The history surrounding the hymn "Faith of our Fathers" by Frederick William Faber. Includes biographical information about the author, literary structure and musical characteristics of the hymn, and suggestions for explaining...

The history surrounding the hymn "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" by Charles Wesley. Includes biographical information about the author, literary structure and musical characteristics of the hymn, and suggestions for explaining the...

Have you noticed how easy it is to focus on the negative things in both people and circumstances? It comes so naturally. Once I start noticing an irritating trait in a student or situation and think about it repeatedly, it...

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...

Two weeks before the end of school I did something I no intention of doing. In fact, it was a 180-degree turn from what I set out to do. It was a highly anticipated Saturday morning and my to-do list was impressively long. But...

I consider structure and thoughtful planning to be important parts of a positive school day, but, as I discovered again today, sometimes an unexpected, impromptu discussion is far superior to my best planning. This is what...

Sometimes less is more. Usually on Saturdays I dance to the background tune of “see how much you can get done today.” It is a wearisome song and wears me out both emotionally and physically. I don’t recommend it. And yet, I tune...

I grew up believing that fairy tales were nonsensical time wasters. For decades, I never questioned that belief. Then, in a literature class, the teacher offered a new perspective. Startled, I tucked the thought away, where like...

I had never seriously pondered the mandate in Ephesians to not be drunk with wine. Wine doesn’t even tempt me. But is it possible to become intoxicated with things other than wine? Is it possible that other pleasures could be...

Recently in Sunday School, we studied the story of Elisha who was gifted with supernatural eyesight. He had eyes to see the host of horses and chariots of fire surrounding and protecting him and his servant from the Arameans on a...

After two consecutive days of apologizing to several students for my sharp words, I began pondering the meaning of repentance. Why do I keep failing? Shouldn’t I be able to repent – and if I do it just right—have clear sailing...

In church this morning, our deacon preached on the fallacy of basing our identity on things that can be taken away and stressed the need to place our identity in Christ alone. Immediately, my mind flew back quite a few years and...

Since I love to hear others recommend books or other resources that have helped them grow as a learner and teacher, I offer this post. Good classroom management is a much-discussed subject—one that teachers continuously try to...

A bit over a year ago, I was introduced to a new spelling curriculum: Words Their Way . I like it! It takes a bit of doing to get started (a diagnostic test and an unusual method of checking the test followed by forming groups of...

Who of us hasn’t dealt with the “it’s not fair” syndrome? I mean personally, not just hearing from students. I was thinking of this recently when I got bit by the bug – again. It is a sickness worse than the flu bug. And highly...