Positive Thinking Fursday

Happy Thursday (or in this case Friday) and welcome to Positive Thinking Thursday, Mrs. Laffin's Laughings weekly linky party where you can share a positive thought with the rest of us.  We're glad you're here!  Per usual, I'm a day late.  BUT it's better to be positive late than never right?!

(click to see what other bloggers are so happy about!)

So I just started picking classes for my Spring 2015 semester.  Yes, that's right! This will be my LAST semester to finish up my M.A. in English Linguistics!

One of the amazing class offerings...

HUMOR AND ADULT LEARNING

Amazing right?  For a while I sat there thinking... "Well, I should really take another course in my major shouldn't I?"  But then I thought, hey! The chance of me having the opportunity to take a class called "Humor and Adult Learning" is pretty few and far between.  Also, why not take a class that I think will be fun for once?!  So often we get into the mindset of doing what we do because we think we're supposed to.  It's so easy to fall into that trap right?  With professional, academic, and personal expectations, it's easy to see why we get so tripped up by what is essentially appearances.  In general, what I'm saying is, if something is fun or perks your interest... DO IT!

Live life to the fullest in whatever way that means for you.  For me, that means taking a super weird class that I'm hoping is as interesting as it sounds.  For you that might mean signing up to run a marathon even though you have a list of other things that you could or should be doing with your time.

Enjoy your life!  There's only so much of it that each of us has left!  Positivity doesn't just come from attitude.  It comes from our abilities to make wise choices for ourselves that not only impact use professionally but also personally. So radiate positivity in and through your choices.  Be someone that people describe as "Full of Love" or "Shining with Positivity!"

Positive Thinking Thursday

Welcome to Positive Thinking Thursday!  I'm glad you are here.  I hope you will visit Mrs. Laffin's Laughings to see many positive thoughts from the teacher blogosphere!  Everyone is welcome here.

As we settle into the school year, we need to be reminded of our passions.  It's easy to get into a comfortable routine.  My passion in my teaching career is two-fold.  I love my students and I love innovation.  But how do I combine the two to stay fresh and unique each day?  That's the question I attempt to tackle before every class meeting.

During a conversation I had with Noam Chomsky he mentioned that "...you're supposed to challenge.  Come up with new ideas.  [And] go in new directions" in regard to education.  This thought really stuck with me over the years.  I challenge both you and me to mesh our passions with creativity and innovation. Stay current in your content area and pedagogy.  Try new things.  Explore new routes for teaching.  

As always, good luck and happy teaching Brownbaggers!  I look forward to hearing (or seeing) your innovative ideas!

#SheSharesTruth: Hosea & My Ebb and Flow Relationship

Hello Brownbaggers!

School is officially back into swing and I'm so grateful to be back!  As you've probably noticed, I haven't posted in a while.  I decided to take a 2-week hiatus while I was getting myself situated.  I have quite a bit on my plate this semester: teaching, taking classes, writing, researching, mentoring, etc.  It took a little bit of time to get adjusted but I think I've got it down.  In the meantime though, I've been reading Hosea along with the #SheReadsTruth community. It gave me some much needed time to reflect on my relationship with God, who I am in Christ, and who I want to be in Christ.

I've come to believe that every person's relationship with God ebbs and flows. This was something that I never knew before. I would go through times of incessant prayer, Bible reading, praise music listening, and joy.  And then I would go through lulls where God wasn't on my mind until my routine nightly prayer. I wondered what was wrong with me. 

Why couldn't I be on fire for Christ 100% of the time, 24/7?

Then I began to realize that this was normal.  Everyone goes through these waves in their relationships with God.  And that's okay.  It's something that we need to plan for though.

Hosea is quite an interesting book. Focusing on adultery and betrayal but also love and grace. Hosea's relationship with Gomer is so interesting to me. God asks Hosea to take a harlot as a wife. Yes, a harlot. Not surprisingly Gomer is not faithful to her husband. She is constantly stepping out on her loving husband; it's in her nature.

As you read the book of Hosea you come to understand that this is both metaphorical for God's relationship with Israel, and more depressingly us.  God is our loving Husband.  He's my loving Husband (which I'll admit sounds weird to me when I type it). He created me and all of my intricacies. He knows me better than I know myself and loves me more than I could possibly fathom. And I repeatedly step out on him.  

Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

Will bring her into the wilderness,

And speak comfort to her.

I will give her her vineyard from there,

And the Valley of Achor

as a door of hope;

She shall sing there,

As in the days of her youth,

As in the day when she came up

from the land of Eygpt.

-Hosea 2:14-15

Even though I have betrayed God countless times, whether it be from my words, actions, or thoughts, God will show me the way back.  Not only will He accept me in the end but He will show me how to get there.  How incredible! Especially if you consider it from the other way around. How many times would you accept and forgive your husband or wife for cheating on you? Betraying you? For myself I would say zero times. But God does this time and time again because He loves us in a true and deep way.

