Lecture #2

Lecture: "70 C.E. and Beyond"
Class: Intro to Biblical Studies
Lecturer: Sean Burke
Date: October 27th

     This lecture was all about the period in history after the Second Temple of Judaism was destroyed, which marked a new religious thought. Dr. Burke described how there were a huge number of power struggles during that time between a wide variety of different religious groups. He continues, explaining how these groups became groups that we know of today: Jews and Christians.
     During the lecture, Dr. B. had a slide show to go along with his speaking. The students took notes while he lectured, and the room was relatively quiet. What I liked about Dr. B.'s lecture, though, is that he is so interesting. He enthusiastically brings up controversial issues and will ask thought-provoking questions. The class would respond and from there, the discussions and debates would take off. His style of lecture is very intriguing because he tells jokes and also asks serious questions. Also, the students feel comfortable enough to ask him questions as well. Through this hour long lecture, I learned a lot about the way that religious groups acted when their temple was destroyed and I also learned about some of the roots of Judaism and Christianity.

Lecture #1

Lecture: Electronic Music Development
Class: Theory III
Lecturer: Amy Engelsdorfer
Date: 12/10/10


     This lecture was all about the development of electronic music in the mid-20th century. Dr. Engelsdorfer began the lecture by having the class listen to "It's Gonna Rain" by Steve Reich, which is a rather extreme electronic piece. She then had the students analyze the piece and pick out certain elements: rhythm, form, dynamics, etc. She then began her lecture and started with a brief overview of the history of electronic music and how it came about. 
    Next, we listened to several more electronic pieces and analyzed them as well. We compared and contrasted them while Dr. E. led the discussion and continued adding her knowledge about the subject. At the end, we were listening to a modern piece that was written a few years ago by a 16 - year-old girl. Through this, we were able to connect on a more personal level because the girl was so young and the piece was so new - it was something many of us students probably listen to everyday.
     Dr. E.'s lecture style is very informal. She allows and encourages student participation throughout her entire lecture, leaving the discussion wide open for questions and other comments. As an educator, Dr. E. is very effective. She asks a lot of questions to prompt a meaningful discussion and also keeps her own lectures interesting with her humor and fast pace. This lecture was very interesting and prompted me to inquire further into the subject of electronic music.

Inventiveness

            Teaching students to be creative and imaginative is probably one of the hardest skills to teach, especially as the students get older. In order to teach creativity, one must teach creatively. That means breaking free from the curriculum, trying new things, and thinking outside the box when it comes to teaching. I think teachers need to consider the students’ learning first – what will benefit them the most and to stress less about what the administrators and school board want.

            Some keys to creative teaching include straying away from a one-answer world and giving students the ability to choose what they want to learn. Most classrooms today operate on a one-answer system: either it’s right or it’s wrong. I think students need to explore the world of the unknown. I know that as a student, I wasn’t introduced to the world of the unknown until probably senior year of high school. When students are exposed to the multiple-answers world, they will start looking for answers in several places, which encourages creativity and imagination. Furthermore, when students get to choose what they want to learn, they have more motivation to dig deeper and explore the world which they are studying.

            In the 21^st century, creativity is vital for the students to learn in order to survive in the workplace. The world that the students will enter into is rapidly changing every day. In order to keep up, they need to be able to adapt and think imaginatively and creatively.

Reflectiveness

            Most teachers and students find it hard to reflect because they do not want to admit that they did something wrong. Many times, it is through reflection that one can see and then improve. For me, reflecting is hard because when I reflect, I tend to dwell on mistakes or compare myself to others. It took me a while to even be able to reflect on my work. For example, I have been playing piano since I was five, and my parents sometimes recorded my recitals and it was cute to watch little Emma play her ditties on the piano. As I grew older, I got more serious and I absolutely hated watching myself on tape because I watched myself make mistakes and that is hard to do. But then, my teacher helped me realize the value of watching yourself perform because sometimes you don’t realize that you’re doing something wrong until you see yourself do it. This is very true to my playing and even now I will record myself and listen to find ways that I can improve.

            Reflection is at the heart of the teaching process because if one does not reflect, how do they expect to get better? As I said before, sometimes one doesn’t realize they’re doing something wrong until they reflect. Reflection also allows one to put themselves in the others’ shoes. Teachers can reflect on how their teaching affects their students and how they can better help the students learning, which should be the ultimate goal of the teacher.

