Oh…homework. What shall we do with thee? I wonder, wonder, wonder about the value of homework. At different times in my teaching practice, homework has taken very different roles. Early in my teaching career, I assigned a lot of homework; my middle school math students had an assignment almost every day with a few dozen problems being the norm. Later, … Read More
Excuses: A Reflection on “Calling” from Jeremiah 1: 4-10
The problem with certain questions is that they tend to assume too much. “When will you be starting a family of your own,” the well-meaning aunt asks the recently married couple, assuming first that these newlyweds will surely want to have children and second that their marriage to one another is somehow not already its own family. “Who was … Read More
Platooning and Schools?
Two words that do not immediately fit together in my mind. My immediate connection to the word “platoon” will continue to be the Oliver Stone movie from 1986, starring Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, and Charlie Sheen as Vietnam soldiers on their tour of duty. I don’t know if this film made the act of war more real for an … Read More
What Is Your Best Interview Question? The Results Are In
In March we asked you to share the best interview questions you use when hiring teachers. The results are in, and the top answers have been compiled below! “If your students were asked, ‘Do you remember Miss DeJong?’ at a reunion some years hence, what would you like them to say about you?” “Is there a question for which you’ve … Read More
Teaching the Way They Learn
Throughout my teaching career, I’ve made bold claims about my students and my beliefs about who they are. I’ve often said things like, “I believe my students are unique image-bearers of God, created with individual gifts, talents, strengths, and weaknesses.” Do you believe that about your students? Have you ever made a similar statement about them? But is it enough … Read More
Critical Thinking: A plea for less problem “saying” and more problem “solving”
So much has been written about the realities (positive and negative) of the digital information age. Information is disseminated at increasingly higher speeds, granting the end user unprecedented access to the seemingly most up-to-date information. Social media and blogs create platforms for posting and re-posting ideas, perspectives and opinions. It could be argued that society, in one sense, is more … Read More
Saving Money for Public Education through Christian Schooling?
Jeff Spalding, former CFO for the City of Indianapolis and current director of Fiscal Policy and Analysis at the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, published an interesting blog post last week titled If you think expanding school choice is expensive. I found his examples intriguing as they stimulated some good discussion around the question of whether we can really fund school choice in North … Read More
The Teacher Effect
There was a motorcar company commercial that ran in our local television market, coining the phrase “The Eide Effect”. According to their website, this meant that their company built a business on the values that takes one beyond the “business as usual” transaction. This company wanted customers to know that they cared about the human connection and that this “Eide … Read More
How might Christian schools and Churches Partner?
While we likely all agree that parents share the primary responsibility for the faith nurture of their children, the Christian school and the church can play major supporting roles. Sometimes it has problematically felt like the Christian school and the church have been competing for the time and attention of the children and young adults they are attempting to serve. … Read More
Another Look at Why Parents Choose Christian Schools
Tony Kamphuis, Director of Niagara Association for Christian Education, sent CACE a link after reading More Than Scores – An Analysis of Why and How Parents Choose Private Schools, the Friedman Foundation’s paper documenting their findings on why parents choose private schools. A similar discovery paper was funded by the Society for Quality Education and published by The Fraser Institute … Read More