Whenever I find a book that I love, everyone around me knows about it. According to my new favorite book, 5 Voices, that is because my foundational voice is a Connector: “It doesn’t matter if it is a movie or a restaurant or a business colleague they want to introduce you to, whatever Connectors are […]
The adventure of grafting Teaching for Transformation (TfT) into our school culture, while intimidating, is at the heart of the work we are called to do as leaders in Christian schools. That work is summarized well in one of the commands from Micah 6:8: “Act justly.” By choosing to implement TfT, we are inviting, nurturing, […]
Teachers and administrators in Christian schools face any number of issues that make teaching very difficult. In my experience, one issue is the decision about when to expel a student. This decision poses unique difficulty for Christian educators for a number of reasons. Christian schools, in my experience, strive toward the goal of creating a […]
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 […]
“He’s bullying me,” I hear in the hallway, and when I look over my shoulder, I see two boys who are obviously friends, both with smiles on their faces, playing with each other. I know from watching them that this not a situation qualifying for a referral, even though we have a short conversation about […]
It is the middle of July and prospective parents are discussing with me and a board member why they desire to have their son attend Calvin Christian School. It is moving to hear their testimony about how God has been leading them to this point. This is one of the most rewarding parts of my […]
I was in a store looking to purchase a jacket the other day, and as conversation developed, the salesperson helping me learned that I am an educator. His parting advice to me was, “You do great work; now make sure you do something about bullying. It’s a big problem.” He was, no doubt, struggling […]
Jan Kaarsvlam recently emailed the CEJ board to discover why he was not given the position of editor. He has learned, much to his distress, that they were concerned that his proposed thirty-six-part-series on the educational philosophy of Hendrick dePflegm (the little-known leader of a small group of Flemish immigrants who hoped to found a […]
For years I have been intrigued by the concept of restorative justice. My first encounter with this concept came from the movie Dead Man Walking, in which a convicted murderer on death row (Sean Penn) approaches his final days and a nun (Susan Sarandon) leads him to recognize the brutality in his actions and the […]
When asked to remember problems with parents, a teacher in Tennessee related this experience: One mother stands out. She complained to the principal that I was not being attentive enough to her son. Somewhat immature, the boy still threw temper tantrums in second grade. His mother expected me to give him individual help with everything. […]