The Purpose of Education

Take a quick survey of the people you encounter this week.  Ask them, "What is the purpose of education?"  Then come back to this blog and read it.  Okay, I didn't really expect you to do that, so I'll just go ahead and tell you some of the answers you are likely to hear.
- To train you for a career.
- To get into college.
- To get a better-paying job.

I live in the Research Triangle area with NC State, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, and Wake Forest all within shouting distance, so my perspective may be skewed.  You might get some other answers, but I am guessing that the vast majority of answers will fall into the areas of getting into college and getting a job (and a "real" one at that).  I want to say something kind of radical.  Education is NOT about getting into college!  Education is NOT about getting a job!

Don't get me wrong.  It is nice that these things often result from being well educated.  I'm glad that students learn something in my classes that will help them in college and careers, but it is NOT why I teach.  I did not get a good education in order to enter a profession in which I would work 75 hour weeks so that my students could earn more money.  In fact, I have high respect for people who work in mills and factories and fishing boats and farms.  I want those people to have education whether or not it leads to career advancement.  Since I do not even believe everyone should go to college, I certainly didn't enter the teaching profession to ensure that kids get into college.

So, what is the purpose of education?  I believe there is more than one purpose, so allow me to ramble about a few of them.

1.  Discovery of Talent - All people have been gifted by God in some way.  Education helps them discover what that gift is and develop it.  This is an area in which our current attitude toward education does harm to students.  We implicitly send students the message that the gift God gave them is less valuable than the gift he gave someone else.  If a student is an amazing dancer, we too often encourage them to keep that as a hobby while they pursue accounting or computer science because you probably won't make money as a dancer (forget about the hundreds of thousands of people in dance companies across the world who make their living as dancers, not to mention those on Broadway or in music tours or at Disney).  Students need to learn in as many areas as possible to discover and develop their gifts (more on this in a future post).

2.  Brain Training - About once a year, a student will ask "When am I ever going to use this in life?"  This question only arises when something is difficult, so I have little respect for the question.  There are answers to this question, but it also isn't the purpose of education.  Everything you learn makes a connection between the neurons in your brain.  While that piece of information may never be important to you again, the connection it has made in your brain will be.  It means that the next thing you learn can be processed faster.  We all get this when it comes to physical workouts.  No one asks "why should I lift this weight when I don't need it to be off the floor?"  We understand that we are training our muscles.  Education is training your brain.

3.  Learning to Love Learning - First, let me apologize on behalf of any teacher that made you hate learning because their class was so boring.  Hopefully, that teacher is a minority in the profession, and they should definitely not stay in the profession if that is their norm.  Learning is amazing.  If it weren't, there wouldn't be so much viewership of Kahn Academy or Crash Course channels on YouTube: and there certainly wouldn't be a Discovery Channel or shows like How It's Made.  People are wired to learn.  It is why the average five year old asks 400 questions every day.  It is why we invent new things.  It is why we explored the west and went to the moon.  It is part of our nature as human beings and one of the things that separates us from the animals.  They learn, but we enjoy it.

4.  Reintegration with God - Adam and Eve's sin broke EVERYTHING.  The fall affects the entire universe, and it broke our relationship with him, our relationships with each other, and our relationship with the creation.  Education teaches us about His nature through the reflections of those aspects in creation.  Whether it is the rationality of math, the beauty of poetry, or the patience reflected in the Grand Canyon, we see reflections of God's character through is creation.  Despite his lack of religious devotion, Einstein called it, "thinking God's thoughts after Him."  While education cannot redeem us, it is an aspect of God's plan.

Thinking of education in these ways will definitely change your approach to it.  You will stop trying to find the easiest way to an A and start pursuing a better understanding of everything God puts in your path.  If you are a parent, I beg you to stop saying things to your kids that reflect only a utilitarian approach to learning.  Encourage them to train their brains, love learning, find their gifts, and use those gifts to glorify God.  It matters.

The Teacher Next Door

"Great teachers aren't born.  They are made by the teacher next door." - Harry Wong

This week, I was writing an e-mail to my pastor in which I asked for prayer for my friend, Cheryl.  In the e-mail, I referred to her as the teacher next door.  After typing that sentence, I realized that the only information he would get from that phrase was her location at work.  If I had been speaking to another teacher, they would have understood the depth of relationship that phrase implies.

Then, it occurred to me that this relationship may be unique to the world of education.  Lawyers and accountants may not feel particularly close to the person in the next office.  Architects may not ask the neighboring architect for help with a difficult design.  An engineer probably can't communicate a request to another engineer with just a facial expression.  In teaching, however, the "next door" relationship is incredibly meaningful.

The "teacher next door" is the first person you see when you when you exit your classroom.  Depending on the set up of your school, this may be the person across the hall or the person with an adjacent wall.  The architecture of my school gives me three (an incredible blessing that should be considered in school design).  The teacher next door is the person you vent to when a class has driven you crazy.  He is the person you laugh with in the hall.  She is the person you seek advice from when "that" parent calls.  She is the person you can make eye contact with from the hall, and she will know you need her to watch your class while you run the restroom because you feel nauseated without you have to use any of those words.  It is a powerful bond.  The depth of this relationship means, of course, that when one of you is in pain, you will hurt more for them.  It is worth that risk, however, to have that person in the place you will spend most of your time and most of your heart.

If you are in the unfortunate position of not liking the people nearest to your classroom, you should be very intentional about forming a close relationship with someone in your school.  You need this person.   If you are fortunate enough to have a good relationship with the teacher next door, you should thank God for that blessing.

Fine Arts Pep Rally

If you read last year's Yearbook Dedication Day posts (Anticipation and Dedication), you know that a big part of our tradition is a Fine Arts Pep Rally.  Your school doesn't have one of those?  You are missing out.  We just had our fifth one.  In a time when many schools are slashing their arts programs to ribbons, this pep rally shows GRACE's fine arts to be growing, diverse, and dynamic.

As soon as the yearbook is finished in early March, I start doing two things - the graduation slide show and organizing for this pep rally.  Our visual arts teachers send me photos of much of the year's artwork.  The theater teacher sends me cast lists.  Our music teachers tell me what groups they want to perform and what songs they will be doing.  I put together a slide show, and we do some planning in a shared document (thanks, Google).  This all culminates in a big event that involves every one of our students and teachers.

Our school is one K-12 school, but it is on two campuses.  While they are only a quarter of a mile apart, the other campus sometimes feels very far away.  We don't get to see the elementary students as often as we would like, and this is one of only two times that were are all together in one place each year.  The first is the homecoming parade.  I love that the thing bringing us all together is a celebration of the fine arts.

As students enter the gym, a slideshow containing photographs of visual art made by our students is playing.  High school students get to feel nostalgia about art project from their childhood when they see elementary projects, and kindergarten students get to see the kind of work they can one day aspire to make.  Our middle and high school combined chorus sings the national anthem, and our sixth grade chaplain opens us in prayer.  Our visual arts teachers then recognize those who have won awards in art competitions this year (several dozen students have excelled in some competition).  Some of those kids are also athletes, and some are scholars.  Some will also be performing during the rally.  I love how well rounded our kids are.

