Sarah, this was written on dec 26, and then there was on wifi connection until this very morning.
Hi sarah, Happy Boxing Day
So, let me tell you the impact that you had on Thailand today.
As you know, Thailand is a Buddhist country and Christmas isn’t really “celebrated” although the merchandising trend now is to put up Christmas trees with lights, but oddly, the trees don’t get taken down until the end of January. Go figure. So, school is still in session –in fact, today, Saturday, was the very last day.
One of my former students is now a professor at the same institution that I taught at as Peace Corps volunteer. She is professor of education, and the class that she has been shepherding for the last3 1/2years had its final meeting. She was giving the class over to me because I had been her teacher.
I tried to assure her that I didn’t have anything to say that would last for two hours, but that was to no avail. Then I decided that the topic of my talk should be how it is the teacher’s responsibility that the students learn –it’s not that students are incapable of learning, it’s that they haven’t been targeted with the right methodologies or approaches.
But then I thought, two hours of this is going to be a mighty long sermon! So I started looking for some activity to get them to do –and that is where you came in. I was very impressed with the method that you use for the midterm presentation in 102: getting pairs of students to explain their work to each other, and then getting the other of the pair to do the introduction and the explanation of the work. I thought I would try something on that order. I decided to use the topic of a beloved teacher.
What transpired was this: I began by telling them about my high school French teacher who I loved dearly, and about why I loved her. Then I asked each of them to talk to their neighbor about a teacher that meant a lot to them –the teacher who had contributed most their lives – their favorite teacher up until this very point.
Now this was a class of about 60 students –and a class that had taken many of their education methodology courses together as a group over the last 3 ½ years, so they knew each other quite well. But it became clear that this had never really been a topic of discussion –what it was that made a teacher great for a particular student. (And all the different variations that took.)
After about 10 minutes I asked for pairs of volunteers from each row: one to introduce the influential teacher, and then the student who had had that teacher could follow on with stories of what that teacher had done for them and what the teacher meant to them. After we went through the “volunteers” I started asking random students.
Each pair would stand up in the front of the class –and I can tell you, the rest of the class fell silent listening to the stories. I can tell you also that tears were shed more than once as the students gave witness to what a teacher had meant to them. It was not just the woman students, either.
The most poignant testimony was from a young man who was praising my student, their professor, for what she had meant to him. He wept. She wept. I wept –and so did others.
This exercise was so powerful! There were so many reasons why a teacher had made such a powerful influence on the various student lives. This was so much more meaningful than anything I could have said about the importance of making sure that students learn.
This exercise was so well-timed, because it became clear to each student that a torch was being passed, that it was their turn to go out and make an impact on students’ lives.
What a great day for education in Thailand! Thank you for your part! You never know when or where you’re going to make an impact, do you?
Here’s hoping that your Christmas was wonderful – and that the same goes for New Years.
Cheers, Julie
Sarah, this was written on dec 26, and then there was on wifi connection until this very morning.Hi sarah, Happy Boxing DaySo, let me tell you the impact that you had on Thailand today.As you know, Thailand is a Buddhist country and Christmas isn’t really “celebrated” although the merchandising trend now is to put up Christmas trees with lights, but oddly, the trees don’t get taken down until the end of January. Go figure. So, school is still in session –in fact, today, Saturday, was the very last day.One of my former students is now a professor at the same institution that I taught at as Peace Corps volunteer. She is professor of education, and the class that she has been shepherding for the last3 1/2years had its final meeting. She was giving the class over to me because I had been her teacher.I tried to assure her that I didn’t have anything to say that would last for two hours, but that was to no avail. Then I decided that the topic of my talk should be how it is the teacher’s responsibility that the students learn –it’s not that students are incapable of learning, it’s that they haven’t been targeted with the right methodologies or approaches.But then I thought, two hours of this is going to be a mighty long sermon! So I started looking for some activity to get them to do –and that is where you came in. I was very impressed with the method that you use for the midterm presentation in 102: getting pairs of students to explain their work to each other, and then getting the other of the pair to do the introduction and the explanation of the work. I thought I would try something on that order. I decided to use the topic of a beloved teacher.What transpired was this: I began by telling them about my high school French teacher who I loved dearly, and about why I loved her. Then I asked each of them to talk to their neighbor about a teacher that meant a lot to them –the teacher who had contributed most their lives – their favorite teacher up until this very point.Now this was a class of about 60 students –and a class that had taken many of their education methodology courses together as a group over the last 3 ½ years, so they knew each other quite well. But it became clear that this had never really been a topic of discussion –what it was that made a teacher great for a particular student. (And all the different variations that took.)After about 10 minutes I asked for pairs of volunteers from each row: one to introduce the influential teacher, and then the student who had had that teacher could follow on with stories of what that teacher had done for them and what the teacher meant to them. After we went through the “volunteers” I started asking random students.Each pair would stand up in the front of the class –and I can tell you, the rest of the class fell silent listening to the stories. I can tell you also that tears were shed more than once as the students gave witness to what a teacher had meant to them. It was not just the woman students, either.The most poignant testimony was from a young man who was praising my student, their professor, for what she had meant to him. He wept. She wept. I wept –and so did others.This exercise was so powerful! There were so many reasons why a teacher had made such a powerful influence on the various student lives. This was so much more meaningful than anything I could have said about the importance of making sure that students learn.This exercise was so well-timed, because it became clear to each student that a torch was being passed, that it was their turn to go out and make an impact on students’ lives.What a great day for education in Thailand! Thank you for your part! You never know when or where you’re going to make an impact, do you?Here’s hoping that your Christmas was wonderful – and that the same goes for New Years.Cheers, Julie
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