Coming off tandem bone-marrow transplants in my fight against multiple myeloma, I entered 2010 defeated and uncertain about my future. Nine years later, as I trekked through Iceland this past summer (video), I spent many hours reflecting on both my personal life and professional work. From my perspective, the 2010s will be remembered as a pivotal time for us in … Read More
Deeper Learning in Christian High Schools
In their excellent bestseller, In Search of Deeper Learning: The Quest to Remake the American High School, co-authors Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine take a comprehensive look at Deeper Learning in high school education in America. They focused on four types of high schools that offer deeper learning and/or rigorous traditional learning: Project based “No excuses” International Baccalaureate Comprehensive (traditional) … Read More
Second Thoughts on Curiosity
One thing I am curious about is the heart. I wonder why your heart goes faster when you run. I am so curious about the heart that beats. –Bryannah, 2nd grade I’m curious about how a brain thinks. What does a cerebral cortex do? I want to learn more about people’s brains so I can read people’s minds. —Devon, 2nd … Read More
Conferences and Collaboration
I am not sure how your first semester is going, but I trust you are looking forward to the upcoming holidays and a break from school. As leaders, we all need a break once in a while to recharge and refuel. We also need to take advantage of opportunities to connect with others in our industry around the country and … Read More
Setting Tuition
Boards routinely talk about setting tuition as being the hardest decision to make each year. The reason is not hard to discover. Board members are compassionate and loving people who know the hardships of families in their communities and desire to make it as easy for them as possible to be a part of the Christian School community. Keeping tuition … Read More
Responding to a School Emergency
Prepare, Mitigate, Respond and Recover from Emergencies, Disasters and Critical Incidents School emergencies may occur anytime and anywhere. It is important for schools to ensure that they are prepared before an emergency happens. This resource is designed to help schools and their Emergency Management Teams navigate the process of critical incident planning and stimulate thinking about the process. Every school … Read More
Leading as a Steward
If Christian schools require their leaders to act as stewards, it is useful to think about what exactly a Steward Leader is. It is easy to think that Steward Leadership is just a Christian version of Servant Leadership, a concept familiar to many of us. However, once explored, one can see significant and fundamental differences. What anchors Steward Leadership is … Read More
Now is the time to think about Denver!
I am excited to draw your attention to the third annual Christian Deeper Learning conference February 27 and 28! Who is this conference intended for? This is for anyone interested in deeper, meaningful, biblically informed teaching and learning for students in Christian schools! Just like at our previous two conferences, we will have presenters and attendees from around the world … Read More
The Invitation to Learn
In my previous blog, “The Hook: What’s in a Name?” I promised to share some ideas about creating engaging invitations to learn. I’ve worked with many teachers designing deeper learning projects that invite students to do “real work for real people.” One challenge we always encounter is linking the service component of the project to the standards and skills that … Read More
Under Pressure: The Heart in a Culture of Cool Things
In science our students learn that Pressure = Force / Area. Essentially, pressure is calculated by measuring a particular force as it is applied to a particular area. And as you might imagine from looking at the equation, Pressure increases in two ways. First, if the Force increases. Imagine standing on a chair to reach a lightbulb. There is some pressure on … Read More