Our performance arts are well represented.  The elementary chorus sings, and 6th-12th grade bands play.  This year, they played a Star Wars medley, so a couple of drama students had a light saber battle.  The crowd loved it.  Our dance team performs, and our strings group plays a jazz number.  The sixth grade theater class performs a short number.  This year was "Step in Time" from Mary Poppins.

The rally leads up to the unveiling of the yearbook dedication.  This year, it was for our middle and high school visual arts teacher and my friend, Elizabeth Walters.  She is an amazing woman, capable of pulling talent out of students that they don't know they have.  Her students' work covers our hallways.  Without that artwork, our school is just a building.  She is a friend, mentor, and inspiration.  It was the perfect way to end this celebration of the arts.

Look, I know academic, fact-based disciplines are important.  I teach science, for heaven's sake.  I believe, however, the God created us in His image.  Part of that image is creative, and we should all reflect that.  As a Christian school, GRACE knows that students are created with diverse talents - from math to music, from science to dance, from writing to sculpting, from Latin to theater.  We strive to help students to discover them.  The list of names on each of our fine arts rosters makes me happy.  Our students are finding their God-given talents, and we get to be part of that.  Today's pep rally was a great reminder of that.

Thank you to our band, chorus, theater, strings, dance, and art teachers.  Your work is inspiring.

Senior Dinner

I know I already wrote a little about senior dinner in my Reflecting on Students post, but tonight is the dinner, and I feel the need to talk a little more about how this fits into the culture of our school.

This year, GRACE will graduate its 13th senior class.  I have been at GRACE for 13 years, so I have been at every dinner we have ever had.  It has changed a bit over the years.  Its original purpose was to honor the parents.  Teachers did speak about every student, but that was a relatively small portion of the program.  The larger portion was students making a speech.  They wrote a letter ahead of time to thank their parents for everything they had done.  At the dinner, they stood and read the speech aloud.  This was a festival of tears from the student, their parents, the teachers, and the principals.

Our school has grown since then.  Our first graduating class had 7 students.  This year's class has 43.  The dinner has grown as well.  We now use it as an awards night for students, announcing valedictorian and salutatorian, bestowing graduation cords, and presenting ACSI awards.  Every student also receives a framed printout with three character traits the teachers have said they see in that student.  As the focus of the dinner shifted from parents to graduates, the program changed.  Students still write letters to their parents, but they read them privately at their table rather than out loud at the podium.  As a teacher/speaker, I no longer speak about every student.  I speak about the 2-3 that I have signed up for.  

While we only speak for about two minutes, it is the culmination of our mission and vision statements at GRACE.  It shows that every student is well known by at least one teacher, not just on an academic level, but at the character level.  These speeches rarely mention their classroom abilities; they are about character.  We bring the student to the front and share what we see in them and what we hope for their future.

A few years ago, I spoke about a student that isn't a super-positive person.  The next morning, during my first-period class, she interrupted me and asked if she could say something.  She told the sophomores in my chemistry class that they didn't know how lucky they were and how much they were loved.  She spoke to my class for over five minutes about how glad they should be that they have teachers who know and love them.  She didn't graduate as cynical as she might have, and that is what this dinner does for many students.

Next year, GRACE will have over 60 seniors, and there has been much discussion this week about how this dinner might change again.  It would, after all, take 2 hours to talk about each student for 2 minutes each.  Tuesday, we had a one and a half hour meeting to discuss it.  You might be surprised to find a group of teachers and principals weeping over possible changes in this tradition, basically begging to be allowed to stay longer on a Friday and do more work.  If a student walked past the library and saw us through the window, I'm sure he would have been confused by the scene.  We ultimately decided to limit ourselves to 200 words, written ahead of time to keep us accountable.  As I drove home from that meeting, I thought again about our mission and vision as a school and thanked God for the amazing group of people with whom I am blessed to work.  Their passion for this dinner isn't about the dinner; it is about making sure our students graduate knowing that God has gifted them for His purpose.  Our wonderful principal actually cares what we think and accepts our level of intensity.  She didn't just say, "This is the way it will be now, so get to it."  She wanted to help us keep the heart of what we do while making it logistically feasible.

This night is special.  It was special before, and now it is special in a different way.  As the next wave of changes come, it will continue to be special - possibly in a different way.  Whatever changes we make, we know that it will come from an administration who cares about our students and about us.  We know that it will still proclaim to our students, "You are loved by your teachers and by the God who gave you these gifts.  Go accomplish the mission He has given you."

It's All Related

My favorite middle school history teacher, Danny Watkins, used to say, "You thought we were off the subject, but we've never been more on the subject in our - what - lives.  Everything relates to history."  Aside from just loving to hear him talk like that, I'm not sure I truly understood what he meant until much later in my life.

Like most middle school students, I did not yet have the ability to see the intertwined relationships of all the subjects I had at school.  Your life exists in 50 minute segments at that point, and it is hard to see past that.  It seemed like math was math and science was science and history was history.  It was probably when I started taking chemistry in high school that I started seeing the relationships between science and math.  When I was in college, taking the required humanities courses, I began to see the connection  between art and literature and history (which I now realize is the reason they require these courses).

It wasn't until I began teaching, however, that I realized how related all the subjects are to each other and to truly understand Mr. Watkins assertion that "everything relates to history."  This week, I took my physics students (in conjunction with the math club and an art class) on a field trip to the art museum.  Why? Because they have an exhibit on MC Escher and one on Leonardo DaVinci.  If not for space restrictions on the numbers, we could have totally included Latin and history classes on this trip.  Art reflects the thinking of the artist, and Escher's schooling (small though it was) was in architecture.  Is it any surprise that his art work often involved impossible structures, building architects could dream of but not build?  DaVinci is often referred to as a Renaissance man, meaning he was good at a lot of things.  While we are not all as gifted as Leonardo, shouldn't we all be Renaissance in our thinking?  Shouldn't we be interested in a lot of things?  If we were, wouldn't we all be able to better view the created world as a whole, instead of the specialized niches we operate in these days?


Why does it matter?  You may be wondering.  Seeing the relationships won't change the price of milk or change my gas mileage.  Why should I care enough to see the world as a whole when doing so does little to affect my daily life?  I think there are at least two good reasons.

First, it applies more to your daily life than you probably realize.  When I am teaching about physics, I may not consciously be thinking about art work of Isaac Newton's time or the fact that the periodic table was invented in Russia around the same time that the civil war was happening in America.  However, it is in my subconscious.  It does inform the depth of my understanding of what I am looking at.  You may not think consciously about whether the Mayans or the Babylonians came up with the concept of zero when looking at your bank statement, but their understanding of the concept IS why you have a bank statement.  A Facebook friend of mine recently posted that he had not diagramed a sentence in his adult life.  Neither have I, but I do know when to properly use who and whom (and I'm pretty sure that my understanding of that came from sentence diagraming even though I HATED doing it).  I know I'm not going to convince you of this, so let me move on to reason number two.

