Blessed be God!
Palmer talks about the subject-centered model, a model that creates a classroom environment "in which teacher and students alike are focused on a great thing, a classroom in which the best features of teacher- and student-centered education are emerged and transcended by putting not teacher, not student, but subject at the center of our attention."If we talk about concentrating our attention in the classroom, yes I agree, it has to be right on the "great thing" we are striving to understand. But, I believe that our overall approach to education has to be student-centered. We must see the needs of our students as the factor that will control our starting point, the direction we will take,and the final destination of all our teaching practices.
We know that the community of truth will demand from us, teachers, a willingness to "abandon our self-protective professional autonomy and make ourselves as dependant on our students as they are on us". Then and only then we will find ourselves in the road of constant knowing, teaching, and learning where "maturity and meaning will happen for everyone in surprising and life-giving ways."
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Knowing in Community
Blessed be God!
In this chapter Palmer uses many complex concepts that are hard for me to understand all together. I made a diagram and put together what I understood about the chapter.
We can give different definitions and models -like the ones we read about in this chapter- of community, but, I think, the etymology of the word defines it better. Community comes from the Latin word "communitas" cum=with/together and munus=gift.Palmer says that a person needs to develop and deepen in her or his inner life in order to create community. We can only give the gift of ourselves to others when we have discover the great gift we are to ourselves.
Then, Palmer talks about the community of truth as the best community model for knowing, teaching and learning. In this community of truth we are all glue together by the grace of great things which I understand as the attraction to know the unknown.
There is one more question in the air...what is truth? when Pilate asked Jesus this question...he said, "I am a witness of the truth" then in a different Bible passage he says, "I am the truth". The truth then is only one, the truth is God himself. We are called to create a community of truth that is we all have a piece of the great puzzle, we all reveal God in a unique way. Only when we come together we will find the truth, we will experience God himself.
In this chapter Palmer uses many complex concepts that are hard for me to understand all together. I made a diagram and put together what I understood about the chapter.
We can give different definitions and models -like the ones we read about in this chapter- of community, but, I think, the etymology of the word defines it better. Community comes from the Latin word "communitas" cum=with/together and munus=gift.Palmer says that a person needs to develop and deepen in her or his inner life in order to create community. We can only give the gift of ourselves to others when we have discover the great gift we are to ourselves.
Then, Palmer talks about the community of truth as the best community model for knowing, teaching and learning. In this community of truth we are all glue together by the grace of great things which I understand as the attraction to know the unknown.
There is one more question in the air...what is truth? when Pilate asked Jesus this question...he said, "I am a witness of the truth" then in a different Bible passage he says, "I am the truth". The truth then is only one, the truth is God himself. We are called to create a community of truth that is we all have a piece of the great puzzle, we all reveal God in a unique way. Only when we come together we will find the truth, we will experience God himself.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
The Hidden Wholeness
Blessed be God!
What a beautiful chapter! This is pure spirituality!
Palmer talks about the dividedness, the suffering, the love we encounter in everything we experience in our lives as teachers."And the point is, to live everything"!There is not a recipe to follow to be at peace when we are faced with contradictions; there is no easy way to reconcile opposites.
Yet,we have the resources to do so within ourselves. We keep getting tools from the depth of our souls, we never thought of having available. But there is a price we have to pay to use any of these God-given tools, the price is suffering. A word that is avoided and hated by many, yet cherished by the ones that have come to know its profound meaning.
I believe no one can love if he or she is not willing to suffer. Christ shows us that the way is full of pain and suffering, death and then resurrection, new life.Palmer is telling us the same. A good teacher is the one that lives his or her live unafraid of suffering, the one that through love dissolves paradoxes to make them appear as a unity, the one that knows God is always the Giver and the Receiver of all he or she has and is.
What a beautiful chapter! This is pure spirituality!
Palmer talks about the dividedness, the suffering, the love we encounter in everything we experience in our lives as teachers."And the point is, to live everything"!There is not a recipe to follow to be at peace when we are faced with contradictions; there is no easy way to reconcile opposites.
Yet,we have the resources to do so within ourselves. We keep getting tools from the depth of our souls, we never thought of having available. But there is a price we have to pay to use any of these God-given tools, the price is suffering. A word that is avoided and hated by many, yet cherished by the ones that have come to know its profound meaning.
I believe no one can love if he or she is not willing to suffer. Christ shows us that the way is full of pain and suffering, death and then resurrection, new life.Palmer is telling us the same. A good teacher is the one that lives his or her live unafraid of suffering, the one that through love dissolves paradoxes to make them appear as a unity, the one that knows God is always the Giver and the Receiver of all he or she has and is.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Ch. 3 A Culture of Fear
Blessed be God!
