We are Crew, not Passengers. This is the motto of the organization I worked with for 20 years, Expeditionary Learning, now called EL Education. It comes from Kurt Hahn, the fonder of Outward Bound (the taproot of EL Education), and refers to people gathered together for a long boat journey where everyone is needed to row. Crew is at the … Read More
Mastering the Master Schedule: Fulfill Your School’s Mission (Part 2)
Review In part 1 of this post, I proposed that it is worth asking foundational questions about how the schedule can serve the mission of the school. I believe intentionality around the basic areas of the daily life of students and teachers can affirm or inhibit the direction of the institution. Now, we look toward the nuts and bolts of … Read More
Asking Questions Is Central to Project-Based Learning
20 slides were projected one at a time for fifteen seconds each. I’ve seen students present under such circumstances, but this was new for me. I recently had an opportunity to deliver such a talk to a large crowd before Sir Ken Robinson took the stage at a Learning Revolution event. Because I was there as a representative of the … Read More
The Importance of Being Attentive
We long to see our students have hearts that are tuned to, and turned toward, God. In our world of loud, conflicting, insistent, constantly streaming voices it takes purposeful intent and a good measure of self-discipline, on a personal level, to attend to what is needful and that which results in a flourishing life that bears good fruits. Author David … Read More
Grace This Time
When Ms. Lang mentions the grape–the one that was flung into a circle of girls–Jackson’s face goes red. “Yeah, that was me,” he admits with a sheepish grin. “Jackson, you know that throwing food in the cafeteria is an automatic detention, don’t you?” His voice falters now: “I was just teasing; I wasn’t trying to be mean. Please, Ms. Lang. I … Read More
I Don’t Do Projects All the Time
I don’t do projects all the time. But Project-Based Learning (PBL) has profoundly changed what happens in my classroom even when I am not in the middle of a project. For my first 10 years of teaching, I operated under the illusion that my energetic enthusiasm and sense of humor was engaging all my students. About 20 years ago, I … Read More
4 Ways to Improve Your Facebook Feed to Fill Your Classrooms
Can we be candid for a moment? As long as there are open seats in your Christian school, all marketing channels should be working to drive enrollment. Full classrooms mean freedom to live out your mission! What higher calling can a communication channel have than to help you achieve that freedom? Understanding what makes your school special is critical for … Read More
Attitude Germ: Releasing the Hold
If Kelsey likes the learning activity, it flies. If she doesn’t, the lesson bombs. Daniel carries the same sort of influence in his classroom. As soon as he disengages, the others shut down, too. If students disrupt class with silly comments, they turn to check if Daniel is laughing. “Attitude germ” is a condition that holds classrooms captive to the … Read More
Project-Based Learning: A Christian Pedagogy?
When she saw from my nametag that I was at the conference representing the PBL Residency, she said, “It’s so important that we provide more hands-on learning for some students.” Perhaps, but Project-Based Learning is not “hands-on learning,” at least not essentially. For the last 150 years or so, education was mostly about educating the head. This is a limited … Read More
Attitude Germ and How to Treat It
I call it “attitude germ” because of the way it proliferates. Similar to colds or the flu, the bug disperses through social contact: children with large social networks transmit it more readily than those who keep to themselves. How would you know if an outbreak has occurred? Check for a general loss of appetite for learning. Fear of taking risks, … Read More