Exams - Change Your Outlook

When exam time approaches, teachers and students alike tend to view it rather negatively.  At best, we view it as a necessary evil.  At worst, we view it as torture on the level of being punched in the face repeatedly for a couple of weeks.  Neither of these perspectives nor the spectrum between them provides for quality learning or joy. 

In my classes, we read a little Scripture at the beginning of each period.  Right now, we are reading through the book of Mark because it is my favorite Gospel.  Yesterday, we read the passage in which Jesus tells us that the most important command is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."  I've been a Christian for 36 years, so this is not the first time I've studied this verse, but because I was reading it to a class, it struck me as related to academic pursuits more than it usually does.

Scholarship is an act of worship.  Whether you are studying science, math, history, English, foreign language, or anything else, you are studying God's work.  He speaks through His creation, and when you study it to the best of your abilities, you honor Him.  Changing your view of the work He has put before you will make you learn it better, but it will also give you more joy in the learning. 

Christian teachers, please do not present exams or any kind of work to your students as drudgery.  They see what you model, and if you work with a poor attitude, they will too.  Present exams as a sacrifice to the Lord.  They will find meaning in it when they do.