Teri Evans-Palmer

I was raised a "Christian" but Jesus was not real to me until I met him personally many years ago. In college, I was asked to join a friend at a Jesus Rally (revivals such as this were common in the mid 70s during the "Jesus Movement"). My life has not been the same from that day forward. When you become a Believer and invite the Lord into your heart, he changes you into a new creature. You have His DNA. His plans for us include trials, tests and blessings that help us become more like the child we are to our Father. I cannot image how my life would have been walking through pain, abuse, divorce, death of loved ones, and a nearly fatal Rattlesnake bite without a loving relationship with my Father. Through it all, He was with me. I am an artist and I live in the hill country of Texas, where the clouds and sunsets take your breath away. Recently, I began painting clouds on large canvases with gobs of luminous paint. My conversations with God while painting his "self-portrait" (we know that God's glory is in the heavens) have helped me understand how much he cares about everything we do. When I cannot render the vaporous cloud edges with a brush to look as they do in the sky, I ask Him, "What am I doing wrong?" His answer, "I use my hands." I put down my brushes and started painting with my hands. Wow, what a difference! Everything, I mean everything we do as artists, as scholars as teachers, as humans living on this earth are important to our God. He desires a relationship with His creation. As a teacher educator, I understand that the decisions my students make at this stage of their lives can take them down different paths to their future. I also know that teaching teachers is exponential. Teachers touch many lives throughout their lifetime. God is a wise gardener, the seeds he plants in us can reap a tremendous harvest. Being connected to the greatest Creator and wisest Teacher has its benefits. My teaching career has taken me from Pennsylvania to Texas; from Texas to Germany, to Zambia and Italy. Life as a Christian teacher is never boring. He is busy planting His seeds.....

My Life

Favorite Quote

"Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen Hard. Practice goodness. Play with abandon. Laugh and lift hearts. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn."

Friends describe me

funny, quirky, caring

My hobbies

painting very large oil paintings on square canvases; hiking; playing the piano, building rock walls

Fantasy dinner guests

the first Queen Elizabeth; Leonardo Da Vinci; Artemesia Gentilleschi; Pablo Picasso; Helen Frankenthaler

Best advice I ever received

"If you are good at what you do, you do not have to tell anyone."

My undergrad alma mater

Kutztown University

My worst subject in school

Algebra

In college I drove

A banana-yellow Ford Pinto

If I weren't a professor, I would

be a hot air balloon pilot

Favorite books

The Poisonwood Bible; Centennial; The Help

Favorite movies

Tootsie

Favorite city

Venice, Italy

Favorite coffee

Mocha caramel

Nobody knows I

was bit by a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake in my back yard.

My latest accomplishment

I submitted a completed book manuscript, "The Art of Teaching with Humor: Crafting Laughter" to my publisher in Jan., 2020.

Current Research

Teacher dispositions; teacher humor and self-efficacy; student engagement; teacher emotional well-being