Purpose Driven Classroom

The purpose of this blog is to encourage Christian Educators to recognize their high calling as a teacher. We will be studying the Book of Esther for the next few months. Join us for this ten part study and don't forget to comment on how you think this applies to the classroom. May God help you to see your purpose for Him as a missionary in our schools in America.

Day 29

My dear teachers,

God has designed you to make a difference in life.  As Rick Warren explains, whenever you are serving others in any way, you are serving God. If you are a Christian, you are a minister and when you are serving, you are ministering.  CEAI, Christian Educators Association, Int. has always encouraged, equipped and empowered teachers to display God’s way of living in the classroom.  Did it ever occur to you that you are ministering?  It doesn’t have to be such a mysterious word.  Serving and ministering are synonyms in the Bible.  Our students are so needy.  Being a Christian educator in the public schools is ministering.  The public schools are the only institution that I know that must accept everyone.  How else can you serve everyone if you don’t have Jesus Christ living in you everyday?


One of the most important areas of serving your school is making sure it is covered in prayer.  CEAI has created a very new website that will eventually show EVERY school in America covered in prayer.  Can you imagine how amazing that will be?  We know that many schools have Moms In Touch, youth groups, FCA huddles, teachers and other stakeholders praying for the schools near them, but imagine if at least one prayer coach stepped up an served that school by making the prayer requests known for others to pray?  Imagine being able to go on the website, Raise Your Hand, www.raiseyourhand.us, and see every school in America claimed and covered by a prayer coach willing to make sure their school is covered in prayer. It is the tie that binds us. If you go on the site today, you will find only a few schools covered.  That’s why we need you to pray about this and help in any way that you can.

Here is something you can do right away.  Ask your prayer warriors at your church to pray for your school.  Ask the youth group at your church to become involved in praying for the students and teachers on a daily basis.  Start a prayer group on your campus.  But most of all, become the prayer coach or find someone who would be willing to enter prayer requests on Raise Your Hand.  The requests never compromise names and specifics however,students, teachers and family members who pray will know exactly who they are lifting up.  Will you join us?  Please pray about it.  May God be given the glory as we pray for all the students, teachers, paraprofessional, administrators and needs of the schools in America.

For more information, feel free to contact me at Karen@ceai.org or Judy at judy@ceai.org.


From Rick Warren: Eph. 2:10 – For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God ordained in advance for us to do.

From me: Prov. 2: 3-5 – Cry out or wisdom, and beg for understanding.  Search for it like hidden treasure.  Then you will understand respect for the Lord, and you will find that you know God.

Until next time, I am…..

Prayerfully yours,Karen

by: seddonk at 14:39 | link | comments

Day 28

My dear teachers,

Everything on earth has its own time and its own season. (Eccl. 3:1) Our whole career is a work in progress.  If God has called you to become an educator, He will see to it that you fulfill that call.  Teaching is rewarding and discouraging and can take you on a bumpy ride.  It is critically important to develop patience with your growth.  Our maturity in teaching is very much like our maturity in our Christian walk.  It takes time.  In this 28th chapter of the Purpose Drive Life by Rick Warren, he explains that when God want to make a mushroom, He does it overnight, but when He wants to make a giant oak, he takes a hundred years.  Years ago people wore a popular button with the letters PBPGINFWMY. It stood for “Please Be Patient, God Is Not Finished With Me Yet.” God is not finished with you as a teacher either.  It takes time to become an effective teacher and there will always be room for improvement at every stage.


I would love to encourage you to write a teaching journal.  It is something we all mean to do and somehow leave to the wayside.  However, if you are going to make any real gains in your professional and your much more important spiritual life, how can you know if you’ve made any progress or have learned from your mistakes if you have nothing to compare?  Journaling can come in all forms.  It doesn’t have to take a lot of time, but it does have to become a habit.  I journal every morning by writing a half page letter to God.  I begin with a scripture that I have “flopped” to and reflect on how it may apply to me for the day.  Often I will tell Him how grateful I am for specifics that have happened or leave an open question or a request.  Most of the time, I just tell Him how much I appreciate Him.  I used to journal in nice little journal notebooks that now sit on the shelf.  Five years ago, I started using a large three-ringed binder with notebook paper.  I dated the top half of the paper and write my daily entry.  The next day, I used a new sheet of paper and wrote only on the top half of the next page.  I continued this pattern for the whole year which gave me 365 pieces of paper!  As I began the second year’s entries, I wrote on the bottom half of the page comparing the two Scriptures. (I’ve actually only “flopped” to the exact same verse a few times in five years!) I am now in my 5th loop through this journal and I make a habit of reading each of my entries from the previous years on a daily basis.  What a power testimony to His intervention in my life and His amazing love.  I can also see prayer requests that were SO important years ago that have been answered with YES and NO and am so excited that He always knows what’s best for me.


