Michael Sandel?????

This was one of those lectures that kinda hurts your head and makes you feel like you don't know what you believe because he makes you question EVERYTHING! He was very interactive with the audience. In fact, it was more of a discussion than a lecture. He would ask the audience questions and then have them raise their hands and answer into a microphone. It eventually got to the point where the audience was responding to each other's responses and not just Sandel's questions. He proposed some very tough moral situations. We would try to make it better by asking to change certain things in the situation but he would not. It was neat to be able to think about these things because a lot of times we are afraid to think about, let alone have discussions to our peers about. I think as a society, we need to get better at that. It is important to be able to have moral discussions with out there being hostility and judgement. It all comes down to what I have written about before.... RESPECT. It is the core of so many things.

Interfaith...

I went to a lecture given by Karla Suomala, a Luther religion professor. This was about the recent research and inquiries she had done with interfaith. Last year was a very exciting year because Eboo Patel came to Luther to speak about his book, Acts of Faith, that was being read for Paideia. He was such a strong and inspirational speaker that it sparked many ideas about how Luther could get an interfaith group going. Professor Suomala actually got in contact with Eboo and his interfaith organization and started working with them to do case studies dealing with interfaith on college campuses. This was such an interesting lecture for me because I am part of the newly formed interfaith association on campus. The reason why I joined our interfaith group is because I enjoyed reading his book and thought that his mission was so powerful and poignant. I also needed some way to express my beliefs and my religion. I do not feel that the services here connect me with God the way that I want to be. During her lecture we looked at a couple case studies that she had done. They definitely brought up some thought provoking questions. I feel strongly about interfaith because I truly believe that if we all just learned to respect each other and the fact that we are all different, then this world would be such a better and peaceful place.

Collaborativeness

       One may not think, at first, that collaborativeness is needed as teachers but it is quite the contrary. Students need to be in an environment where everything is connected to everything, where the teachers get along and know each other. I believe teachers teach better when they work as a team with their fellow colleagues. This is not to say that different classes or subjects need to be combined all the time, but to incorporate critical thinking and creativity this may be a good idea once in a while.
      To work as a group does not mean that all teachers need to be buddy-buddy, or even agree all the time but there does need to be a sense of respect for people's opinions and ideas. Teachers need to be able to discuss issues and concerns openly without judgement, or arguments. This will also be a good example for the students and show them that there not be agreement all the time and that's ok. There is a way to be respectful and disagree.
    

Efficacy

        So to be honest I have never heard of this word.  I thought that it was supposed to be efficiency at first then I realized that the rest of the question doesn't really pertain to this word. But the definition of efficacy is, "the ability to produce a desired or intended result." Now that I know what this word means, I can see that it is a valuable virtue to have as a teacher. A teacher needs to always have a plan and then know how to execute it in order to get the point of the lesson across to the students. Teachers need to have confidence and persistence in what they are teaching. If their students don't understand right away, try again but in a new manner. Teachers cannot give up, it is not in the job description. If Someone is not willing to work hard, make mistakes and learn from them, then they should be teaching.
       These attributes take time and experience though. New teachers cannot expect everything to be easy and perfect right out of school. Having a real job in the real world is a lot different than taking education classes in college. We should not be afraid to ask questions and even ask for help. No one expects perfection.