Learning and Teaching

They tell me that part of being a teacher means that you never stop learning. Learning about your students, learning about how to teach them, learning about yourself, and learning about the world around you.

They also say that if you think about it, you learn something new everyday. I was thinking about it in the shower this morning and decided to take note of the things that I learned. To me, everything that I learned seemed to be comical. I don't know what that says about my day... So anyway, here they are:

At 8am I went to Missionary Anthropology and took a ridiculous test. And I learned that my favorite letter is A. Go figure. Everytime I didn't know an answer, I just filled in A. And at the end of the test, I counted up all of each letter, and hoped that there were more As than any other letter. Especially B. Here's the kicker- I've been doing this since at least the 3rd grade. I remember doing the same thing on the TAAS test. Yet, on this early morning, it actually occured to me that A is indeed my favorite letter.

Well, then I went to chapel and learned that God doesn't want Harding kids to live in the south after graduation. He wants us to go live in the Northeast or to Oregon. I won't elaborate on this as to not reveal my cynicism. ;)

I went to the library to check out some books to read for my children's lit portfolio, and learned that you should at least read the full title of the books you pick up before you check them out. It would really be a good idea to scan the inside too. I needed to check out some picture books and I ended up with one called "Midnight Dance of the Snowshoe Hare: Poems of Alaska" I missed that whole poems part. I got another one called "How the Animals got their Colors" and it's a book of like 12 legends about animals. So that's like 12 different problems and 12 solutions. Not exactly what I needed. At least I got to see some cool illustrations though. And the book of poems was also useful, as I have to have a couple of poems too.

Oh, which leads me to the craziest thing I've learned today. I learned it from the Snowshoe Hare book. I thought it was going to be a about a little bunny who went out dancing one night. Maybe he has a couple of friends. But no, it was refering to a whole huge group of Snowshoe Hare. Not Hares. Hare. Apparently the word "hare" is like "moose" and "deer" and "bison" (which is debateable ;) and to make it plural, you don't actually "put an s at the end of it".

I had to go through a whole paradigm shift. My worldview cracked. My identity was shaken.

So waht are we? Not the Hares. Now we're just a bunch of Hare? For a minute there, I was NOT gonna be ok... but I am now, so we're good.

Anyway, my quest today has got me thinking about learning, which has got me thinking about teaching. Even if I don't want to be a classroom teacher I still want to teach. So doing all this thinking just got me confused so I just went to biblegateway.com. Cuz that's how I roll.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
Isaiah 61:1-4



Listen, dear friends, to God's truth, bend your ears to what I tell you.
I'm chewing on the morsel of a proverb;
I'll let you in on the sweet old truths,
Stories we heard from our fathers,
counsel we learned at our mother's knee.
We're not keeping this to ourselves,
we're passing it along to the next generation—
God's fame and fortune,
the marvelous things he has done.


He planted a witness in Jacob,
set his Word firmly in Israel,
Then commanded our parents
to teach it to their children
So the next generation would know,
and all the generations to come—
Know the truth and tell the stories
so their children can trust in God,
Never forget the works of God
but keep his commands to the letter.
Psalm 78:1-8



"I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."
-Abraham Lincoln