I know you are busy.  I know that you think you can’t fit one more thing in your day.  But if you woke up just 15 minutes earlier and dedicated that time every day, your growth as a teacher, a person and most importantly a child of God will be confirmed.  Praise God for allowing us to be teachers.  What a blessing.

From Rick Warren: Phil. 1: 6 – I am sure that God Who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in His grace until His task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns.

From me: Ps. 66:16 – Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what He has done for me.

Until next time, I am…..
Prayerfully yours,
Karen

by: seddonk at 20:30 | link | comments

Day 27

My dear teachers,

We are all tempted.  We are not alone. Rick Warren explains that the battle for sin is won or lost in your mind.  You can’t always fight the thought, but you can change the channel.  I remember when our girls were little and they had a bad dream.  Daddy would go in and comfort them and tell them to change the channel.  It really worked.  It’s the same with temptation.  The more you dwell on that which tempts you the more likely you are to go from thinking about it to actually sinning.  The Bible always gives us the best advice.  In James 5:16, it is written:  Confess your faults to one another, and pray one for another.  In the Purpose Drive Life, Rick Warren says, “Don’t repress it; confess it! Don’t conceal it; reveal it."  Revealing your feeling is the beginning of healing.

 

Now that does not mean that you need to broadcast your deepest thoughts to the whole world, but there is great wisdom in having an accountability partner.  As teachers, it seems that we spend more of our time in school than home, so I would like to encourage you to pray about a Christian colleague to come along side you for strength in your weakness.  Sometimes our greatest temptations are at school.  We can become tempted to raise our voices and lose our tempers (is it any wonder?) We can be indifferent or insensitive to our students without even realizing it.  We can be prideful about our teaching methods or even classroom supplies.  Teaching is the most dynamic job in the world.  No two moments are the same.  There is nothing routine about teaching, even if you teach the same lesson more than once, it never comes out the same.  For this same reason, we can have more opportunity to stumble.  As each of our students bring them own issues to class compounded by our own personal and emotional concerns, there are far too many pitfalls to go it alone.

 

One of the most amazing things about being a Christian educator is that too often we have kept to ourselves in school because we think we cannot profess our Christianity.  We can’t establish our religion in school but we must walk our walk.  Because so many teachers feel that they have to lead a dual life: one as a teacher in school and one as a Christian outside of school, we often don’t realize that some of our dearest colleagues are Christian.  It’s hard to believe, but it has happened to me time and time again that I know I cannot be alone in this situation.  Ask God to show you someone of the same sex on your campus who loves Him like you do and develop a relationship of joy together.  That common bond that ties us together is magnetic if we praise Him for our connection.  Take advantage of being each other’s accountability partners.  Meet as often as you can, pray, praise and confess to one another.  This will definitely help lesson those times of temptation and help you both to mature in your Christian walk.  May God bless you and your students, and of course, your new accountability partner.

 

From Rick Warren: James 1:12 - God blesses the people who patiently endure testing.  Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

From me: Amos 3:3 - Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Until next time, I am…..

Prayerfully yours,
Karen

by: seddonk at 17:41 | link | comments

Day 26

My dear teachers,

In our "Day 26" study in the Purpose Drive Classroom adaptation of the Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren states that on the path to spiritual maturity, even temptation becomes a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block when you realize that it is just as much an occasion to do the right thing as it is to do the wrong thing. Temptation simply provides the choice. God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you’re tempted to express the exact opposite quality! Character development always involves a choice and temptation provides that opportunity.

 

How many times are we admonished to teach character development in the classroom? It always made me giggle at the thought as if it were a subject that could be taught. Every teacher teaches character development to their students with every word and every move he/she makes. Let’s take a look at our character development as we make a daily impact on our students. There are three areas that are easy preys to temptation: our physical display, our emotional display and our spiritual display.

