The roll-call of school dunces who have gone on to achieve fame and fortune contains household names from every walk of life. John Lennon was declared to be “hopeless… rather a clown in class… certainly on the road to failure”; while Gary Lineker’s teacher warned: “He must devote less of his time to sport if he wants to be a success – you can’,
cheap wholesale jordans,http://www.vivasanvivat.ru/news/2015-04-28-solnechnyi-ozhog-ili-zagar-bez-problem.html#comment-58815cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg;t make a living out of football.”
In the heyday of the Great British Pedagogue, a species now mercifully extinct, some teachers relished being able to slap down their charges with sarcastic character sketches. In the report-writing season, they would dip their pens in almost as much vitriol as theatre critics before letting fly at their targets. “Jon has set himself low standards,
cheap jordan shoes, which he has failed to live up to,” wrote one of Jon Snow’s teachers. “She would be a very good pupil if she lived in this world,” sniped Judi Dench’s headmistress.
From Winston Churchill (“he is regular in his irregularities”
to Stephen Fry (“he has glaring faults and they have certainly glared this term”
, hardly an Englishman of note born before 1970 escaped such waspish put-downs. They were as much a part of school life as beatings and boiled cabbage.
Of course, some teachers took a slightly more diplomatic approach,
jordan shoes, sticking the knife in but stopping short of cheap abuse. Joanna Lumley was told she “must learn to speak politely when her requests are refused”,
cheap jordans, while Diana, Princess of Wales,
cheap air jordans, was encouraged to “try to be less emotional when dealing with others”. But the result was the same: a sharp dent in pupils’ self-confidence; a reminder that teacher knew best and that anything smacking of cockiness or vaulting ambition would not be tolerated.
My own school reports weren’t too bad, but,
cheap jordans for sale, reading them now – my father was a methodical man who kept them all in sequence – I am struck by their relentlessly downbeat tone,http://srvctl.sabrexhost.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=0cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, so characteristic of the stiff-upper-lip generation that had fought in the war. I was “very weak” at history,
jordans for cheap, “not very gifted” at music, “disappointing” at science and “capable but lazy” at sport. I “gave the impression of being lethargic” and,http://www.kaasts.com/Kaas/forum/newtopic.htmlcheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, weirdest of all, “could not swim but was learning”. No sign there of the future Oxford scholar – in fact, it sounds as if I was lucky I didn’t drown in a pool of absent-minded apathy.
These days, thank goodness, the pendulum has swung the other way. I savoured my daughters’ school reports word for word, like a George Eliot novel, even when they strayed into the realm of hyperbole. “Clara is a legend,” wrote her chemistry teacher when she was 15. Her confidence rocketed – until she compared notes with her friends and found there had been five legends in one class.
Some parents worry that today’s schoolchildren are treated with kid gloves, and would benefit from a few home truths. But they shouldn’t miss the obvious moral of Sir John’s story. Growing children need encouragement the way a plant needs water.
Watch the Duchess of Cambridge's reaction when basketball star LeBron James breaks royal protocol at the NBA game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers
By
Telegraph Video
,
video source APTN
4:30PM GMT 10 Dec 2014
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met basketball star LeBron James in New York on Monday night after watching a basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Barclays Center indoor arena.
Prince William and the former Miss Middleton
were also presented with NBA jerseys, including a small one for their young son, Prince George.
While posing for photographs,
cheap authentic jordans, LeBron James appeared to surprise the Duchess of Cambridge by breaking royal protocol and placing his arm around her.
The breach of protocol echoed the time when
Michelle Obama caused a stir by putting her arm around the Queen in 2009
.
The royals are on their first official trip to the US since 2011.
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Why can't some men keep their hands to themselves?
Their schedule for their three-day trip also includes a visit to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, a visit to showcase arts education at a youth organisation, and a black-tie fundraiser for their alma mater, the University of St. Andrews.
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