(August 2015, Teacher Yu and I)
Affection for education, the pursuit of my immortal life
——Feeling that "Teacher" is not old
Zhejiang Anji Shangshu Private High School Yu Guangshou
On the evening of January 11, lying in bed before going to bed, browsing WeChat on my mobile phone, I was very surprised to see Chen Wenming posting one of my essays ""Teacher" is not old" at 9 o'clock in the evening! The article was published on the 8th page of Ningxia Daily on September 13, 2023. He told me that as soon as he received the feedback, he was "grateful to be with you and share it with you!". Reading it carefully, I am glad that this is an article published in a provincial newspaper! This belated good news is a good start to the new year! It makes me so excited that I can't sleep.
Retire without resting
The "teacher" is not old, concise and to the point, attracting attention, which is exactly what I want. The name of the "teacher" was not shown at the beginning of the article, but at first glance, I could see that the "teacher" he wrote was me, who was nearly ninety years old. The years are merciless, and he is naturally old in age, and he writes a veritable "teacher" - a teacher of old age, but also a teacher of immortality in spirit. He used exquisite titles, simple words, praise language, sincere emotions, and grateful feelings to write about my love, perseverance and perseverance in education. A piece of paper is exactly what I love about education and retire from the educational life.
Teacher Li Zhenxi said: "Only those who regard their profession as enjoyment can be willing to forget sleep and food and persevere." That is a state of obsession with enjoying one's profession! A person who integrates his career, career, and life must be happy!" I empathize with this! I think that Mr. Li's educational feelings are precisely derived from the ideal and belief of having a big self and serving the country with sincerity. Firm ideals and beliefs, education becomes a belief, dedication to the cause of education, there is an internal drive for career pursuit, there will naturally be a love for teaching and loving students, willing to dedicate the heart of benevolence, the profession as a career, work is enjoyment, you will feel the happiness of teachers. This is the embodiment of the spirit of the educator in the educator-type teacher.
After I retired, I applied to teach at Shangshu Private High School in Anji, Zhejiang. I am grateful to Principal Tang Youxiang for keeping me emotionally and keeping me in the same school, and it has been 28 academic years and one semester so far. Stick to the ordinary, forge ahead in the perseverance, self-improvement, lifelong learning, positive and enterprising, unswerving, and pursue my immortal life.
Since retirement, I have been in love with education, reading and writing, doing what I love, and feeling the fullness of spirit and life. Now that the material living conditions are better, the elderly are most afraid of spiritual emptiness. For me, going to work after retirement is the best rest, the best mental need. In the past 20 years, I have been working in education and scientific research in schools, which are inseparable from reading, writing, and playing computers, using my brain, activating my thinking, using my brain more, aging less, and it will also be beneficial to physical and mental health.
As Mr. Li Zhenxi said, "Education is my interest, and there is no retirement for interest." "After retiring, Mr. Li has been busy with education, but he has not actually retired.
I am convinced that people should not be old in heart, but young in mind. Youth is not a period, but a state of mind. The years have passed, but the youth remains. Just as Mr. Tao Xingzhi taught: "To be an eighty-year-old young man, you can take on a lot of responsibility, don't be an eighteen-year-old man." "In my later years, I learned Tao Xingzhi, which lifted my spirit and enriched my literacy, and learning Tao made me young, which can be regarded as an "eighty-year-old youth", and then I have to strive to be a ninety-year-old youth.
People have to be a little mental. We must have firm ideals and beliefs, and we must have our own life pursuits. We must have the spirit of self-reliance and self-improvement, and we must have the internal driving force to pursue growth. I truly realized that only when you learn can you do something when you are old. Growth is a lifelong pursuit, and you have to pursue growth when you are old. I want to live to be old, to learn, and to study until I am old.
For me, doing what I love is to enjoy, pursuing the wealth of spiritual life, and having a positive and optimistic attitude, I will naturally live forever and feel immortal. This is the health function of "psychotherapy".
The value of life lies in dedication. After retirement, I went to work to give full play to my spare heat for private education, prolonged my educational life, made more dedication to the party's education cause, and gave full play to the value of my life, which is a more meaningful life.
Poverty alleviation through pairing
Chen Wenming is a student at Anji Shangshu Private High School, but I have never attended his class. At that time, I had left the podium and was engaged in full-time education and scientific research. In the poverty alleviation pairing of party members, I got acquainted with Chen Wenming. At that time, his name was Chen Hao, and he was a good student with excellent character and learning, and he also served as the class president when he was a sophomore in high school. The so-called poverty alleviation is very limited economically, and I am more concerned about his growth in terms of study and ideological guidance, focusing on his spiritual growth. Since I am not a classroom teacher, I rarely have the opportunity to contact him for face-to-face interviews, so I ask him to write summaries and reflections on his thoughts and studies from time to time, and communicate with me through written communication. I helped him revise and type out the manuscript on the computer, and gave him a printed draft, which was also an opportunity for him to practice writing and help him improve his writing skills. In recent years, I have participated in many competitions or submitted articles, and I have asked him to help me polish them, and he has seriously and carefully helped me to add color to the articles.
