【推荐2】He was 50 years old when I was born, and a “Mr. Mom” long before anyone had a name for it. I didn’t know why he was home instead of Mom, but I was young and the only one of my friends who had their dad around. I considered myself very lucky.

Dad did so many things for me during my grade-school years. He asked the school bus driver to pick me up at my house instead of the usual bus stop that was six blocks away. He always had my lunch ready for me when I came home----usually a peanut butter and sandwich that was shaped for the season. My favorite was at Christmas. The sandwiches would be covered with green sugar and cut in the shape of a tree.

As I got a little older and tried to gain my independence, I wanted to move away from those “childish” signs of his love. But he wasn’t going to give up. In high school and no longer able to go home for lunch, I began taking my own. Dad would get up a little earlier and make it for me. I never knew what to expect. The outside of the bag might be covered with his way of a mountain scene (it became his trademark or a heart with the word “Dad-n-Angel” in its center. Inside there would be a note with that same heart or an “I love you”. Many times he would write a joke or a riddle. He always had some silly saying to make me smile and let me know that he loved me.

I used to hide my lunch so no one would see the bag or read the note, but that didn’t last long. One of my friends saw the note one day, grabbed it, and passed it around the lunch room. My face burned. To my astonishment, the next day all my friends were waiting to see the note. From the way they acted, I think they all wished they had someone who showed them that kind of love. I was so proud to have him as my father. Throughout the rest of my high school years, I received those notes, and still have a majority of them.

And still it didn’t end. When I left home for college (the last one to leave), I thought the messages would stop. But my friends and I were glad that his action continued.

I began getting letters almost every Friday. The front-desk worker always knew who the letters were from----the return address said, “The Hunk.” Many times the envelopes were addressed in crayon and along with the enclosed letters were usually drawings of our cat and dog, stick figures of him and mom and if I had been home the weekend before, of me racing around town with friends and using the house as a pit stop. He also had his mountain scene and the hearten-cased inscription, “Dad-n-Angle”.

【推荐3】Papa, as a son of a poor farmer, left school early and went to work in a factory, for education was for the rich then. So, the world became his school. With great interest, he read everything he could lay his hands on, listened to the town elders and learned about the world beyond his tiny hometown. “There’s so much to learn. Though we’re born stupid, only the stupid remain that way,” he said. He was determined that none of his children would be denied education.

Thus, Papa insisted that we learn at least one new thing every day. Though, as children, we thought this was crazy, it would never have occurred to us to deny Papa’s requests. We would talk about the news of the day at dinner time: no matter how unimportant, it was never taken lightly. Papa would listen carefully and was ready with some comments, always to the point.

Then came the moment — the time to share the day’s new learning. “Felice, tell me what you have learned today,” he said.

“I have learned that the population of Nepal is ...” Silence.

Papa was thinking about what was said and then he said, “Get the map; let’s see where Nepal is.” Then the whole family went on a search for Nepal.

By looking at us, listening to us, respecting our input, affirming (肯定) our value and giving us a sense of dignity, Papa was unquestioningly our most influential teacher. Later during my training as a future teacher, I studied with some of his most famous educators. They were imparting (传授) what Papa had known all along — keeping learning all the time. His educational way has served me well all my life.

【推荐3】If you are aiming to master anything quickly, you can learn from Albert Einstein and Richard Feynman. They offer practical advice you can use to improve your learning.

According to Einstein, improving your intellectual capacity should be fun and enjoyable —— happy learners are quick learners. In 1915, he wrote a letter to his 11-year-old son (Hans Albert) who was learning the piano and said:

“I am very pleased that you find joy with the piano. This and carpentry are in my opinion for your age the best pursuits, better even than school, because those are things which fit a young person such as you very well. Mainly play the things on the piano which please you, even if the teacher does not assign those. That is the way to learn the most when you are doing something with such enjoyment that you don’t notice that the time passes.”

To learn anything faster or better, choose topics you will enjoy — if you have control over what you are learning. Make the learning relevant. You should be able to answer the question “Why am I learning this?” at any point.

Richard Feynman won a Nobel Prize and always wanted to know more and to learn more. Known as the “Great Explainer”，he was famous for his ability to explain complex topics in simple ways.

The Feynman Technique, his approach to improving learning, features explaining or teaching what you learn to others. It can help you learn better and keep more of what you learn. According to Feynman, it is significant to have the ability to explain things simply — so simple, in fact, that you could explain it to an eight-year-old. Einstein agrees. He once said,  “If you can't explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

For thousands of years, people have known that the best way to understand a concept is to explain it to someone else. “While we teach, we learn,” said the Roman philosopher Seneca. Learners keep a greater percentage of what they learn when they explain or teach the concept to someone else, or use it immediately. Your ideas will never be more effective than your ability to make others grasp them. When you share, you remember better.