Second, and more importantly, God's work reflects God's nature.  If he has created both beauty and function, we should care about both art and engineering.  If His patience is reflected by the erosion of the Grand Canyon, we should absolutely want to understand that erosion.  If his dependability is reflected through the consistency of mathematical relationships, then we cannot fully understand how to depend on him without caring about those relationships.  Having a deep and full relationship with God should mean caring about the things He has made, whether or not they apply to our career.  When did our career become the measure of importance?  You would never say to your spouse that you don't care what he does during the day, except for the parts that impact what you do during the day.  You would never ignore your child's drawing because it has nothing to do with the price of groceries.  No, you hang it on the very refrigerator that holds those groceries.  Why, then, do we do that to so many aspects of God's work?  We have allowed ourselves to be deceived into believing that education is about getting a job and being prepared for that job.  I may have to write a separate post on this some time because it is difficult to convey briefly.  Education is about repairing something that was fractured by the fall.  It's nice that we are able to use some of what we learn in our education for our jobs, but we must let go of the utilitarian philosophy that makes us think that is all we need to learn.  I teach physics, but I would be the world's most horrifyingly dull person if that was all I could talk about.  I also love art and literature and music and television and film and dance and theater and theology and the unit circle.  I can hold a conversation on just about anything because I am interested in everything God has put for us to enjoy.  It is part of being what He created me to be as a WHOLE PERSON, not just as a physics teacher.

Mr. Watkins was right (as he usually was).  It is all related.

Athletic Artists and Artistic Athletes

My role as yearbook teacher has given me a unique take on my school.  I am in and out of classes from Transitional Kindergarten through AP Biology.  I go to at least one or two games of every athletic team we have.  I have at least some communication with every teacher who works here, and I attend most events.  One of the most interesting things that I get to observe in this role is the variety of artistic opportunities we have.

My school offers visual art, dance, theater, band, strings, and chorus.  As other schools have cut some of their arts programs for budget purposes, we are trying to grow ours.  Our school's vision statement is, "Students at GRACE Christian School will be grounded in God's Word and challenged to achieve academic excellence as they prepare to use their gifts and abilities effectively to follow God's plan for their lives."  We don't believe that God made people the same, and we want our kids to seek out whatever gifts God has given them to use for His glory.

I teach both science and yearbook, and people always respond to that as though it is strange.  Apparently, I am supposed to be one dimensional.  Our AP Biology teacher also holds a history teaching degree, and he loves them both.  One of our earth science teachers also teaches history, and the other one also teaches Bible.  At one point, our math teacher took up Irish dance.  She eventually gave up math to teach dance full time, but our students were able to see that a person is not one thing.  We want our kids to have a well rounded view of the world and themselves.


As the person who photographs everything, I have had the opportunity to witness this in action.  Some of the leaders on our girls basketball team have also been the most devoted members of our chorus.  This violinist, who is one of the founding members of our strings group, is the same guy protecting our goal on the soccer field.  He understands that he can do both of those things well and not have sacrifice one for the other.  Much of the visual art that decorates our school halls and wins awards at competitions was made by runners and soccer players and volleyball girls.  We also have artists who excel academically or in more than one artistic endeavor.  My yearbook editor just completed her role as Badger in Wind in the Willows, excels in multiple AP classes, and is one of our most accomplished visual artists.  When a student graduates from GRACE, we hope that they have explored all kinds of activities and found Christ in all of them.  They are all reflections of God's creation, and we don't want them to limit themselves to one thing.

I understand the difficulties faced by schools who are wrestling with budget problems.  Financially, it is easy to say that the athletic programs bring in money and should be kept while the artistic programs do not.  I get that, but our students aren't numbers on a spreadsheet.  The contribution they will make to the world can't be measured that way.  The impact that the arts have on a student's brain will change them in ways that cannot be quantified.  I am proud that I have a school that knows this is important and funds our arts programs.  We even hold a pep rally for them.   Don't get me wrong; we still struggle with the balance between athletics and arts, just like other schools.  I think our struggle is often for a different reason, however.  We struggle with the fact that a student can't be in two places at once.  They can't be at cheer practice and play rehearsal at the same time.  While I know that is frustrating to both the coach and the director, I'll take that struggle any day over the struggle of cutting back.

Love reading.  Love computers.  Love music.  Love tennis.  Love fashion.  Love knitting.  Love math.  Love painting.  Love science.  Love Latin.  Love writing.  Love God and learn about him through all of these things because these are all reflections of His nature.

Mission Statement Impossible

I don't remember if public schools have mission statements.  If they did when I was teaching in one, it certainly wasn't stated often.  The private Christian school I teach in now states it all the time and in many places.  Aside from the website, it is also talked about in meetings, devotions, paperwork, and brochures.  For a while, it was printed in six inch letters on a framed poster in the hallway, illuminated with art lighting.  This is our mission statement:

GRACE Christian School is a loving community that spiritually and academically equips, challenges, and inspires students to impact their world for Christ.

As a reader, that may not seem like a heavy statement.  It is only one sentence, after all.  It could be printed on a coffee mug.  However, if it is your mission, it is actually impossible.  Think about what it means.  Our school's goal is not only to prepare students for their academic careers by teaching them the material they will need for college or careers, but we are also supposed to challenge them academically.  On top of that, we are to inspire them academically so that they will want to learn now and for the rest of their lives.  That's just the academic part of our mission.  We are also supposed to equip, challenge, and inspire them spiritually.  This is not a small thing.  We are supposed to live as examples, teach them about God and interpreting scripture, teach them to apply the Bible to their lives and the material they study, and inspire them to impact their world for Jesus Christ.  On top of that, we have to be in community and loving while we do it.  This is a heavy responsibility to carry on a daily basis (no wonder we are all so tired).

Here's the part I think I'm actually qualified to do alone - Academically challenge.  My training and experience to this point have given me the skills to challenge most students on most levels.  Given that I just used the word most twice, maybe I'm not qualified to do that part alone.  I know I can't academically equip them alone because I can't teach everything.  We probably are qualified as a group to academically equip them, but not as individuals.  I guess that means it is good we have each other.

As for inspiration - that happens through magic I think.  I don't really mean magic; I just mean that whatever causes inspiration isn't something I can plan.  God uses things I can't predict to light a spark.  Most recently, a parent told me that a project I assigned the kids three years ago (one that I didn't consider particularly important at the time) has led to their daughter pursuing a science career.  That doesn't mean I don't work hard at trying to inspire my students, just that I can't guarantee that anything I do will make it happen.  

As for our being a loving community - ask anyone who has ever gotten sick or injured at GRACE.  Our people rally with meals, fund raising, visiting, and whatever help may be needed.  We laugh with each other, cry with each other, enjoy each other, pray with each other, and just generally do life together.  That is our loving community.  

I haven't yet addressed the spiritual part of our mission.  That is because only God can accomplish the spiritual equipping, challenging, and inspiring.  Again, we may work hard at planning chapel services, mission trips, community service opportunities, and the Biblical integration of our lessons; but we cannot turn that into spiritual inspiration.  Only God can do that.  We can using challenging words, but only God turns that into a challenge in their hearts.  As teachers at GRACE, we MUST lean on God because our mission cannot be fulfilled in human power.  We hope our students see us pursuing God to fulfill this mission and, thereby, follow that example.  In the end, that is how we spiritually equip them, by showing them our dependance on Him.

