I've not had a chance to post since Friday because I've entered the busiest time of my education: student teaching. Basically, I'm a full-time teacher in a 5th/6th grade classroom from now until December. I'm observing under a mentor teacher this week and next, then I begin to take over the various subjects. Although I've been writing every night (for HOURS!), none of it has been for my blog. I'm afraid, dear friends, I may be hitting a dry spot for a while.
I think the hardest part of this experience is that my heart isn't in it. I love the kids and I love teaching -- don't mistake me there! However, my heart's at home. My husband and I have already decided that I can stay home and care for our family. Finishing school is simply so we have a back-up if anything happens to him, to teach and care for our children to the best of my ability, and to make both sets of parents happy. (They only agreed to our getting married young if we promised I would graduate)
But I'm so unmotivated!
I know I'll get through it, I'm just dragging my feet today. The first week of school is chaos and I've always hated it -- first as a student, now as a teacher. In addition, we had not one but TWO tornadoes blow through town, so we spent the better part of the afternoon shhhing kids while they leaned up against the interior walls.
I'll have a chance to write more on my Moses project come Friday. I just didn't want everyone to think I'd disappeared! Have a great week!
Showing posts with label teaching and learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching and learning. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Learning as a Christian Adult
I’ve been thinking about this post for over a week and a half now, because I feel it is so important. When we become adults, our learning doesn’t stop. In fact, a lot of times it is only just beginning. This is especially true for Christians. We need to never stop learning about our Lord and our faith.
After a lot of prayer, study, and personal observation, I’ve come to a conclusion that I pray won’t step on any toes. I believe that learning as a Christian adult must come through community. In community, we both speak and listen, teach and learn. It is a cycle that leads to much fruit that can’t come from simply being alone. (There is definitely a role for independence in Christian learning, stick with me for a little bit).
Although I don’t have a specific passage to point to where God spoke audibly and said, “Learn together,” I see much evidence that this was his original plan. Act 2:42-47 explains the fellowship of the early believers… “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship… they continued to meet together in the temple courts.” I get the impression that the believers continuously were together discussing and living life as a team.
Paul also talks to the church in Hebrews about learning in community: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:25). He realized the power that community has to shape us and drive us to Christlikeness.
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to be a small group leader at a gathering of Christian college students from all over Downstate Illinois (plus about 10 kids from Missouri, too). This was my 3rd year attending the conference, but only my first leading. I went into the weekend in “teacher mode” until I came to the revelation I mentioned before: As a Christian adult, the line between teaching and learning is so faint that it may not exist at all.
I want to make a confession – I have a pride problem. I wanted to “help,” and “guide,” and “encourage,” while ignoring the desperate need I have myself for those things. Friday night’s session and discussion went horribly because I was trying to teach. I wasn’t being real. After a long (long…) heartfelt prayer that evening, God opened my eyes to many memories of other classes and SGs I’ve been a part of. As well as modern learning theory a la Dewey and Constructivism. He gently guided me into realizing that to teach adults, I have to be willing to learn from them, too. I may have the discussion questions written in front of me, but that isn’t some kind of power. My listening and asking thoughtful questions for my own learning’s sake would be the vehicle for their learning as well.
Discussion is a funny thing. When I jump out to answer a question, I am forced to think about what I am really thinking. More often than not, my conclusion at the beginning of a statement is completely different than what I believe by the end. I’ve talked to many many people who have experienced the same thing. Talking out loud is one strategy for processing our thoughts. When we have to explain ourselves, it becomes much clearer in our own eyes.
Discussion also opens the door for finding someone else in a similar situation who can either commiserate or give you advice. I experienced this over the weekend, too. One of the girls in my SG is going through the same battles I fought with love and relationships when I was in high school. I was able to relate how God healed me, which gave her hope and opened the door for an ongoing friendship. I also received advice and confirmation about things God has been showing me in my own walk. I’ve thought about fasting before, but I’ve always worried the desire was from myself. I was able to talk to two of my dear friends, who are each currently fasting from different things for different reasons. Through them, I was able to discern that the call wasn’t from my own desires but from Christ.
An experience Wednesday night confirmed my realization. I had the chance to volunteer at a shelter downtown and participate in their Bible study. It blew my mind – these people, who live on the same streets which only hours later were filled with well-wishers for Lincoln’s birthday, the invisible poor who are always with us – these people chose that evening to discuss humility. And it was the most Christ-filled discussion on humility I have ever heard in my life. I had nothing to contribute because my understanding of what it means to have nothing cannot even come close to comparing with theirs. And even still, they had hope.
Learning can certainly take place alone, but I have come to believe that it will be limited to head-learning. It is one thing to learn about poverty, to read books and pray about it, and another entirely to sit for half an hour listening to a man who has had nothing but pain in his life but still walks around clinging to the hope of heaven. It is one thing to read the Bible and another entirely to live it.
