If we ask questions that the student can google the answer to, we should not penalize the students if they do. It’s the same as asking the students to spell a word correctly and penalizing them if they use a dictionary. Instead, we should appreciate and praise their skill in research, their resourcefulness in exploring, and their shrewdness in best utilization of time.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in America
Recent events have opened up important conversations surrounding race and social inequality in America. What should Christian educators be doing right now?
For starters, Michael Chen is sharing an open letter, which you are invited to sign, and a panel conversation, which you are invited to view.
Demonstrating Vs. Stating
One of the first and most common distinctives that Christian schools often share is their great community. Whereas this claim might be true, the challenge with stating community as a distinctive is that every school will say it has a wonderful community. . . . In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a unique opportunity. Community is a distinctive that can be more fully demonstrated for prospective parents in this virtual reality.
Reopening 2020
Your goal should not be to return to normal. If it is and you succeed, you will have missed a great opportunity. We expect things to be different in the future; the future will be a new normal.
Disruptions (Part 2): The After-Action Review
“It has been fascinating to note the complexity of decisions at every level as the coronavirus has spread across the world. How decisions are made matters. How we press the occasional pause button to reflect on our decisions matters as well.”
Tim Van Soelen reflects on the past weeks through the lens of tool known as the After-Action Review.
Conflict and Teams
How can conflict increase creativity among teams? Teams are tasked with solving a problem (or problems), and creativity can provide the team with more options, and more viable options can solve problems. So, what is the relationship between creativity and conflict? Research literature discusses the impact that conflict has and whether conflict is positive or negative. So, the real question isn’t “is there a relationship?” But rather, “what is the relationship?”
How to Use a Textbook for Deeper Learning: A lesson for our times
I always used textbooks in my classes … but never how they were intended. They were valuable for me, as the teacher, to identify the important ideas in whatever subject I was teaching. We didn’t have state standards then, so I relied on the wisdom of the experts to break big topics (Ancient History, Simple Machines, Colonial Life, Force and … Read More
A Denver Blessing to Cherish
Although the Denver Christian Deeper Learning conference now seems like a fleeting memory in the rear-view mirror (February was eons ago), it is appropriate to recall with gratitude the blessings experienced as 375\+ educators gathered from all over the world for our 3rd annual Christian Deeper Learning conference! The opportunity for educators to gather for encouragement, learning, and networking (face-to-face!) … Read More
Finish Well
In these unprecedented times, it is more important than ever that we, as faculty, help students finish well. We can do that in three ways: engage students’ minds, maintain expectations, and communicate gratitude.
Hope in a Time of Crisis
A friend recently shared this wonderful quote from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings:
Frodo: “I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.”
Gandalf: “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
So, how should we respond to times of crisis?