constructivism, looking for a heart, and limestone walls...

Our Science Curriculum teacher, Rod Kemp, is quite the interesting man, very easy going, yet relatively firm, a tad crazy- typical scientist... does a lot of experiments, asks a lot of questions... you might say he's a constructivist- but that's besides the point. Well not entirely. Being a constructivist classroom, we do a lot of 'hands on' stuff in our lessons. The last class before the break all the students had to prepare a demonstration that was based on our lessons plans that we'd recently also had to do. My lesson was on the structure and function of the heart- he insisted that I bring in a heart and demonstrate a dissection for the class, I was reluctant, but it is true that I will have to do it as a teacher eventually. So on the Monday morning of our lesson, I looked everywhere for a heart to dissect- I stopped at 5 (maybe 6) butchers on the way from home to uni, I even missed the morning lecture so that I could find this heart... I found nothing! I make my way to class, a bit scared of what Rod's gonna say but with a good story of my attempt to bring in a heart, to find that the class had been cancelled! It seems that Rod was sick and couldn't come to uni...

Its now after the holidays and Rod is back. Apparantly he thought he was younger and fitter than he really is and had jumped off a limestone wall... lets just say it ended in tears (maybe not literally) and he couldn't sleep for about 2 weeks from the pain.

(Not quite sure why I needed to tell you that whole background leading up to this, but) As a result of Rod's wall jumping/falling, he decided it appropriate to share this poem with our class. I thought it quite amusing and am thus sharing it with you:

AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS by Portia Nelson I I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in. I am lost ... I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes me forever to find a way out. II I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in the same place but, it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out. III I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in ... it's a habit. my eyes are open I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately. IV I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it. V I walk down another street.

Rod decided not to jump off any more limestone walls...