I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well...... Alexander the Great

Blogging. The bane of my existence..... Grinding out personal thoughts in words and letters for the world to see. :-) 800 words seem insurmountable..... but here goes....

The 2 weeks block class is coming to an end and thanks to the classmates, never a dull lesson! Of all the modules I've attended in bible college so far, this class has been the most interesting of all. Perhaps it's because everyone knew one another? I think this certainly helped towards fostering a relax and fun environment where learning could take place. The subject matter itself has been thought provoking as well, challenging us to view teaching from different perspectives. I especially found the assignment on crafting out a syllabus to be really beneficial. Having chanced upon Gronlund's book on writing instructional objectives in the module reserve shelf, it helped to clarify what Bro Casey was advocating and brought to light what a good set of objectives can achieve for effective learning to take place. Today was also the first lesson for another module I am doing, and when the teacher was going through the module schedule and syllabus, I was able to better appreciate and understand what and how the objectives set forth were going to match my expectations for the class. 

My other takeaway from the class came from the lesson where Bro Casey touched on Forms of Learning: "Learning that.." "Learning how.." "Learning to be.." Ultimately it is the 'learning to be or become' that is most important for teachers to strive for in their students. This concept has helped me to recalibrate my own approach towards teaching; to be not just purely transmissive but to stress more on the learner's outcome. The approach of creating and managing a learning community where students and teacher interact freely to communicate ideas, explore learning and form new knowledge was enlightening. This learning community concept brought to mind an encounter some 9 years ago when my son Justin went into Primary 1 in our neighbourhood school. When I visited his classroom during orientation week, I was surprised to see within the classroom special corners set up with different themes. There was a corner with a carpet and low lying bookshelves and a corner that had a sink and plants. Throughout the year, they had to do projects which resulted in a learning portfolio file. There was once they even took a math lesson into the school's eco garden. Looking back on this now, I realise that the school system then was already exploring the concept of learning communities for kids as young as Primary 1.

Hospitality in teaching! Who would have thought that such a unique emphasis exists in education? The little table setup of food and drinks was a wonderful activity to launch us into the exploration of this concept. Thanks Sis Dav for broadening our horizon and challenging us as teachers to go beyond knowledge impartation to investing in lives. It's not an easy transition for some of us as it means greater commitment, more time and resources and the courage to share more of our personal space with our students. I think a huge dose of the Holy Spirit is needed to help us to bridge this gap and love all students regardless of how some can make us mutate into the Incredible Hulk. 

Finally, my friend Olivia :-) This is the 2nd time we have been paired up for project work/assignments. The first was with a bigger group but this time round, it was just the 2 of us. As she aptly put it, there were occasions when 'the rubber almost met the road'.... Many a times our opinions and approach were vastly different. The process took longer, the debates were lengthy, the changes were many but always, we finish the process on common grounds, not with a grudging feeling of compromise, but with a sense of achievement and joy. THIS can only be from His grace :-) Tom and Jerry we might have started off, but Donny and Marie we became.... :-):-):-) 

Thanks Bro Casey for the invitation to attend this class. I've had fun and I've learnt much. Besides the content delivered during the course, you and Sis Dav make up an invisible chapter in the course from which I have learnt and benefited much from.  Learning is more caught than taught, yes? And finally, did we inadvertently contributed yet again, more white hairs to your crowning glory?

The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. ~Sydney J. Harris