I was on vacation with my family in Florida when I saw a man wearing a Masters Tournament golf hat. I started a brief conversation with this complete stranger by asking him if he was attending the tournament this year. This led to a very fun conversation and something that I think is a great reminder for us as we … Read More
See the Story, Live the Story
When my daughter was five years old, she was a princess. I know this because I visited her kingdom. As she played with her Barbies and Ninja turtles, she entered an imaginary and magical kingdom she called “Ergensis” and commenced to reign royally. She invented scenarios and stories that involved friends, brothers, and imaginary characters. As I eavesdropped on her … Read More
No More Crappy Homework
In his blog, “No More Crappy Homework,” David Mulder poses a question to his readers wondering if homework is worthwhile. He concludes: In some cases, yes. But in other cases…I would say it’s probably crappy homework, the kind I assigned to my middle school students 15 years ago. I am embarrassed of the quality of homework I used to assign, … Read More
Rooftop Perspectives – A Big Picture View for Christian Educators
Part of the way through Eric Reender’s wonderful book, Rooftop Perspectives, a character states: “A story is not about answers, but making you think.” Reenders succeeds in doing this in his book by taking us into not one but two stories – using the technique of a story within a story, and of all things, set in China upon two … Read More
The Pedagogy and Theology of Leadership: A Conversation with Andy Wolfe
Without excellent school leaders we can’t have excellent schools. – Andy Wolfe Introduction: I was recently introduced to Andy Wolfe of The Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership who is eighteen months into the development of a process of training, developing, supporting, and networking school leaders in the 4,700 Church of England schools that serve over 1 million students … Read More
On the Deaths of Billy Graham and Stephen Hawking
These last two weeks saw the death of two great men; Stephen Hawking and Billy Graham. Both were men of great intellect and persuasion. Stephen Hawking was the great evangelist of science and Billy Graham was the great evangelist of Christian faith. Both men lived lives equally committed to their faith and both died firmly committed to a set of … Read More
Entrepreneurial Approach to Educational Needs: A Conversation with Andrew Neumann
Introduction: About a year ago I was introduced to Andrew Neumann and Open Sky Education at a Summit for urban schools. If you’ve read my blog over the years you’ll know my skepticism for Charter Schools, but I’d never come across an education provider that was a hybrid Charter School Management Organization as well as a Christian School operator. Over … Read More
A Time for Clarification: Religious Liberties and Religious Schools
With increasing frequency, religious congregations and ministries are facing unfamiliar challenges. Recent months have seen a major escalation in the willingness of political and other leaders to use cultural, political, and legal pressure against religious groups and individuals that resist the newest manifestations of the sexual revolution. (Eric Kniffin) Background: Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with a … Read More
Building an Engaged School: Educators Crave It
Review of Prior Blogs: In April 2016, I started a blog series entitled Building an Engaged School because of the misery of educators in their work, lack of stability in school leadership, and the ensuing educator shortage (which is now upon us). The blogs I wrote were intended to help school boards, school leaders, and policymakers to think through what … Read More
Teaching, Coaching, Administrating…Synonyms?
Earlier this year, I had a unique opportunity to accompany my father-in-law (Dr. Len Rhoda) on a trip to Southern California, to Valley Christian High School in Cerritos where he and my mother-in-law (Lee) began their teaching and coaching careers. The purpose of this trip was to meet up with a team he coached to the 1967-68 CIF State Basketball … Read More