I believe that learning alone as a Christian adult serves to lay the foundation for further learning in community. We read the Bible and other books and listen to sermons at church or online so that we can step out with our brothers and sisters to have heart-to-heart conversations. I believe that God works through other believers to shape us, grow us, and change us in ways that we can never experience in our prayer closets. However, let me be firm in this: without personal time spent learning the Word, there aren’t enough building blocks in our heart for community learning to take place. It will be limited to experiences and observations without the depth that only the Word can bring. Community learning and personal learning are two sides of the same coin; one can not exist without the other.
How you define community for yourself is between you and God. In my life, my “community” is frequently only my husband. I also make the most of the few visits I get with my Christian sisters, sometimes only once every few months. I’d love to be involved in a small group or Sunday school on a regular basis, but that isn’t happening right now for various reasons. This doesn’t let me off the hook. I have to intentionally integrate my faith into the few conversations I do have so that I can reap the benefits of learning in community.
I have even more thoughts that I’ve edited, but this post is getting tediously long already. I’m eagerly anticipating response and further conversation. I feel I’m far from done exploring this topic.
After a lot of prayer, study, and personal observation, I’ve come to a conclusion that I pray won’t step on any toes. I believe that learning as a Christian adult must come through community. In community, we both speak and listen, teach and learn. It is a cycle that leads to much fruit that can’t come from simply being alone. (There is definitely a role for independence in Christian learning, stick with me for a little bit).
Although I don’t have a specific passage to point to where God spoke audibly and said, “Learn together,” I see much evidence that this was his original plan. Act 2:42-47 explains the fellowship of the early believers… “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship… they continued to meet together in the temple courts.” I get the impression that the believers continuously were together discussing and living life as a team.
Paul also talks to the church in Hebrews about learning in community: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:25). He realized the power that community has to shape us and drive us to Christlikeness.
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to be a small group leader at a gathering of Christian college students from all over Downstate Illinois (plus about 10 kids from Missouri, too). This was my 3rd year attending the conference, but only my first leading. I went into the weekend in “teacher mode” until I came to the revelation I mentioned before: As a Christian adult, the line between teaching and learning is so faint that it may not exist at all.
I want to make a confession – I have a pride problem. I wanted to “help,” and “guide,” and “encourage,” while ignoring the desperate need I have myself for those things. Friday night’s session and discussion went horribly because I was trying to teach. I wasn’t being real. After a long (long…) heartfelt prayer that evening, God opened my eyes to many memories of other classes and SGs I’ve been a part of. As well as modern learning theory a la Dewey and Constructivism. He gently guided me into realizing that to teach adults, I have to be willing to learn from them, too. I may have the discussion questions written in front of me, but that isn’t some kind of power. My listening and asking thoughtful questions for my own learning’s sake would be the vehicle for their learning as well.
Discussion is a funny thing. When I jump out to answer a question, I am forced to think about what I am really thinking. More often than not, my conclusion at the beginning of a statement is completely different than what I believe by the end. I’ve talked to many many people who have experienced the same thing. Talking out loud is one strategy for processing our thoughts. When we have to explain ourselves, it becomes much clearer in our own eyes.
Discussion also opens the door for finding someone else in a similar situation who can either commiserate or give you advice. I experienced this over the weekend, too. One of the girls in my SG is going through the same battles I fought with love and relationships when I was in high school. I was able to relate how God healed me, which gave her hope and opened the door for an ongoing friendship. I also received advice and confirmation about things God has been showing me in my own walk. I’ve thought about fasting before, but I’ve always worried the desire was from myself. I was able to talk to two of my dear friends, who are each currently fasting from different things for different reasons. Through them, I was able to discern that the call wasn’t from my own desires but from Christ.
An experience Wednesday night confirmed my realization. I had the chance to volunteer at a shelter downtown and participate in their Bible study. It blew my mind – these people, who live on the same streets which only hours later were filled with well-wishers for Lincoln’s birthday, the invisible poor who are always with us – these people chose that evening to discuss humility. And it was the most Christ-filled discussion on humility I have ever heard in my life. I had nothing to contribute because my understanding of what it means to have nothing cannot even come close to comparing with theirs. And even still, they had hope.
Learning can certainly take place alone, but I have come to believe that it will be limited to head-learning. It is one thing to learn about poverty, to read books and pray about it, and another entirely to sit for half an hour listening to a man who has had nothing but pain in his life but still walks around clinging to the hope of heaven. It is one thing to read the Bible and another entirely to live it.
I believe that learning alone as a Christian adult serves to lay the foundation for further learning in community. We read the Bible and other books and listen to sermons at church or online so that we can step out with our brothers and sisters to have heart-to-heart conversations. I believe that God works through other believers to shape us, grow us, and change us in ways that we can never experience in our prayer closets. However, let me be firm in this: without personal time spent learning the Word, there aren’t enough building blocks in our heart for community learning to take place. It will be limited to experiences and observations without the depth that only the Word can bring. Community learning and personal learning are two sides of the same coin; one can not exist without the other.
