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This week, I enjoyed revisiting my conversation with Susan Hrach about embodied teaching and learning and loved hearing from Heather Kretschmer about who outside of higher education has shaped how she teaches. I share an incredible new resource from Laura Gibbs you should check out, even if you think you have zero interest in Latin (trust me on this one, ok?). Finally, I wonder what gift you recommend for those who teach in a higher education context and invite you to reply to this week's Field Journal. |
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Episode 643
Embodied Teaching and Learning, with Susan Hrach
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I've been wanting to interview Susan Hrach for a long while now and I'm glad we finally were able to make it happen. Susan helped us explore how physical space, sensation, and movement shape learning on episode 643 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. She emphasized:
Much of what I am taking away from this years-long thinking about embodied learning is just that we need to pay much more conscious attention to our physical environments. And not just walk into the classroom or open up the laptop to think about our online students and pay no attention whatsoever to the places where we are. |
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Doug Belshaw's Post About Org Lens
Making an organizational health check people can actually use
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I continue to be fascinated by those people who are arguing that to use AI effectively, more expertise is needed, not less. Rather, those who will get the greatest benefits from it are those who are able to audit its results and identify emerging limitations of its use.
Doug Belshaw has been exploring the question of whether an AI agent is capable of doing systems thinking. He created a tool he's calling OrgLens for his experimentations. He writes in his first post about OrgLens:
Systems thinking is a way of looking at organisations as sets of connected parts rather than as collections of individuals or departments. The Viable System Model, or VSM, is one approach within it. It asks whether an organisation has the parts it needs to keep going: people doing the work, ways of coordinating that work, checks on whether the work is happening, people looking ahead, and a way of agreeing what the organisation is for. His second post, Making an Organizational Health Check People Can Actually Use, outlines the way he is refining it to check claims, remove jargon, and identify the best model to use.
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Exploring Laura Gibbs' New Site
A Latin reading and listening and learning adventure.
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I've never taken a Latin class in my life, though both of our kids are studying it in school. Even if you're in the same boat as me, you may want to make a visit to Laura Gibbs' new website. I first heard about it on the also-new Faces of Reclaim podcast: Ep. 01 - Vade Nobiscum with Laura Gibbs and Sam Hooper.
Vade Nobiscum
I was able to write to the kids' teacher and both share our gratitude for her and share Vade Nobiscum with her. Her favorite part and mine is the Latin Lolcats (a.k.a. the Latin Proverb Cats).
Latin Lolcats
From the main page:
These Latin LOLcats come from one of Laura's blogs: Latin via Proverbs. This is a project that teaches Latin using proverbs, with new lessons weekly. It all starts with 1st-declension nouns in Lesson 1: Scientia potentia! The lessons each consist of 5 Latin proverbs or sayings that illustrate a feature of the Latin language: noun declensions, verb conjugations, etc. Each proverb is accompanied by an English translation and commentary, plus audio. For each of the LOLcats that you see in the widgets on this page, there is a link to the lesson for that proverb/cat. |
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About Early Teaching Experiences
Who outside of higher ed has shaped how you teach?
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Last week, I asked about a person outside of higher ed who has influenced your teaching. |
Heather Kretschmer
In The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, Priya Parker invites readers to think deeply about the purpose of gatherings and create conditions to match that purpose. She's helped me see myself not just as a teacher but as the host of the classroom space.
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Bonni Stachowiak
There are a bunch of people who have influenced my teaching, who don't work within higher education. I could fill a hundred field journals with just that prompt and only be getting started. For today, I'll stick with the first person who came to my mind in this very moment:
Daniel Pink has influenced my teaching for three reasons:
His book, Drive, is fascinating, yet keeps his message simple. He identifies three contributors to intrinsic motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. When I'm struggling in my teaching, I have never gone astray when I've reflected on those three factors and what may unintentionally getting in the way of creating the conditions for learning to occur.
Dan's LinkedIn presence motivates me to want to use more short-form video, and visually-interesting PDFs in my posts and classes. Here's an example from an October 2nd post from Dan about regaining our attention span:
As Dan reminds us:
Life is not meant to be lived in 15-second increments. I first read Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us in 2010 (within the first year of its December 29, 2009 publication date). Despite the passage of time, I could still recall from memory the three things that foster intrinsic motivation.
Yes, Pink is criticized for the scope of the findings behind the research he cites, as in that he "overstates his case." Still, that's why I carefully used the word "foster" in my last paragraph and why I tend to over-use the phrase "create the conditions for" in a lot of my thinking, writing, and talking about teaching.
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This week, I'm wondering:
What is a gift that is great for someone who is in a teaching-oriented role in higher ed?
Hit reply to let me know. I'll choose a few to include in the next Field Journal. Let me know in your reply if you prefer to remain anonymous, as otherwise, I'll assume it is ok to include your name.
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A Classic Quote
What happens when we push against a system
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THIS WEEK ON TEACHING IN HIGHER ED
Gardner Campbell joins me for a follow up conversation, ten years in the making.
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Teaching in Higher Ed Podcast
Listen with us each week.
The Teaching in Higher Ed podcast brings together over 25,000 followers to conversations about the art and science of facilitating learning.
Get your ears on for the conversation. Listen through to the recommendations.
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Bonni Stachowiak
Committed to human flourishing through learning + teaching
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