A Day In The Journey

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. In the meantime, I switched classrooms with the 3rd/4th grade teacher (boy, that was work--so many books to carry) and finished up most of my lesson plans. The day-to-day stuff isn't finished, but that has to be done through-out the year, really.

I also watched the first of my "required" movies, Dead Poets Society. Let me tell you, that was so difficult. (note happy sarcasm) Of course you are probably wondering the purpose of watching this film. Everything kind of boils down to learning how to be a master teacher. Prof. Keating is truly a master teacher. Of course, he does have flaws, the greatest of which is his lack of communication/ follow-through with parents--a mistake that inevitably causes him tremendous pain. Also, his relationship with the administration isn't exactly a model of communication and understanding. But that can be carefully laid at the feet of hyperbole to make a point. Here is the poinTITLE: it takes more than just knowledge to make a great teacher. Keating brings several things to his class that no other teacher had done for these boys.
*He brings tremendous love and enthusiasm for his subject. By truly showing it to his students, they want to learn more about it. If he loves it so much, there must be something to it.
*He adds an air of mystery to his subject and himself. The very introduction of the "Dead Poets Society" to the boys creates something for them to discover. Keating makes poetry seem dangerous and tantilizing.
*He is a person they can trust and respect. As the students begin to see and understand aspects of Keating, they love him because he is trustworthy and demands that his students respect him for who he is.
*He keeps his students on their toes. Keatings boys never really know what to expect from him. Of course, for the sake of the film, we don't see the average daily class, but we do realize that he finds random ways to shake things up. He puts students on the spot, thus ensuring that all the students are paying attention as they might be next. He adds movement to class--they aren't stuck in a desk every class period. They go outside. They move around the school. Obviously this can't be done in every school all the time, but there are ways to add movement within the class, helping the students to stay aware and to realize that learning even literature isn't just about sitting in a desk reading.
*He relates his subject to every-day life--to reality. Keating puts the boys in context by showing them previous classes of boys who went through the same course, the same things. On the soccer field, he shows the boys that the emotions and ideas expressed in classic poetry are the same things they feel--universality. He brings his boys to the play, showing them the ultimate expression of dramatic poetry and that it can touch them. He doesn't leave poetry in the classroom.
*He opens new doors of thought to the students by approaching the subject in the opposite way that they expect. The boys are expecting dull, dry analysis; Keating grabs their attention by coming in a different door: the door of emotional expression. By changing their perspective, he enables them to look at things from different sides--rounding out their perception.
*He allows them access to himself beyond the classroom. The boys are able to see and test Keating in the "real world" beyond the structure of the class hour. They see his reactions and actions, giving them an opportunity to judge his character and see if he is consistent. He becomes a real person to them instead of "just" their teacher.

Now, obviously every teacher can't be a Micheal Keating/Robin Williams persona every second of the day. BUT, the things he does to awaken his students can be applied by every teacher. For a teacher in a classical school, this is even more necessary. Since the goal of classical education is to teach students how to learn, teaching them to love learning is vital. Bringing energy, trust, a variety of perspective, a grabbing by the collar to the classroom is essential. I would also suggest communication with administration and parents. (smile) Becoming a master teacher in any school doesn't happen overnight, of course, but applying these qualities to teaching is a major step along the way.

Posted by Renee at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here is a breakdown of my philosophy--my beliefs on various spiritual, religious and cultural things. Have fun.

1. Salvation: given by God’s grace, worked through faith—God gives the grace to be regenerated to those He has chosen—that regenerated one now is able to see his sinful condition and recognize Christ’s atoning sacrifice— now he is able to accept, to receive Christ’s sacrifice in his place and be saved. Without the regeneration of God, a sinner when presented with God’s truth will always "choose" to reject it/ With the regeneration, the sinner will always "choose" to accept.

2. Baptism: baptism is by immersion (as the example of John/Jesus) for one who has been saved and wishes to publicly acknowledge it. It does not impart salvation, nor is it a part of salvation, but serves merely as an announcement of what has already taken place.

3. Church membership/attendance: church membership is very important for the well-being of a believer. Yet one should consider carefully which church is to be joined—one with which the believer agrees. Beyond that, the believer should regularly attend that church. While attending three services a week is a tradition of some, once a week (Sunday morning) is scripturally encouraged for the growth and stability of the believer. Also, there are times at which it may be impossible to attend church. That is excusable and is not sinful. Continual avoidance for no important reason, however, is severely detrimental and may indicate sin indulged in and wished to keep secret. It may also indicate a valley time through which a believer needs to be encouraged and admonished.

4. The Church: the church is a locally organized assembly of believers founded upon the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God and dedicated to evangelism. The church should endeavour to teach and protect the truth as well as encourage and uplift the believer. (for more detail on this: The Nature of the Church)

5. Communion: the elements of the Lord’s supper are symbols of the Lord’s death given to remind us of His sacrifice. Like all symbols, they point to a mystical, deeper, truth, yet they do no contain any mysticality in themselves. Nor does the partaking of the elements impart any special grace. Merely they provide a physical reminder of an even which we did not see yet are witness to.

6. The Gospel: the gospel is the truth that Christ is the son of God who came as a man, who died (shedding his blood), who was buried and who rose again to pay for the sins of his people and justify them.

7. The will of God: before the creation of the world, of the universe, God laid out His plan. That plan is never thwarted, never altered by any action of man. God ordains all and His will is above all extending from the order of the heavens to individual actions both of believers and unbelievers. Salvation is not exempt from the sovereign will of God, contrary to the belief of many Christians.

