribute a verse
He then asks the students, “What will your verse be?”
The students pause and think. He encourages them, “You must strive to find your own voice.”
I think we can all be inspired by Keating’s instruction. Not only should we seize the moment, but also contribute a verse to our global play. To think of the one thing we will be remembered by. To not let time pass away and regret not taking advantage of earlier opportunities.
Keating has a very impressive background, and in another scene, one of the students asks him why he has come to this school to teach. The student asks, “You can go anywhere. You can do anything. How can you stand being here?”
Keating doesn’t have to think much about his answer, “Because I love teaching. I don’t want to be anywhere else.” He knew he belonged there, that teaching was his place in life.
As a teacher, yes, I love teaching. To me, teaching is not about transferring knowledge and grading exams, but about teaching students to see the world in a different way. And more importantly, I try to draw talents out of my students that they didn’t even know they had inside. I think these traits are what made Keating a good teacher.
This Teacher’s Day, please take some time to think about the teachers who had a positive impact on you, and send them your well wishes. At the same time, remember that you, too, can be a teacher. Confucius said, “Walking among three people, I find my teacher among them.” We learn from those around us, but at the same time, we influence others as well. It’s a great responsibility, and I invite you to make the spirit of Teacher’s Day part of your own mission.
In China, we celebrate Teachers’ Day on September 10, and in the United States, we celebrate National Teacher Day the first week of May. The spirit of teaching lasts throughout the year.
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老桑说
John Smagula
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