Lisa Smith, assistant professor of Teacher Education at Hastings College, will address the changing needs of the modern educational system throughout the nation in the fall 2016 Artist Lecture Series Invited Faculty Lecture.
Her address, “Feet in the Water: Thoughts on oceans, boats and making waves,” explores the evolving role of learners through stories of Smith’s personal experiences as both a learner and a teacher. The lecture is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. in French Memorial Chapel (800 N. Turner Ave.) and is free and open to the public.
Smith’s presentation will be one of two Invited Faculty Lectures to take place in the 2016-17 academic year. Each spring, Hastings College students select two faculty members to present campus-wide lectures on the professors’ topics of choice during the next academic year. To be selected is considered an honor by the faculty.
Dr. Pedro Vizoso, associate professor of Languages and Literature, was also selected by students, and will deliver a lecture in spring 2017.
Bio for Lisa Smith
Smith began teaching elementary students in 1991 and went on to teach all grades, pre-Kindergarten through 6th, as a classroom teacher and served as a team-lead teacher in a pilot project school in Texas. She also worked with a national curriculum and instruction company out of Seattle, Wash., and served as a teacher consultant, model teacher and conference presenter across the country.
Upon returning to Nebraska to serve as a staff development specialist for Educational Service Unit 9, she completed her first master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction and a second in Educational Leadership through Doane College. While serving as the Director of Professional Development for the ESU, Smith continued advancing her studies and is currently pursuing an Educational Specialist degree.
Smith has spent her life gathering information about learning and developing teaching practices that are flexible, innovative and built on collaboration and respect. Restructuring classroom culture is the focus of her research and classroom practice. Her exploration is compiled in the book Circle in the Classroom: Field Book I, published by Hastings College Press in August 2016.
Hastings College is a private, four-year institution located in Hastings, Nebraska, that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. With 64 majors and 15 pre-professional programs, Hastings College has been named among “Great Schools, Great Prices” by U.S. News & World Report and a “Best in the Midwest” by The Princeton Review. For more, go to hastings.edu.
