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Barbara R. Morgan got back to teaching yesterday. The students were in Idaho; she was in space, orbiting aboard the International Space Station.
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The event yesterday was the culmination of a summer of space-related activities at the Discovery Center of Idaho, in Boise. Ms. Morgan, who is now what the space agency calls an educator astronaut, told the students that being an astronaut was not so different from being a teacher, at least in some ways.
“We explore, we discover and we share,” she said. And both “are absolutely wonderful jobs.”
What the hell is she talking about?
13 comments:
Ken, I note some cynicism in your post.
Are you implying that NASA has not launched Ms. Morgan into space for her scientific and astronomical expertise and unique abilities to further the mission?
What do you think this was? A thinly veiled PR stunt?
Ken! Welcome back!
"What the hell is she talking about?"
She is saying that she can't believe that she is getting paid for what she is doing.
“We explore, we discover and we share,” she said. And both “are absolutely wonderful jobs.”
1 + 1 + 1 = 2
Actually, it really is
1 + 1 + 1 = 0
she's a SPACE CADET what did you expect ...
we explore, we discover, and we share....
is she exploring something?
in space?
also, explore, discover, and share....
I count three things.
boy
TIMES copyediting is in trouble.
The other day they used the word "lay" for "lie."
decline and fall
The last I read, she actually is an astronaut and a former teacher, so when she talks about "we" (as in exploring, discovering, and sharing), she's talking about, ahem, astronauts and teachers.
I think the Times' editors jobs are safe for now--at least, I don't see quotation marks around "both," which refers to, ahem, again, the jobs of astronaut and teacher.
Sheesh.
hmmmm...
I dunno
If I didn't have to pack, I'd re-read, but that passage struck me as pretty awkward.
The last I read, she actually is an astronaut and a former teacher
That's right. She's actually going to be the one working the shuttle's mechanical arm which I'm sure NASA required lots of "drill and kill" from her to get right as opposed to, say, letting her "discover" on her own how to operate while out in space.
I know that's a cheap shot.
In any event I think she means "we" as in "we teachers" and "we astronauts." The "share" part is cant. But, we'd all be better off if the "explore" and "discover" parts were left to the astronauts. The kind of exploring and discovering that teachers do is mostly of the re-invent the wheel variety, over and over again.
Oh . . . ! Okay. Perhaps this rewrite:
" . . . being an astronaut was not so different from being a discovery-oriented teacher, at least in some ways.
'We explore, we discover and we share,' she said. And both 'are absolutely wonderful jobs' that do not require actual teaching."
I like that.
Just as obtuse as the original, but 86% less misleading.
Ed and I were thinking about the "explore, discover, and share" business.
That is a description of a field trip.
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