CSI Leadership Convention – good stuff!

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Dan Beerens

Last week, the Christian Schools International leadership convention was held at Trinity Christian College in Chicago, IL. In light of it being the 90th anniversary of CSI, the theme was Celebrating the Past, Shaping the Future.

Jim Schaap of Dordt College led us off with an inspiring keynote that highlighted how Christian day school has been a journey of faith. Look for a shorter version of this speech in an upcoming Christian School Teacher magazine this year. (full disclosure – I edit Christian School Teacher magazine.)

Next, futurist Rex Miller (picture to the right) challenged us to with his excellent presentation called From Gutenberg to Google. You can view it via this link.

Mary Hulst, chaplain of Calvin College, closed by encouraging us to encourage our students’ relationship with Jesus Christ. She pointed out that even though we may give a solid worldview education in our schools, we need to focus more on helping kids enter into relationship with Jesus Christ.

We enjoyed some outstanding worship times led by Chip Dykema from Chicago Southwest Christian High School, excellent devotion times, stimulating workshops, and reuniting with long time friends.

We look forward to next year’s convention around the theme of caring for creation in Baltimore, Maryland. As I will again be involved in helping to plan this convention, I am open to any suggestions you may have around this theme.

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Are smart boards helpful? Well, it depends…

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Dan Beerens

Interesting article from Education Week on the use of smart boards in instruction – the question of their usefulness came up with a group in Maryland that I was just working with as we were discussing technology use in the classroom. My comment was that they can be powerful, but they are still largely teacher controlled and that is my concern. Some teachers use them as little more than a projector. I would prefer that kids have the tools in their hands. I don’t see cell phones as being useful for much more than response devices. I think that 1:1 laptops are really the way to go – and that the kids have them on a 24/7 basis….just like we do with our laptops as adults.

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Web 2.0 in the classroom

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Dan Beerens

It’s summertime, so don’t let your brain turn into a s’more! Here is a two birds with one stone opportunity – learn more about Web 2.0 and learn about a cool new presentation tool called Prezi. Enjoy!

Web 2.0 in the classroom on Prezi

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New national Common Core curriculum standards released

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Dan Beerens

The newly minted national standards for English Language Arts and Math have been released and can be found at: www.corestandards.org.
They have been getting some good press. It will be interesting what happens from here.

Update: As of July 13, here is a map by the Fordham Foundation showing what states have adopted the standards.


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If you teach math, watch this!

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Dan Beerens

Here is a good TED Talk about teaching math. I like how it speaks to the need to engage students in their work of learning.

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A must tool for Christian schools!

Posted on May 7, 2010 by Dan Beerens

Recently I have been talking to Christian schools about a fantastic new tool that is available to them for the first time. This tool is called CurriculumTrak, a software mapping program. I will cut right to the chase about why I am so excited about it:

  1. It was developed by a teacher who understands that teachers want to get to their information quickly – it is a one-click system for adds and changes. The template is customizable and easy to work with and change.
  2. The cost is unbeatable – similar commercial programs cost 4-6 times more per year. The annual fee is manageable and doable for Christian schools. (For example, one school I know of is paying around $6,000 a year for a commercial product and could be paying $1,200 a year for CurriculumTrak!)
  3. You can view other school’s maps – learn from the content, skills, assessments, essential questions, and resources they have identified. We can start sharing and stop reinventing the wheel! You simply need to click a box and open up your map.
  4. A new optional tool called LessonPlanner allows teachers to simply map by using a web-based weekly lesson planner. This really simplifies and decreases the time involved in getting your curriculum articulated.
  5. An increasing number of Christian schools are already on board and will be learning from each other.

Isn’t it time you get your curriculum articulated?

Isn’t it time we start working together and working smarter rather than harder?

For more information and to obtain a video demonstration of CurriculumTrak, go to www.curriculumtrak.com

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Welcome to my new website!

Posted on May 3, 2010 by admin

Welcome to my blog and new website! I am writing this for Christian schools interested in working to better meet their missions.

I also blog for Christian Schools International as part of my consulting work for them. The name of the blog is Nurturing Faith and I have been blogging there since 2006.

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