This statement, "The way we diagnose our students' condition will determine the kind of remedy we offer" really gave me an answer to my question, why am I totally unable to help some of my students? Why? Because I give the wrong diagnosis and obviously the wrong remedy to their symptoms.
How hard it is to analyze our students' behavior and see what is behind it!
How hard it is to listen to their inner cries for help when no word is heard!
How hard it is to really know what is paralyzing them to be opened and willing to learn!
Yes, Palmer tells us is fear. Yet, I ask myself in how many different ways fear can be expressed? how many reasons, conditions, problems, and experiences will make a child fearful? I can say their are countless. Just as a doctor has to work hard to find the right diagnosis to his patients' symptoms, we teachers have to do the same. We have to be conscious that there is a possibility of giving the wrong diagnosis or the possibility of never finding the right one.
It is important to identify and confront our fears, so that we may be able to get rid of the kind of fear that paralyze the development of our students and ourselves. It is important to remind ourselves that we should always feel the kind of fear that force us to see "when we are not in life-giving communion with the young.When we encounter the alienated student and act as if he or she did not exist: when the student from hell ceases to be relevant to us".
This statement, "The way we diagnose our students' condition will determine the kind of remedy we offer" really gave me an answer to my question, why am I totally unable to help some of my students? Why? Because I give the wrong diagnosis and obviously the wrong remedy to their symptoms.
How hard it is to analyze our students' behavior and see what is behind it!
How hard it is to listen to their inner cries for help when no word is heard!
How hard it is to really know what is paralyzing them to be opened and willing to learn!
Yes, Palmer tells us is fear. Yet, I ask myself in how many different ways fear can be expressed? how many reasons, conditions, problems, and experiences will make a child fearful? I can say their are countless. Just as a doctor has to work hard to find the right diagnosis to his patients' symptoms, we teachers have to do the same. We have to be conscious that there is a possibility of giving the wrong diagnosis or the possibility of never finding the right one.
It is important to identify and confront our fears, so that we may be able to get rid of the kind of fear that paralyze the development of our students and ourselves. It is important to remind ourselves that we should always feel the kind of fear that force us to see "when we are not in life-giving communion with the young.When we encounter the alienated student and act as if he or she did not exist: when the student from hell ceases to be relevant to us".
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The Courage to Teach-Intro & Ch. 1
Blessed be God!
It takes time to assimilate Palmer's ideas and way of saying the big truths about teaching.
Palmer explains that for him "identity means an evolving nexus where all the forces that constitute one's life converge in the mystery of self." I think that many times we are afraid to know and explore who we really are, and we avoid confrontations with our real selves. Sometimes we think we really know who we really are, and we are content with it. But we are shock when we in a situation we suddenly start to see personal aspects and consequently behaviors that were completely unknown to us. Despite the complexity of identity, we all claim to know it to some extent.If we keep walking,one day we will find and embrace our real selves without reserves.
The phrase, "Good teachers share one trait: a sense of personal identity infuses their work." made me reflect on my personal teaching experience. My identity, "my genetic makeup, the nature of the man and woman who gave me life", my culture,the people that have influenced my life in a possitive or a negative way, the good and bad things I have done in life, my experiences of love and suffering,what I love and value, all that I am is transmitted to my students in the classroom along with the prepared lesson of the day. Wow! What an experience!
I remember a seventh grade student who asked me if I was going to teach his class religion again...I said, "No, the principal has given me a new assignment." He simply said, "What a pity! You are such a great religion teacher!". I was thinking about that experience and relating it to Palmer's words. I love my relationship with God! I think there is nothing more important for me and for a human being to be able to connect with Him who is love, happiness, wholeness, identity and integrity Himself. Karlo, my student, was able to see this in my teaching. "A sense of my personal identity infuse" in my religion classes.
It takes time to assimilate Palmer's ideas and way of saying the big truths about teaching.
Palmer explains that for him "identity means an evolving nexus where all the forces that constitute one's life converge in the mystery of self." I think that many times we are afraid to know and explore who we really are, and we avoid confrontations with our real selves. Sometimes we think we really know who we really are, and we are content with it. But we are shock when we in a situation we suddenly start to see personal aspects and consequently behaviors that were completely unknown to us. Despite the complexity of identity, we all claim to know it to some extent.If we keep walking,one day we will find and embrace our real selves without reserves.
