Sub·stance Knowledge is NOT power .... but it is POTENTIAL!

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."   -Martin Luther King, Jr.

The father of empiricism is misrepresented when his words, "knowledge is power", is overused as a motivational rally tool in twenty-first century classrooms.  Sir Francis Bacon understood, perhaps better than anyone, that knowledge alone is never the "end game" of life-long learning.  Indeed the application of knowledge, with an emphasis on "method", was and is at the core of Bacon's philosophy. 

Some of the most successful people I've ever met were not necessarily the most knowledgeable and I'm sure we've all known walking encyclopedia egg-head types who manage to accomplish absolutely nothing with all that knowledge! Yet we hear and see this modern day mantra echoed throughout the halls of public education today -ad nauseam!  Educational sages of history warned of the dangers (and futility) of such pedantic quests for knowledge (e.g., "illusion of knowledge" by Kant or the refrain, "a chasing of the wind" by King Solomon, Ecclesiastes, considered by biblical scholars to be the wisest man who ever lived outside the person of Christ).  Learning should ideally take place with the expectant vision (with an eye to the future) of wisdom's bounty in view -that vision should capture the imagination of students and inspire them to become not only what they are capable of becoming, but attaining more then they could dream.  Knowledge is the foundation or the starting point -that, we know, is essential.  One can have knowledge without wisdom, but one cannot possess wisdom without knowledge.  Wisdom is the skillful, productive and perhaps even artistic application of knowledge to everyday life.  Despite it's alluring seduction of "power" many of us can attest to the pains of life that the empty promises of "knowing" can bring (e.g., having a graduate degree will not, ensure success).  However, the promise that knowledge often does deliver on is the pay-off of increased probability for potential and hence greater opportunities for the future.

Sub·lim·i·ty Extra Credit Linked to Behavior

I've been subbing public high schools on-and-off about eight years.  I can honestly say that the best experiences I've had as a substitute has been in classrooms where teachers welded a strong link between extra credit and behavior with guest teachers.  Conversely, the worst tour of duties have been in classrooms where substitute teachers are an "afterthought" and convenient "scapegoat" when shortsighted  lesson plans invariably fall disasterously short of desired outcomes -not to mention the behavioral mayhem that predictably ensues!  Teachers who practice the discipline of advance, strategic planning enjoy their days off  -guilt free! They employ a little forethought by frequently blow-tourching the value of civility and manners with students by padding their gpa as a performance reward.  Students are challenged with a reputation to live up to.  Nowhere is the value of relational health better measured, then how students behave when their classroom leader is absent and a stranger,in the form of a substitute, is charged with advancing the learning process.  You show me a class that respects and works with a substitute and I'll show you a class that is led by a great teacher who understands the wisdom of proactive thinking -and linking! :)