The end is in sight for my semester as a student. It's been a very, very busy semester. I'm taking two courses: Research in Education, and Leadership in Educational Technology. Both have been interesting and valuable. Both have been taxing, but in very different ways.
The leadership course especially has been really interesting. We started the course by learning about our own strengths and how those impact our approach to leadership abilities. (We used the StrengthsFinder assessment--it was really helpful for self-knowledge!) One of the key elements of the course was to use a commercial leadership simulation software product, with the idea that practicing skills and techniques in the simulation will translate from the digital sim to real life situations. I was excited from the very beginning to explore simulation-based learning, as this is something I had read of but never really experienced firsthand. The product is called vLeader ("virtual leader," get it?) It has some technical limitations, for sure, but it is an interesting piece of software.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Maundy Thursday: "On Us and On Our Children"
Tonight we had a Maundy Thursday service. We spent time in song, in the Word, in prayer. We remembered the Last Supper. We came to the table.
At our church, I come forward to take part in the sacrament. I take the bread, and one of our shepherds (elders) says, "This is Christ's body, broken for you," As I dip it into the cup, another reminds me: "Christ's blood, poured out for you." I love that at our church, my kids come forward with me; they need to see this. This is for them too. This is faith-formation.
We move back to our seats, join the congregation in song. In remembrance. In joy!
Later, we continued the story of Christ's passion. Prayer in the Garden. The arrest. The mockery and trial. Finally, we come to Pilate.
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| [Dave Mulder, CC BY 2.0] |
We move back to our seats, join the congregation in song. In remembrance. In joy!
Later, we continued the story of Christ's passion. Prayer in the Garden. The arrest. The mockery and trial. Finally, we come to Pilate.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
The 60% Rule
(Note: I wrote this post for CACE. Please visit to view the original piece and check out the other great stuff there! You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter...and you should, if you're at all interested in Christian Education.)
Do you have a favorite teaching strategy? What is your best approach in the classroom?
Do you lecture with passion? Do you involve your students in collaborative groups? Do you have students complete stacks of worksheets? Do you use project-based learning? Do you have students craft personal, creative responses to demonstrate what they have learned? Do you use digital simulations? Do you show videos? Do you play games? Do you tell stories that capture students’ imagination and pull at their hearts? Do you have students role-play or use drama? Do you have students investigate solutions to authentic problems? Do you have students actively serve in their communities?
The methodologies we choose clearly show what we value. You might say that the teaching strategies you choose flow out of your personal philosophy of education. What you believe to be true and important and necessary are the things you will emphasize.
Parker Palmer, in his excellent book The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life makes the claim, “We teach who we are.” Think on that. Who you are as a human being is embodied in your teaching practice!
Early in the book, Palmer states, “Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from one’s inwardness, for better or worse. As I teach, I project the condition of my soul onto my students, my subject, and our way of being together” (p. 2). As I reflect on this, I think it’s important to think about the methodologies I choose for my teaching…and what these say about me…
Do you have a favorite teaching strategy? What is your best approach in the classroom?
Do you lecture with passion? Do you involve your students in collaborative groups? Do you have students complete stacks of worksheets? Do you use project-based learning? Do you have students craft personal, creative responses to demonstrate what they have learned? Do you use digital simulations? Do you show videos? Do you play games? Do you tell stories that capture students’ imagination and pull at their hearts? Do you have students role-play or use drama? Do you have students investigate solutions to authentic problems? Do you have students actively serve in their communities?
The methodologies we choose clearly show what we value. You might say that the teaching strategies you choose flow out of your personal philosophy of education. What you believe to be true and important and necessary are the things you will emphasize.
Parker Palmer, in his excellent book The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life makes the claim, “We teach who we are.” Think on that. Who you are as a human being is embodied in your teaching practice!
Early in the book, Palmer states, “Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from one’s inwardness, for better or worse. As I teach, I project the condition of my soul onto my students, my subject, and our way of being together” (p. 2). As I reflect on this, I think it’s important to think about the methodologies I choose for my teaching…and what these say about me…
Monday, April 7, 2014
Online Teaching: Show Up!
This semester I'm coaching some of my colleagues who are going to be teaching online for the first time. I don't know that I qualify as an "expert" in online teaching, but I have some experience in it--I've taught six or seven courses online now--and I'm always up for a new challenge. (It also helps that I'm currently in a doctoral program in Educational Technology...I'm thinking about this stuff a lot lately!)
To help acclimate my colleagues to the realities of teaching and learning online, we have an online course of sorts so they can experience the similarities and differences between the online and face-to-face modes.
