Today@Dal

Exhilarated Teaching/Exhilarated Learning
Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 pm
Location: Dalhousie Agriculture Campus, Haley Institute, Room 110
Registration: http://stay.dal.ca/KxRegistration_CLT/Billy_Strean_Agr

What does it take to bring the fun, the enjoyment, the sheer joy of teaching and learning back to your courses? Perhaps it starts with you. This session will first explore how to foster your own aliveness and then consider key ways to engage students. By experiencing foundational practices and developing a plan using the ALIVE model, participants will be equipped to enhance their energy, relationships, purpose, and joy. By experiencing essential approaches to forging a dynamic environment, participants will leave with new approaches to inspire, encourage, and uplift students.

Mindfulness in Teaching & Learning: Avoiding Commodification and Acclaiming Compassion
Date: Thursday September 24, 2015
Time: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Location: Halifax Campus, Henry Hicks Building, Lord Dalhousie Room
Registration: http://stay.dal.ca/KxRegistration_CLT/Billy_Strean

A recent book title and the cover of Time described mindfulness in terms of a “revolution.” Mindfulness has much to offer us in becoming more fully human in the classroom and beyond. Yet as many recent presentations portrayed mindfulness akin to a wonder drug that eases stress, insomnia, anxiety, and a host of other ailments, its depth has been diminished. "The commercialization of a centuries old Buddhist meditation practice has devolved into slogans that sound as if they were lifted from embroidered wall hangings” (Strozzi-Heckler, 2015). This session explores how we can incorporate mindfulness into classroom practices while respecting its origins. We will also address how “awareness alone is not enough” (Tejaniya, 2011) and how including compassion as the other wing of mindfulness can help to create the foundation for an exhilarated learning community.

Biography
Billy Strean is Professor in the Faculty of Physical Education & Recreation at the University of Alberta. In 2008, he received the Rutherford Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and in 2011, he was selected to join the 3M National Teaching Fellowship. Billy has worked with hundreds of groups across North America to help them to feel great, work great, and be great.