Tuesday, May 26, 2009

ok, ok...

My friend Hazel keeps bugging me to write on my blog more. God only knows why because it is all random thinking. So here I am--writing a blog entry for the first time in months.

Not sure what to write, as most of my writing is done on scrap paper lately. Then the scraps get lost. Or they stack up in a drawer. Or shoved in a notebook someplace. Maybe I can try to gather them up and put them here. Or not.

I must say that my friends are my foundation these days, so when my friend Hazel says "Post", I guess I will post. This might be short but at least it is something. I promise to make it sooner than 4 1/2 months next time.

(Happy Hazel?)

xo

Friday, January 2, 2009

Something I wanted to be able to find again

"Happiness is a function of accepting what is.
Love is a function of communication.
Health is a function of participation.
Self Expression is a function of responsibility."

-Werner Erhard

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

My hobble along baby

Sorry this is sideways.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Narrative Assessment

In last night’s CT class, I had the students write out the L5 narrative competence assessment. A few items are bobbling around in my head from that exercise that I wanted to share:

The materials, especially Tarnas, are not always pleasant for some students to read. (God forbid they have a dictionary at hand when reading!) However, they usually come around after the first section or two. I specifically wanted to share this line from the narrative assessment: “. . .I really liked the Tarnas book. I like things that talk to me as if I am smart. I think too many classes dumb down the material and I appreciated that it was college level.”

Another, quiet student wrote: “I learned that the way I think is the way that many people have thought before. I am reinforced and inspired to be my own seeker. It surprised me how advanced the thinkers of the past were.”

Yet another:
“My initial expectations of this class was basically that of an intro to logic. My initial expectation was thwarted when on the first night of class we were asked, “ What do you know and how do you know it? . . .that provoked me to open my mind.”

Finally, “It will remain active, as the basis for a liberal arts education is to better understand the world. Without exercising this competence, one cannot succeed in the liberal arts.”

Did I mention that I love teaching?

:)

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Wow---


I imagine this is what it felt like when JFK was President.

These are a few words that come to mind....

Pride.
Possibility.
Articulate.
Aspiration.
Historic.


If Obama can do this, I believe anything is possible.

Yes, we can do anything we put our minds and actions to





"– tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope."

B. Obama, victory speech, November 4, 2008

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

I love teaching

I wanted to share this great insight from one of my CT students, as I am certain you will enjoy it. We just discussed Euthyphro. In the "Precision" part of the mind MAP journal assignment, we were defining terms and using them in a sentence. He chose the words scalene and isosceles (12d). It created an "aha!" moment of reflection for this thought-filled student:
"I was fascinated with how Socrates used geometry to try to create a
visual picture for Euthyphro so that he could better understand the
analogy and respond to Socrates' question. Since a scalene is a
triangle with three unequal sides, I see it poetically in my mind as
a symbol of Euthyphro's uneven response to Socrates' pointed questions."
I had to suggest he read Meno!