New Year’s Rejuvenation—focusing on the why we do what we do. Or (Why the heck we do this job anyway.)

The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life. We will meet on Wednesday mornings at 7:30 starting January 13th.  We have 15 copies of the book available to participants.

This book builds on a simple premise: good teaching cannot be reduced to technique but is rooted in the identity and integrity of the teacher. Good teaching takes myriad forms but good teachers share one trait: they are authentically present in the classroom, in community with their students and their subject. They possess "a capacity for connectedness" and are able to weave a complex web of connections between themselves, their subjects, and their students, helping their students weave a world for themselves. The connections made by good teachers are held not in their methods but in their hearts — the place where intellect, emotion, spirit, and will converge in the human self — supported by the community that emerges among us when we choose to live authentic lives.

Resources:

Wikipedia entry on Parker Palmer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Palmer

Center for Courage and Renewal http://www.couragerenewal.org/

Protocols from National School Reform Faculty http://www.nsrfharmony.org/protocol/learning_texts.html