Our Shared History

Yesterday was World Photography Day.   You didn't get a long weekend, and there were no fireworks to mark the occasion.  Photography has become so much a part of our normal lives that we don't even think about them any more.  Most of us have thousands of photographs stored on a phone or computer.  They are as normal to us as our speech.  I want to take a moment to reflect on why photography matters.

No one who is alive today remembers a time when there was no photography.  This is because usable photography was developed in the 1820's.  There was image capture earlier than that, but it took too long to be usable.  If you are interested, here is a good summary of the history of photography.  People over the age of 30 will, however, remember when it wasn't as easy to see your photos as it is today.

Remember film?  My father and I are both shutter bugs.  We would go on family vacations and take about 8 rolls of film each.  At 36 frames per roll that meant, we were taking over 280 pictures each, not knowing until we got home whether any of those were worth having.  We took our rolls of precious film to Eckerd Drugs and put them in envelopes that were dropped into a slot and sent to "the lab."  Four days and a hundred dollars later, we would pick up our prints.  After sorting out the blurry, the overexposed, the underexposed, the finger in frame, and other such errors, we often found two or three pictures that were really worth enlarging to 8 x 12 (that's right) and hanging on the wall. In an interview, a National Geographic photographer said he took 300 rolls of film to get enough for a spread (usually 8-10 photos), so I didn't feel so bad.

That little walk down memory lane is not what I want to write about.  I want to write about the meaning of photography.  Our history as a people was once passed down by oral tradition.  Then came writing.  The ability to capture an image is just a progression in sharing history.  Photography gives all of us a shared history.  Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong are the only people to see each other on the moon with their own eyes, but we share that historic moment because they took photos.  When the concentration camps were liberated, the instruction was given to take as many pictures as possible.  Otherwise, no one could believe how bad it was.  Unless you were in New York City on September 11, your memories are shaped entirely by the pictures taken by those who were.

These events all took place when photography was the realm of professionals and hobbyists.  Even on 9/11, phones with cameras were not as ubiquitous as they are now.   The people who took the photos of those historic moments meant to capture something big.  Now, almost everyone can capture what is happening in front of them at the moment it happens.  They can also share it almost instantly with everyone in the world.  This may or may not be a good thing.  On the one hand, ease leads to lack of thought.  Twitter doesn't require that you think before you post.  Instagram never asks if you are sure about what you are sharing with the world.  When film had to be developed, no one would have wasted that frame on a shot of their lunch.  Also, more people doing something hasn't always made us better at it.  People post a lot of blurry shots.  On the other hand, the shared history of photographs means that we now have a visual record of more things than we have ever had before.  What the printing press did for writing, cameras on phones will do for imaging.  It is too soon to know what this will one day mean, but I feel like it will mean something.

The next time you are looking through a history book or an old National Geographic and see a familiar image, think about the connectedness that image brings.  Everyone else who see that image shares it with you.

My Annual Life Changing Moment - Part 2

Warning:  Long Post
In my last post, I gave a rundown of what happens during the week at RFKC, but it would have been a really long post if I had also told you why these activities add up to life changing moments for both the campers and the adult volunteers.  In fact, it isn't really possible to convey all of its meaning; you just have to experience it.  I will describe some of the things that stand out most in my mind.

Meal Times
I'm starting with meal times because it recently hit me that it was particularly special at this camp.  First of all, kids can choose whatever they want.  If they want to eat a plate with nothing but bread, that's fine.  If they want to eat yogurt at every meal, we take along enough for that to happen (and also make Wal-Mart runs if needed).  I once had a camper who wanted a "salad."  When asked what she wanted, she said bacon bits and cheese.  Mind you, this wasn't a salad topped with bacon bits and cheese.  It was just a bowl of bacon bits and cheese.  This may sound insane to you; but for these kids, it may be the only choice they get to make about their food.

At this branch of RFKC, we have the best cooks ever - I mean ever.  At the last camp I was at, the food was fine.  It was camp food, made by state park staff.  At this particular camp, however, it is some of the best homemade food I have ever eaten.  It didn't strike me how spectacular that was until this summer.  These kids are getting a home cooked meal, made with great love, three meals a day, for a week.  Our kitchen staff doesn't get to interact with the kids as much as the rest of us, but they may be responsible for what the kids will remember the most.

One more thing that is important about meal times.  We talk while we eat.  We talk a lot.  It is the most important relationship building time we have at camp.  Counselors and staff ask the campers questions about their favorite food, favorite camp activity, favorite story of the day.  At breakfast, we ask what they are most looking forward to.  At dinner, we ask them what was the most fun.  We ask questions, and we listen to their answers.  Kids in general feel like they aren't listened to, and I would imagine that is even more true of kids in the foster care system.  These meal time conversations are truly important.

Overcoming Obstacles
I mentioned briefly in the last post that we have activities designed to help the kids overcome obstacles.  In my regular life, I recognize the value of competition and kids learning lessons from losing a game.  At camp, we turn this totally on its head.  These kids have already learned a lot of those lessons.  They already know that life isn't fair.  They don't need even more of that at camp.  We want them to realize that they are capable of overcoming challenges and doing great things.  For that reason, activities are planned that allow for this.  Almost every year, we have a rock climbing wall at carnival, and you wouldn't believe what a great opportunity this is for courage building.  We usually have one event with a large inflatable slide.  Some of the younger kids might be a little scared or need their counselor to do it with them; but by the end of the evening, most of them are doing it on their own.  We have archery and darts, which provide opportunities for improvement with each shot.  We have horses, which also provide the opportunity overcome fear.  Two of the horses are capable of carrying two riders; so if a kid needs their counselor to ride with them in order to overcome their fear, that is doable.  This year, one girl had a hard time mounting, even with their counselor on the first day.  She had to have a long talk with the horse to make sure he liked her before she would get one.  The next day, she rode it by herself.  The pool (to which they go every day) is another great time for this.  Two years ago, I had a six year old girl who couldn't swim when she got to camp.  Our coach patiently taught her what to do.  As she practiced, I held my arm under waist or legs.  She got a little less scared each day.  The next year, she showed up ready for the pool and was in the 9 foot deep end by the end of the week.

Woodworking is getting its own paragraph because it is my favorite.  The first year I went to camp, I had a much different image in my mind.  I pictured the little snap together kits you get at Lowe's with maybe some tiny nails and girl hammers.  Was I ever wrong.  Woodworking takes more supplies and electricity than any other camp activity.  You wouldn't want to walk near it with a headache because you hear dozens of hammers, drills, and power screwdrivers.  Kids build bird houses, bug boxes, treasure boxes, and chairs.  You read that right; they build their own chairs that they can actually sit in.  Why is woodworking so valuable?  Because it is so tangible.  When a kid goes home with a chair they built themselves, they have evidence that they can do something bigger than they thought.  When they take home a treasure box, they have a place for THEIR stuff.  That's big for kids who sometimes have to take their stuff from place to place (some of these guys might live in three or four places within a year).  The other reason this is important is that building things is therapeutic.  Do you know how good it feels to hammer a nail?  You can feed all your frustrations into that hammer.  A few years ago, I had a girl who was not feeling camp yet.  She was sitting at woodworking, but she didn't want to build anything.  Our wise woodworking instructor gave her a block of wood, a hammer, and a handful of nails.  She started pounding them randomly into the wood.  After four or five nails, she was smiling.  After a few more, she practiced getting them in straight.  After a few more, she was ready to build something.  The following year, she came with a list of things she wanted to build.  Talk about a moment that changed everything.  That woodworking instructor met her exactly where she was.

