“He’s not going to get away with it this time!” Librarian Jon Kleinhut was so angry his ear hairs were standing straight out like wisps of steam. “I am a librarian, part of an honorable and dignified profession that stretches back to biblical times. I am not a ‘C.O.M.M.A.’!” Phys ed teacher Rex Kane looked […]
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. […]
In keeping with the theme of this month’s issue, John Walcott asked the panel members to recommend some of their favorite books for Christian educators or for their students. Justin Cook submitted the following recommendations for teachers: An Ethic of Excellence, by Ron Berger (2003). Ron Berger is a master teacher in the expeditionary […]
Evans, Rachel Held. Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned the Ask the Questions. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010. Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans is a book that is a joy to read. The book feels more like a conversation at a coffee shop with a […]
This century hosts one of the first generations—according to the late Arnold Toynbee—that does not deliberately teach morality and ethics to children in school. Caldecott’s book provides a past, present, and future view of the importance of educational foundations. In the process of examining what is relevant in an age when educational and relational flourishing […]
1. Fleischman, Paul. Whirligig. New York: Macmillan, 1998. My friend Kim has recently returned to the joy of reading. This one is especially for her. There is a seventeen-year-old kid named Brent who has just moved to a new school. He is nervous and insecure and trying to fit in, so when he is invited to […]
I will admit that I initially did not intend to read the book Shaping a Digital World: Faith, Culture, and Computer Technology. From my various roles at my school, I thought had a solid grasp on this topic—how our technology shapes us and our faith, and how we, in turn, shape technology. However, I […]
Christians have responded to the theory of evolution in a multitude of ways. Some saw conflict between the scriptures and the theory. Others tried to make peace (“concordism”), either by inserting a long time period between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 (the so-called gap theory), or by suggesting that the days of creation were very […]
In my twenty-five years of teaching, I have learned a few things about students: their natural ability is not a substitute for grit; for all their bravado, they are still kids and need adults who care about them; and they will rally together if teachers don’t treat them fairly. I’ve also come to see […]
As a teacher in training at Calvin College in 2004, I had the opportunity to work as a tutor for the French department. I spent time working for Professor Irene Konyndyk, tutoring students for a new class she was developing called “Multisensory French.” The idea is intriguing: find students who traditionally struggle with learning a […]