The phrase, "Good teachers share one trait: a sense of personal identity infuses their work." made me reflect on my personal teaching experience. My identity, "my genetic makeup, the nature of the man and woman who gave me life", my culture,the people that have influenced my life in a possitive or a negative way, the good and bad things I have done in life, my experiences of love and suffering,what I love and value, all that I am is transmitted to my students in the classroom along with the prepared lesson of the day. Wow! What an experience!
I remember a seventh grade student who asked me if I was going to teach his class religion again...I said, "No, the principal has given me a new assignment." He simply said, "What a pity! You are such a great religion teacher!". I was thinking about that experience and relating it to Palmer's words. I love my relationship with God! I think there is nothing more important for me and for a human being to be able to connect with Him who is love, happiness, wholeness, identity and integrity Himself. Karlo, my student, was able to see this in my teaching. "A sense of my personal identity infuse" in my religion classes.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Chapters 6 & 7 Multiple Vulnerabilitis and the Joy of Teaching
Blessed be God!
I thank God for the insight I received as I read the last two chapters. I am still reflecting on Sylvia Ashton-Warner's quote, "If only I had the confidence of being a good teacher. But I'm not even an appalling teacher. I don't even claim to be a teacher at all. I'm just a nitwit somehow let loose among children." Sometimes when I experience difficult situations in the classroom, I feel stupid! I feel like I am not doing my work as I should. Prayer always helps me to go back to the center of my soul and find peace and strength to reaffirm who I am and what is my most important goal in Catholic education. It seems to me that teachers really mature with experience. Little by little we learn to be in contact with our vulnerability and to be okay with it. We learn that there is no reason to compare ourselves with any other teacher or to consider any teacher as a bad teacher. We all are unique, and everyone has his or her own richness that can not be replaced or given by anybody else. Thus given of ourselves to our students with sincerity and humility, we will hand over a piece of our souls that will be condemned to stay with them until death.
I thank God for the insight I received as I read the last two chapters. I am still reflecting on Sylvia Ashton-Warner's quote, "If only I had the confidence of being a good teacher. But I'm not even an appalling teacher. I don't even claim to be a teacher at all. I'm just a nitwit somehow let loose among children." Sometimes when I experience difficult situations in the classroom, I feel stupid! I feel like I am not doing my work as I should. Prayer always helps me to go back to the center of my soul and find peace and strength to reaffirm who I am and what is my most important goal in Catholic education. It seems to me that teachers really mature with experience. Little by little we learn to be in contact with our vulnerability and to be okay with it. We learn that there is no reason to compare ourselves with any other teacher or to consider any teacher as a bad teacher. We all are unique, and everyone has his or her own richness that can not be replaced or given by anybody else. Thus given of ourselves to our students with sincerity and humility, we will hand over a piece of our souls that will be condemned to stay with them until death.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Ch. 4 & Ch. 5 Durka
Blessed be God!
It is nice to make connections of what I am learning from my moral development class and this class. We read yesterday about "the ethic of caring" exactly what chapter five is about.
These chapters contain many insights about teaching that are penetrating my mind...yet what I desire the most is to be able to go back to my school and really improve the way I teach and the way I relate to my students.
I am delighted to read about the power of caring in my teaching mission. I have seen it with my students many times. If I care, they care! If I care deeply and truly not just about their grades but about they as persons...they really improve, grow,and move to higher levels of knowledge and maturity in all aspects.
When I was in high school my sister Juana once said to me, "you are so stupid, because you are always there working, helping." It really hit me, and I cried. That memory comes to me from time to time. Sometimes I even believe she was right!Especially when I don't see any fruits, and I feel the temptation to stop caring for the people around me. I find my strength in Jesus and remember the times when I have seen that caring really has made a difference in my life and the life of others. We are in the right path when we care; we are following Jesus' steps because he always cared, because he will always care.
It is nice to make connections of what I am learning from my moral development class and this class. We read yesterday about "the ethic of caring" exactly what chapter five is about.
These chapters contain many insights about teaching that are penetrating my mind...yet what I desire the most is to be able to go back to my school and really improve the way I teach and the way I relate to my students.
I am delighted to read about the power of caring in my teaching mission. I have seen it with my students many times. If I care, they care! If I care deeply and truly not just about their grades but about they as persons...they really improve, grow,and move to higher levels of knowledge and maturity in all aspects.
When I was in high school my sister Juana once said to me, "you are so stupid, because you are always there working, helping." It really hit me, and I cried. That memory comes to me from time to time. Sometimes I even believe she was right!Especially when I don't see any fruits, and I feel the temptation to stop caring for the people around me. I find my strength in Jesus and remember the times when I have seen that caring really has made a difference in my life and the life of others. We are in the right path when we care; we are following Jesus' steps because he always cared, because he will always care.
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