Breather for Now

I pulled the first all-nighter of my seminary career last night, writing 20 one-page reflections and cramming for the final exam for my Old Testament History class. I went to bed from 8:30 to 11 p.m. last night, got up and worked until 5:30 this morning, dozed for half an hour before getting up and [...]

Famous, Like, Speeches in Teenspeak History

A few of my fellow teachers and I are on a crusade against the misuse of the words “like,” “sorta,” and “kinda.” The goal of “The Movement,” as we are calling it, is to combat what historian David McCullough calls “verbal diarrhea” in one’s conversations. We think of ourselves as fiber for the teenage vernacular.
Last [...]

The Facts of Truth

One of the first things I tell my New Testament students is that, while I can’t prove God exists, I can prove the accuracy of the biblical record that claims he does. The kids are usually pretty interested by both statements, and we had some really good discussions last week on topics like general and [...]

Summarizing on a Saturday

I recognize the past week has been less than impressive in terms of original content. Here’s an attempt at righting that wrong:
1. As I see it, the selection of Joe Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate makes a lot of sense…in the short term. Biden personifies age and diplomacy more than Obama does, and his [...]

Thinking Teaching

School officially starts tomorrow and I’ve got my back against the wall getting ready. Despite what today (and tonight) looks like, I’m excited to get back in the classroom.
My friend, Ken, is a teacher and, while his situation in the public school is a little different from mine in a Christian school, I couldn’t help [...]

When Teachers Dream

I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that it’s August already. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I (vaguely) remember it being June; July, however, is a 31-day block gone missing. Maybe I’ve repressed it, but the fact that I’m blogging about this is a prime sign [...]

Summer Seminar: A Summary (part 2)

After another 50 miles of biking on the Mickelson Trail (broken up over two days), the novelty of the South Dakota experience began to wear thin. At times, it was downright burdensome, as I was dealing with 28 high school seniors who I so desperately wanted to see “get it” with regard to the academic [...]

Summer Seminar

Beginning Monday, I’m out of town for the next two weeks as one of seven staff taking 28 soon-to-be-seniors on Westminster’s Summer Seminar to South Dakota. Though I hate being away from Megan and the girls that long, I’m looking forward to the trip. Here’s the official write-up:
“The Summer Seminar in Liberal Arts is an [...]

Top Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Last Year

Here’s a list I prepared and presented yesterday at Westminster’s new teacher induction:
10. Don’t let the physical exhaustion you experience during the first week of school scare you. Though it’s tiring, give your body a chance to catch up from summer (it’ll take a good week).
9. Just because a student smiles at you doesn’t mean [...]

Summer Plans

My friend, Ed, asked for a post on what summer holds. Here it is.
1. I’m one of seven Westminster teachers taking 28 high school students on Summer Seminar to South Dakota for two weeks in June. Over the course of a 12-day trip to and through the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota, students will explore [...]

Danny and Chaz

It’s been a heavy couple of days on the blog this week. While I know I still owe a post on Bible hermeneutics, between today being the last day of school and me trying to grade 105 final exams, it’s just not going to happen until next week. I’m sorry. This is not meant as [...]

Two Million Minutes

Westminster didn’t have school last Friday as we teachers had a teacher in-service during which we watched the short film, Two Million Minutes. Here’s the spiel:
“Regardless of nationality, as soon as a student completes the 8th grade, the clock starts ticking. From that very moment the child has approximately Two Million Minutes until high school [...]

Five Things of Late

1. I can’t remember where I read it, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea that, with the proliferation of so many news/infotainment sites, headlines tend to be more and more alarmist in nature so as to capture (and re-capture) readership. No wonder the world feels like it’s falling apart at such a [...]

No Joke

I had an appointment for some academic advising at Covenant this afternoon and, in the process of doing the old degree audit and figuring out what I’ve taken and what I still need to take, I got some good news this April Fool’s Day.
Barring any major screw-ups, I should finish my MA in Theological Studies [...]

Becoming More Like Them (part 2)

I resonate with Campagnola’s assessment, particularly when she writes:
“The contemporary church has often understood this verse (Matthew 18:3) to teach what great kingdom citizen character looks like – a child-like faith, humble and meek and ever ready to believe in Jesus. But Jesus took the disciples beyond the questions of character and greatness and challenged [...]

Becoming More Like Them (part 1)

“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus, Matthew 18:3

“If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree,
I’ll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up, not me!”
Peter Pan, “I Won’t Grow Up”

Child-like. Childish. In most adult [...]

The Ideology of Rationality

Susan Jacoby’s name has been floating around several sites I frequent and enjoy, so I thought I’d read up a little on why. Jacoby is a former education reporter for The Washington Post, now an author whose new book, The Age of American Unreason, comes out in a couple of weeks (she wrote Freethinkers: A [...]

It’s for the Kids

In a class on the topic of children’s ministry this weekend at Covenant. Regardless of how what I learn gets used in the church, having four kids in the age range, I’m interested (I figure it’s time to go back and learn what I thought I already knew about children and any ministry to them [...]

On Reading, Thinking, Learning

The best part about education is the worst part about education: the more you learn, the more you realize how much there is to learn. And then comes the worst realization of all: there’s no way or time to learn it all. And that stinks.
I experience this sensation everytime I walk into a library or [...]

The Database Curiosity Project

I wrote up a fairly cool little assignment for my Ethics classes this morning and thought I’d share it with you. I’m calling it the “Database Curiosity Project” and it goes like this:

Using the resources available to you through our library, search in these two databases (do not use the others, as they will not [...]