[MR] Teachers, shields and history

[William Muirheid]

While the teacher is dead wrong please remember that she is the teacher and
the dispenser of all grades.  This may be one of those times when Lady
Magdalena LaRosa may have to grit her teeth and bear it.  The point the
instructor is trying to make is not well supported by her "history", but the
point is still valid.  I found clashing with my instructors, and they will
see it as a clash and not a good faith effort to clarify the situation, may
have produced some short term feel good factor.  However the long term feel
bad factor, lower grade, usually outweighed the transient feeling of
triumph.

What is your Lady's goal, in this class and longer term?  If it is to
correct every ill conceived or harebrained concept she hears in college then
she should go toe to toe with the teacher, and she will have plenty of
opportunity to do this at any university or collage.  If it is to learn, and
to come away with a degree and a decent GPA, then that may not be the best
course of action.


William de Mont d'Or




>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:53:35 -0500
> From: "Vivian V. Morgan" <vivianvaz at lairhaven.com>
> Subject: [MR] Teachers, shields and history
> To: <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>
> Message-ID: <001b01c978e5$aa6a58f0$ff3f0ad0$@com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="UTF-8"
>
> Please bear with me as I vent a wee bit here, which will involve a longish
> quote.  My lovely Lady Magdalena LaRosa has returned to school (and doing
> well, I might add).  This semester, she is taking Public Speaking.  One of
> her first assignments, interestingly enough, is to create a personal coat of
> arms to represent herself to the class.  Here's the fun part.  Below is a
> quote directly from the assignment.  No lie.  Here goes:
>
>        "In ages past, every person possessed a Coat of Arms of one kind or
> another.  One of the important points to understand about these shields is
> that they were never intended to give physical protection in battle.  Their
> purpose was not to turn away arrows or bullets or for people to hide behind.
>  Usually they were too thin or fragile for this use."
>
> She goes on:
>        "On the shields were symbols representing clan signs of the men who
> carried them.  These signs told who the man was, what he sought to be, and
> what his loves, fears, and dreams were.  Men carried these shields in order
> that anyone they met might know them.  Even when they rested in their
> lodges, their shields were always kept outside where all could see them.
>  They might be hung up by the lodge door or the smoke hole, but they were
> always kept outside where people might see and learn from them."
>
> Feel free to respond directly to me or to the list if you want an open
> discussion.  I would love to hear questions, comments, or opinions.  She
> showed this to me several days ago and I've been having hives ever since.  I
> have had no one yet to vent to except her and, patient as she is, I don't
> want to wear her out on this.  I mean, isn't an important part of public
> speaking to "check your facts?"  Can she really believe someone would lug a
> big piece of wood into battle just to show people a picture?  I can't
> imagine why she would think anyone would carry something they couldn't block
> or kill with.  Magdalena really wanted to oppose the teacher on this one
> but, as she had already disagreed with her vehemently on a previous point,
> she didn't want to push.  After all, it was the first class and she doesn't
> know, yet, if she is dealing with a vindictive personality.
>
> Thank you for letting me share and thank you in advance for any commentary
> you may have.
>
> In Service,
>  Lady Yenega de Santurce
>  CaerMear, Atlantia
>
>