Geology Seminar Paper

A PRESENTATION ON ONLINE GEOLOGY AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT MATERIAL BY NDIMOFOR NDIMOFOR ARETAS

The Pedagogic Inspectors and Delegates,

Representatives of the Educational Hierarchy

All protocol duly respected

Dear colleagues,

            Thank you for giving me this opportunity to make my presentation.  As a Geologist, I have come to understand that our subject is all about CHANGE.  Part of our subject matter requires us to study and try to understand the CHANGES OUR EARTH IS UNDERGOING.  This all adds up to the old saying that

CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT THING IN NATURE.

Life is all about CHANGES.  The most significant CHANGES in the 21^st century world have been brought about by the Internet and the World Wide Web. 

Today, anyone can learn about anything and connect with others in an instant through a single click of the mouse.  The world is now called A GLOBAL VILLAGE.  Although this is very wonderful, it has a few issues.  When we go to the internet especially for research, we face 2 major issues;

The first is the issue of OVER INFORMATION;  Searching for 1 thing yields thousands of results that are often confusing.

The second issue is the RELIABILITY of the information;  Anyone can put up their ideas on the Internet and this could be very dangerous if that information is not true.

            Today’s Educational system and Job markets are compelling US and OUR students to be computer literates in order not to be left behind.  For some of us it is an up-hill task, given the rate at which the technologies are advancing.  I believe that our students have an added advantage because, as Frederick Douglass puts it;

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men”

Inspired by the above factors, I came up with an Educative Weblog on which I post geology notes prepared following our Geology syllabuses and Schemes.  This I believe will go a long way to encourage COMPUTER LITERACY and THE SPIRIT OF ONLINE RESEARCH in our students and also partly solve the issues of confusing over information on the net and information reliability.

            I also recently came to realize that there is a SMALL BUT VERY SIGNIFICANT AREA that is lacking in our educational system called PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND GOALS PROGRAM, which I strongly believe if diligently implemented could be a TURNING POINT in our educational system in particular and our country’s growth and development in general.

            Due to time constraints, I can’t fully elaborate on this, but I will give a few examples of what I know so far.

Firstly, I have learned that

WE BECOME WHAT WE THINK ABOUT

This is simply because….. THOUGHT COMES BEFORE ACTION… and this is how it goes…

Our Thoughts grow into Words, Our Words grow into Beliefs, Our Beliefs grow into Actions and after every Action, there is a Result.

In simple terms, in order to succeed, start thinking success thoughts and in order to EMERGE, start thinking of Emergence.  So success starts from the mind.

Can you agree with me that if you think about something and say it out loud long enough, then it will come to pass? If not, then let me give you a concrete example….

In my secondary and high school days, we used to hear and say these words and even to date, I still here it being said.....!  And the more it is being said, the more it is becoming a reality.... In fact, even nursery school kids are already picking it up like a common cold! 

I’m talking about the words;

I HATE MATHS!

MATHS IS DIFFICULT!

I WILL NEVER PASS MATHS!

Do you believe that the poor results in mathematics can be reversed if the students start thinking and saying out loud that;

“I LOVE MATHS!

MATHS IS VERY EASY!

I WILL NEVER FAIL MATHS!”?

            I say yes it can because after my Advanced levels, I rewrote O level mathematics while studying it at home, with no teacher and I had a C grade!

Secondly, I have also learned that 

YOU MUST BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD.

(Mahatma Gandhi)

To me it simply means that to see a smile, I must show a smile, to be loved, I must show love, to see my students succeed, I must start succeeding…. Someone was complaining the other day about the fact that his phone was so silent since morning.… “No one even thought of me today” was his complain… so I asked if he had remembered to bip or text or call anyone since morning and his answer was no….. I’m sure you get the idea.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear colleagues, on the Monday, October, 12 2015 I presented my Weblog on the Monday show on CRTV, the positive responses I have received so far are a main motivating factor to why I am presenting the idea to you today.  I know that my words are not falling on deaf ears and I believe that CHANGE IS SOMETIMES SLOW BUT IT ALWAYS TAKES PLACE.

To end with, I believe that things are changing rapidly for us because not long ago, we had our own RPI and slowly but surely, we are getting better by the day because we now have Geology in the first cycle and this year’s seminar has more changes….  

I AM PROUD TO BE PART OF THE CHANGE.  I AM PROUD TO BE A GEOLOGIST.

Long live Geology!

Long live NOWEGETA! (North West Geology Teachers’ Association)

Long live MINESEC! (Ministry of Secondary Education)

By Ndimofor Ndimofor Aretas

(Geology Seminar 12/11/2015)