After Chen Wenming left school, I have been keeping in touch with him, paying attention to his situation, motivating his fighting spirit, sharing his works, following his path to success, and studying the factors of students' success. The articles I wrote were often sent to him for exchange and sharing, so he also knew more about my educational life and reading and writing, which made him deeply affected and moved, so he was able to write articles like ""Teacher" is not old", writing that I love education, care for students, insist on learning, and advocate writing, all of which are appropriately and sincerely. Reading between the lines, it can be seen that he is my confidant, and he is also a "New Year's friend".
Time flies, and it changes with each passing day. Chen Hao in the past, and Chen Wenming now, have become famous in the literary world. He went south and north, rough and hard, self-taught, and later started a business in Beijing, became an amateur writer with rich literary works, and successively joined the members of the Chinese Essayists Association and the Bijie Writers Association of Guizhou Province, and embarked on a successful road of hard work and independent entrepreneurship. In September 2019, I wrote an educational narrative entitled "Bumpy Tempering, Dream Blossoming - Exploring the Road of a Poor Student to Pursue His Dreams", which is more than 15,000 words long. His growth process is vivid and moving, inspiring and inspiring, and he is a role model for students in school and a living teaching material for inspirational education. Many students were deeply moved and wrote testimonials.
Feel the happiness
Chen Wenming knows that "the grace of a drop of water should be reciprocated by a spring." He only studied at Anji Shangshu Private High School for two years, but he established a deep friendship with his class teacher and other teachers, and after leaving the school, he never forgot his former teacher, and repeatedly expressed his gratitude. Among his prose works published in 2019, 5 of them are praises and gratitude to the teachers of Anji Shangshu Private High School, and 3 of them are written about me. "That Birthday, That Year 20" is a reminiscence of my 20th birthday for him, "My Octogenarian Teacher" is a praise for my educational life in my later years, and "An Hourglass Remembers the Teacher's Grace" is a small gift he gave me on Teacher's Day in 2009. These words, full of affection, touching and warm, are all from his heartfelt words, expressing his admiration and gratitude to his teacher. His beautiful writing, sincere description, and warm heart language made me love it, and I read it again and again, savoring it carefully, and it was quite memorable.
Mr. Tao Xingzhi said, "The success of teachers is to create people who are worthy of their own admiration. The greatest joy of a gentleman is to create students who are worthy of his admiration. "Chen Wenming has never forgotten the gratitude of his teachers, and I am deeply moved and proud of the success of his hard work. Being remembered by students and remembered is also a kind of happiness for teachers.
"There is no need to prove the success of teachers with stacked honors, the glory of teachers is imprinted in the warm memories of previous students. This is a sentence that Mr. Li Zhenxi particularly appreciates, and it is also a mantra that I feel quite a lot. On our road of education, only by leaving a good memory worthy of our common memories can teachers be truly happy.
The "teacher" is not old! Wander happily on the road of education, and stick to that strong educational feeling. This is Chen Wenming's praise for my educational feelings and educational happiness. Halfway home, he became a teacher, devoted his life to education, retired and continued to teach, and successfully realized his dream of education. This is my unremitting pursuit of immortality!
Written on January 13, 2024
Postscript: I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Li Zhenxi
This article has been sent to many teachers and friends to communicate and share, and has been praised and encouraged by them. Today, I received a warm praise from Mr. Li Zhenxi on WeChat:
Mr. Yu Guangshou, who is nearly 90 years old, is my oldest "fan" because he has read dozens of books carefully, but in fact, I am his real fan. Because he not only lived and learned until he was old, but also educated until he was old. Retired for nearly 30 years, he is still on the front line. I don't know if this is a Guinness record for Chinese education, but at least there is no second one in my field of vision. As I said, hobbies have nothing to do with nobility, and hobbies have nothing to do with diligence. Therefore, I am reluctant to use the words "spring silkworm spinning" and "wax torch turning into ashes" to morally elevate Teacher Yu, but I still want to say that Teacher Yu regards education as his own way of life, "I teach, therefore I am", which makes me reverent, and he has won the respect of many people. Such a highly respected and fruitful teacher, but very humble, has never been satisfied, so he keeps forging ahead and learns tirelessly like a young man.
I don't intend to use Teacher Yu as a benchmark to be harsh on every teacher, because a teacher's life should not only be educational, but also more rich and personalized, but in the face of Teacher Yu, should every young educator ask "how should I treat my own educational life"?
I was deeply moved to read the wonderful praise that Mr. Li wrote for me in his busy schedule, and immediately replied to express my heartfelt thanks! This is an encouragement and spur to me, and it is also an encouragement to young teachers to pursue growth.
There is one more detail that inspires me deeply. After Mr. Li sent me a WeChat message, he reposted it again, because "I found a major mistake! "I was deeply touched by his personality, his handling of things, and his learning.
