I love this verse. It's from The Message by Eugene Peterson. It sort of describes perfectly the approach we are supposed to be taking when thinking about the kingdom of God. I have been going through a lot of rethinking about my "worldview" ~ in beliefs and what they mean to my teaching and living life. Here's the verse:
Then you can see how every student well-trained in God's kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it."
~ Matthew 13:52
I've always had this approach for teaching, learning to be eclectic and learn from the old and use what can be used from the new.
Now I'm not saying that I am denying the Trinity or anything, but I'm rethinking things along the lines of postmodern thinking. Thinking about things like: What did Jesus really mean when he talked about the kingdom of God/heaven? What is hell? What kernel of truth is there in things like pluralism, etc.? I'm finally starting to 'get it' and realize what is needed. So I am reading a lot of Brian McLaren right now and I am fascinated by the conversation going on through the Emergent Village site.
Anyway, that's what I was thinking during my lunchtime today!
Monday, May 29, 2006
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
On Control
I have a sign that says, "God is in Control" in my classroom. I haven't hung it up for a few years, because I was just having a hard time imagining what, exactly, I'm saying when I say that. Is God at a big panel, pressing buttons, pulling levers. No, I don't think that can be true. We have this big, mechanistic view of God being at a big computer. But we don't control every aspect of the computers we work on. I don't really understand how these words get from my computer screen to yours. I use it anyway. A lot of what the computer does is automatic, even though I am involved with the computer. It would do nothing on its own. I wonder if that's what it means for God to be in control.
One of the advantages of teaching the same Bible curriculum to the same grade, grade 3, for the past 8 years, is you really get to know those parts of the Bible REALLY well! I taught the Old Testament, Genesis to about Joshua, every year. I really began to think about this idea of control especially as I wandered through the wilderness for forty years with the Israelites. I wandered with them through 8 different classes of grade 3 students and I began to understand something. It came to me in a flash one day. Something that should have been obvious, but wasn't until I went through the stories over and over again: God was not controlling the Israelites at all. He only gives choices.
I love the line God gives Bruce in the movie, Bruce Almighty. God is allowing Bruce to have His powers for a certain amount of time and gives him the ground rules. The big rule is: "Don't mess with free will!"
That's it, exactly! Throughout the whole Bible, God is stepping back and letting people make choices - to choose. This really changed how I saw my classroom. I don't 'control' the class, in fact I have come to despise that word in reference to human beings. I can't think of any good that has ever come from controlling people at any time in history. In fact, I can only think of evil coming from attempts at control. I'm involved with my class - I offer choices.
So, when someone asks me, when the kids are being annoying, wild, or whatever, "Can't you control those kids?" I really, honestly, have to say "NO!" As for the sign in my classroom? I still have it up, because it makes me think. I realized that even though the kids may not read everything I put up, I DO! And I need sayings, quotes, etc, to catch my eye and make me think carefully about what I believe. Is God in control? Somehow, I would say, Yes, He is, but God don't make no puppets, either!
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Computers in Education, Part 2
"I hope for some sort of peace - but I fear that machines are ahead of morals by some centuries and when morals catch up there'll be no reason for any of it."
~President Harry S. Truman (quoted in McCullough, David. Truman. p. 415)
Pres. Truman wrote this shortly after touring the rubble that used to be Berlin shortly after Germany's defeat. He actually said this before he authorized the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is an interesting comment and I wonder what we will say in the coming generations about our infatuation with technology. It makes it all the more important that schools come up with ways to incorporate the technology and guide students in the proper and safe use of technology, because they are involved, whether we like it or not! I'm thinking I should have titled this "Technology and Education", but there it is.
The first part of this article dealt with the largely downside of technology in education, but now I wanted to think and write more about why we need to incorporate even more technology in our schools.
An interesting article came out in the December 2005 issue of Educational Leadership. It's called, "Listen to the Natives" and it's written by Marc Prensky. He's coined the terms digital natives, which our students are. That is, they are the ones who are immersed in the culture. We (the adults/teachers) are the digital immigrants. We do some technology, but we speak with an "accent". We have to begin to listen to the students if we want to help prepare them for life in the 21st century.
I am becoming fascinated with the idea that we are approaching another "Enlightment" of sorts. As the postmodern culture begins to take over and leave the modern culture behind, there are new movements afoot. One of them that I am looking into very closely now is the emergent church.
Churches and Christianity must find a different way of thinking as it strives to bring the message of Jesus Christ to a different culture. But I digress....
In this article, Prensky shows how schools, as they are now, cannot prepare kids for the 21st century:
"Pragmatically, our 21st century kids' education is quickly bifurcating. The formal half, 'school', is becoming an increasingly moribund and irrelevant institution. Its only function for many students is to provide them with a credential that their parents say they need. The informal, exciting half of kids' education occurs 'after school'. This is the place where 21st century students learn about their world and prepare themselves for their 21st century lives."
