Sometimes as teachers or administrators, it seems easier to just avoid the “problem questions.”  Often “problem questions” become lightning rods for heated arguments that don’t settle anything, but leave people unsettled. Creation/evolution is such an issue. Read more.

Within the body of books written to vilify evolutionists, paint creationists as hopelessly blinded by resolute adherence to outdated theology, and demonstrate that natural science and Christianity can coexist or even support one another, Michael Dowd weighs in with a different perspective that may take readers by surprise.  Dowd not only accepts the evidence for evolutionary processes as persuasive, he also states that the evidence is so overwhelming as to remove any doubt at all about the authenticity of modern evolutionary science. Read more.

You may have heard about the efforts of Google and NASA in starting "Singularity University" - a place where the world’s best minds meet to study, as Chancellor Ray Kurzweil states on the organization’s website: “ … the exponential trajectory of information technologies in a broad variety of fields, including health, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. It is only these accelerating technologies that have the scale to address the major challenges of humanity …. ” Read more.

There is a modern/post modern academic assumption that antiquated texts are necessarily inaccurate, and this is especially true regarding scientific knowledge.  How could early alchemists, healers and astronomers know what we know today given their limited understanding of the laws of physics and chemistry, and ridiculous lack of technological tools for the purpose discovery? This assumption has also been applied to Holy Scripture. Read more.

“On a warm summer day just six months into the new millennium, humankind crossed a bridge into a momentous new era”. So begins the book by Francis Collins, leading geneticist and appointed head of the publicly funded Human Genome Project. As coordinator of this ten-year project, Collins oversaw work in 20 genome centers in six different countries worldwide. Read more.

It’s the second week of school, and my 7th graders are busy in the science lab.  One pair of students is carefully measuring exact amounts of water with a graduated cylinder before dumping them out on the tiled floor and mopping up.  Another pair is pouring maple syrup on squares of carpet and then trying to scrub them clean.  A third group is weighing a bucket of pea gravel from the playground. Read more.

Growing up in an independent church in the 1970’s, I was taught there are two views about how the universe came about- the godless evolutionary view and the correct Christian view.  The correct Christian view was scientific creationism; my church taught no other Christian view.   When looking for a job as a science teacher in 1986, no Christian school would have hired me unless I subscribed to scientific creationism, but nagging doubts about the entire issue caused to me to research the topic further. Read more.

As mentioned in my previous article (February 2009 Christian School Teacher), an English language learner's first language plays an integral role when accessing prior knowledge and background information.  An international student possesses the same conceptual knowledge as any other student in areas such as science, math, and social sciences.  Since the students cannot communicate their knowledge, teachers will have to provide ways for the international student to access that prior knowledge. Read more.

This year, like most of my other years of teaching, started with a few days of “professional development (P.D).” Most of us in the teaching profession start our school years this way. And every year we have to decide whether or not we will change our practices based on what we are presented with.  This year I decided to change.  The P.D. this year was focused on Distinctively Christian Teaching.  I was immediately interested in the topic (which is not always the case for most teachers and professional development). Read more.

I regularly take photos of the many things happening in my junior high science classes. Sharing these pictures with parents gives them a window into the world of their young adolescent's school day. Parents have commented to me that viewing these pictures has opened up conversations with their child about topics they might not have otherwise had opportunity to discuss. At the same time, students love to see pictures of themselves and their classmates in action. My students often ask to include pictures we've snapped during science labs to help illustrate their procedures or results when writing lab reports. Read more.

We live in a world of international movement - a time where it is quite easy to travel from one place to another, and where our schools can send and receive visitors to and from many different parts of the world. For many of our Christian schools, this has led to inviting international students to come to our communities, live and learn with us. But what comes after the invitation? How can we as Christian educators provide the best education for our students, both local and from 'far away?' Read more.

What energizes me when I'm wondering whether teaching is worth the effort? Finding out that students are learning significant things in my class. So, I arrange to get a big dose of encouragement every time I give a test.

The last question on every test is "What is something significant you learned this unit that you have not yet had an opportunity to show on this test?" It's worth 1-3 points, whatever I need to round out the score. I actually look forward with great anticipation to grading tests just to be able to read answers to this question! Read more.

Why the Rate My Teachers website is a product of the education system itself, not a result of its failure.

There has been much panic and publicity about the Rate my Teachers website, and rightly so. A website designed to increase the surveillance of teachers, opening up spaces for the abuse of information and slander without foreseeable consequences. Read more.

She started our first class with a prayer, a prayer that we would become passionate and use the gifts we have to glorify the One who bestowed them upon us. I looked up and she was smiling - it was a contagious smile, an unadulterated smile. For some reason I knew this class would be different. Read more.

Every other Friday at 8:50 a.m. the gym/auditorium at Whitinsville Christian School is buzzing with activity. It's chapel time. An elementary gym class finishes up while the fifth grade tech crew wheels in a piano and podium. Other members of the tech crew open the soundboard and hook up a mic, while the elementary chapel committee prays together and receives some last minute instructions. The students file in by class and prepare for a worship and teaching time. By 9:15 a.m., the students are singing a closing song and prepare to return back to class, hopefully with an age-appropriate message in their heads and hearts. The tech crew whisks away the piano, podium and mic and a first grade gym class begins. Read more.

