Though the academic disciplines w88 online casino betting different, the similarities w88 online casino betting abundantly clear.
As Ed Keppelmann sat in the back w88 online casino betting classrooms of Linda Curcio and Lynda Wiest this year, observing two masterful teachers in his role as chair w88 online casino betting selection committee for the F. Donald Tibbitts Distinguished Teaching Award, it became quickly apparent he was watching a couple of kindred spirits in action.
Both Curcio, an associate professor of history, and Wiest, a professor of mathematics education, engaged their w88 online casino betting in meaningful ways.
Listening to Curcio was like listening to a person skilled in giving stories, in relating them to w88 online casino betting students and what they were thinking at that very moment. In turn, w88 online casino betting students seemed enamored with Curcio's deft descriptions, w88 online casino betting sense of humor, w88 online casino betting ability to weave the context of "then" and intertwine it with the context of "now."
Two Tibbitts Teaching w88 online casino betting Winners
Executive Vice President and Provost Kevin Carman surprises and congratulates associate professor of history Linda Curicio with one w88 online casino betting two 2015 F. Donald Tibbitts Distinguished Teaching Awards.
Lynda Wiest (sitting right), professor of mathematics education, poses with students and colleagues, after a surprise announcement that she was one w88 online casino betting two 2015 F. Donald Tibbitts Distinguished Teaching Award recipients.
Wiest, many of whose students were, in fact, teachers themselves, helped w88 online casino betting charges delve more deeply into what they were teaching, and how they were teaching it. Hers was the rare gift of getting inside the mind of a student, and connecting the mind with key concepts and ideas that could unlock new understanding and application.
"Firstly, Linda Curcio is a masterful story teller," said Keppelmann, an associate professor of mathematics and himself considered one of the University's best teachers. "And not only that, she puts you in the time and place of w88 online casino betting story, giving you the context of the current norms and thinking of the time and then asks what would people of the day do? The setting is so impeccably constructed that the conclusions you reach are obvious and you understand why things played out as they did. She also does a fantastic job in providing an environment where students can learn to tell the stories that they find in their research of history.
"Lynda W. teaches teachers how to teach problem solving: How do you watch a kid and know what they are thinking? How do you let them struggle productively? Why do you let them construct their own knowledge and achieve success on their own terms? As Paul Halmos, a famous mathematician once said, 'The major part of every meaningful life is the solution of problems.' Teaching kids to solve problems is therefore an incredibly worthy endeavor. In mathematics a great lecture involves someone presenting a clear, concise and elegant solution to a meaningful problem. What Lynda empowers is an entirely different - yet equally wonderful - set of knowledge and skills."
It was no wonder then, then, that over the course of two days, on the afternoons of March 30-31, Provost Kevin Carman led a group of deans, administrators, Tibbitts committee members and colleagues into the classrooms of Curcio and Wiest to present the professors with the news that they had been selected as winners w88 online casino betting 2015 Tibbitts Award.
Both professors w88 online casino betting surprised, moved and almost at a loss for words.
Along with College of Liberal Arts Dean Heather Hardy, Carman announced to Curcio's class on March 30, that, "I apologize for barging in. I know you're just getting warmed up." Seeing paper plates of food in front w88 online casino betting dozen or so students in Curcio's class, Carman smiled and quipped, "I can see now why you have such high rankings."
More seriously, Carman added that Curcio's many talents - w88 online casino betting enthusiasm for w88 online casino betting subject, w88 online casino betting deep-seated knowledge, w88 online casino betting warm, approachable personality, and perhaps above all else w88 online casino betting evocative storytelling ability - were what truly set w88 online casino betting apart. He recited some of the many testimonials written about Curcio from w88 online casino betting students, students who recalled how they "loved" w88 online casino betting class, who they always felt every class was meaningful, how they never left a class "not learning something important."
When Carman presented Curcio with the w88 online casino betting, Curcio smiled somewhat sheepishly.
"OK," she said of all w88 online casino betting attention she was receiving, from colleagues such as Darrell Lockhart, an associate dean and associate professor of Spanish in the College of Liberal Arts (Curcio is fluent in Spanish and over the years has integrated the languages and literature of Latin America and Mexico into the courses she teaches), "OK, I'm a little freaked out. I can't believe you all came."
To which Hardy said, with a laugh, "It's a long tradition we have of freaking people out with this w88 online casino betting."
"I told them (w88 online casino betting class) if I won the award we'd have a big party at my house," Curcio said. She looked to w88 online casino betting class, who were all smiles and supportive fist pumps and cheers of "Viva Mexico!" She added, softly, "This has little to do with me." She pointed to w88 online casino betting class. "And everything to do with my students."
The next day, Carman's entrance into Wiest's classroom required the skilled intervention of Thomas Harrison, an associate dean for the College of Education. With award party in tow, Carman had grabbed the handle of Wiest's classroom on the second floor w88 online casino betting William Raggio Building and ... immediately found it locked.
Harrison quickly provided a key, unlocking the door with prompt enthusiasm.
Flanked by several of Wiest's College of Education colleagues, Carman's entrance into the classroom cut Wiest off in mid-sentence. Many w88 online casino betting students in the classroom were now teachers themselves, many of whom had taken Wiest when they were undergraduates. They all applauded as Wiest, sitting on a chair at the front w88 online casino betting class, seemed to be moved almost to tears as Carman told the class, "You may have heard w88 online casino betting Tibbitts Award ..."
Carman recalled his own experience with Wiest, having recently been a guest speaker in one of Wiest's classes. He came away from the experience impressed. He called w88 online casino betting "extraordinary in the classroom," adding that Wiest "cares so deeply about all of w88 online casino betting students. She is someone I have great admiration for."
After joking that "class was dismissed" upon receipt of w88 online casino betting award, Wiest added that, w88 online casino betting voice full of emotion, "This means more to me than you can know ... I do it ..." She then pointed to w88 online casino betting students. "... for them."
And there it was again.
More similarities than differences.
As both Curcio and Wiest were quick to point out, the Tibbitts Award had little to do with them. And yet, as their w88 online casino betting and their colleagues would surely argue, the excellence of their teaching and their passion for their profession ... that had had everything to do with them.
Added Keppelmann: "Many of us do great teaching some w88 online casino betting time. But these people do it as a routine practice."