Scripture Teaching
While this is a compassionate ministry and not an evangelistic one (an important legal difference), we are able to teach as much scripture as we want.  If you grew up in church, think of our program times as VBS on steroids.  We have object lessons, drama productions, scripture verse break down, teaching time, and lots and lots of singing.  The importance of this is pretty obvious, but there is one story I want to share from this year.  It actually goes back to last year.  One of our teachers told the kids that the best way to learn a scripture was to read it every day.  Our theme that year was the Good Shepherd, so we had spent quite a lot of time in the 23rd Psalm.  This year, a seven year old boy approached the teacher and said, I can say the whole thing.  I've read it every day since last year.  He stood up in front of everyone and quoted the entire thing without stumbling or stopping to think at all.  There was no one at home to tell him to do it; he just did it.  God is doing work through His word.

Pictures
As you know, I spend most of year taking pictures.  Because our kids are wards of the state, I was never allowed to take any at camp.  There is a camp photographer, and that is the only person allowed to take pictures.  As a counselor, I had to be content with taking "mental pictures."  The kids go home with a book of photos, but adults do not.  This year, I began my transition into the role of camp photographer.  This not only gave me a broader view of all the parts of camp, but it cemented the importance of the kids having the pictures.  We have some campers who are siblings, but their circumstances prevent them from living together.  We take a picture of them together and give each of them a copy.  During the year, they have at least that picture of each other when they can't see each other.  They also get a picture of themselves.  We all took for granted that we had school pictures (you know, the ones your parents ordered and sent to grandparents or hung on the wall), but the instability of our campers lives means they may have few or none of those.  If they come from age 7 to 12, that means they get six years of pictures for themselves.  They also get photos taken with grandma and grandpa, their counselor, and their cabin mates.  These are important relationships, so it is valuable to take home reminders of those people.  They also get ten or twelve pictures of themselves doing the things I have talked about already - riding horses, climbing rock walls, swimming in the pool, etc.  Like woodworking projects, these pictures provide them with tangible reminders of all the experiences they have had.  For a camp whose goal is to create life changing moments and positive memories, these pictures provide permanence to those memories.  Former campers who are now adults have said that they still have all their camp photo albums.

I know this post has been crazy long (to be fair, I did warn you).  It doesn't scratch the surface of all things that keep people coming back to camp year after year.  Once it is in your blood, you can't imagine a summer without it.  If you want to know more or donate, visit the RFKC website.

My Annual Life Changing Moment - Part 1

I didn't post last week because I was at camp and out of contact with the outside world.  It's not just any camp; it is Royal Family Kids Camp, which exclusively serves children who are or have been in the foster care system.  Their mission is to "create life changing moments" for kids who have been victims of abuse or neglect.  Of course, the reality is that it also creates life changing moments for the adults who volunteer.  This post is going to be a nuts and bolts kind of post because it will be too long if I also comment on the meaning of everything.  I will post later about what it all means and what keeps unpaid adults doing this year after year.

When you first attend training, you come to realize that this is not like other camps.  There are, in fact, more adults than the number of kids we will take.  That is because of a rule called "the two deep rule," requiring the presence of two adults any time there are kids around but also because it takes an awful lot of people to pull of the scale of what we do at camp.

Sunday - We arrive on Sunday and begin setting up.  Counselors deck out their cabins and prepare their camper gifts so that the kids will know they have been prepared for.  They make signs with the camper names, the meaning of their names, and scripture they can associate with their own name.   Ladies from the sponsoring church have made quilts for the kids, and those are ready for them when they get there (A boy one year told us that he loved his quilt because it felt like security and love).  Other staff members get the dining hall ready (more on food in another post), get the program area ready with a full theater set and sound system, get the pool prepared, get the hundreds of activity boxes ready.  We take about sixty-five adults, and it takes everyone from lunch time until bed time to get camp prepared.  We meet and pray.

Monday - In spite of getting "everything" ready on Sunday, there is more to do on Monday morning.  The nurse, a couple of staff members, and Grandma and Grandpa are taken to the place where the kids are registered and checked in.  The counselors finish their welcome signs.  From the minute the kids arrive at camp, we want them to know how much love and thought has gone into preparing for them.

The kids arrive on a bus or several buses, and every adult is gathered, waiting for them, hooting and hollering like crazy people.  Counselors hold up their signs so that their campers can find them.  Returning kids find the people they remember from the year before and give them safe side hugs.  Connections from a year earlier are re-established instantaneously.  Counselors take their kids to their cabins while staff members carry their stuff.  We have a quick introduce everybody meeting and have lunch.  Then, camp really starts because the girls head for the pool, and the boys head for activity time.  With the exception of the kids who are hydrophobic, if you ask ANY kid at camp what their favorite thing is, they will say the pool.  They swim EVERY day and twice on Tuesday.  Our lifeguard is a newly retired PE teacher and swim coach, and I have watched her teach many frightened children how to swim.  It is very cool to watch her help them overcome their fear and have a life skill in just a few days.  Those same kids come back the next year ready to jump in the pool.  Activities are widely varied - everything from spin art to serious woodworking (like building a chair with power tools), from fuse beads to fishing, from archery to sand art, from horses to bracelet making.  There are a few dozen more activities, and any kid can choose to do any one of them.  One of the parts of our camp culture is giving the kids choices, and the activities are intentionally set up for that.

Tuesday - Tuesday starts early.  We take the kids to the pool BEFORE breakfast for the annual tradition called "The Polar Bear Swim."  It is the only time everyone is at the pool together at the same time.  It is called Polar Bear because we pour bags of ice into the water.  I can tell you as a physics teacher that the change in water temperature wouldn't be measurable, but the kids believe that the water is cold.  They earn a certificate for completing this, even if they only put in one foot (remember, some kids haven't learned to swim yet).  You wouldn't think this piece of paper would be motivating, but there were kids this year who were telling the new campers that they would get a certificate for doing it, and they were very excited.  The remainder of the day is a "normal" camp day, meaning meals, VBS style teaching and songs, more pool time and activity time, and an hour rest after lunch.  We often also have a serious tea party for the girls on Tuesday, which they come to in dress up clothes, sit at tables with table cloths and candles, have great tea party food - it is seriously grown up.  This year, we had five princesses (Snow White, Aurora, Anna, Elsa, and Tiana) attend.  Don't fear - the boys had their thing too.  Reps came out from the Bow Hunters Association and gave the boys real archery lessons.  There is some kind of evening activity.  This year it was water games, which was great because Tuesday was a scorching hot day this year.

