Issues brought up in class

[clay dube]

I think that Steve is absolutely right that an important reason for the effectiveness of some of our presenters is their obvious enthusiasm. All are recognized experts in their fields, but to have that expertise and to be excited about sharing it is something special. This is a point David Schaberg made day two. He felt privileged that you were interested in hearing about something that matters so much to him.

Steve's right that classroom management needs and other challenges may make it a bit harder to express our love of our subject. At the same time, it is also apparent that teachers can manifest this enthusiasm in different ways. Some do it through their every mannerism, others by welcoming speculation on big questions in the field, and others by charging relentlessly forward, certain that you need everything that s/he has prepared for the session.

What is clear is that knowing the teacher believes this stuff is worth wrestling with is reassuring to a student and inspires interest in the subject.

smiling,
clay

[Anonymous]

One of the things I've noticed about the "great teachers" is not only their enthusiasm for the subject matter, but their absolute determination to pass their interest on to their students... a good kind of infection!

One of the things that matters most to many of my younger students is my ability to explain why something is important to them. It's not sufficient, I suppose, to say "this is something you have to learn about (because the standards mandate it)" or "because I think it's neat or cool" but to say, for example, "You are going to be working in a world that's based on a global economy; an international world that functions in the 24/7 environment of the Internet, but that is peopled with all different cultures, races, etc. Many of you (directed to students) are familiar with these cultures and languages, many of you are not. You can't be myopic in teh 21st century -- you have got to be global in your orientation. One way of understanding people of different cultures is to read their literature, understand their past (and in some cases, their modern literature)"

[Or you could say, as one of my students did, I'd rather read and write a haiku rather than a sonnet]

Beth

[Anonymous]

Jason, I am interested in the tie in to S.A. poetry and Turkish and Arabian poetry. Send me any links you've got. [email protected] Thanks mucho.
Edie

[Anonymous]

Mehgan,
As a science teacher, one angle you could take with your kids and literature is to use those myths from various places to point out the understanding that people had of the natural world. What we see as superstition was for them truth. This is reflected in the stories they told which explained how lightning worked, for example, or creation myths. This fits perfectly into science and the history of science and REASON. It can show kids the progression of knowledge and the (slower) change of beliefs--Galileo is a perfect example.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Edie. That's a great idea. I'm just starting to explore 6th grade resources that pull in science. I will look around for this mythology about the natural world, which I'm sure exists in every ancient culture. You're great Edie...I do appreciate your idea!

[Anonymous]

After Walter Lew's presentation on Modern Korea, it reminded me of several places we visited this summer that showed modern fused with traditional culture. I've attached a photo of Gyoengbokgung Palace amidst high rises in Seoul.

Caryn

[Anonymous]

I bellieve it was during Lynne Miyake's Manga presentation that someone brought up the issue of how to identify if an author has used their surname and then given name or vice versa. Perhaps having taken very little Chinese when I was young helped me with being able to identify the surnames versus the given names. This brought me to asking why certain people, (from our seminar, authors) chose to have their surname first and others their given names first. From what I've noticed, when we studied the traditional literature the authors' surname was first, but with the modern lit. sessisoins, I noticed there was a mxiture of how the authors' names were presented. Does anyone have an idea?

Caryn

[Anonymous]

Just as all of the others who raved about the field trip, I, too, also truly enjoyed the experience. Hearing Sumana was a real treat. Like someone has already said, the background on Buddhism was great. What I also enjoyed was watching the ceremony in which the women gave goods to the monks. What is always enjoyable about field trips is the questions that never would have gotten raised that do when we are confronted with the situation. For example, I never would have thought about the lives of monks -- how they live, whether or not they can leave the temple, etc.

Professor Brown was also great. He was very knowledgeable about the art. I only wish that he had spent some more time lecturing us on the other pieces of art in the museum than the few that he concentrated on during the time with us.

[Author]

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