Higher Education Observer

http://partsofspeaking.blogspot.com/2011/01/was-jesus-model-teacher-part-iii.html

http://partsofspeaking.blogspot.com/2011/01/was-jesus-model-teacher-part-ii.html

Reference to my other blog: http://partsofspeaking.blogspot.com/2011/01/was-jesus-model-teacher.html

Just a little tip I learned by accident. Because of the snow here, I have yet to meet my Monday only hybrid public speaking class. I used a discussion board (asynchronous) to get the students talking about the subject of public speaking and their experiences. It really helped. They were honest and supportive of one another, and since they will have to give a short introductory speech the first day (finally), they feel more settled.

Is a number of small assignments better than a few heavily-weighted ones? It depends on the level of student (level of preparedness), the discipline, and the learning outcomes. However, all things considered, it seems wiser to not "put all the eggs in one basket." When I hear a project is worth 50% in a freshman class, I cringe. The freshmen I know can't handle such a thing.

We met for class three days, then a powerful storm closed the college for four days, and we have Monday off for the Martin Luther Kig, Jr., holiday. More than ever flexibility will be necessary. Flexibility assumes a posture about life, a "I'll do the best I can but you know, I just don't control very much that goes on anyway" attitude. Perhaps flexibility works in inverse proportion to how important you think you are. If so, I must have thought myself very important in the past, because I wasn't very flexible! However, we will be trying to get caught up all semester!

I'm doing research on teaching Asperger's students in communication classes. I found this post on the Christianity Today website blog Hermeneutics, which has a good article about the church and persons with Autism Spectrum Disorders. I found this post from a person with AS very important; I hope I am not breaking any copyright laws here. Without exception, every discussion I've seen of autistics in church is about low-functioning autistic children and teenagers, and is directed at their parents or at other adults in their lives. What happens to these autistics when they grow up--do they grow out of it? Do they die? Or are they institutionalized, never to darken a church door again? And what about high-functioning autistics? I am an adult with Asperger's syndrome, i.e. a high-functioning autistic adult. I go to church, humanly speaking, of my own accord. I have yet to see anything, in books or the Christian media, that addresses the problems faced by Christian Aspi...