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Inspiring Joy In Learning For Your Students
Episode 4231st August 2021 • The Catholic Teacher Podcast • Jonathan Doyle
00:00:00 00:05:39

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Today I share a great quote from Albert Einstein that reminds us that one of the most powerful things we accomplish as educators is the ability to inspire joy in our students as they master new ideas and knowledge. This message will encourage you each day to bring your own passion and enthusiasm to life as it lights the fire of learning in the hearts of your students.

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Well, Hey everybody, Jonathan Doyle with you.

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Once again, welcome friends to the Catholic teacher, daily podcast, a little

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bit of encouragement and motivation for Catholic teachers all over the world.

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You know where I'd like to be right now.

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Elk island.

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As I speak, I did a live virtual event for the Catholic teachers on elk island and

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the they're just finishing up their day.

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And I am here in lockdown and it's negative four degrees outside.

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So you could tell her I'd rather be right now.

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Elk island friends.

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That's where I'd love to be.

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We're a great bunch of Catholic teachers are meeting together as

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they begin their new school year.

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So a big shout out to all my American listeners.

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I know many of you are restarting the school year.

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You're different to us in Australia.

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We start a year in January.

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Yours is roundabout now.

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End of August.

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So I'm really hoping and praying that all my American Catholic teacher

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friends have a blessed year friends.

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I want to offer you today a really beautiful, simple quote.

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From somebody who may have heard of a relatively well-known person,

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really name is Albert Einstein.

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You may recognize the name.

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And, uh, you know, just a fascinating human and obviously contributed so

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much to our understanding of the cosmos and of science and of mathematics

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and the nature and structure of the universe and reality itself.

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Huh?

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Not a bad day, not a bad life.

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Not a bad, not a bad list of achievements there, but listen to

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this beautiful quote, let's talk about how it relates to Catholic teachers.

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He says it is the Supreme art of the teacher.

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To awaken joy.

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In creative expression and knowledge.

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It is the Supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative

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expression and knowledge.

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So he's drawing your attention to perhaps the most wonderful thing that

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you can do as a Catholic educator.

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Apart from helping young people become disciples of Jesus.

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Nothing's more important than that.

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Is to awaken this concept of joy in being a creative, expressive

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person and in knowledge itself.

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Now because of lockdown.

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I have been homeschooling my children and my younger daughter

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who is a little 10 ish, 10.

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I always forget their birthdays, not their birthdays, their birth years.

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I think she's about 10.

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And, uh, we have been doing sort of a lot of intensive work together on

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her education during this lockdown.

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And so don't a bunch of mathematics with her and seeing her just really

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understand a few principles lately.

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It's been very beautiful, but I've got this wonderful book on the

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whole sweep of history, right?

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From.

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I guess the big bang right through to modern times.

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And we're reading through this together each day.

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And with that, I've got this huge Atlas and I'm taking her through.

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These key.

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I guess moments in human history and at the moment we're doing

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the civilization of Samarria of course, in ancient Mesopotamia.

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The land between the rivers.

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And so I've been reading this with her and drilling her on this.

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And she now understands cuneiform clay tablets.

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He understands that the tigers in the Euphrates have they headwaters.

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In the mountains of Armenia and she knows what the word Mesopotamia means.

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And it's just been fascinating to watch this joy.

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And this interest in this sense of mastery that she gets as she

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begins to understand the world.

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And it's quite a beautiful thing to see, as Einstein says, there's joy

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in creative expression and knowledge.

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So I want to encourage you today, whether you're teaching remotely with your

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teaching over zoom, with your teaching.

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Face-to-face.

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That the moments when you bring your passion for a subject or a

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scripture or a sport or whatever it is that the Lord puts on in your

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life to share with young people.

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That your ability to awaken.

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A fire for that thing.

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And a joy can just have profound impacts.

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You know, that moment, many of you will have experienced that as a teacher.

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It's that moment when you suddenly realize that your student has

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this sudden love and awareness of something they didn't know before.

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It's a very powerful thing.

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And sometimes for some students, It's really just a question

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of a momentum, isn't it.

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They suddenly realize that they can learn that they can sort of make sense of the

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world around them and they get excited and they start to really move forward.

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So I just want to encourage you to bring your joy, um, ask the holy

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spirit to inspire you with joy.

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And passion for particular subjects and topics that then you can radiate

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out into the lives of your students.

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That's how the kingdom of God gets built.

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It's individual men and women just like you.

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Bringing your energy.

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Your spirit, your passion for learning into the lives of young people.

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And then they take that forward.

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So, thank you so much for what you're doing.

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I hope that this little message is a source of encouragement for me.

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Do me a favor, make sure you've subscribed to the podcast.

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I'd love you to share this with some friends and listen,

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come and get more in touch.

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We're on Facebook under one Catholic teacher.

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So if you just do a search for one O N E one Catholic teacher, you'll find us.

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There there's the page and a group and a look at most importantly, do this for me.

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I go to try going deeper.com.

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Try going deeper.com.

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Try going deeper.com.

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I have got for you there.

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They're a completely free three episode trial of the Catholic

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teacher encouragement program that we built from scratch.

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It's an amazing weekly program of formation and encouragement.

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That's used by hundreds of catholic schools all over the world so go

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check that out grab yourself the free trial try going deeper.com.

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all right friends that's it for me today my name is jonathan doyle this has been

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the catholic teacher daily podcast and i'll have another message for you tomorrow

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