I am delighted to be working with Edifide (formerly the Ontario Christian School Teachers Association) and OACS (Ontario Alliance of Christian Schools) during their winter PD days. They are moving in some exciting directions – really embracing the kinds of change that needs to be happening in Christian schools. My keynote and workshop speeches are on the topic “Equipping Daniels/Danielles for the 21st Century – Why We Need to Think About This, What Do We Need to Do, and How Do We Do This?”
I am also excited to be one of the keynote speakers for the Christian Schools Canada conference coming up in the end of September. I look forward to great conversations about Christian education in Canada!
This is a very compelling infographic to me – one difference it seems to me is that we get to vote how well to fund education as opposed to the fact that we have to deal with those who break the law. But why is the discrepancy so wide?
Here is an infographic worthy of much more discussion!
Created by Knewton and Column Five Media
You can access the second part of my interview that is appearing in the Ontario Alliance of Christian Schools News Service site here: http://www.oacs.org/Axiom/News/2011/June/June27.asp.
In the interview, I mention both the OACS effort to do curriculum collaboratively through their E-Curriculum site, and through my efforts in the States through CurriculumTrak – a web-based, affordable, easy to use curriculum mapping program designed especially for Christian schools to share with each other.
I am very excited about the variety of tools available and ways we have to learn today. I recently discussed this with Jennifer Neutel, from Axiom News Service, the organization that does a great job of creating news updates for the Ontario (Canada) Alliance of Christian Schools. Here is the link to the article.
found at http://metamorphosislochs.pbworks.com/w/page/20799216/Personal-Learning-Networks
I am excited to be delivering three keynote addresses at ACSI’s summer conference in Columbia, South Carolina this summer! Here is what I will be speaking about:
Keynote Address #1 : Faith Forming: A Foundation for Foolishness
Have you considered whether the graduates of your school are “foolish enough” by the apostle Paul’s standards of I Cor. 1:18-30? If our mission is to nurture faith in students, we need to consider how faith is formed, what and who impacts faith, and identify language and models that help us work with students in the faith formation process. How do we bridge from lofty missions to intentional and distinctive daily practice?
Keynote Address #2: Flock Feeding: Helping Sheep to Flourish
As teachers and administrators we are all shepherds and leaders. How can we best help all in our schools to flourish and grow? What are the Biblical aspects of leading as a prophet, priest, and king? Committing to living, learning, and telling the truth means that we commit to principles and practices that help to grow people in community. What kind of leadership helps our flock to flourish?
Keynote Address #3: Future-casting: Creating God-Honoring Culture Together
As we look to the future, we first look to the past for inspiration and to consider what kinds of minds and hearts we seek. What is needed for Christian education to be a truly generative and creative endeavor for all? What is needed for a true “curriculum” – a journey into God’s truth? How can we give our best offering of praise and point students toward the kingdom, fully enabling them to use their gifts?
Please continue to pray for Japan. I was very relieved in the first hours after the quake and tsunami to learn that my friends Michael Essenburg and his wife Kim at Christian Academy in Japan were OK.
Michael has set up a news site to keep people updated.
When we allocate resources for technology purchases, it should be at the end of a long and thorough discussion about the best ways to encourage and motivate student learning. I mentioned in an August post my discomfort with interactive white boards. Before you spend one more dime on such a purchase, please take the time to read the conversation between two tech/learning leaders, Gary Stager and Alan November, as well as others. What’s been your experience?
As a speaker who goes around North America (mostly!) doing staff development with schools, I always enjoy the interaction with teachers and administrators. However, what I enjoy hearing most is that what I have studied, put together, and presented really is making a difference. To that end, I purposely have put follow-up points in my presentations, and encourage principals to take opportunity to use the questions I ask to stimulate further discussion and dialog with their staff.
Recently I was invited to Unity Christian in Fulton, IL and I thought principal Dick Ritzema did a very wise thing by devoting a day of follow-up discussion with staff around the topics that I raised in my presentation. He shared with me the kinds of progress they made on that day – here is a clipping from his parent bulletin. Great job, Dick and Unity staff!