Passion

          In 10^th grade, I was totally uninterested in U.S. history. I was taking this AP history course because I thought colleges would like the fact that I challenged myself. I never really liked history, but I had always been “good” at it – only because I could easily memorize facts. I had only known history through rote memorization of information – numbers, dates, places of important events. However, it was thanks to Ms. Askew that my perspective on history changed.         

            I still remember how much fun every class was, and how much I learned. Ms. Askew really challenged us as her students to make connections, hypothesize, and draw conclusions about what we were reading. She showed us how to analyze sources. I remember thinking she was crazy when she first told us that textbooks have bias. We delved into the reading and were able to find biases in our textbook, as well as others. We also analyzed primary sources and other literary works that had U.S. history in them. It was the first time in school that I remembered thinking that what I was reading might not necessarily be true. Ms. Askew would also ask us lots of questions and help us arrive at the answers, instead of just telling us the answer. If we couldn’t figure something out, someone would ask and she always had a long and elaborate answer. She knew so much history, it was unbelievable. She really sparked my interest in history and have enjoyed history ever since.

Authenticity

               How do you express to your students that you are authentic? Is it that you bring your college diploma and tell them about your education from start to finish? I don’t think so. Students can sense things about their teacher well. They can sense if they are inexperienced, uncomfortable, or insecure. I think students can also sense when a  teacher is authentic or not. Students try their teachers for various reasons. It is during these trying moments that students can tell who the teacher really is. If a teacher is a “fake,” meaning they lack all classroom management, knowledge of subject areas, and overall confidence, this will easily become apparent to the students. In order to come across as authentic, a teacher should not have to force it. I think that by the way the teacher leads and teaches a classroom will show the students how real they are. If they show the students right from the start that they have all the necessary skills as an educator by the way they lead, then the students will know that the teacher is authentic.

            If the students see their teacher as “fake,” then all respect and control of the classroom is lost. Students will lose interest in the subject and focus on finding ways to reveal the teacher’s “fakeness.” They will test the teacher’s classroom management skills and knowledge because they want everyone else to see what they see. In high school, I know when my peers came across a “fake” teacher, they would be disruptive on purpose and ask questions that were obscure, and the teacher never knew what to do with those questions. That puts a huge strain on learning. Learning is hindered because the teacher has no control and the students have no interest. It is imperative that teachers are authentic.

Compassion

One time that I specifically remember when a teacher showed compassion to me was in second grade. At that age, I was a quiet child and in general carefree and simply happy. My teacher’s name was Mrs. Cullins. She noticed that one day that I came into class teary-eyed. She approached me and asked me what was wrong. Right there I burst into tears. My family had just put down our dog the night before and I missed Riley very much. Mrs. Cullins hugged me and then brought me a couple tissues and a piece of chocolate. As the day went on, she continued caring for me and comforting me. When the day was coming to a close, and she was giving her final announcements, she walked over to my desk and laid a card on it. She and the whole class had made and signed a card for me. That absolutely made my day and I felt so much better. Mrs. Cullins comforted me in a way that meant so very much. I remember to this day her kindness and compassion. It is this type of teaching that really leaves an impact. Sure, I might not remember the spelling words and math problems that she specifically taught me, but I do remember that lesson in compassion that she taught me.

Respect - Educational Psychology

As an educator, one is always trying to find ways to gain and retain the respect of their students. As a student, one does not always give their respect to that educator so simply. Some teachers are respected by students more than others and they gain that respect in different ways.

From the perspective of a student, I think the teacher has to be knowledgeable about the subject, so that they can answer the questions in great detail.  They also have to keep the material entertaining enough that the students pay attention and exciting enough that students are actually, genuinely interested in the subject.  Teachers really have to understand how the students learn and think from the students’ perspective – namely how the students would want to learn the information the teachers have to teach.  Otherwise, students get bored and lose interest in the subject and in the teacher.

From my experience, teachers instantly lose the respect of their students if they try to outsmart the students. Many times, if pressured by students who are testing their patience, educators get frustrated and try to be clever enough to make the student look bad. Educators need to analyze the purpose of the misbehavior and care enough to end the situation so that everyone is happy. Too many times, I have seen a teacher yell, make smart remarks, and punish students irrationally. As a direct result of the teacher’s lashing out, students lose respect, whether they were the “trouble” student or not. Scaring and intimidating the students will only diminish their desire for learning, not to mention their respect for the teacher. The teacher has to handle conflict in a way that is kind, yet firm, trying to leave all parties happy. In doing this, they will gain much respect from their students.