Dr. Karl Paulnack

4 thoughts on “Dr. Karl Paulnack”

1. Robert Harrell

   June 30, 2011 at 8:47 pm

   “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art . . . . It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”
   -C.S. Lewis
   “Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”
   -C.S. Lewis
   “There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres”
   -Pythagoras
   “Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.”
   -C.S. Lewis
   “The world is changed . . . . Much that once was, is lost . . . .”
   -Galadriel
   “The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts. ”
   -C.S. Lewis
   I will leave it to you, gentle reader, to consider why I strung those particular quotes together as I did.

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   1. lori f

      July 5, 2011 at 5:54 am

      I see you are also a C.S. Lewis/ Tolkein fan. Great quotes. Thanks. I remember especially the one about originality and have thought of it often.

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      1. Ben Slavic

         July 5, 2011 at 9:22 am

         …even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it….
         We can modify this great sentence (with apologies to Lewis) to resonate more with what we do specifically in comprehensible input:
         …even in storyelling, no teacher who bothers about originality (I take that to mean trying to make the story unfold in a certain way/go in a certain direction), will ever be original; whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (I take this to mean to ask questions and listen to the truth that the students create right there in front of you), you will, nine times out of ten, become original….
         This letting go of control of the story, of the discussion, is, in my view, the essence of doing comprehensible input. It is what Rabelais calls the “substantifique moelle”* – the marrow. It is both frightening and most liberating to work in this way. Bryan Barabe commented on its importance in his own teaching in the first link given below. Being original means giving up control of the class while staying in control of it. No wonder people shy away from this stuff!
         It calls to mind the motto of St. Mary’s Hall in San Antonio:
         …teach me delight in simple things….
         Related links:
         https://benslavic.com/blog/2008/08/27/giving-up-control/
         https://benslavic.com/blog/2011/05/17/get-out-of-the-way/
         https://benslavic.com/blog/2009/05/06/its-not-you/
         *… la célèbre métaphore du prologue de Gargantua : il invite le lecteur à approfondir le sens du récit, à “rompre l’os et sucer la substantifique moelle”. – http://www.alalettre.com/rabelais.php

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2. Laurie

   July 4, 2011 at 5:42 pm

   Thank you both!!!!!!!!!!!!

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