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 33

My dear teachers,

Rick Warren opens Day 33 with, “We serve God by serving others.”  Teaching is definitely a position of service. John Wesley said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.”  Now that sounds like a teacher, doesn’t it?

Christian educators have the profound call to serve our students without seeking the praise of others.  We serve our students because they are God’s fearfully and wonderfully made ones.  We serve our students because they are the hope of the future.  We serve them for the sake of the next generation.  I heard an interesting speaker this week, Joe Caruso, summarized the way to live.  “Bring all that you are to all that you do ‘cause it’s all that you have!”


Teachers really do epitomize service.  We don’t do it perfectly every time and we certainly can get better, but the majority of teachers have chosen this profession because it’s a call on their life.  When you live purpose driven in the classroom, you are more able to live a teacher servant life. Rick Warren broken servanthood into six characteristics.


1.    Real servants make themselves available to serve.
2.    Real servants pay attention to needs.
3.    Real servants do their best with what they have.
4.    Real servants do every task with equal dedication.
5.    Real servants are faithful to their ministry.
6.    Real servants maintain a low profile.


Although all teachers can be real servants, I want to take a few moments and thank our special education teachers.  I have always been in awe of teachers who serve our most difficult students, children with varying exceptionalities.  It takes an incredibly dedicated and tender hearted teacher to serve our children who can not perform in the normal classroom settings. Thank you so much for caring and influencing these children.  They are fearfully and wonderfully made also. May God richly bless you for your service.

From Rick Warren: Matt. 10:42 – If you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.

From me: Matt. 25:23 – Well done, good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.


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

Karen

by: seddonk at 18:53 | link | comments

Day 32

My dear teachers,

How do you know if you have a Purpose Driven Classroom?  Prayer is the first and essential ingredient.  If you have never asked God to reveal His purpose for you, it’s time to start asking.  I do mean that you need to literally ask Him, “Lord, what is my purpose?  Why did you fearfully and wonderfully make me? What do you want me to do for you?”  There is no doubt that you were made for a purpose, but to live your whole life without a purpose would leave the world with unwritten poetry, uncomposed songs, undrawn masterpieces and even undeveloped lessons! Begin asking Him today.  I was admonished through John Maxwell’s book “One Hour with God” to begin asking for my purpose.  I didn’t find out what I was born to be until I was 48 years old.  There’s hope!  Even if you are older than that, it’s all the more reason to ask. 


It is not my intention to tell you my testimony of how He revealed my purpose this week, but to encourage you to begin to find yours (if you haven’t already).  Rick Warren quoted a Danish proverb: What you are is God’s gift to you; what you do with yourself is your gift to God.  Wow.  As teachers, we know when we’ve been called to teach.  There’s a burning desire to choose the field of education.  To truly love being a teacher is a sure sign that you have been called to teach.  However, did it ever occur to you that your stress on the job and pressures may be that you are just in the wrong niche?  Let’s face it. Teaching is one of the hardest jobs in the world.  It will never be problem or stress free.  However, it can be more joyful and inspirational when you find your SHAPE.  As John Bunyan said, “If my life is fruitless, it doesn’t matter who praises me, and if my life is fruitful, it doesn’t matter who criticizes me.” 


Take a good look at your classroom environment and see if you are fruitful.  If you generally have joy and peace, you are mostly likely working in your purpose.  Ask how you can serve.  If you do not have joy and peace, you may want to consider a different position next year.  It’s scary to step out of your comfort zone, but it’s always a pump.  God will always make a way when you walk in His will.  If you should try a new position, be sure to pray about it for weeks.  You’ll have open doors if it’s the right thing to do.  Sometimes when you switch grade levels or even subjects, it forces you to be the student again.  You have to restudy the material, brush up on concepts, redesign lesson plans and more.  Even though this can be scary, we teach our best lessons when we are first learning them ourselves.  It also helps us to have more compassion for the student that doesn’t understand what we are trying to teach.  So how does this help you find your purpose?  If touching the next generation for Him is your call to teach, it will be confirmed in any environment – even in the most difficult classes.   No one gets the gift of teaching perfectly, but all teachers can become better teachers and can even develop into master teachers with time and practice if it is their call.  Always do your best and offer your teaching position up to Him as your sacrifice of service.  He will help you in all things.

From Rick Warren: 2nd Tim. 2:15 – Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

From me: Titus 2:7 – In everything set them an example by doing what is good.  In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

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

by: seddonk at 18:35 | link | comments

Day 31

My dear teachers,

How can we ever really get a grip on how unique we are?  Rick Warren does a great job explaining the statistics and infinite possibilities that have gone into our uniqueness.  God has molded and shaped each of us to do His will. Only you can be you and only you can do your service for God.