 

How easy is it to take the path of low resistance and come to class dressed casually? It is so easy to put on jeans and a t-shirt and our proud lanyard and call it our uniform, isn’t it? One of my principals taught me early on that dressing professionally speaks volumes to our students. For guys, you don’t have to wear a suit, but look around campus and notice the male teachers who always wear a neatly pressed shirt and a tie. It’s a subtle message to our students that we took the time to dress for an important occasion - the opportunity to teach them! For the ladies, it’s much more open. We don’t need to wear dresses and suits, but special attention to a matching outfit that is worn for a special occasion makes you feel good and your students take notice. Anyone who has taught middle and high school knows that they check us out from head to toe. Why not give them something to admire rather than criticize? We want our salaries to reflect our professionalism. Let our attire do the same.

 

Our classroom environment is set by us. If we are loud, our classes are loud. If we are soft-spoken, our students are soft-spoken. It never ceases to amaze me how the smallest and quietest teachers have command over their classrooms without ever raising their voices. It’s a choice and a presence. It’s always a temptation to raise your voice to get their attention but a soft voice always turns away anger (Prov. 15:1) It is very difficult not to bring our emotional baggage into the classroom, but it is our duty not to complicate their lives with our problems. How many of us ask them to leave their bad attitudes and behavior outside our classrooms before they enter? We must do the same thing for them. Kids can always sense our emotions, but an open display of them is a temptation. Choose to keep a lid on extreme emotions to create a welcoming classroom environment. It’s not easy, that’s why it’s called character development.

 

Finally, I’d like to encourage you to look at your spiritual display. God has given us the fruits of the Spirit as our spiritual display to others. Do we have love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control and faithfulness on display in our classrooms? Now before you get discouraged, no one displays them all perfectly or they would be Jesus, but we can all learn to mature in each of them for the sake or our students. Start with just one. Identify where you are tempted to be just the opposite and strive to find ways to "grow that fruit."

 

Remember, the temptation is not the problem. The choice to give into it is. Martin Luther said, "You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair." Choose to do the right thing.

 

From Rick Warren: James 1:12 - God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

From me: Phil.1:9-11 - And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

 

Until next time, I am…..

 

Prayerfully yours,

Karen

 

by: seddonk at 07:27 | link | comments

Day 25

My dear teachers,

The title of this Day 25 study in Rick Warren’s Purpose Drive Life book is Transformed by Trouble.  He explains that God has a purpose behind every problem. Problems force us to look to God and depend on Him instead of ourselves.  In fact, he made it very clear that you’ll never know that God is all you need until God is all you’ve got! In our schools, I can think of no other person on campus who bears more trouble than our principals. 

 

I would like to dedicate this post to encouraging our administrators.  Being a principal is a lonely job.  Who can he/she really confide in?  Who can he/she go to for advice? Most everything that comes across the plate of an administrator is trouble and is also confidential.  Think about the pressures of a principal for a moment.  They bear the troubles of the students, paraprofessionals, students and parents.  The administrator at a school sets the pace for the culture, environment and philosophy of the school. When our administrators are purpose driven and on a mission, there is a clear sense of importance on our campuses.  When our principals are burdened by the huge weight of the school’s troubles, there is a clear sense of difficulty on campus.

 

Our first priority in prayer at school should always be for the students God has placed in our care for the year, but I would like to admonish you to pray for your administrators next.  Anyone who has taught for a few years and has had more than one administrator understands how much influence a purpose driven principal has and what a positive atmosphere can be created.  Pray for wisdom and purpose for your administrators.  Ask God to help them see their purpose.  Christian principals are such a blessing to a school particularly when they are purpose driven, spirit-filled and mission focused. What we can learn from someone who lives on purpose, is that everything we do and say matters.  Pray for your administrator’s vision.

 

Finally, let your administrator know that you are praying for them. Sometimes, that is very awkward, but it is essential.  Don’t be afraid.  Prayer is God’s will.  He will give you what you need. Encourage other teachers to join you in specific prayer for the direction of your school under the leadership of your administrators.  You will be amazed what can happen to a school when its people are humbly petitioning God for its needs.  Don’t forget to give thanks when things go well. 

 

One of the most powerful thanks you can give your principal is an occasional note of thanks or encouragement (particularly to the ones who are struggling or the ones you don’t like.) They are in such a lonely position.  Who better to send comfort than a Christian educator like you?

 

From Rick Warren: Roms. 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

From me: Phil.2:3 - When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others tan to yourselves.  Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others.

 

Until next time, I am…..

Prayerfully yours,
Karen

by: seddonk at 06:02 | link | comments (1)