8. The will of man: unsaved men and saved men have a will. For the unsaved man, that will is chained to sin, and while he can choose to do good works, he can never and will never choose to abandon sin and accept the grace and salvation of God. Salvation redeems man’s will to serve God and abandon sin. While all men’s wills are subject to the will of God (His ordained plan in action), from man’s point of view he must make choices in his life (exercise his will) and he is responsible for those choices and their consequences. Thus, although man’s will is never free (being either subject to sin or God), he is responsible for his "use" of it.

9. Denominations: denominations are a "necessary evil" of our time. They are necessary to distinguish differences in doctrine. But they do unnaturally divide the body of Christ. While no denomination is "more valid" than any other, some do seem to teach more in line with scripture than others. To be in a particular denomination is not more correct or scriptural than others.

10. Purpose of Believers: a believer is given this life to both enjoy god’s goodness and glorify His name. For different believers that means different things. Each believer is given different aptitudes and desires in order to serve God in different areas of life. Our purpose is to serve in those areas to the best of our capability, enjoying our work as a glory to Him.

11. Catholicism: while many aspects of Catholic doctrine are incorrect, there is still truth present. While many of the members of the Church are lost and oblivious (as they trust in works to save them), there are quite a number of believers in the Church. It is arrogant to assume that just because a person if Catholic, they are not a believer. Belief is based solely on the belief/acceptance in/of Christ’s atoning death, not what church you are in/a member of.

12. Marriage: marriage is an allegory of God’s relationship to us. It is not a distraction from God or Hid service, but an act of service that points toward God. It is a gift given to us to show us God—a spiritual, emotional, mental, physical bond that brings glory to God and glorifies His creation. It is not a mere function of earth, but a union that transcends physical, earthly manifestation. It is a small glimpse into the Paradise God desires for us.

13. Culture: it is the responsibility of believers to impact the culture of their . . . sphere. The idea that "separation" is taken so far by many Baptists. Yet we are told to be in the world, though not if it. We are to be actively involved in influencing our culture for God. For if we do not, who will? And if we do not, we are solely responsible for its decline. We are to be salt and light: salt which preserves and flavours and light which brightens. We cannot be that if we are not involved in culture. Those who withdraw into their separate circles are not salt and light though they believe they are.

14. Art: see Walking on Water by L’Engle. As creativity is our imageness, all good art (inc. literature and music) has the word/knowledge/inspiration of God. Thus even works by secular people can teach truth, even if they don’t realize they are teaching it.

15. Individual conviction: the Bible leaves many matters ambiguous. It is our job to take the principles of scripture and make prayerful decisions on these matters as we feel led by God and His word. Each believer, being in a different place and led to a different ministry in like, is led to different convictions and different levels of convictions. Unless they are in obvious violation of scripture or in sin, one should not judge the level of their "spirituality" based on how their convictions align with our own. Now one can know what God is doing with another person, or what He preparing them for. Individual conviction is what grace and the indwelling spirit is about. Outside of obvious scriptural comrades, the way a Christian walks in this life is between himself and God.

16. Holidays: Though some holidays have "pagan" origins, they are no longer associated with that having been "Christianized." As the Catholic doctrine states. . .the profane, touched by Christ, is made holy

Posted by Renee at 05:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Thursday night I went to see the Baton Rouge Little Theater production of Children of Eden. I was already in analytical mode because my brother had been to see it already (one of his friends is in the chorus). Analytical mode is a good place to be for this musical. This particular production was very well done. The set and costumes were simple, yet very effective and versatile. The music was just spectacular and this particular cast did it every justice. Just hearing the songs sent shivers up my spine. So what is the problem with this musical? The theology mainly, and a few departures from scripture.
In this musical, God is presented as a Father. This isn't necessarily a problem, but the writers took this analogy way too far. He is also a very helpless God, unable to overcome man's will to accomplish what He wants. I did like the way the problem in Adam's and Noah's families reflected original sin, but I had a real problem when God realizes through Noah that when your children grow up there comes a time that you have to "let them go." Human choice becomes a central theme of the musical, to the point that God's "last hope" is endangered by Japheth's choice of bride. God is also seen to age throughout the musical, his greying hair a result of the waywardness and uncontrollability of man.
The musical also adds to or detracts from scripture in several ways. The Tree is merely the Tree of Knowledge. God never tells them that they will die if they eat it, just that they shouldn't eat it. When Eve does eat it, she must leave the garden because she is no longer an innocent child, not because of sin. The musical follows the Miltonian line that Adam chose to eat the fruit rather than be separated from Eve, which I liked. In the wasteland, Adam and Eve give sacrifices of grain and do not hear from God at all. Cain and Abel are told not to venture above to waterfall by Adam, but they do and make an astounding extra-scriptural discovery. Cain then wants to leave, Adam refuses to allow him and Abel is killed when he tries to keep Cain from slaying Adam. The story of Noah doesn't get such rich addition, but after the flood when the sons separate, Noah tells Japheth that if they find the garden they should eat of the Tree of Knowledge because of the wonders it offers.
I won't give everything away because I do think the musical is worth seeing. It is beautiful and does incite thought on the part of a discerning audience member. However, be forwarned: don't go in ready to swallow it all. And be ready for the ultimate picture of an Armenian God who must "let go" of his children as they grow up.

Posted by Renee at 06:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)