It wasn’t until I started teaching first grade that I began to see the seasonal changes in our world through the eyes of a child. Their awe at the trees changing colors, the plentiful bouquets of colorful leaves they delivered with eager...

When we think of commandments in the Bible, these come to mind: “Be ye kind one to another,” “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and the “Ten Commandments.” But how about the phrases or sentences beginning with, “Consider”? Throughout the...

Students make great teachers. Watching students often enables me to make connections between real life and specific Scriptures I am pondering. Today was such a time. In Sunday School we studied the section in James that contrasts earthly...

Photo by Hello I'm Nik ? on Unsplash One afternoon, a group of camp workers in training for the summer program were taken to the front lawn and confronted with a challenge. Across the lawn were strewn large puzzle pieces. They were to find...

Image by Pexels from Pixabay Oh Lord, My life has been a constant state of rushing, from one thing to the next. On the Appalachian Trail, when we were supposed to be “getting away from it all,” I was constantly pushing to rush through...

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash Dear High School Senior, You’ve made it! It is graduation time and an end to twelve or thirteen years of studying, learning, and growing up. You probably have some mixed feelings about this:...

Likely every teacher eagerly anticipates Christmas vacation and other breaks, just as their students do. A favorite memory of this past Christmas break is when I spent most of the day alone at our local, wonderfully rustic “Homespun...

This is the time of the year when I start screening students entering the classroom in the fall. For two private Anabaptist schools in the area, I test any new students wanting to apply to kindergarten. If they have chosen to do...

Faithfulness, Part III Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash Clayton Shenk founded Tidings of Peace Christian School in York, PA, and led the school for 24 years. In 2019, he passed the leadership of the school to his son, Austin. Shortly...

This essay is a collective effort by seven administrators of conservative Anabaptist schools. This group of administrators believes that our schools are poised to aid our churches and homes in the call to be the hands and feet of Jesus in...

Parent/teacher conferences are vital to good communications between the home and school. The conferences give us a point of contact and an opportunity to meet and focus on the child, looking at the academic, emotional, social, and...

Having a good seating arrangement can be a tremendous help in the classroom. If the right students are in the right spots, everything will run more smoothly, and the teacher can avoid many distractions and potential disruptions. It does...

Image by Goumbik from Pixabay Find the treasures in each day! I thought of this from a book I read to my class—the boy was disappointed when it was rainy and he couldn’t fly his new kite, and then when the weather cleared, he was sick and...

Photo by Simon Hattinga Verschure on Unsplash Hmmmm...why won’t this DVD play? I remove the disk, insert it again, and try again. It still won’t play. This is annoying! My class is getting restless, waiting on me, so I try to fill in with...

It seems like school trips to our nation’s capital have been a part of my life since the day I was born. As a high school teacher, my dad took his senior class on a day trip to the Capitol each year. As a youngster, I would accompany my...

For the hours of energy poured into your students over the past nine months–thank you. For waking up every morning ready to face a new day with people you didn’t create, to teach content you didn’t choose, and to deal with challenges you...

Over the years I’ve read various classroom management books. Many of them had excellent tips. I’ve also noticed that some ideas seem to contradict each other. Many of the ideas and methods outlined by various proponents are not silver...

Recently I read this quote by John Dewey: “We do not learn from experience...we learn from reflecting on experience.” Here are some of my recent reflections: How should I respond when ongoing demands and tyrannical deadlines outweigh the...

File photo: 2019 FBCS field events Perhaps the only thing worse than flubbing the end of a project is not being allowed to complete it at all. You find a measure of satisfaction in crossing any finish line, no matter how exhausted you are,...

By my standards, we never get enough snow in Kansas. While the news is heralding grand snowstorms in the east (you can tell I haven't tasted much of snow's inconvenience), I search in vain for even the slightest hope that we might also get...