Gilbert Authors Network

Dear Treasured Readers:

It appears that I will lose this domain and this hosted blog on May 3rd 2012. I am saddened by this loss of six years of posts and reader comments. Alas, the decision is out of my hands.

But I am not done with my writing work.

Please join me at my [...]

If you are a teacher and you break your word to your student you weaken the student's trust. A student who has lost faith in you will not take the risks you offer, will not walk throught the doors you open, even if your word had nothing to do with these doors. The teacher makes a circle in which to learn and risk. When you fail the student, you unmake this space. [...]

A system that creates broken promises is a broken system. [...]

How good are you at determining what is essential in your teaching? As teachers we have various details and foundational aspects to cover, and the more we know the more we want to explain.

But these complexities can be filled in later, perhaps even by our enthusiastic and active student, if we can motivate them [...]

If you teach, you are always a teacher, whether you are well or not, whole or not, of good spirit or not. When times are hard, you may also feel hard, have fewer resources, less tolorance. You may hurt. Rest what needs resting. Learn the world anew from where you are. Bring back what you have found so you can teach it. [...]

Trust me was written all over his face. “I’m a circuit rider,” he said. He was telling me, not asking me. He wasn’t asking me for a job either. He was telling me the future. That was Rob. It was November 1995.

To be honest, I wasn’t too sure why he had come down from [...]

The beginning is important. It can set a tone, create a practice area, lay down expectations and common language. If done well the ritual tests and births the student's - and teacher's - commitment, vision, and intent. [...]

I have been hosting a weekly chat with teachers from various backgrounds to explore the subjects and issues that interest teachers of depth and spirit. Some recent topics have included what teachers like and dislike about their own teaching, what it takes to build trust with students, the effect and cost of teacher credentials, student [...]

Any time we tell a student that they are special we risk solidifying them around their desire to be special, to value themselves because of what we say. [...]

This is the second of my interviews with teachers.

T. Thorn Coyle is a spiritual and magical arts teacher. She has published two books: Kissing the Limitless and Evolutionary Witchcraft. In this interview we explore her views on teaching and mastery. Thorn tells me why it is essential that teachers also continue to be students.

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