Wednesday - Wednesday starts normal (i.e. breakfast rather than the pool),  and the day is reasonably normal until the evening activity.  This is when we have our "Big Event."  About 30 more adults come down from the sponsoring church to help with this event.  It is always carnival like, but this year's theme called for a medieval style Royal Faire, with face painting and cotton candy.  From "jousting" to bocce to an inflatable gauntlet - from a trebuchet to mini-golf to a 24ft rock climbing wall - the games are specifically chosen to give the kids challenges to overcome rather than an opponent to beat.  Watching a kid make multiple attempts to climb a wall and finally make it to the bell is awe inspiring.

Thursday - Thursday is EVERYONE's Birthday.  When I first started doing camp, the birthday party happened only in the evening; last year, it began with breakfast.  I think we hit the best distribution today by starting it with lunch.  The kids each got a big cookie of their own to decorate after their pizza lunch.  We sang to them and had them stand for each month of the year.  They got their presents after dinner, and the evening activity was playing with their presents.  Boys were out playing catch with the counselors, using their brand new footballs.  Girls were stringing bead jewelry with their counselors.  We have campers who have never had birthday parties or gifts (one even said that his mom told him at 5 that he had become too old for birthdays), so a birthday for everyone is a critical part of every RFKC.   Because of this (and because it is the final night), Thursday night can be a little emotional and is the most difficult night to get them into bed.

After the kids go to bed on Thursday, a lot of the stuff that went up on Sunday has to start coming down.  The staff packs up the activities and woodworking, counselors take down SOME of the cabin decorations (I used to stick them in their luggage to find when they got home).  Some of the set is taken down, and some of the dining hall.  We don't want them to wake up to a bare campground, but there isn't time in the morning to pack up everything.

Friday - Friday morning brings the wrap up of all the Bible stories and drama.  We send them to the pool one more time while we pack our stuff.  Then, we help them pack their stuff.  We meet one last time to watch a camp video and have a little "graduation ceremony" for our kids who are aging out.  Every camper goes  home with a photo album that has at least twenty photos from the week.  This is when there are a lot of tears, from both campers and adults.

We take them back to the church they left from and do a little presentation for their foster families.  We watch the video again and get them all checked out.  There are usually quite a few tears associated with this time as well.  Then, we go home and have a welcome home dinner, watch the video one last time (we won't ever get to see it again, so this is not too many times even though it may seem that way).   We share stories and pin people who have completed their first, fifth, tenth, fifteenth, or twentieth year (and yes, there are people who have done that).

I called this post My Annual Life Changing Moment for a reason.  There is a reason that I have done this 8 years, and some have done it for 20 years.  It matters.  This post would be extremely long if I shared all of that, so I will save that for my next post.

Yearbook Dedication Day - Post 1 - Anticipation

I am going to post twice this week - once in anticipation of the yearbook dedication and one after.  The after one may not happen until the day after because I usually go home and collapse into a puddle of incoherent jelly on the day of the dedication.

The feeling of this time is hard to describe.  It is both thrilling and terrifying at the same time.  I know there are mistakes because the job is too big for there not to be.  I don't know, however, how serious some of them are.  One year, there was a fifth grader left entirely out of the yearbook.  I didn't know it until her very upset mother called the day after her daughter brought it home.  That was six years ago, and I still can't figure out how it happened.  We do things differently now, so it shouldn't happen again; but I didn't expect it the first time.  Did I order enough yearbooks or way too many?  I won't know until next week.

I've made my first boneheaded mistake of the week.  On Sunday, I sent e-mails to everyone who has not yet ordered.  At least, that's what I thought I did.  It turns out I sent e-mails to the ENTIRE sophomore class, informing them that they had not ordered.  Of course, that was not true, so I spent a good part of Sunday evening replying to frantic e-mails from people who had indeed ordered.  There's no better start to your week than one big incompetent move.  Fortunately, I'm not also in charge of the education of kids this week. (Oh, wait - exams are next week, so . . . I am - Yikes!)

We dedicate our yearbook and keep it a secret until the day of distribution.  Somehow, we have managed to keep it a secret every year (at least, as far as I know).  This is not easy when you consider there are 15-20 teenagers every year who know the secret, and I have to enlist the help of the spouse or children or siblings of this person to get the pictures and information I need.  I get it from them during first semester.  With the dedication in May, that is a long time for that person to keep a secret.  I hope this year's dedicatee doesn't know, but he or she probably won't tell me if they do.  It is a big moment for me because our entire school is on its feet to honor one deserving person.  It is one of my favorite moments of the year, reminding me every time that one of the purposes of this book is to unify the student body, faculty, and staff.  There are very few things that do that, and I am happy to be part of one of them.

I have great student staffers, who are incredibly helpful on the day of distribution.  They make sure everyone receives their book before enjoying the signing time for themselves.  It keeps me from having to be in the room at the beginning, but it also makes me nervous because I am not in the room at the beginning.  (I apparently have some control issues.)  My school is called GRACE, and because of that, we often don't get people's yearbook orders until the last possible moment.  Yes, I do blame it on the name of the school; I really believe this would not happen if we were called JUSTICE Christian School or Get Your Paperwork In On Time Christian School.  This was made even more evident today when I went to the office to pick up the orders that came in Friday and Monday morning and was given an envelope that weighs 2 pounds.

My science students are taking a test right now.  I'm actually giving tests all day today.  It is their last one of the year other than their exam, so that gives me time to deal with the orders as I sit at my desk today.  It does mean I will have to grade them, but thank the Lord for Scantron.  I also have door duty this week as well as teacher devotions on Wednesday (oh, I need to get someone to cover the door that day).  We have a town  hall meeting tonight and field day on Friday.  Fortunately, I will be doing exam review with all of my students the rest of this week, so that will take on thing off the list. 

Believe it or not, I love this insane time.  It's when I know I am in an active, vibrant, place of learning and not a stodgy, dry institution.  I wouldn't trade it.

Reflections on Four Years of Teaching With Technology - The First Year

My last post was about the lead up to GRACE Christian School's implementation of E4 - our one to on MacBook program.  Now, I want to tell you about our first year with it because that is obviously where our learning curve was the steepest.

Our tech team and administrators were the most amazing cheerleaders through this process.  When we originally talked about accountability in the committee, it had been suggested that we require a certain percentage of the lesson be tech related.  I am SOOOOO glad we did not go that route.  Instead of presenting this as a required duty, it was presented as an exciting opportunity.  Sean, Diane, Mandy, and Kathie (our principals) were so ready to help in any way you needed that it was unbelievable.  If you had an idea, you could go to one of them, and they would help you figure it out.  We were trained in big groups about some things, but if there were things that only applied to one department or teacher or lesson, one of them stopped by our room to chat about the tool or e-mailed us a link.

In some ways it was like being a first year teacher all over again.  We weren't exactly relearning how to teach, but in some ways we were.  When writing lesson plans, we were constantly thinking of ways we could do the same differently with technology. (Keep in mind, this was our first year; so we were on level one of the SAMR model.  We are reaching for higher levels now).  One of the best things we did was have story time at faculty meetings.  We shared projects the kids had done and tools we had found.  We shared frustrations as well and tried to problem solve together.  I'll post more about that later.

