Nutritionist Lecture.

I am on Luther's Swim Team.  We were required to attend a lecture given by a popular nutritionist from Tennessee.  She traveled up to Luther to give lectures to each of the sports teams.  I was spectacle about attending this lecture.  I had attended other nutrition lectures in the past, and I thought I might be bored at this one.  However, my attendance was required, so I reluctantly went and sat near the back.  The first thing I noticed about the speaker was her presence and energy.  She was dressed conservatively, which made me think this would reflect her personality.  I could not have been more wrong.  She was very spunky, something I picked up on through the inflection in her voice and her hand gestures.  She also made use of the space she had by constantly walking around the room.  Her presentation mostly consisted of a Powerpoint with explanations on each slide.  However, she did not have only words on the slides; she also included various pictures and charts.  It was interesting to follow along.  She knew how to relate to us and did so as much as possible during the presentation.  Overall, her presentation was very personable and engaging.  I was pleasantly surprised that I learned many new tidbits of information about nutrition that I did not know.  Her "teaching" style was something that I admired.  Her energy and passion about the topic made for an inspiring presentation.  At least for me, she did what I think every educator should strive to do - present new material in an intriguing way that causes the learner to think more deeply about the topic.

Humility in the Classroom.

I am a very stubborn person.  Many times I will think that I am right, when in fact I am wrong.  However, even if I know that I am wrong, I will still try to convince those around me that in fact, I am right.  It is hard for me to admit when I am wrong.  This is definitely something that I need to personally work on.  So to answer the question asking when the last time I was wrong is tough because I am wrong a lot of the time!  I believe that as teachers, it is okay to be wrong.  No one person knows everything about how to manage a classroom, or write a lesson plan.  It is impossible.  A teacher may come very close to having everything all figured out, but will never actually reach all-knowing.  Based on that, I strongly agree with the statement that ALL teachers MUST have a correct balance of confidence and humility.  The first step to learning is making mistakes and recognizing when you are wrong.  That is humility.  Then, you learn from those mistakes and become more confident because of them.

Collaboration with Peers.

According to Merriam Webster's dictionary, collaboration is defined as "working jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor."  Collaboration is essential for teachers.  Not only collaboration with teachers, but collaboration with parents and administration.  It is extremely important that groups work together toward a common goal.  This is the first step toward effective collaboration.  I believe collaboration occurs when group members come together and share their ideas with one another in order to reach a common goal.  Collaboration is different from group work and cooperative learning because everyone is expected to participate equally.  Everyone should have something to share in order to collaborate with other group members.  I think sometimes in group work and cooperative learning, group members may not feel obligated to participate if they do not have anything to contribute.  In collaboration, every group member is expected to participate.