Middle School Update
February 19, 2016
The Praying Teacher
A Godly Example
In his book Working with God Through Intercessory Prayer, Dr. D. Edmond Hiebert tells of a godly preacher from the days of family pews, who had a thriving congregation. Every Saturday afternoon the old pastor left his study and went into the church, not to emerge again until the evening. One Saturday a curious neighbor followed the minister to watch him. He observed the preacher going from pew to pew and praying for the members of his congregation by name. The onlooker knew that he had discovered the secret of the life of the church.
A Holy Charge
Perhaps we teachers can go from desk to desk, thinking about and praying for the growing lives in our hands. It will be easier to pray for those we know well. But quieter students, who tend to keep in the background, will benefit from prayers that our work with them will have an impact on their lives for Christ. Diligent prayer for students helps us remember that each one is God’s and that each has been “appointed” by Him to our care. Visiting each seat and “seeing” each student will assure that no one is neglected.
A Shared Blessing
One teacher relates the story of a physically challenged student who was struggling with mathematics. The teacher could not seem to find the problem, and the student seemed doomed to fail the course repeatedly. Rather than just giving up, the teacher prayed for insight from the Lord to figure out how to get the subject to “click” for his pupil. As he was looking over the student’s first test in his third time in the course, the teacher noticed something he had previously overlooked. The student performed considerably better on the first half of the test but did very poorly after the halfway point. Could it be, he wondered, that an additional, less obvious physical limitation existed and that this student was simply getting tired halfway through? The teacher decided to split all of the student’s tests in half and give them at two different times. He knew the Lord had given him the answer when his greatly heartened student finished with a B average.
Another teacher prayed for seven years for a child whom she suspected had taken something from her desk. Although the item was small and inexpensive, the teacher was deeply concerned by this evidence that the boy’s heart was not right. Years later when the teacher was at a summer camp, she noticed the same young man hanging around, determined to talk to her even though he had to wait awhile for the opportunity. When they were finally able to get together, the former student asked the teacher’s forgiveness for stealing from her those several years ago, and he appeared genuinely repentant for his actions.
A High Calling
The writer of the popular hymn “O Zion Haste” says in one of the stanzas “All that thou spendest Jesus will repay.” No matter how much we enjoy teaching, taking time to consider the student’s individual needs and asking God to meet those needs will add a joy and richness no other part of the work could possibly produce. And the benefits to students of having a teacher-prayer warrior will be measured only in eternity.
Important Dates
Feb. 23: PD Meeting: Where do we go with grading?
Feb. 29-March 2: MEW
March 4: No School
March 8: NJHS at 2:30; Follow a chapel schedule, but have A block during the "chapel" block; HS will follow a chapel schedule with NHS during their chapel block; please sign up to provide snacks
March 8: Combined Staff, 4:00
March 14: MS Concert
March 16: End of Q3
Active Learning Strategy: Finish the Thought
I appreciate this active learning strategy because it gives a basic framework for engaging students in thought about the content or process they’ve just been taught. It can be a brief question, or it can be used to foster a longer class discussion.
Copy any of the following sentence starters onto a slide and project them for your students. Either on their own or in pairs, ask students to complete the sentence(s). Call on individuals or partners to share their thoughts.
Sentence Starters:
“One thing that I heard that was interesting was…”
“An example I remember is…”
“I remember the teacher said ________ was important because…”
“The most important thing to remember about __________ is…”
“I would describe this problem by…”
“The way to solve this problem is…”
“Based on what I heard, I would suggest that…”
“In my opinion, I would…”
“The best course of action to take would be…”
“I have an idea that is similar to…”
Susan Allen