I pray for wisdom...I pray for wisdom FREQUENTLY. Seems Social Studies is the source of my need for wisdom right now. On Tuesday night our instructor passed out a rubric (a guide for scoring or grading) for a debate. He suggested that we could used this rubric to score a classroom debate, and, HEY, let's use it to score the Presidential Debate which he just happened to run across a web site where we could get live feed in the classroom. A groan went up across the room...I guess everyone feels the same way I do: we're tired of beating our heads against the wall in a conversation that isn't going to change. Regardless, we watched the first 30 minutes of the debate. Afterward, we tried to use the rubric to score both Senator McCain and Senator Obama but it was obvious that few members of the class were able to view the debate without bias. It would work in a classroom where the students haven't yet formed the biases color adult vision.

Sometimes I feel like I can make a strong point in this class, like wisdom just might be seeping into what I'm saying, and other times I just feel like I'm better off not saying anything. Maybe that is wisdom, knowing when to speak and when to remain silent..."How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!" (Proverbs 16:16) Good thing that wisdom is more valuable than gold, since I won't be making much gold as a teacher!

Side note: If you watched the Presidential Debate last Tuesday, you probably saw Todd Smith, lead singer of the Christian group Selah. He sat on the front row to the immediate left of Senator McCain. He submitted a question for the debate and was chosen to attend. He met Senator Obama afterward, who asked him what he did. When Todd Smith told him, Senator Obama said he would look up his music when he got home. Todd Smith offered to send him some of his recordings. I'm sure he was seeing it as a evangelical opportunity. The Lord can work through music!