Rumi in The Classroom

Rumi, one of the greatest Islamic poets ever, said, "Feel yourself being quietly drawn by the deeper pull of what you truly love." 

Of course, I was very strongly drawn by the deeper pull of teaching long ago, and one of my greatest pleasures while teaching has always been to observe that happening among students. Can you tell when a student is being drawn that way? Do you think that we can influence that "pull?" Leecy

Comments

when it happens in math and somebody's not been successful with it.... it's a wonderful thing.   

I signed a student up today for courses and ... she needs to take them online.   Her math placement was pre-algebra (but solidly pre-algebra so she has some arithmetic skills) but there are no online courses at that level (because our excellent teachers know how important real interaction is at that level)... 

I'm trying to put together a conceptual course and ... it's ready for beta and... we talked about it and she's willing to give me feedback on it ... a and she did seem to be drawn to learning math and understanding it after many years out of high school.   Win win!   The dawning of the hope of confidence... 

 

Susan, thanks for your comments!I love stories like the one you just told. It's wonderful when a student is drawn to something and an instructor/mentor recognizes and supports that! Way to go! Win-win is the best formula of all!!!

Re online instruction, you said, "...because our excellent teachers know how important real interaction is at that level... " I teach through all formats: onsite, online, live video, hybrid, blended, and any other combination of those. I find that teaching online really promotes intimate communication and encourages dialogues among students, which is where most of the learning takes place. Yet,

I have many programs tell me, "Our students aren't ready for online instruction. They need more f-2-f support." My response is usually pretty strong: "Don't sell your students and instructors short! All they need is training. Students need to have training and a lot of hand holding through their first online experience, and teachers MUST be trained on how to encourage interaction and reflection through online instructional techniques." When students and teacher are both trained, online instruction is a joy to experience. 

You said that you are putting together a conceptual course. Please, please share with us how that is going. The fact that your student wants to be involved and to give you feedback indicates to me that she's already being drawn into the deeper pull of what she loves. I know that matches your deeper pull as well. What a win-win match!!! Leecy :)