Our students immediately took on a new paradigm.  They began e-mailing teachers all the time.  They could have sent us e-mail from home before, but they hadn't very much.  Suddenly, we were getting e-mail from them at all times of day.  I got e-mail questions from shy kids who would never ask them in class.  I got kids sharing links with me if there was something they thought would be cool class.  I had kids sending science memes.  Our volleyball team went to the state finals that year.  A small group of kids, our basketball game announcer, and Sean traveled down with them and streamed the game with commentary.  We got to watch it during lunch and had a watch party for the final game in the evening.  Our students began making videos for chapel.  All of this was in addition to the "on purpose" things we were giving them to do for class.  On Grandparents' Day, we had a family skype their Grandparents into class from England.  We stream the Grandparents' Day performance as well.

I think my favorite story from that year was the streaming of the conference basketball tournament.  Whenever we stream a game, we send the link to the athletic director of the opposing team, so their families can watch too.  For one game of this tournament, we were playing a team out of Fayetteville, a school with a large number of military families.  Because of the stream, some of their dads were able to watch them play even though those dads were in Iraq and Afghanistan.   I didn't even mind that we lost that game because those dads got to watch their boys win.

We all learned a lot that year.  We learned from each other.  We learned from every resource we could find.  It was difficult and crazy and amazing all at the same time.

In my next post, I will talk about the three years since.  We hit a plateau, which our awesome tech team helped us overcome.  More on that in a few days.

National Parks Week

It is National Parks Week, and all my students know that I just love national parks.  I even have an entire wall of my classroom devoted to them.  This is a small part of that wall.  It grows every year because my family also loves national parks, and my dad loves photography.  We hit at least one every year.

As a person who is generally mostly conservative, I am prone to think the federal government should not be involved with things unless it has to be.  There are some things that require federal management, like defense.  There are probably some conservatives that wouldn't think parks should fall under federal jurisdiction, but I am not one of them.

If you have ever been to the Grand Canyon, you may understand that it is not just an Arizona treasure but a national treasure.  There are certain parts of the country that should be set aside for everyone to see, photograph, and enjoy.  This is why I am with Ron Swanson (of Parks and Recreation) when he says, "National Parks are the only part of the federal government worth a thing."  I'm with Ken Burns when he says they are America's Best Idea.  Protecting unique and beautiful areas of the country for the enjoyment of everyone in the country is how I like my taxes spent.

In honor of National Parks Week, please allow me to recommend a few of my favorite parks for their uniqueness and/or their beauty.

Yosemite - Yosemite National Park in central California is one of the most stunningly beautiful places I have ever seen.  Unless you are a hiker, you probably won't spend more than a day in the valley itself, but it is close enough to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and San Fransisco to spend some time in the area.  I am not married, but I remember thinking it would be a lovely place for a honeymoon.  If you are a super hiker or rock climber, it has everything.

Carlsbad Caverns - This park is in New Mexico, and it would require quite a bit of driving to get anywhere else.  I am recommending spending a day or two there because of its uniqueness.  While you can take an elevator down to the bottom of the cavern, I really recommend spending a few hours to take the walk down.  It is not strenuous, and it is an incredible way to experience the cave.  The temperature is lovely, and you see things you obviously would not if you just take the elevator.  If you go to Carlsbad, take this advice.  STAY FOR THE BAT SHOW!  I wouldn't have thought I wanted to do this, but it is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  When a half million bats come spiraling out of the cave at sunset, you will not want to miss it.

Grand Canyon - No parks recommendation list would be complete without the Grand Canyon.  Its beauty and grandeur cannot really be put into words.  Whether the weather is clear and sunny or a storm is rolling in, whether you are there at mid day or sunset, you will get completely different views standing in the same spot.  There are a variety of animals; we saw a deer in the parking lot.  Everyone should experience the Grand Canyon before they die.  While you are there, take a couple of hours to visit Meteor Crater.  It is a state park nearby, and it is quite interesting.  The Apollo astronauts even did some of their geological training there.

Monument Valley - This is not technically a national park as it is on a Navajo reservation, but I couldn't leave it off my list.  Don't take your car down.  The money you spend on hiring a guide be worth the suspension work you will save on your own car.  They do not pave the road.  Monument Valley is the single most impressive place I've ever seen.  Stay until sunset when the monuments turn fiery orange with blue and pink and gold in the sky.  They have a wonderful visitors center, restaurant, and gift shop if you have to wait a while for sunset.

Arches - If I could revisit one park and spend an entire week hiking, it would be arches.  While you can see a lot from your car on the main loop in just one day, you will not get to the truly cool part of arches without getting out and hiking a bit.  Delicate Arch is the image you see on Utah license plates, and takes a couple of hours to hike up to the best view of it.  It is totally worth the hike, but plan your times well.  You don't want to do it mid day in the summer as there is zero shade on the hike.  Drive all the way to the end of the road on the map, and you are a five minute hike from my favorite part of the park - Sand Dune Arch.  I have a photograph, but it doesn't do the experience justice.  The arch is hidden away (kind of inside another rock formation), so all the sand that came out of it as at your feet.  It is so fun to take off your shoes and wander around in this spot.  It is also about ten degrees lower temperature than anywhere else in this park.

Parks Near Arches - Don't have a lot of time but you want a lot of national park bang for your buck.  Bryce Canyon, Zion, Canyonlands State Park, and others are not far from Arches.  Drive another half day to Monument Valley.  You can easily plan a week around Arches without spending the entire week IN Arches.  All these parks are very different from each other, so you get a lot of cool park exposure.

Denali - This park is in Alaska, so I know it is unlikely you are just going to hop in the car or RV and go there.  However, if you like photographing wildlife, this is THE park for you.  Take the wildlife viewing bus ride with the park rangers.  Get near a window if at all possible.  In 8 hours (including lunch), we saw mule dear, big horn sheep, grizzly bears, herds of caribou, ground squirrels (I think - some kind of ground mammal), etc.  The ranger would have been worth the trip even if we hadn't seen anything.  My only complaint about Denali is that I never saw the mountain.  It was pretty overcast the few days we were there.  However, I think that is why the animals were so active; so I'll take the trade off.  I'd like to go back sometime and photograph the mountain.

Yellowstone - When I retire from teaching, I want to work in the Yellowstone gift shop.  This park, located mostly in Wyoming is unique.  I imagine that when people discovered Yellowstone, they probably thought they had wandered into Hades.  Boiling water shooting out of the ground with a smell of sulfur would conjure those thoughts.  Yellowstone is more than just geysers, but you don't want to miss the geysers.  Old Faithful is famous for its regular schedule, but it is not the most impressive or the most beautiful geyser there.  Daisy Geyser is lovely, and Castle Geyser has created an interesting home for itself.  DO NOT MISS GRAND GEYSER!  Trust me on this.  While its schedule is not as predictable, it is worth the wait.  A chat with a park ranger will usually narrow down the time pretty well because those guys know things.  There are also beautiful hot springs, mammoth mineral formations, and stunning waterfalls surrounded by a yellow-walled canyon (hence the name Yellowstone).  They have an incredible variety of animals, from bison to moose (and perhaps a bear or two if you are lucky).  There is almost nothing there you won't want to photograph.