This past week, I encouraged my colleagues to read a few pages of 10 Principles of Effective Online Teaching: Best Practices in Distance Education by Dr. Lawrence Ragan of Penn State. In particular, we read pp. 4-6, which are a good introduction to what I picture as "good teaching" in an online course.
In the ensuing discussion, one of my colleagues offered this insightful comment:
To help acclimate my colleagues to the realities of teaching and learning online, we have an online course of sorts so they can experience the similarities and differences between the online and face-to-face modes.
This past week, I encouraged my colleagues to read a few pages of 10 Principles of Effective Online Teaching: Best Practices in Distance Education by Dr. Lawrence Ragan of Penn State. In particular, we read pp. 4-6, which are a good introduction to what I picture as "good teaching" in an online course.
In the ensuing discussion, one of my colleagues offered this insightful comment:
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Advice
This week has been extra busy for me as I've been meeting with all of my advisees in preparation for registration for courses for the fall. I have a few dozen students--all of them studying education--assigned to me. They have different emphases, from secondary physical education, to elementary education with a specialty in reading, to middle school math and science, to special education...but the common thread is that they have me as their advisor.
I'm supposed to give them advice. And I do: we talk about the courses they should take, the requirements of the program, the different options they might choose to meet different requirements, how to plan for a semester abroad and still complete the program in four years. I give them other advice as well; they have great questions: "How did you know you wanted to be a teacher?" "What kind of volunteer opportunities should I look for this summer that would help me become a better teacher?" "I'm just not sure if teaching is for me...does it make sense to take a break from education classes for a semester and try ______ instead?"
I had an amazing question this week, one that really challenged me: "How do you know if you are 'called' to be a teacher?"
Isn't that a powerful question? (And a very hard one to answer!)
My response was--I hope--thoughtful. I suggested that calling is both internal and external. We may feel an internal pull in a direction where we know we are passionate. We may have an external confirmation from others who see gifts in us and prod us in a certain direction.
Of course, then there's the follow up question: "What if I have had a lot of people tell me I should become a teacher, but I just don't feel like this is 'right' for me?"
Ooooo...that's rough. I responded by saying--as I so often say to my education majors--"teaching is not for the faint of heart." If you don't love kids, if you don't love the content you teach, if you don't love learning how to teach and continuing to grow...maybe this isn't for you?
It's hard for me to say that. I wish every education major felt a strong sense of calling. But it isn't for everyone. Teaching is hard work! And it's really hard work if you don't feel passionate about it. So what do you do when other people see gifts in you for teaching, but you don't feel like it's for you?
This student wasn't feeling like dropping education entirely, just raising questions and trying to to figure out life. So my advice was to take a few more education courses, just to be sure. My student agreed--nothing else was pulling more than education.
I hope that was wise advice. Teaching is not for the faint of heart.
I'm supposed to give them advice. And I do: we talk about the courses they should take, the requirements of the program, the different options they might choose to meet different requirements, how to plan for a semester abroad and still complete the program in four years. I give them other advice as well; they have great questions: "How did you know you wanted to be a teacher?" "What kind of volunteer opportunities should I look for this summer that would help me become a better teacher?" "I'm just not sure if teaching is for me...does it make sense to take a break from education classes for a semester and try ______ instead?"
I had an amazing question this week, one that really challenged me: "How do you know if you are 'called' to be a teacher?"
Isn't that a powerful question? (And a very hard one to answer!)
My response was--I hope--thoughtful. I suggested that calling is both internal and external. We may feel an internal pull in a direction where we know we are passionate. We may have an external confirmation from others who see gifts in us and prod us in a certain direction.
Of course, then there's the follow up question: "What if I have had a lot of people tell me I should become a teacher, but I just don't feel like this is 'right' for me?"
Ooooo...that's rough. I responded by saying--as I so often say to my education majors--"teaching is not for the faint of heart." If you don't love kids, if you don't love the content you teach, if you don't love learning how to teach and continuing to grow...maybe this isn't for you?
It's hard for me to say that. I wish every education major felt a strong sense of calling. But it isn't for everyone. Teaching is hard work! And it's really hard work if you don't feel passionate about it. So what do you do when other people see gifts in you for teaching, but you don't feel like it's for you?
This student wasn't feeling like dropping education entirely, just raising questions and trying to to figure out life. So my advice was to take a few more education courses, just to be sure. My student agreed--nothing else was pulling more than education.
I hope that was wise advice. Teaching is not for the faint of heart.
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| Image from Pixabay |
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