Lilly Conference 2009

Recently I had the opportunity to attend the Lilly Conference in Greensboro. Given the locality of the conference it was a great opportunity to socialize with WSSU faculty and learn more about their learning styles and interest. Attendees were readily available to discuss the sessions that they attended and the impact of the knowledge at WSSU. This gave me the opportunity to assess interest and knowledge levels for future programming at CETL. Although this is not always the intent of a conference it was a tremendous learning experience. Often faculty would come out excited about what they had been seen and in the back of my mind I would think that we are doing that at WSSU or that is in the works! Often individuals are more open to new ideas when they come from peer sources and this was the opportunity at Lilly. It was also great to see how many of our faculty was participating in the delivery of the conference.
My most enjoyable moment was the Explosive Pedagogy! When you have tried everything else the Explosive Pedagogy would be the option. The student (George) keeps acting out in class and you have had enough so you take a pile of books and slam them on the desk. Then you say…”OK, everyone out except GEORGE”. Of course everyone will leave but George will stay because he finally has his time to get the final say. Once everyone has left you pull up a chair in front of George and calmly sit down facing him. You say the following (calmly, gently), “George, I just do not understand. You are the smartest guy in class and why are you giving me such a hard time? Have I done something to offend you or how can I change what I am doing to make this work for you?” This will give George the opportunity to express his concerns and give you the opportunity to “fix” the problem. Then George can walk out of the room and when student ask what happened he can say…”
I cannot say that I have ever had the opportunity to use the Explosive Pedagogy but I will 