This past week was a particularly trying week with the loss of life of 17 students at Stoneman Douglas High School. With this tragedy now comes renewed discussions on guns, shootings, the Second Amendment, and school safety. For just a moment, I want to examine the latter while skipping over the others, so we can discuss the truth about whether … Read More
What Does It Mean To Be Successful?
February has never been my favorite month. Not because winter seems like it will never end; not because the dreary overcast skies match my mood; no, February is the month where I fall back into my “imposter” thinking. February is most often the month where the busyness and challenge of my work butts up against my own insecurities and my … Read More
Delivering on Your Promises
In our work at Charter Oak Research, my business partner and I have the opportunity to travel to many different places and help Christian schools better understand their markets. Schedules are often very tight so we try to fit in as much as possible in a short amount of time. Thus, delays and cancellations often times add stress and frustration. … Read More
Using Research to Prove Our Point
We all like to talk about distinctives – what makes our school distinct from the local public school, an area independent school or even another Christian school. In fact, we often find different types of Christian schools trying to point out their distinctives from one another; either a lower priced alternative, a classical model or maybe a school with a … Read More
Our First Christian Deeper Learning Conference!
It was the best of times! When you bring together 150+ creative, energetic, and passionate Christian educators from across North America and they discover their shared interests, powerful learning and excitement results! Such was the case January 11 and 12, 2018 as educators who were implementing or interested in deeper learning in their schools gathered at The Rock School in … Read More
Playful Minds
Games can recover play in learning, but we still have to know what it means to “learn.” My fourth grade students certainly wouldn’t need convincing that schools could use more video games. But parents and teachers trying to limit a child’s “screen time” might think otherwise. From their perspective, “digital play” is the last thing our kids need. These games, … Read More
Posture of Prayer – Part 4
Finally, Worshipful, not Manipulative As the final installment, just a few closing comments on worship. It’s a great final element to consider because as a school leader, you likely play a role in setting the tone for worship, leading your teams in worship, and modeling right thinking to the rest of the school community. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give … Read More
A Look Back and a Look Ahead 2018
At the beginning of 2017, I took a look through the most popular CACE blogs from 2016 and developed four themes to keep an eye on in the year ahead in what appears to now be an annual attempt to take A Look Back and a Look Ahead. In 2017, the four most read blogs included: 1. What Lessons can … Read More
Posture of Prayer – Part 3
Next, Submissive but Not Resigned We are to submit our desires to his good pleasure—that is hard sometimes, isn’t it? This can be a challenge when enrollment or donors aren’t where we want them to be and we are tempted to question why we are serving in a particular place or market. However, that is where God put us and … Read More
Posture of Prayer – Part 2
So, this background on prayer reminds me of an idea – posture of prayer. Posture of prayer can be a great way to think about leading others as it is something that can be shown. Our own weaknesses, even though real, don’t necessarily keep us from leading others in a right thinking about the posture of prayer. We can see … Read More