Take one apprehensive student-teacher in 1963, bred and raised in the almost all-white, at the time, Christian day-school system in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Place him in the first public school that he had ever been in longer than the four quarters of a high school city league basketball game. Add the cultural unfamiliarity of a […]
About a decade ago, Emma came into my class, eager to learn. She was the dream eighth-grade student. She was funny and thoughtful, and she viewed the world through the eyes of someone much older. Her faith was deep, her understanding of Scripture mature, and her convictions sincere. I could go on, but she was […]
Many people experience a defining moment that shapes what they will become. While I was teaching at an urban alternative high school, that moment came for me when a student screamed a string of expletives in my face. Standing there, armed with my master’s degree and ten years of classroom experience, it struck me that […]
On Sunday, September 10, 2017, one of the biggest hurricanes in history slammed into the Florida Keys. Hurricane Irma’s projected path and strength prompted the largest evacuation of Florida in history. Irma first came on my radar (pun intended) the weekend before it hit. If there is a positive side to hurricanes, it is the […]
The most accurate depiction of any given day in a student teacher’s life must start at about 10 p.m. Any good student teacher attempts to get a minimum of eight hours of solid sleep because they know that teaching requires you to be able to stand up for long periods of time. The issue with […]
Day: Thursday My mission, should I choose to accept it: In my one full day of work on this campus, impart a love of reading, match students with books, and teach writing, history, math, Bible, art appreciation, and library skills. 0920 hours: Fifth grade. They have worked for a month on biographies in class, preparing […]
While this is my first year teaching language arts, it is my fourth year at the American School of Guatemala (ASG). ASG is a bicultural, bilingual school serving mostly Guatemalan families, along with a small percentage of international families. I moved to Guatemala to work with a faith-based nongovernmental organization (NGO). After three years of […]
Mary Boerman Lagerway, an English and Bible Teacher at Illiana Christian High School in Lansing, Illinois, agreed to start us off with this examination of thoughts, actions, and spoken words that thread through her day—Eds. What time is it? 7:13 already? I’m later than usual, but I don’t even know why. My usual morning routine […]
You don’t need a calendar to know that school is back in session. Campuses across the country are freshly manicured, halls are scrubbed, and even the trees are getting all dressed up. Counting students, parents, educators, support staff, and you and me, one out of every four persons in America left for school this morning, […]
For most, reading is a pleasurable skill that is acquired almost imperceptibly. I’ve heard it’s like waking up one morning suddenly knowing how to make sense of the jumble of letters on a page, almost effortlessly, without even having to move your lips. At least that’s what I’ve heard. It’s not like that for me. […]