It's funny how we herd kids, group them unwillingly, make them learn what they don't want to learn (and probably don't really need for the future, anyway). We make them shut up, sit still and take it in. I'm still guilty of this because I learned this way and it worked for me. The point is - it CANNOT work for today's kids!
I'm starting to feel increasingly restless with old style school and curriculum. As I have becoming more immersed in technology, I find that I can only express myself through technology. It's becoming a part of me - and it is even more a part of kids lives today. Banning the use of cell phones in schools, for example, could be leading to more problems that it will solve. The cell or blackberry has become an extension of our children's brains and they can't function without them. How about using the video games that our students are so involved in as a model of curriculum organization? It may seem silly, but many are giving it some serious thought!
An important thing to keep in mind that this doesn't mean we need lots of actual technology in the classroom. What we need to consider is how technology is actually changing the way kids think and process information. Children learn differently than the children of just a generation ago.
I get a pen and paper and it remains blank to me. I can't think of a thing to write. Give me a computer and I can't shut up! I need an electronic medium to talk out loud and give myself a voice now. How odd.... I wonder how much of an accent I still have...
I know this has been kind of a jumble of thoughts ~ maybe I'll come back and clean this up some day. Make it more presentable. But I had fun writing it and that, in the end, is what counts!
I found this cartoon and found it appropriate here. Sometimes I feel like this is what educators on low budgets are doing in the classroom...
~President Harry S. Truman (quoted in McCullough, David. Truman. p. 415)
Pres. Truman wrote this shortly after touring the rubble that used to be Berlin shortly after Germany's defeat. He actually said this before he authorized the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is an interesting comment and I wonder what we will say in the coming generations about our infatuation with technology. It makes it all the more important that schools come up with ways to incorporate the technology and guide students in the proper and safe use of technology, because they are involved, whether we like it or not! I'm thinking I should have titled this "Technology and Education", but there it is.
The first part of this article dealt with the largely downside of technology in education, but now I wanted to think and write more about why we need to incorporate even more technology in our schools.
An interesting article came out in the December 2005 issue of Educational Leadership. It's called, "Listen to the Natives" and it's written by Marc Prensky. He's coined the terms digital natives, which our students are. That is, they are the ones who are immersed in the culture. We (the adults/teachers) are the digital immigrants. We do some technology, but we speak with an "accent". We have to begin to listen to the students if we want to help prepare them for life in the 21st century.
I am becoming fascinated with the idea that we are approaching another "Enlightment" of sorts. As the postmodern culture begins to take over and leave the modern culture behind, there are new movements afoot. One of them that I am looking into very closely now is the emergent church.
Churches and Christianity must find a different way of thinking as it strives to bring the message of Jesus Christ to a different culture. But I digress....
In this article, Prensky shows how schools, as they are now, cannot prepare kids for the 21st century:
"Pragmatically, our 21st century kids' education is quickly bifurcating. The formal half, 'school', is becoming an increasingly moribund and irrelevant institution. Its only function for many students is to provide them with a credential that their parents say they need. The informal, exciting half of kids' education occurs 'after school'. This is the place where 21st century students learn about their world and prepare themselves for their 21st century lives."
It's funny how we herd kids, group them unwillingly, make them learn what they don't want to learn (and probably don't really need for the future, anyway). We make them shut up, sit still and take it in. I'm still guilty of this because I learned this way and it worked for me. The point is - it CANNOT work for today's kids!
I'm starting to feel increasingly restless with old style school and curriculum. As I have becoming more immersed in technology, I find that I can only express myself through technology. It's becoming a part of me - and it is even more a part of kids lives today. Banning the use of cell phones in schools, for example, could be leading to more problems that it will solve. The cell or blackberry has become an extension of our children's brains and they can't function without them. How about using the video games that our students are so involved in as a model of curriculum organization? It may seem silly, but many are giving it some serious thought!
An important thing to keep in mind that this doesn't mean we need lots of actual technology in the classroom. What we need to consider is how technology is actually changing the way kids think and process information. Children learn differently than the children of just a generation ago.
I get a pen and paper and it remains blank to me. I can't think of a thing to write. Give me a computer and I can't shut up! I need an electronic medium to talk out loud and give myself a voice now. How odd.... I wonder how much of an accent I still have...
I know this has been kind of a jumble of thoughts ~ maybe I'll come back and clean this up some day. Make it more presentable. But I had fun writing it and that, in the end, is what counts!
I found this cartoon and found it appropriate here. Sometimes I feel like this is what educators on low budgets are doing in the classroom...
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