Category Archives: Teaching

Microblogging

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Below is an email I sent to some of my students who are blogging in partial completion of the course requirements for my basic Hebrew Scriptures course.

Friends,

Thank you again for building blogging into your learning plan.  I am not much of a blogger myself. I can do microblogging using Google +, Facebook and Twitter but full blown blogging I am not very accomplished.

Nonetheless, I have learned some things. A good blog is thoughtful and well written. That goes without saying. In addition to all that it shares the reflections of the author but also curates resources digital and otherwise. For instance Christianity Today had a piece on N.T. Wright’s position on the role of the Psalter and worship. I also watch the Christian Century blog site.  There you will find Blogging to Sunday, that reflects on the lectionary text for the next week. This week Exodus 32 is up. Shauna K. Hanan wrote a piece on Exodus 32.

I also keep up with the Society of Biblical Literature both on their webpage as well as their Facebook group.

Also if you want to interact with other blogs consider Patheos. They have various faith channels. James McGrath has an interesting piece on Exodus. Embedded in his post is a YouTube piece of a lecture. Don’t forget our own faculty such as Roger Olson and Mike Stroope both have blogs that you might find interesting.

Don’t forget to interact with the other blogs in the class. Remember if your blog does not link to another conversation it is likely a megaphone to the Internet with likely no one to listen.

Writing Biblical Simulations

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I learned from my involvement with two movies the Prince of Egypt and Gospel of John: The Movie taught me that the process of digital story telling requires the filmmaker to come to grips with the social world of the Bible in a profound way. I want to have the biblical simulations to mimic that type of experience.

My teachers Robert W. Neff , Graydon F. Snyder and Donald E. Miller wrote Using Biblical Simulations and Using Biblical Simulations 2 in 1974 and 1975  They used the idea of simulations as a learning tool.  Each of them had training in small group process that they brought to bear in structuring the simulation. More recently Reta Halteman Finger used this approach to understand the world of early Christianity in her book Paul and the House Churches: A Simulation. One resource I have not been able to get my hands on is Beginnings (Being There: The Bible Through Simulation) from Faith and Life Press published in 2001.

A simulation is a form of participatory learning. When leading a simulation maximize the class participation. This means have as many people have parts. In the birth of Isaac I wanted about ten participants. I include a director and a videographer. The theory of multiple intelligences opens a new horizon to how we utilize the biblical simulation. It is more than a linguistic exchange. It is kinesthetic learning as well as visual and auditory learning.

My goal was a greater appreciation of the social world of ancient Israel. Therefore I tried to pick an event in a life cycle rather than a famous Bible passage. The Neff, Snyder and Miller volumes strive to provide a more hermeneutical exercise than opportunities to discover the social world of the Bible. My goals are somewhat different therefore I try to avoid volatile or famous passages. For instance the birth of Isaac story is a scant seven verses.

(Gen 21:1-7)

After the simulation we take several minutes to debrief. What did we feel? Press about the mechanics of this childbirth ritual. In my preparation I found a picture of a modern day birth stool.

Last year we have a group of students and present their version of whatever historical social world tableau. Student who choose this option must find self-conscious ways to achieve participatory learning rather than learning through listening.

 

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