Through a generous grant by the Calvin College Institute of Worship, high school chapel worship teams from within CSI schools were invited to come to the Calvin Symposium on Worship that was held January 29-31 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Twenty-five schools took up the offer and sent teams consisting of students, teachers, and administrators. Due to the publication deadlines of this magazine, I am unable to report on the conference. So, I moved to a plan B. Read more.

It is the month dedicated to expressing love! As Christian educators, our first love is for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. One of the greatest things about being Christian educators is to be able to teach about Him whom we are most passionate about and love the most. Read more.

"Class, please turn to 2 Kings 12. Today we're going to read the story of Joash." An audible groan ran across the room.

"Oh great...not another timeline of the kings! Booooring!" Abigail D. whispered as she reluctantly turned to 2 Kings 12.

Abigail Dykstra, a Dordt College student, reflects on the reality of Bible-class-boredom that has come to plague Christian schools. I too am a product of 15, going on 16, years of Christian education, and I can relate to students who get bored with memorizing Psalm 23 or performing the story of Mary and Joseph. Read more.

First, some prophetic questions around the topic of teaching Bible:

Of course, anyone (who is a Christian) can teach Bible! True? While it may not be stated, we are sometimes guilty of assuming that little or no training is needed to teach Bible to students. Why do we not value the teaching of Bible more? When was the last time your staff spent a staff development day on the teaching of Bible? Read more.

Growing up in a Christian home, teaching Bible in elementary and high school, and raising four children in the fear of the LORD, has provided me with some insight into the teaching of the Word. As a teacher I often thought: how can these students profit from their study of the Bible? Is the Word really being studied in this course or are we only studying about the Word? Do we have all kinds of rabbit trails, traditions, denominational distinctives that cloud the Word of God and hinder us from putting it into practice? These questions spurred me on to look at several groups of Christian schools. Read more.

Looking for ways to help your students increase their understanding and use a Biblical perspective?

Here's a list of 10 ideas...

Read more.

She was very quiet and reserved when she first came to us. She was quite petite and her face looked tiny beneath a thick fringe of bangs. She was uncertain of herself, but wanted so much to do well. She would patiently wait her turn for help and was grateful for the assistance we could give her. She always seemed to be careful about not monopolizing too much of our time, concerned that others have the opportunity to get help from us as well. Read more.

If you are the teacher who is tech-savvy enough to logon to a blog such as the one you are reading now, it's time that you have a website of your own. A classroom website is an excellent place to keep students and their parents aware of class activities, inform them of upcoming events, remind them of class policies, and—my favorite—share pictures of school happenings. The good news: it is getting easier and easier to create your own "Home on the 'Net", and you don't even need to learn any arcane computer programming languages to do so. Read more.

I remember sitting in an education class in college when my professor said that to be a teacher, you need to be a scrounger. I remember this statement because it shocked me. I was under the impression as an undergrad that one day I would enter my idealized, abundantly supplied classroom with an incredible curriculum and a sufficient budget to meet my every whim. Read more.

Classroom grading is one of the best-kept and closely guarded secrets in many teachers' lives. As teachers, we somehow arrive at our own grading systems by one of several methods: trial and error, copying a mentor, or reflecting on how we were assessed as students. If we were to examine a teacher's grading practices, I am reasonably sure that we would gain a pretty clear picture of that teacher's philosophy about kids and education. Read more.

When I first transitioned from teaching middle school math to science seven years ago, I lectured—a lot. I felt so much pressure to "cover" massive amounts of content; my teaching practice was mostly lecture. Of course, my students complained, but what was I to do? I had content to cover! At least there was one thing they didn't mind: I used presentation software to prepare my lectures. Presentation software—such as the ubiquitous PowerPoint and its slightly nicer, easier-to-use, Macintosh-flavored cousin, Keynote—offers a technological solution for producing visual aides for lectures. Read more.

For several years I have marched as part of fall and spring convocations at the college where I teach. As commencements go, I imagine ours is much the same as most across North America. The academic officers and president of the college, along with board members or regents enter first, complete in their accoutrements. The faculty follows, position in line dictated by seniority and level of degree, again sporting the colors of their discipline. Not understanding the protocol early on, I made the mistake of being at the wrong end of the line, the senior end, but was quickly redirected to the appropriate position where I am quite comfortable. However, regardless of the pomp and regalia, the past two years have become something of a sobering humorous reminder of persistence and success. Read more.

Why? To Increase Student Application of a Biblical Perspective to Course Content.

Imagine.

Every student in every class—proficiently applying a biblical perspective.

Imagine.

If this happened, how would this affect your students' understanding of the importance of looking at all of life through the lens of Scripture? How would this affect your students' ability to impact the world for Christ?

If this happened, how would parents respond? How would your colleagues respond? How would your board respond? How would this affect the achievement of your school's outcomes and mission. Read more.

"Doing" report cards has usually been an emotional time for me as a teacher. Looking back, I wonder if I was too concerned about accurately calculating grades, rather than determining them. Too hesitant to have my professional judgment override numerical data that too easily could be defended. Too absorbed in the burden of the task; not enough in the blessing, as suggested by Elaine Brouwer. Read more.