LGBT Guestspeaker in Diversity Course

This evening we were graced with a guest speaker, Jim, in our Diversity class. He was a very intriguing, intelligent man who has accomplished many things in his days as a maverick (I can no longer say that word without GGLing <-- that one's for you Chatspeak group) for LGBT students all over the country. He left me filled with many thoughts and unanswered, not to mention, difficult questions. Off topic, why do we say 'not to mention' if we will immediately thereafter mention something? LAME! Regardless, I will present my questions for you fine ladies and gentlemen to attend to and do the work for me! :

The University of Michigan fosters and encourages speakers such as Jim who support LGBT individuals, groups, events, ideals, etc. However, how do people who don't agree with these types of sexuality and who attend the University feel about this? A question of similar content was raised earlier in the semester concerning political views. Democrats make up the majority on this particular campus, and republicans are often chastised and criticized for their stances. The world is progressing and moving toward a more tolerant and inclusive perception of human differences, but isn't berating the religious and conservative considered an invasion of their beliefs and a condemning judgment of their character?

Say I teach at a conservative school. After fruitless attempts at prevent harassing behavior of my students' comments, I appeal to the school's administrators to implement some type of rule against bullying. My request is ignored because the administrators and school board does not condone my support of LGBT students and views. Regardless, the students will know my perspective on this issue. Perhaps a few closeted gays will approach me asking for help or counsel. How do I react without angering the administrators, school board, parents, community, etc and without hurting the child also. I could tell the administrators that as a teacher it is my job to make resources available for all students. But what will be the repercussions of this action? What will happen with the parents, my job, legalities, etc.?

Tough questions, colleagues. I beseech you, HELP!

Skyline Teacher is Treerific!

I absolutely enjoyed the guest speaker, Jeff, who visited our technology class last Friday. Number one, I can easily see why our tech teacher regards him and his teaching practices so highly. Jeff is extremely energetic and engaging! The whole class seemed to feed off his excitement and love for his concentration, Science. He provided an impressive tour of his blog, which he uses as a teaching instrument for his classes. The blog is packed with student work, assignments done or work to be done, videos of class activities, and student-produced podcasts and verbal reviews. Jeff applies free technological tools that he finds on the Internet to provide these various resources. Jeff is doing his students a tremendous service by requiring them to use cameras, voice recorders, Itunes, podcasts, etc.. They are learning useful technologies that will aid them in many professions once they graduate. More importantly, though, Jeff is getting his students interested and even excited about learning. He gives them a lot of freedom to produce their own assessments (i.e. make a video of what happened in Science class this week) and entrusts them with expensive equipment, which builds the students' confidence and sense of responsibility, which are also useful tools in the professional world.
Jeff's blog is unbelievably complex, teeming with academic opportunity, and yet quite organized. I looked at it and freaked out a bit thinking, "How am I ever going to create something as elaborate as this?" However, he told us he has been working on this project for many years, adding a little at a time. Jeff finds a tool on the Internet, such as a voice recorder so the students can do their homework interactively and post it on the blog for the whole class to see (or just the teacher if he/she so chooses), and he learns how to use the tool and about its implications and possibilities. The search for and discovery of these online technological tools is an ongoing process for Jeff. He has shared his methods for employment of these contemporary learning instruments with his colleagues and his students' parents. He showed our class how to search for similar free devices to use in our own classrooms. I was completely taken by Jeff's presence, his love for teaching, and his desire to continually learn about teaching tools or methods that are challenging but that enhance his students' learning and desire to learn. I was inspired and entertained and enlightened...and a bit confused! Still hopeful though!

Shakespeare/Dante duel

This is a brief example of how you can use animated PowerPoint presentations in your classroom. Because I teach English, my partner Ben and I created a brief animation that illustrates a hypothetical duel between the famous, classical poets, Shakespeare and Dante. It gets pretty heated (pun!) and is entertaining, if nothing else! I need to review the steps for animating PPTs and hope to try this activity in my Poetry class this trimester.

I really love trees. So much so, I think I am going to get one tatooed on my back/side (not back side). This picture was the model for the logo of the TV show "Six Feet Under", which I also love.