We have seen others, and there are many you might not think of.  Did you know, for example, that Alcatraz is a national park?  The Statue of Liberty is too.  While we are at it, Mt. Rushmore is awesome, but every part of South Dakota that isn't Mt. Rushmore is even better.  Spend a couple of hours at Rushmore, and spend the rest of the week everywhere else.  Lots of battlegrounds and homes of famous people are also National Parks.  America's "backyard" covers 85 million acres.    Visit the park website to plan your next American Adventure.  It is well worth the trip.

Teaching - It's Not Just for the Classroom Anymore

One of the hats I wear at GRACE is yearbook advisor.  This means I show up in a lot of places.  In addition to taking photos in classes, I have been to games, matches, meets, club meetings, pep rallies, dances, NHS and Beta Inductions, art events, theater dress rehearsals, chapels, dance recitals, fundraisers, choral and band concerts.  You name it, I've photographed it.

I was at one of these events this weekend.  The City of Raleigh puts on an awesome artistic event each fall called ArtSpark.  Artists from all over town and students from various schools buy a square of space on a street in the heart of downtown Raleigh.  From Friday night to Sunday afternoon, people use pastels to make amazing designs and pictures in these squares.  There are fashion shows and concerts and a variety of other artistic activities.  Our students look forward to this event every year, and they have a ball crawling around on the street, bringing their creations to life.

It occurs to me that students learn more about art at this event than they possibly could in the art room.  Our art teacher, Elizabeth Walters, is amazing and brings out artistic abilities in our students they didn't know they had, but the most impressive thing she does is arrange actual experiences for them.  ArtSpark isn't easy for her to arrange.  Neither is entering them in competitions, arranging for field trips to art museums or ArtSpace, another great downtown Raleigh location.  Her life would be much easier if she only taught in the classroom, but she knows the value of an experience like ArtSpark.  The kids get to see actual artists produce things they haven't even imagined.  They get to see that there are other people interested in the same things they are.  The four hours they spend on the street is worth weeks of classroom experience, which is why they are terrified any year rain threatens to cancel this event.

Of course, Mrs. Walters is not the only teacher providing students with learning outside of classroom hours.  Our school is filled with opportunities for students to find, develop, and use their gifts.  Trust me.  I've photographed most of them.  We have a student council, a real one, not just one that looks good on your transcript.  Our student council leaders, Mr. Whelply and Mrs. Gill, care deeply about teaching these students to find and use their leadership skills.  Our students plan their own dances (with guidance, of course - We're not crazy.) and our chapel services.  The public speaking class speaks publicly, not just in their safe little classroom.  Our AP Biology teacher, Mr. Smitley, actually takes students to the beach to test the water, the organisms, and the environment because he wants them to get their hands dirty.  Our physics students build crazy things, like hover crafts.  Our English students tweet about what they are reading and participate in online forums.  Today, they have traveled out of town to see a play because they are reading it in class, and it will be more meaningful if they see it acted out.

All of these wonderful and enriching things mean lots of time from teachers.  One of our math teachers was at school helping students until 5:30 last night.  I haven't even mentioned our elementary school teachers.  Imagine what it must be like to wrangle a million second graders (okay, it probably just feels like a million) at the zoo!  Above and beyond is not even a phrase we use here because it is the norm.

What teachers do inside the classroom is important, but what they do outside the classroom is meaningful.

Teachers Never Stop Learning

My last post was about how great it is that teaching is new every year.  As I sit here, typing on a computer, I'm reminded about just how new.

I began teaching 16 years ago.  E-mail had been around for only about five years and was just increasing in popularity as a way for teachers to contact parents.  I was practically considered a rock star because I sent out a weekly e-mail to parents, letting them know what we would be up to the following week.

Google had been invented just that year, so looking something up when a student had a question wasn't really something teachers thought of yet.  YouTube was still a long way off, and no one had heard the terms social media, Google doc, meme, or selfie.  The school I was teaching in at that time (Jenks Freshman Academy - go Trojans!) was at the height of tech because they had a computer lab with desktop iMacs.  We could sign up and take our students to do research for papers.  The library even had three of them!  This was huge.  A student taught me how to use iMovie (thanks, Rick - I still use it), and he was considered incredibly tech savvy..

Sixteen years later, I am sitting at the MacBook Pro that every teacher in my current school (GRACE Christian - go Eagles!) issues to every teacher.  I have written on the board that my 8th grade students should go to page 29 in their digital textbook because each of them has a school issued MacBook Air.  I wrote that book using iBooks Author, and it includes videos that will and links to websites, taking advantage of how their brains are wired in a sort of hyperlink way mine never was.  My physics students have just completed making music videos about free fall in which they took YouTube clips of Felix Baumgartner, Star Trek Into Darkness, and disturbing video of gold eagles dropping goats from cliffs.  Their textbook was purchase from iTunes and include interactive illustrations.

All that description is to make these points.

1.  Great teachers never stop learning.  I was a good teacher in the first years of my career.  I'm convinced of that and have students who stay in contact to confirm it.    However, if I still did only the things I did then, I wouldn't even rate as mediocre today.  The methods of sixteen years ago would bore my students and me.  Students, some of you think your learning will be done when you graduate from high school or college.  This is not true.  As long as people keep inventing new things (and that doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon), you will continue to learn.

2.  Great teachers don't learn alone.  My school adopted a one to one MacBook program four academic years ago.  We were all a little nervous and didn't quite know what we were in for, but it was exciting because we did it together.  Yes, we stumbled a bit along the way and plateaued a little in our second year.  It has taken concerted effort to keep improving our use of tech.  We don't just want to use it; we want to use it well.  In that light, there are a few people I would like to thank.

- Sean Blesh and Diane Scro - You started this.  I know there have been times when you wished you hadn't, but it has made us all better.  You have made us better teachers, and I have no higher compliment than that.

- Sean Blesh and Diane Scro - Yes, I'm thanking them twice.  They didn't just start this and walk away.  They have maintained over 100 staff computers and over 500 student computers with very few hiccups.  They have suffered through filter conundrums, black screens of death, password keychain nonsense, wind knocking out servers, the implementation of a new MLS, customizing the filters for different groups, dealing with blackouts at Time Warner, and the cranky-ness of teachers.  They have done all of that in the same 24 hour days the rest of us have.

- Laura Warmke and Diane Scro - Level Up was one of the most important things you have ever implemented.  There are things I would never have even heard of without it.  Making professional development fun is no easy task.  Thanks for continuously introducing us to new tools.

- The GRACE board and administration - If you hadn't risked saying yes to this, we wouldn't be where we are today.  It was a big financial commitment, and we know it wasn't easy.

- My Fellow Teachers - We've been in the trenches of this together.  You are never selfish with your knowledge or skills.  You share with other teachers, and you do it enthusiastically.  It has been fun being on this journey with you, and it won't end.

- My Fellow Students - I call you fellow students because, as I mentioned in point 1, I am still learning.  You have acted as guinea pigs for some crazy things.  Some of it has worked and some of it hasn't.  Some of it only works now because you showed me how to make it work.  Many of you have shared things with me that I now use in my classroom.  Thanks for the memes, the photos, the links, and the youtube channels that have now become part of my curriculum.  They are awesome.  Keep them coming.