When does learning happen?

I was recently surprised by an answer to a good question. Here’s the question asked by a teacher, both of himself and his audience of educators: How do I know when my students are learning?

“I know that they are learning by the questions they ask of me or each other in response to what we are doing.” His response was excellent and pointed to the fact that learning is not a destination, but a pathway that moves to further learning and, when good council is present to guide - wisdom. Many times teachers will comment that they have prepared a set of great questions to ask of students, only to have them be cast aside for different pathways of learning brought about by fantastic questions students offered in response.

A former high school teacher in my life used to close out Friday afternoons with us and pray a blessing over us before we departed. Anticipating the opportunities and pathways, some of them not worth taking, that we may encounter before Monday morning, I remember her frequent expression “remember who you are and why you are here.” The often used words were offered with a quick smile and with a humorous tone, but I was certain then that there was a real level of challenge that was meant to be taken quite seriously. That phrase was used with enough regularity that we grew to anticipate the quip each week.

What do the questions we have for our students reveal about what we believe? What are the questions we want to have so commonplace our students grow to ask them on their own?

“Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” are two key questions that shape learning; our unique answer to
them at LCES is part of what makes Christian education distinct. Our students are God’s children,
uniquely and wonderfully made by their creator. They are challenged to see themselves as being ready to have hands quick to serve, eyes prone to marvel, and hearts ready to love others and love God’s amazing world.

 SJ

Our Children, A Story in the Making

During the Christmas break my wife and I had the opportunity to attend a wedding and celebrate along with family and friends as vows were exchanged. The December night chill was chased away by the warmth of a happy crowd sharing joy and enjoying fellowship in the unique atmosphere of an old barn.
What a joy to be together for such a reason.

I loved the speeches made by the grandparents and parents. In between the family jokes and embarrassing memories, there was such a vibrant story of God at work in the lives of His people, shaping and directing a path that was tangibly felt and clearly observed. Significant life occasions like births, weddings, funerals, and anniversaries have a way of simplifying life with a remarkable clarity that reveals what really matters and where our priorities should be. They are touchstones that can help us to bring importance into the smallest and most mundane aspects of daily life; everything matters as we aim to launch our children toward faithful living and future success.

Both the bride and groom were people I had known and observed as young people in Christian education and family life, though certainly not knowing that they would become husband and wife. As I listened to the recognition of the character traits of this young people as described by their future in-laws, I was struck by the important work of raising children and teaching them the way they should go. The story of who this young couple had become and the content of their character was a project more than 25 years in the making. It was filled with devotion and care in hundreds of conversations, thousands of actions, all pointing in a certain direction and with a clear purpose.

It is our prayer that our words and actions at LCES this year in 2016 will also be aligned in direction and purpose with what you, our parents, are doing as you raise your children in faith. We look forward to being a faithful presence in your family, helping to shape 191 stories that unfold a little further every day.

God-bless us all in this new year. SJ

A Fresh View of an Old Story: What is in your nativity?

I found them in a stable
Kings and shepherds gathered round
It seemed there was no room 
For the likes of me there to be found

I could not understand it
But I had to see the child
When the mother bade me to come near
I swear I saw him smile

Then I heard what sounded like 
A thousand chains breaking apart
And a door now swinging open
Letting light enter my heart (The Innkeeper L.Gallant)

It’s not hard for Christmas rhythms and rituals to become detached from their significance and meaning. Routine and repetition of the well-known Bethlehem narrative can dull the event down to a cozy, warm story that is more of a hot chocolate memory than the transformational-for-all- time event heralded by a sky full of God’s finest.

I`ve always appreciated songwriters who, like Lennie Gallant above who has the innkeeper recount how the story changed him, move us away from ritual and unrealistic ideas of Christ`s birth toward deeper reflection of what Immanuel – God with us was like for the inhabitants of the chaotic city of Bethlehem, with all of the rough edges included. The innkeeper’s realization above that Christ’s birth was for him too helps us to see God knew of our need of a Saviour that night in Bethlehem so long ago.

Our students will also tell the story of our Saviour`s birth at the Christmas Program on Wednesday.
It will challenge us to see it without the layers we add to it by custom or ritual, but rather for the real
story of love and grace that God`s only son given to us really is.

May God grant our community peace, love, and lasting joy as we recount the best story ever told.

SJ

Raging Nations and "Peace on their lips"

“Why do the nations so furiously rage together
          and the peoples plot in vain?” (Psalm 2)


Our bright LCES hallways and classrooms of relative peace stand out in sharp contrast to the wider world which longs for peace, knowing peace more by its absence than a currently reality.

U Thant, then United Nations secretary general from Burma, addressed 1600 delegates from 42 nations in the late 1960’s with a question. “Why is it for that, for all our professed ideals, our hopes and skills, peace on earth is still a distant objective seen only dimly through the storms and turmoil of our present difficulties?”

Translation: Why haven’t we figured this out already?

The question reads as a lament as much as a real question for us to consider. With Remembrance Day thoughts only a month behind us, the rise of tension internationally, and the violence witnessed last week in California we can find ourselves hard pressed to believe the good news given to the Bethlehem shepherds long ago announcing `peace on earth.‘ We still wait for the world to recognize the authority and follow the pathway to the peace the Christ child made possible. The rage of nations still feels like a forest fire of hatred that leaves behind the scarred remains of hope the world over. Families are torn apart, people are displaced, and suffering and disillusionment saddens our hearts through the images of war we see.