What are the "major mistakes"? I carefully checked and read the WeChat messages that I sent one after another, and I couldn't see any "major mistakes," but I thought that I had corrected another small mistake.
Teacher Li told me that "as" should be "as". I looked back and saw that "Teacher Yu regards education as his own way of life," and the "as" in "as" turned out to be "as".
Then, Mr. Li sent another "Difference example: use the axe as a weapon, and use setbacks as a tempering." The former is real, the latter is virtual. This brief example of the difference between "as" and "as" is really convincing!
Usually I revise and proofread the article, I think it is quite rigorous, and pay attention to the distinction of similar words, but compared with Mr. Li, I am really ashamed. The correction and analysis of this "major mistake" demonstrated the academic skills of the famous teacher and taught me deeply!
In 2005, when I was over seventy years old, I began to learn "three studies": learning computer at the age of 71, Tao Xingzhi in my later years, and learning from the famous teacher Li Zhenxi. This was a pivotal event in my later years of educational life, and it was also another important turning point. In the past 20 years, I have not only read Mr. Li's books carefully, learned his educational feelings, and absorbed his educational wisdom, but also asked Mr. Li for advice and learning from zero distance, and received his encouragement and guidance many times, which is really fortunate!
On the night of January 21, 2024
Attachment: "Teacher" is not old"
"Teachers" are not old
Chen Wenming
The dream of education lights up life and illuminates students. The three-foot podium teaches by word and deed, and cultivates the fragrance of peach and plum. My teacher is nearly 90 years old, a veritable "teacher" - an old teacher, who has forgotten that he is full of silver hair, and still cares about education and always interprets the sacred mission of teachers.
Gray-haired, he has no intention of being old at all, and he goes to the school every day to do educational research and topic discussion, rain or shine, for decades. What kind of effort and perseverance is this, but also the continuation and sublimation of life energy. He regards education as his life's work, and from the moment he chooses a classroom, he regards life as a child, teaching people tirelessly, and devoting his life to preaching and teaching to solve doubts, and practicing the great mission of lifelong fertility and success.
He loves education. Educated in a teacher's college and majoring in political science, he had already set up his career dream of becoming a teacher at an early age. However, after many years, he got his wish and returned to his dream "home" as a political science teacher at a middle school, which he once joked in an article as "returning home halfway". Since then, he has been passionate about education, cherishing students, tirelessly, tirelessly, cherishing the hard-won educational life, and working diligently in the teaching world.
He cares about his students. I paid special attention to the poor students in the school, and helped each other in pairs, and I was fortunate to receive his care and support when I was in high school. When he learned that my family was in a difficult situation, he gave me financial help many times, and I still remember it vividly, and I am even more grateful. In terms of study, I also received great help from him, he bought me a lot of relevant books and gave me a lot of guidance on methods. He not only cares about the life and learning of students, but also pays special attention to the spiritual growth of students. He has taught me many times that "to train to become a talent, you must first learn to become an adult". I kept the teachings in mind and did not dare to forget them. Now in society, he also encourages me from time to time to guide me, point out the direction of my life, and escort me. In addition to being moved, I am grateful.
He insisted on learning. Mr. Tao Xingzhi said: "If you want students to be studious, you must be studious. Only a gentleman who never tires of learning can teach students who never tire of learning. This is very apt, as if it is specifically for him, because on the way to study, he is also a diligently "good student", especially loves to read, and books related to education are regarded as treasures and cannot be put down. From the exploration and study of education and teaching, to the painstaking study of computers in his ancient years, to the extensive reading of educational books, all of them have left him forgetting to sleep and eating, and concentrating on learning. I have truly practiced the life creed of "living to old age and learning to old age", so why worry that such a teacher cannot educate good students? It is precisely because of his influence that I have also developed the habit of reading and learning, and I have maintained it to this day.
He was a writer of letters. In his opinion, educational writing is a great pleasure, and writing with a computer is a modern enjoyment. He once wrote: "As a front-line teacher's educational writing, it is not an empty theoretical article, but from practice, reading in practice, reflecting in reading, summarizing in reflection, and improving in summary, so as to guide practice and improve oneself." In the past few decades, especially after leaving his teaching position, he has been engaged in full-time education and research and Tao Xingzhi research, and writing has become his main way of working. Writing is not only his job, but also his life, and the happiness he pursues.
My teacher, Yu Guangshou, is still moving forward on the road of education, exploring the true meaning of education in his own way and perspective. At the same time, with this dedication and love, I am immersed in the infinite charm of education and enjoy the infinite fun brought by the education process.
The "teacher" is not old! Wander happily on the road of education, and stick to that strong educational feeling. This is an awe-inspiring life, taking time as a torch, using life as fuel, burning a thousand lights, lighting up the heart lamp of educational feelings and illuminating the future of young teachers.
(This article was published in the 8th edition of Ningxia Daily on September 13, 2023)
(In January 2017, goodbye Mr. Yu.) ）
Source: Zhenxi Teahouse