I want to be able to look back and see that through the waves, my relationship with God has grown deeper and stronger. I want to be able to plot events and interactions on a grid and see how my relationship with God is gradually and steadily improving. Yes, I still believe that my relationship with God ebbs and flows. It will probably do that for the rest of my life. I won't let that happen purposefully. I won't set out to get into a lull. But I need to remember to plan for those times of spiritual prosperity and famine. 

I will heal their backsliding,

I will love them freely...

-Hosea 14:4a

Five for Fraturday: Random Teaching Tips I've Discovered

Let's look at some random things I've discovered that I plan to implement in my curriculum.

I'm obsessed with using technology in the classroom to create social awareness.  I do a collaborative research project each semester.  During summer school this year, I plan to beta test a Facebook Awareness Page assignment where group members will post annotated sources, surveys, pictures, videos, etc. about the given topic!

In class I like to have my students display their research in unique ways. What's better than to have them create an infographic?!  Easelly is a *FREE* website that provides templates and graphics.  Students just have to plug in their information.  How cool?

Frequently we make students write LOOOOOONG research papers.  In the real world, though, management likes to see the Cliffs Notes.  While employees still need to know how to do long, time-consuming, in-depth research, they also need to be able to summarize their own work.  I'm planning on having them write 1 paragraph long summaries for each of their essays to practice this skill.

Each time I plan to have a class discussion, I am going to have a 5-minute prep session.  These 5 minutes will be devoted to looking over notes, skimming readings, and preparing thoughts.  No one likes to feel under prepared or unorganized.  This prep session will put students at ease before the discussion begins.

So I'm reading a book called BRIEF, more to come on that later, and I read a tip that I CAN'T WAIT to employ in the classroom.  The book talked about business meeting huddles.  So, why not have a quick teaching tip huddle where, for 5-7 minutes, we review information as a class and I give them reminders/tips/instructions?  I'll work out the kinks but I think the physical change will be nice!

Reaping What You Sow

Everyday I make sure to spend some time with God and I usually like to change things up.  I don't want it to feel like homework or going to class but a time to grow in worship and learn more about my savior Jesus Christ.  So today I decided to listen to James MacDonald's Walk in the Word.  I listened to Part 1 of a two part podcast entitled "Laws of the Harvest".  I highly suggest you go check it out!  He offers insight into warnings from the Bible and how to apply these principles to our daily lives.

As you would expect given the title, the podcast was about the truth of reaping and sowing.  It focused on a passage from Galatians 6.

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. 

A man reaps what he sows. 

8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, 

from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 

9 Let us not become weary in doing good, 

for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 

10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, 
especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

This passage and podcast really hit home to me.  What are we sowing into our lives?  More importantly, what are we sowing into the lives of our students?

I know there have been times where I've been caught up in my own selfish circumstances or instances where I've been frustrated or even angered by students.  And my reactions and interactions with them show it.  But it's so important for us to always remember that we are sowing into their lives every day.  

We see them for at least 40 minutes 5 days every week.

It is our responsibility as both Christians and teachers to sow into them the traits that we wish them to exhibit on their own.  The text says that "whatever" we sow, we shall reap. So what is it that you should sow? MacDonald suggests awareness of choices in forgiveness, love, time, attitude and acceptance of Christ.  While the last of those choices is one that has blurry lines for the public classroom, the rest are choices that we can and should model for our students.

• Forgiveness.  Forgive them for making mistakes.   Don't hold it against them.  Whether they're younger or in college, they're still children.
• Love.  Be loving and kind toward them.  We have no idea their home situation.  There's a sad chance that we are the only ones that interact with them in a positive way.  If this is the case, shouldn't we take every opportunity to love them, be kind to them, and be gracious to them? 
• Time.  We want them to make wise choices with their time.  If that's the case, we must effectively use our own time in the classroom. Show them what it means to use time efficiently.  Then, give them tools to learn how to manage their time.  They might not know!
• Attitude.  Don't be apathetic.  Be caring.  Be interactive.  Be communicative and cooperative.  These are all traits we wish that others around us would exhibit.  We must sow these into their lives as well as our own.  For more ways to show positive attitudes, see my post on Showing Grace to Students. 
• Acceptance of Christ.  As mentioned above, this one is more murky. Remember, though, that if a student brings up questions about faith, religion, or spirituality, we are more than welcome to discuss those questions.  Be open to having those conversations in class and encourage those conversations.  As always, we need to be mindful of those with various views.  Including these different view points makes for a more complex conversation too!  If we want to encourage civic and cultural awareness, how better than these conversations?  In being open to talk about it in class, students will be more apt to come to us in private if they have more personal questions.

With all of this in mind, we have to remember that reaping and sowing don't happen all together.  Sowing happens seasons before the reaping... so if we are truly modeling all of these characteristics, it might take some time before we see the reaping in our students.  Keep at it though!  Just as Paul writes in Galatians, "9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

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