Faithfulness

Here is my strategy for living life:

Collect faithful friends.

If their name happens to be Faith, even better.

This very faithful friend named Faith was one of my Harrisburg finds.  Though she first came to me for piano lessons, we discovered we had so much to talk about we needed some outside-of-the-lesson time.

Hence, a friendship was born.

Somehow--despite the fact that both of our lives are insane, I've moved 2 hours away, and we don't ever pick up the phone and call--that friendship has continued.

It's because of that faithfulness I was talking about, 

and moments when faithful friends send emails that say

'Hey, I want to come see you...when?'

The when turned out to be this past weekend, when Faith took a good part of her day to make the drive toward me:

We had a cozy lunch at downtown's Cozy Thai, and then we walked all over that downtown and onto campus, until we reached the courtyard outside of the Music Building where I've spent a large part of my past 4 years.

We sat down in the shade of the trees.

Still talking.

To sit and talk some more.

For awhile.

It was lovely.

And, though I might not see her for another year (yes, it had been that long...), I know that the next time I do?

There will be much to talk about, because--

this friendship is a faithful one.

An answer to a prayer I didn't even pray.

Here's how a doctorate works: You get an assistantship, you do some work for your department, they give you a stipend to live on, and after a specified amount of years: it runs out.

"Ran out" was my official status as of May, but "Still trying to write that dang dissertation" was running a parallel track.  Hence, I came up with a plan that involved accompanying singers and bringing in whatever income I could.  It was unstable and unpredictable, but I trusted that God would provide for my needs.

Until one day, when I found an unexpected job notice in the mail room printer, and--unexpectedly--decided to apply.  At first I thought "Might as well try for it", but as I got my application materials together I thought "There's no way I'm not going to at least get an interview"--because this job seemed designed just for me.

An "Instructional Consultant" position at The Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at Penn State, the job involves consulting with any faculty member or teaching grad student who wants some teaching resources as well as conducting workshops on various topics within the realm of teaching.

Since I love teaching, and I love talking about teaching, this job seemed to be a perfect fit.  Apparently the people making the hiring decisions thought so too, because?

I start today.

And--since I'm still kind of surprised by this turn of events, and by God's provision beyond what I even asked for--I figured I'd post here the teaching philosophy I wrote for my application, as a reminder that teaching and talking about teaching is a way to love the people brought into our classrooms and that this is what I love to do.

Philosophy of Teaching

The questions I ask myself when considering this teaching philosophy are the same questions I encourage my students to ask themselves during the time they spend in my class.  Who am I? What is important to me? What can my contribution be in this role and in this community of learning?

Who am I?

Since my self-definition remains the same whether I am inside or out of my classroom, it is important to me that I offer my students my genuine self at each step of our journey together.  As such, I cannot help but position myself to be a listener, a thinker, and an asker of questions when engaging with my students.  I am inspired by creativity and by possibility; when an unknown answer to the question we are seeking together as a class dangles itself before us, I am led into discovery with wide-eyed wonder.  I am thrilled by the pursuit of knowledge, and the inevitable change that defines all learning.

What is important to me?

I believe that the best learning happens in a safe environment, and so I insist that my classroom be a place where each student is honored for who he or she is.  Within the community that we are given on day one of class, we build a network of relationship and trust where each student has a valuable and valid contribution to make, whatever it may be.  I believe in a discovery-oriented and flexible learning atmosphere where the evolution of ideas and the working out of unformed thoughts is more important than listening to, memorizing, or even achieving ‘right answers’.  Education draws on and influences all of life, and so most important to me is that my students are thinking, and that I am equipping them to think.

What is my contribution?

As the ‘teacher’ in this classroom, I value my experience with the subject matter.  I also value my variety of life experiences, which enable me to speak broadly and deeply into the life occurring within the space of our classroom.  I consider my role to be less about depositing knowledge, and more about knowledgeably guiding the discussion happening within the group.  I view myself as a facilitator, but also as a participant, exploring and discovering alongside my students as we open doors together.  Ultimately, I aim to stimulate their thinking, respond to their thoughts and questions, and scaffold their experiences appropriately.

In summary, my teaching is rooted in the philosophy that knowledge is gained through process within a community of learners.  As the facilitator of the community, my role is to engage in the process and to equip my students with the tools for life-long and self-motivated learning.

A good old fashioned sleepover

When I moved to Harrisburg, the church I started attending needed someone to work with the middle school youth group, and I--being new in town--needed something to do.  Plus, I thought it was important work.  I figured it'd be good.  Little did I know it'd still be bearing fruit, 6 years down the road.

