A Gift From Albert Einstein To All Teachers!
I memorized what he said back in 1998, and I can tell you emphatically it has made me a much more effective teacher. In my opinion, what he said applies to every single facet of life. I wish I had heard, memorized, and understood it back when I was in my teens, because it is the most fascinating information I have ever learned. Not only does it apply to physics, it applies to mathematics, history, geography, and any other subject that you can think of. Get this: It also applies to relationships, love, hate, anger, patience, creativity or any other thing you can imagine. In my opinion, it is a principle that is as true and constant as time itself.
Here it is: “All motion is relative, and all points of reference are arbitrary!”
Basically, this is what it means: Anything that moves is moving (or “changes is changing”) relative to something else, and you can choose to assess that motion from any perspective you choose. But, that also means that you will have a limited understanding of that motion if you choose to view it from just the angle in which you first viewed it. That doesn’t sound too terribly complicated, does it? Nothing in my experiences as a teacher has better equipped me to teach than understanding this statement. I am astounded by its simplicity and its application to every single facet of existence.
Would you like to be regarded as a teacher who has the ability to break down even the most complicated of subjects to such a degree that your students say that you are a gifted teacher who can teach difficult-to-understand concepts or principles to even the slowest of learners? One of the critical aspects of learning is the ability to contextualize information. Understanding what Einstein meant will send you light-years (no pun intended) ahead in your ability to contextualize information and thereby increase the speed at which you learn and are able to articulate your thoughts.
It will only take a minute or two to memorize this quote, but a lifetime to exhaust the limitations of its applications. Please contact me to share any epiphanies that you may get as you apply this principle to every aspect of your understanding. In doing so, you will broaden my perspectives and help me to become a better teacher!
Good Golfing!