Letting the message be discovered
Commercials from EDS illustrate messages that we can use in our classrooms. And they are hysterical. And will be remembered.
Great use of youtube in seminar session
Best use of video for beginning a presentation on language pedagogy:
Notes from the road: Day 2
Today was a full day. The alarm went off too early (or so it seemed). A quick breakfast (the Prince Conference Center had set out “the works” for us: omelets, biscuits, cereal, fresh fruit on skewers, pastries, juices, yogurt, and of course coffee). We walked over the highway via the enclosed pedestrian walkway which takes [...]
Motivation
I’m all for innovative pedagogy and creative motivation for students, but this goes too far. What were they thinking??
Aleph Bet Rock
Yo, Alef Bet in the House. This is the Aleph-Bet song that the kids I’m teaching Hebrew like best. There are many other Aleph-Bet videos on youtube, but this is their favorite (for now). It’s part of the EKS Publishing Sarah and David Aleph Bet Story materials. In addition to the publisher’s site, there is [...]
Kids learning Hebrew
This is a quiz from 7-year-old Éva. I dictated the names of Hebrew letters and she wrote them down, except for #3, which asked the question, “What sound does בּ make?” She’s doing a terrific job learning Hebrew this year. She can identify all the Hebrew characters by name, tell you what sound they make, [...]
Visual Tools for Learning Hebrew
Some people are visual learners (I’m one of them). Here are a few visual charts to help students remember some details of Biblical Hebrew. Click on the images to download the full size versions. When I teach weak verb forms, I like to draw attention to the fact that the Qal imperfect, imperative, and infinitive [...]
Another vocabulary resource: Davar
A few weeks ago I reviewed some Hebrew vocabulary resources (Part One, Part Two) that readers submitted for my first B2B contest. There are a few vocabulary resources that were not mentioned, but which I want to draw attention to. The first one is a project from The University of Auckland (that’s in New Zealand, [...]
Ugaritic Transliteration Bookmark
Working in ancient languages requires patience when working on a computer. This little bookmark is a handy reminder of the keyboard map for inputting cuneiform and transliteration using the Durham font set. I created and used this bookmark frequently when typing up papers for our Ugaritic class. You can download a PDF with two copies [...]
Technology in the Classroom: Not always what you think
A.K.M. Adam (on his blog AKMA) pointed out the article from Inside Higher Education which reported a study about technology in the classroom. Campus Technology, likewise, has an article discussing the report. Read their summary here. The surprising (really??) result is that faculty think they do a great job and students don’t think their profs [...]
Theological “training” outside the box (way outside)
If you read Fred Putnam’s piece about teaching/learning that I mentioned the other day, then you would probably be interested in looking over his very detailed proposal for The New School of Theology. Here’s a snippet from the proposal, which gives a a basic overview of the vision (later in the proposal are more details): [...]
Do you teach?
Fred Putnam reflects on the nature of teaching and learning (and along the way tells us what does not count as teaching) in a presentation which he delivered recently: From Darkness into Gloom: A True Story. Required reading. Now.
New Contest: What Hebrew Textbook did you learn with?
UPDATE: We have our winners–Bob MacDonald, John Murphy, Rick, and Sytze van der Laan. Congratulations! Time for another B2B contest. This time I want to know what Biblical Hebrew textbook you used when you first learned Hebrew. Leave a comment and tell me the name of the textbook and a little bit about whether you [...]
Hebrew Without Whining
Dr. Ellen Davis (Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity) has been spearheading a partnership with Renk Theological College in Southern Sudan. Listen to her describe what the Sudanese prioritized for their theological training, and why: A FEW YEARS AGO, when I asked the head of Renk Theological College in Southern Sudan to [...]
The Value of Languages
Gary Mannings and Brooke Lester have both pointed out two quotes that I reproduce below. I’ve paraphrased them numerous times myself in my classes and in defense of learning the biblical languages. Do I understand Greek and Hebrew? Otherwise, how can I undertake, as every Minister does, not only to explain books which are written [...]