You see, within that youth group, I worked closely with a 'small group' of girls.  During our weekly big group meetings, we talked together during a specified 'small-group' time about what the speaker had said, about who God is,  about what it means to seek Him, love Him, know Him, about what it means to be a Christian, about how to live our lives in a way that honors Him.

But then, we also got to have some time outside of the weekly meeting.  We went shopping, we met for coffee, we went shopping, we met for coffee but ended up going shopping....  We did a lot of shopping.

But, we also had  some super fun sleepovers at my house that did not involve shopping.  Instead, we made food, laughed, became strangely obsessed with certain songs, did art projects, [they] cut each other's hair in my bathroom in the middle of the night, talked, and did all of the fun things that go along with sleepovers.

After two years with them I moved away, but that didn't end our friendship.  Instead, we see each other somewhat regularly when I get back to town.  And, this past weekend, I drove home from my baby shower to greet them at my door.

For?

A sleepover.

A much more grown up one, since they are now all grown up.

Just because we're grown-ups now, however, doesn't mean the super fun is over:

Meg kept us laughing with her directness and her wit.  

Lydia kept us interesting with her sense of refinement and grace.

And Hailey kept us focused with her infinite wisdom and quiet strength.

There was really no question about whether or not super fun would happen, because--truth be told--we are all pretty goofy:

But, what I have always loved about these goofy girls is that they are willing and desiring to go deep, to talk about what matters, to seek answers to the questions they take the time to have.

Hence, over dinner of extremely-thick-crust pizza,

during a walk through the dusky air, in my candle-lit living room on our return home,

over delectable dessert, 

and over breakfast the next morning,

we talked.  We went deep.  We laughed even more.  We missed the presence of Jesi and Abby.  We asked the good questions, and looked for the answers.  Together.

And I am left with the reassurance that--as these women head into new adventures (college?!) and as they continue to walk in the situations and relationships they are in--they are going to be just fine.  I also know that my life is fuller because they've spoken into it, and because they continue to speak.  And--that good old fashioned sleepovers shouldn't just be a thing of the past.

Blessings

The last time you saw Marina on this blog she had barely a tummy,

but as we creep closer to her due date

it is quite clear that there is a beautiful little blessing being knit together as we speak.

That would be why there was a baby shower for her

this past Saturday while I was still in the Harrisburg area.

Amanda (seen here with her own beautiful blessing) hosted a party for Marina's friends that involved much good food,

much good drink,

much good conversation,

much good anticipation,

and many fun gifts.

As if the day weren't special enough, Marina's mother is newly arrived from Russia as a resident in Rick and Marina's home, and was able to take part in the celebration of the day.

We gazed on our dear friend with love as we reflected on the gifts of each other and the gifts of God in her life.  

And, we cannot wait to meet this gift of a boy we are waiting for!

A Piano Camp Vacation

Here are Kristen and I functioning as one brain.

For one week every summer, we meet up in Harrisburg and put on some of the most fun piano camps ever found.

We are, after all, an awful lot of fun.

Without needing to speak in order to understand each other, we operate as a team,

teaching everything we know to these middle school kiddos in the mornings

and these elementary school babies in the afternoons.

We teach them about music,

we teach them how to play it on the piano artistically and thoughtfully,

we teach them how to find it all around them,

and we teach them how to remember everything they've learned in order to beat the other teams in Friday's Jeopardy.

We show them new and exciting things in the solos they bring in,

and we give them a brand new duet or trio with a person they've never met.  After much effort on everyone's part, these little pianists perform them on Friday in the closing recital, and Kristen and I remind each other--once again--that we are changing the world.  [We like to feel important...] 

It's a lot of work, changing the world,

and we spend a decent amount of time making sure we know what we're doing each day.

BUT,

if those campers can have the most fun ever,

we think we deserve some fun too.

Hence, we treat ourselves well, focusing primarily on food:

Our daily lunches are phenomenal.

Sometimes we take them outside during our lunch break,

basking in the sun and the wind in our hair as we figure out what happens that afternoon.

Then, our evenings are spent in a variety of ways that allow us to take advantage of the fact that we are together in a different location than where we live our normal lives.

For instance,

shopping at the near-ish outlets in Lancaster

and dinner in the quaint sketchiness that is the downtown there.

A treat.

Then, there's movie night, which includes a jaunt to our favorite Neato Burrito with our favorite Mrs. Noll,

our Administrative help at the school,

and our hostess for the week.

With a 'hotel' like this, who needs the tropics?

Even the fish make us feel welcome.

This year we included pedicures,

followed by some delicious Thai food.

You see, there is nothing better than changing the world while experiencing all it has to offer at the same time.

Piano Camp Vacation is the best.