How you define community for yourself is between you and God. In my life, my “community” is frequently only my husband. I also make the most of the few visits I get with my Christian sisters, sometimes only once every few months. I’d love to be involved in a small group or Sunday school on a regular basis, but that isn’t happening right now for various reasons. This doesn’t let me off the hook. I have to intentionally integrate my faith into the few conversations I do have so that I can reap the benefits of learning in community.
I have even more thoughts that I’ve edited, but this post is getting tediously long already. I’m eagerly anticipating response and further conversation. I feel I’m far from done exploring this topic.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Power of Observation
I’ve faced a small set-back in my post series on learning, as someone broke into our home Tuesday night and stole my computer. I lost nearly all of my writings. But God provides – thankfully my husband’s old computer from graduate school was still in the closet so I am not without the ability to restart. I almost feel bad for the thief, though, as there was so little here for him to take! All he got was a 3 year old laptop running on its last leg. Apparently they weren’t interested in books…
One of the most powerful methods of learning, throughout our lives, is by observation. This is so broad that I’m struggling to find examples! Children learn how to treat others by watching how first their parents, then their peers treat others. Young girls learn how to keep home by watching their mothers. Attitudes towards formal studies (like math!) are passed from parents to children simply by the things parents say while helping their children with their work.
We learn most by what we’re surrounded with. God knew this, and directed Moses to teach the people to surround themselves with God’s word, so that they would learn it:
- “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Cultural values are transmitted simply because they surround us, and we are designed to absorb what we see. This is one of the reasons we have decided to remove the television from our home. I realized that when I watched some of my favorite shows, I would begin comparing myself to the women on the screen. I felt inferior, like an ugly duckling. It made me want to go out and buy (whatever product the star is promoting this week)!
How many have heard while growing up, “Do what I say, not what I do”? Did that ever work? I tried cigarettes in high school because as a small child I had sat on my favorite grandfather’s lap every morning of our visits while he drank his coffee and had a smoke. He repeatedly admonished me to never smoke, but then why was he? Similar curiosity taught me how to curse, drink, and drive dangerously. It is only as an adult that I’ve realized the power of addictions and just how slippery the slope to death is. It’s taken years to re-learn the behaviors I picked up through observation.
Paul warns of this power of observation in his first letter to Timothy:
- “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 1 Timothy 4:15-16
Psalm 37 instructs us to:
- “Consider the blameless, observe the upright.” Psalm 37:37
We do not live in an isolated bubble. People are watching us every day. For parents this is very obvious, but children are not the only ones watching. Our life is our clearest witness to Christ. We may “talk the talk,” but that is not enough to convince non-believers that our lives are changed and better for following God. They need to see our joy, our forgiveness, our growing compassion for those the world has rejected. Otherwise we become another hypocrite wasting their time. Don’t mistake me! We are not to be perfect, that’s impossible for any but Christ! But we need to watch our walk and be quick to apologize when we do err (which we will, on a daily basis).
Sarah Jane asked some excellent questions about what to do after formal education; those have been added to my list and I’ll write about them once I’ve had some more thought time. My next post will be about a fabulous research study I saw a clip on, demonstrating the innate abilities of infants to do mathematics.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Value of Learning
Today is the first day of the new term at
In my discussions with various educators and home-schoolers, I’ve realized that everyone has a different definition in their heads of “learning.” Dictionary.com defines it as:
- To learn: To gain knowledge, comprehension, or mastery of through experience or study. To fix in the mind or memory; memorize; i.e. learned the speech in a few hours. To acquire experience of or an ability or a skill.
We use the word “learn” in a wide variety of contexts, starting at a very early age. Some things we learn come naturally to children in healthy settings – walking, speaking, playing. Other things require effort for even the most intelligent people (I’ll never learn calculus). We learn a multitude of facts; we learn to communicate in various mediums. We even learn what it is we are thinking about something – and this can be some of the most surprising learning ever!
While the waters of learning are muddy, it is crystal clear to me that our Father God values it:
- 8 Solomon answered God, "... 10 Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
- 11 God said to Solomon, "Since this is your heart's desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have." 2 Chron. 1:8-12
In addition, Proverbs is full of suggestion to seek Wisdom so that “you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path.” (Proverbs 2:9). What does this mean for us? What does it mean for schooling children and pursuing a formal education? What is is that God wants us to learn about? When I ran a search on Biblegateway.com, I got 130 hits for "knowledge," 105 for "learn," well over 200 for "wisdom," and 350 (!) for "teach." My goal for this blog series is to study these passages and combine them with the conversations I've had, books I've read, and thoughts I've thought to discern the answers to my questions.
If anyone else has specific thoughts or questions, I'd love for you to join me in this journey of learning, about learning. Post a comment and I'll add your questions to my list to investigate over the coming months.
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