Evaluating Education

            Most schools, it seems, have implemented the traditional method of tests, quizzes, and grades to measure how much a student has learned. However, it seems that this way falls short; for the following seems to happen: students pack as much as they can into their brains for tests, and then they just forget what they learn. A better method might be to evaluate what students have learned by the qualitative method- how they can apply the knowledge to their own lives and whether or not they remember it.

            St. John’s College appears to be one of those institutions that is taking the steps toward the qualitative method of assessing what students have learned. The school places a lot of emphasis on the reading and discussing of great books. Such a method appears interdisciplinary. It would encompass history, philosophy, English, math, science, etc. In addition, it teaches students to think critically and learn how to articulate their viewpoints.

            I do not really think that a college has to make radical changes (or any changes, for that matter) to its teaching methods in order to get students to have the proper mindset of learning.  Instead, the student should take responsibility to make sure that he has the proper approach to his classes. Already, I think I have received my money’s worth of information and knowledge from JBU. I truly feel that students can have a blast in college if their mindset is to learn and not focus solely on getting a good grade on their next Calculus test. I have had the former mindset, and I just feel so blessed by it.

1.      What do you think? Should it be the school’s responsibility to change or should it be the student’s responsibility? Or both?

2.      Have you been taking more of a quantitative or qualitative approach to learning?

Application Time!

            I think that I already knew many of the concepts that Donald Miller discussed in his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. However, I still got a lot out of the book. I feel refreshed and ready to apply what I learned/reviewed to my own life. Maybe about once a week or so, I experience extreme homesickness; so whenever that happens, I will just think about how there is a purpose to what I am going through and will look with hope and gladness to being in heaven, where things will be perfect. Another thing that God laid on my heart as I read the book, was to find some sort of ministry to be involved in while I am in Siloam Springs. With the way that my schedule is laid out this semester, I do not believe that I can be involved in something that requires a lot of time. With that in mind, I plan to contact my church and see if there are any middle schoolers that I could minister to by encouraging them through email. Next semester, I will try to schedule everything so that I have time to minister to others, perhaps through a CAUSE ministry.  In addition, I will try to get others on board with living an epic life. I will do this by informing my family and friends about what God is doing in my life and teaching me. In this way, they themselves will be encouraged to act and to live a life of purpose, rather than a meaningless one. With God’s help, I will strive to apply what I learned to my own life—both now, and in the future.

1.      What is your perspective on pain and how it contributes to the journey of life?

2.      What is the best way to confront someone who is not living a “good story”?

My Dreams

            I have a ton of dreams. I dream a lot about the future. I often think about certain boys and try to imagine what life would be like if I married them. I like to dream about what I may do as an occupation. Sometimes, I have pictured myself being a teacher, missionary, doctor, or engineer, just to name a few. I have also considered what I might do as an avocation. There are many things that I am passionate about; whenever I discover a new thing that I just love to do or would like to do, I write it down. Among my list of things so far are the following: examining the amount of time in which God created the world, climbing rocks, exploring caves, doing puzzles, learning more about God and singing lovely songs to Him, and studying cave formations. I can see myself doing all of these activities in my spare time. I also dream about what heaven is like. Right now, I just cannot imagine worshiping God all of the time, but I trust that heaven is far better than I can even dream.

            I wonder if all of the above dreams are part of a great story or an “epic story.” In A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller has a conversation with Steve about what makes an epic story, rather than just a great one. The two elements of an epic story are the following: 1. The thing that the character wants must be very difficult to obtain. 2. “The ambition must be sacrificial.” With those characteristics in mind, I feel that my “vocation dreams” are more of an epic story than my “avocation dreams,” since my “vocation dreams” seem to directly involve other people, while my “avocation dreams” do not. Even if that is the case, I still personally believe that even if I pursued only the “avocation dreams,” my life would still be epic, as long as I lived it out in full obedience to God, since that is how I define an “epic story.”
1. How do you define an "epic story"? Do your dreams fit that?
2. Why is it so difficult to embrace the "whimsy" of life?