Where do we go with our craving for peace? God’s Word. David’s mention of raging nations isn’t the final word. That is found in the book of Revelation where John proclaims: “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ.” (Revelation 11:15-18) The nations rage, but they cannot change the final outcome. The battle has already been won. Our task in Christian education is to so capture our student’s hearts with the peace of Christ that they are compelled to speak with "peace on their lips" (Isaiah 57:10) and act with mercy.

May peace abound in the hearts of our students and transform them as they pronounce Christ’s
kingdom that will one day come, and is already here. SJ

Reason to Celebrate

A decorated tree in the hallway and Christmas songs being practiced just outside my office this morning remind me that only three weeks of school remain before the end of the year. I’ll easily admit it is a special time in the cycle of our school year that, although it tends accelerate our pace of activity, is a highlight that brings deep satisfaction. Having the opportunity to celebrate Christ’s birth and what it means for our world and specifically for us is a source of great joy in a Christian school. Christ is the center of the reason we exist as a school, so it is fitting that students help us to marvel at the awesome gift of Immanuel – God with us and radiate the joy that gift brings as they worship alongside the angels, shepherds, and wise men of old.

Here are few ways in which we will be celebrating the birth of Christ:

Christmas Around the World for grades 1-3 is teacher-led cultural “excursion” during which those students travel around to different classrooms to learn about how Christmas is celebrated in other places. We are reminded both of the diversity and unity of God’s people globally as we notice these cultural responses to Christ’s birth.

Our Christmas Program has been months in the making and takes place on December 16. New this year is an extra afternoon performance which we hope will allow more to come to the event. This is a fantastic event to bring someone to who you know is curious about what we do at LCES or someone who would like to get re-acquainted with us.

Pasta Lunch will be a new thing for us at LCES this year as we share a festive communal meal organized by grade four, benefiting our Student Service Project linking us to Compassion Canada. The family of LCES will gather in the gym and give thanks over this special meal which will ultimately bless others.

A Christmas Carol Sing-A-Long will take place on the last Friday. It allows us to enjoy the gift of the wonderful music by which we can celebrate Christ’s birth and proclaim him King.

School Skating for our LCES happens on the last Friday afternoon before we leave for our Christmas break. At the close of the week, this is a fun afternoon of celebrating community and good cheer as we finish out a busy month of learning and week of special events.

SJ

Our Christian School: a place of many spinning plates

I’ve often used the analogy of “many simultaneously spinning plates, all moving in the same direction” to try to describe life at LCES. Here is a snapshot of just some of the things that happen in a typical week that I notice:

• A staff member will start Monday morning with all staff by reading a Psalm and praying over the week ahead. God’s name will be praised in chapel. 
• Grade seven will collect compost school-wide and help us divert organic waste from landfill. Grade eight will collect all recyclables school-wide and ensure they get to the curb.
• A parent will walk around the perimeter of the building praying over its inhabitants.
• Our resource teacher will meet with teachers, parents, and staff to attend to the needs of students and plan the best path forward for learning. Volunteers will come alongside classroom teachers to make great learning available for all and help with the intensity of tasks. 
• Our building will be cleaned thoroughly by our custodians giving us a clean, orderly place to live and learn.
• God’s creation will be unpacked in new and creative ways for students, inviting a response.
• Many, many times a staff member’s words and actions will respond to a student who is sick, injured, sad, overwhelmed, confused, or lonely.
• A student will come to the principal’s office with an eager invitation to “come and see” the results of classroom learning. Laughter, singing, and smiles will be noticed in the hallways and classrooms.
• A volunteer will come in to install, repair, or maintain some part of our physical building. 
• A busy evening parking lot will be evidence of board meeting and/or several committee meetings where the school’s needs are being attended to. 
• Poorly made student decisions will be responded to with both justice and mercy, on the way to restoration and renewal. A class meeting in most grades will address current successes and challenges that the community of learners needs to respond to. 
• Several grades will spend time helping other students practice reading.
• A generous donor will choose to bless the school with unexpected funds to keep us moving forward. 
• On Friday afternoon, ready for rest and renewal, staff will meet again to close the week in prayer and ask the Lord to bless their words and actions with students all week. 

As principal I feel privileged to have so many of these windows on life at LCES that show our community’s desire to educate children for life in biblical wisdom, and see God’s incredible faithfulness in blessing the school with the means to do so. May God be praised by the many spinning plates of LCES. SJ

Creating vs Consuming

I was invited last week to share in the joy of being able to create something. A class was incredibly excited to share with me the results of their pumpkin-pie tart expedition into baking.  From whole pumpkin and raw ingredients through to the warm, pleasantly smelling and tasting finished results, they were able to share with me the step-by-step process that led to the finished product. The end result was that they ate them and proclaimed them to be the “best ever!” This was no doubt because they participated in their creation. They were tasting the process as much as the finished result in their exuberance.

We live in a culture that seems to be satisfied with consumption more than it promotes creating things. We consume products by the Costco-sized value pack, our devices consume data by the hour bringing us media with blurred lines of what is information, entertainment, and communication.  Our vehicles consume oil, or Keurig machines consume coffee pods, and the pattern goes on and on. We generally live a long way from a life where everything that you need or want comes as result of us creating these things. Not always a bad thing, but over time, those patterns do affect the way we think of and respond to God’s world.

This leads me to wonder; do we participate in culture more as consumers or creators? What should we be doing? God placed humans as his image-bearing creations in a position to be in authority in creation, with the task of co-creating with him. We were designed for more than consumption alone. The delight and deep satisfaction found in creating things, whether a pumpkin tart, a quilt, a computer program, or a tree house mirrors the delight and love with which God made us and our world. We find satisfaction in creating because that is the work God equipped us to do. Let’s make room for the messiness of creating for our children – they are following the lead of their creator!  

SJ