What I had written on the board, I did not write.
My experience in the classroom retaught me a lesson.
Watch our Truth in Two to find out what it was (full text below).
Christians call what happened to me in the classroom, “illumination.”
Subscribe to “Truth in Two” videos from Comenius (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, Snappy Goat
FULL TEXT
There were days when I would be teaching in high school where I knew what I had just discussed had not come from me. On those days, I would grab a front row seat after students had left, hurriedly transcribing notes from the board. There were only 5 minutes between classes. The writing had to be quick, often a scribbled mess, only I could read. These ideas etched in chalk on a blackboard, were connections I had not made before class. They were just as new to me as they were to my students. Sure, I had prior knowledge of the general subject. But there was something about the way the ideas were said, written, displayed, or diagramed. They were not original with me. This was not a case of plagiarism. I was not morphing something I had just read that morning. No, this was a different experience. Each time it happened, I instinctively knew, the origin was from outside of me.
As a Christian, I believe The Spirit of God lives in me. I believe that the impetus for ideas is inspirational. I have no problem understanding my teaching that ended up on a blackboard was Spirit-inspired. I believe the origin of all knowledge begins outside of me. Learning insights are not born of my thoughts alone. Yes, capturing concepts in the moment, is the experience had by many teachers. I also believe the communitarian process of classroom instruction, may prompt learning in new ways. My study contains multiple notebooks with pages filled with scribbled notes. And I believe the origin of those scribbles began outside of me, from The Spirit, who lives in me.
For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.
This resonates deeply with me, Mark. Thank you.
I am no longer on Facebook, so I plan to follow your posts here. Keep teaching, speaking, and writing, brother, on blackboard, whiteboard or screen. The inspiration of the Spirit is clear.