As Christian educators, we find ourselves in a tremendous position of influence. Are we going to create an atmosphere of love and joy in our classrooms?  Are we going to be able to walk the walk? We all know that we cannot “establish a religion” in our classroom, but we can and must be Jesus with skin on to our students.  That means displaying the fruits of the Spirit on purpose: love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control and faithfulness.  Who wouldn’t want a teacher like that?


Not only are we fearfully and wonderfully made, each of our students are too!  Every classroom teacher in America can attest to the varying exceptionalities that all children bring to the learning environment.  This is just educational jargon for explaining fearfully and wonderfully made.  Howard Gardner developed the theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) in 1983 and has made a profound effect on education.  Teachers understand the need to differentiate learning and to try to provide for the individual differences in any classroom.  This is nothing new under the sun! God ordained that each and every human being be created differently.  Gardner's Multiple Intelligences include: linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical, kinesthetic, spatial, naturalist, intrapersonal and interpersonal.  However there is one intelligence that doesn’t get as much attention – existential intelligence! This 9th intelligence is what most Christian educators are – the ability and proclivity to pose (and ponder) questions about life, death, and ultimate realities.  Christian educators know they are purpose driven, mission focused and spirit filled.  Christian educators know that we are alien residents and ambassadors for Christ. What Garden can’t say, we can.  There is nothing more important than knowing who you are in the big picture before you influence the next generation. 


For more information on the 9th intelligence, visit this PBS site or check out Thomas Armstrong’s “7 Kinds of Smart” + 2 New Kinds of Smart.  Although I am happy to hear that they have at least come to recognize the ninth intelligence, it truly is the 1st intelligence!






From Rick Warren: 1st Peter 4:10 – As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.


From me: Ps. 139:13 – For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.



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

by: seddonk at 19:21 | link | comments (1)

Day 30

My dear teachers,

This is probably one of my favorite teachings from Rick Warren, SHAPEd for Serving God.  Rick Warren created an acronym to help us understand how God SHAPEd us for His glory.  The word SHAPE stands for: Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality and Experience.  He has uniquely SHAPEd each one of us as teachers and has gifted us with abilities and passions that no one else has.  Have you taken the time discover your spiritual gifts? An unopened gift is worthless. I was challenged about ten years ago to discover my gifts, yet I was hesitant.  I felt that I knew where my passions were and didn’t really want to get boxed into what someone else may have thought they were or what a test might indicate.  However, one of my favorite writers and teachers are John Maxwell and he had a spiritual gifts test on his website www.injoy.com.  Since this offered a more private and unbiased opinion, I thought I’d give it a try.  It was a day I’ll never forget.


Upon completing the survey, I was given three spiritual gifts according to my answers to the questions.  There was one primary gift and two secondary gifts.  These secondary gifts of administration and faith were not as much a surprise to me, but my primary gift scared me. The result was miracles.  I couldn’t grip that.  I study the Word to see what it said and after a few days, I was lead to see in Dan. 4:2 that I was born to tell of His miracles!  Daniel 4:2 in the NIV states: It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.  Wow! I love that! It has completed changed my focus in my life.  My classroom was immediately affected as I prayed about specifics and was inspired to share what miracles God was performing with my students to my colleagues and family.  I also know that everything I’ve ever learned in technology has been a direct blessing of His miraculous signs and wonders and I want to turn everything back to Him. For instance, I have been given numerous technological tools in my career: laptops, projectors, whiteboards, Palms, iPod, etc and have only purchase my first personal computer recently.  With each of these devices, I have asked Him to show me how I can turn them back to give Him the glory.  With my iPod, I have been recording the Bible for my grandchildren. (I don’t even have any yet!) I follow a daily read through the New Testament in a year format and record to my iPod each day.  This collection is called, “The Word for Our Children’s Children.” After a year, I will have the complete New Testament read aloud in CD or iPod format.  That’s an example of His miraculous signs and wonders.  I could have never thought of that on my own!


I share all of this because it is critical for you to know your spiritual gifts and teach with passion.  Your students deserve nothing less. Can you imagine if every Christian educator was passionately teaching? 


From Rick Warren: 1st Cor. 12:6 – God works through different men in different ways, but it is the same God Who achieves His purposes through them all.

From me: Dan. 4:2 – It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.


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

by: seddonk at 17:57 | link | comments