Our speaker tonight was Dr. Donna Jacobs, Dean of the College of Education. She was, I have to say, possibly our most engaging and- dare I say it?- entertaining speaker so far. At least I wasn't trying not to fall asleep. (And, yes, I sit in the front row. What is it with me with sitting in the front row and falling asleep? Especially chemistry... stupid warm Floyd Hall...)
Dean Jacobs illustrated that education is more than just teaching 3rd grade math. It also includes human environmental sciences (what a silly term... it's so wishy-washy and politically correct), which include culinary (food is our environment...? Okaaaaayy), interior design, nutrition and child development, you name it. There is also something called HPR which includes sports and recreation. You can't expect me to remember or write down everything, can you? I can write fairly fast (if illegibly), but not as fast as our speakers talk, most times.
Dean Jacobs had plenty of amusing points to make. She said sarcasm can be an effective teaching tool- at the very least, it keeps the audience's attention. Also, she told us that teaching is one of the most scrutinized professions, and for good reason. She even read off a list of incriminating headlines for us. And I don't deny there are bad teachers. But you know how much the media loves hype. They've probably ruined the careers of many innocent people... wait, we KNOW they have. But with teaching, it's probably better to err on the side of caution.
She also said the teacher should be an aide, not a hindrance to the learning process. In other words, the teacher should probably not have a black and white mohawk. Yeah... I think that would be a hindrance to my learning process. It would... how does it go...? 'Project an ungroovy karma that disrupts the school's educational aura'. And if that line doesn't ring a bell, go read The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan. Yes, sigh... I'm shamelessly advertising for his books again. (On a side note, also read Heaven Is For Real. It's worth your time, and it's not over 200 pages. Short, in other words, and it's pretty easy to read- it's written more like a conversation than anything else. It might even make you cry. We were discussing it before the speaker walked in.)
Things to avoid, especially if you want to be an education major, as presented by Dean Jacobs: (1) cheating (2) Facebook incidents- I am so glad I do not have a Facebook page! The more I hear about it, the less I want one. I don't have enough time as it is, anyway! I have three tests tomorrow, haven't even done my Calculus homework, and society expects me to obsessively update my status on Facebook and broadcast my thoughts to the world via Twitter? Come on, no one wants the punishment of reading my thoughts all day. I'm pretty random. And erudite. So you get a combination of nerdy and naive, with a slight dash of entertaining... hopefully. (3) hatespeech (4) inappropriate dress, hairstyle, etc. (5) disrespect towards colleagues and superiors.
I think I've already mentioned in a post (a loooong time ago) how I feel about respecting superiors. May I now mention that I hate cheating and I hate lying? I don't lie. It's like I almost physically can't, it's so repugnant to me. It's like uncreating the universe. See, I believe firmly in the power of words, that speaking is creating. Words are the houses of being. So to tell an untruth, to say that-which-is-not, is almost like blasphemy. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was in God's presence and the Word was God. To use words to do the devil's work... it's unthinkable for me. I just can't do it. Which may mean I do a creative dance to come up with nice things to say... or I just don't say anything at all.
Which brings me to a related subject. I feel very sad when I hear people cuss. I really do. It makes me very sad. In fact, I am sad right now just thinking about it. Do people know what they are saying? I hope not. Most probably don't think a thing of it, or they simply don't care. But I hear. And I am very sad. What makes me the most sad (and this will also get me a little angry, too) is when I hear thoughtless people say things like, "Oh, my God." That's so very pervasive, and so very saddening. Do people realize that the Israelites wouldn't even say God's name, whatsoever? They said Adonai instead, which means 'Lord'. They never said His name. It was blasphemy to do so. Note how the Jews tried to stone Jesus when He said, "Amen, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." They knew the power of God's name.
So, please avoid it. It makes you sound so juvenile, too. There's no good reason to do it. Please, make a little clueless freshman a little less sad and this world a little brighter and cleaner.
In Pace Christi,
Elyse
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