Adventure Specialists' Advice
November 11, 2016
For the love of Christ compels us. . .
I'm working on a presentation for ICEC entitled "Nurturing the Hearts of Young Adolescents," so that's been on my mind a lot lately. I also shared with you about the keynote speaker at EARCOS and his admonition to care about our students first. This morning, Chris Ramos shared with me a conversation he had yesterday with some other local teachers and musicians, in which a comment was made about the love and respect at Dalat. So what makes the difference?
Yes, we love our students. Yes, we value relationships. Yes, we seek to teach our kids good character. Still, how is that different from every other school? Read what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:11-21.
11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
So God has given us this ministry of reconciliation, and we take it to heart. We have a passion for educating our students for far more than this life, but for eternity. We regard no one from a worldly point of view; we are Christ's ambassadors. It's not our love that makes the difference; it's the love of Christ.
Thank you for partnering in this ministry. Just as we see our work from an eternal perspective, we must also see the rewards in that light.
Important Dates
Nov. 15: Combined Staff, 4:00, Chapel
Nov. 17: MS Giving Day (for Legacy Campaign)
Nov. 18: PTO Family Fun Day, 4-6
Nov. 23-26: ICEC in HK
Nov. 24-25: No School - American Thanksgiving
Nov. 28-Dec. 2: MS Science MAP testing
Nov. 29: Divisional Meeting - Awards Decisions
Dec. 6: MS Christmas Concert, Grades 5/6 at 6:30, Grades 7/8 at 7:15
Dec. 8: 1st set of comments due, 8 AM
Dec. 8: Last day of X Blocks
Dec. 9: 2nd set of comments due, 8 AM
Dec. 12: 3rd set of comments due, 8 AM
Dec. 12: SMT Christmas Buffet
Dec. 13: 4th set of comments due, 8 AM
Dec. 14: 5th set of comments due, 8 AM
Dec. 15: Grades verified by 5 PM
Dec. 15: Last day of school; 11:00 Awards; 12:30 dismissal
Dec. 16: Last staff work day; Christmas party
Unpacking Performance Indicators
Yesterday Mark Trescott shared some valuable insights from a conference he attended over the weekend. I was so impressed with what he shared that I wanted to pass it on to everyone. At the conference they discussed the issue of teachers struggling with how to interpret performance indicators that can, at times, feel a bit vague. As I’ve been working with teachers mapping curriculum this year, this is certainly an issue we’ve encountered! Below is a helpful chart for helping to analyze your performance indicators in order to write strong objectives and assessments:
You have to know the content and what the performance indicator is asking you to do before you can write an assessment that measures the performance indicator.
When you unpack performance indicators, pay attention to:
Command word: The cognitive level at which you want the students to work.
Explicit content: The subject matter referred to directly in the benchmark. (What you need to teach. What the students need to demonstrate.)
Implied content: Prior knowledge and skills needed to engage in the explicit content. (What students should already know. Prior knowledge.)
Conditional content: Specific circumstances, contexts, or conditions under which and/or materials with which the student will engage with the explicit material.
Example: "Identify sources and purposes of authority in various settings (e.g., mayor, chief, ruler, principal, and teacher)"
Example: "Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources." (For LA, the conditional content is whatever the text is about…)
Example: "Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis."
Ssan Allen