Momentum and Direction: Advent at a Christian School

A Christmas tree was put up in the main hallway this morning and the calendar turns to December on Thursday. A forward thinking person has placed shovels at all entrances of the school and the lost and found now includes an assortment of orphaned mitts and gloves. Audible evidence of Christmas songs has been heard in the hallways now for a few weeks, first seeming out of place being so early in the fall but now fitting right in with the growing momentum of Christmas less than a month away.

The lead up to Christmas is often filled with the wrong things. I was reminded by a staff member’s advent devotions this morning that one of the first things I ought to start with is not the dusty box of ornaments, or the sequencing of holiday plans, or even the gift frenzy – but sober recognition that I need a Saviour. The cozy feeling of Christmas food, lights, music and ritual might be the direction we are first drawn to, but that is an incomplete picture of what Christmas is about and launches us toward an impoverished participation in a critical part of our faith: recognizing that God become man to save people like you and I.

We know this, and yet we even grow weary of the repeated phrases “the true meaning of Christmas” and “reason for the season.” Habits and traditions, media, and the world of retail seem to try to propel us to a level of hype with so much momentum toward Christmas day that we end up exhausted and disillusioned at the manger on Christmas morn, rather than consumed with awe as Mary was when she sang “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.”

If you were part of the LCES community last year you may recall the Christmas program presentation of
our students that told the story of Christmas razzle-dazzle and spectacle that was a long way off from where we ought to be. This year our Christmas concert on December 21st has the goal of expressing where we ought to start, worshipping, glorifying and praising God for Jesus born for us. No tinsel required. See you there! SJ

[Not] Me First! : Modelling, Service, and Learning

A relative of mine once told me that life is one long process of learning to forget about yourself. I believe what he meant was that we start out as children with a very me-centric way of thinking and acting. As responsibilities get added through life and others become more dependent on you, it certainly changes your perspective. Ask a first-time parent of a 6 month child how they have been challenged to put themselves second!

With joy I watch the “me first” of our youngest learners transition toward “consider others first” as the stretch of years from JK through grade eight unfold. Our students are given many opportunities to realize the benefit of acknowledging that life isn’t actually all about them. They are given many opportunities to learn to seek out the “feel” of the rich blessing and reward of serving others and to call that “normal.” There is much more going on than simply sweeping up after a SK lunch, collecting stinky compost, or tying skates of younger students. Habits of faith are emerging. I’m convinced these are formative experiences that make lasting impressions about their identity as God’s children, called to love and serve.  

Here is an example: This morning, our Leaders in Training team (LIT), all grade seven and eight students, took ownership of an anti-bullying message that they wanted to share with the all students from JK through eight. They created and acted out real life bus, playground, and classrooms situations that they could role play in front of 15 students, showing the right and wrong way to deal with conflict. Groups rotated around the gym to take in three mini-lessons on relating to peers well. Watching a particular session, I marveled at how serious they took this task and how closely their young audience watched and listened.

 I’m thankful today for student leadership and growth in the lives of our students. May the mindset they are challenged with today shape the way they respond to choices they make in the future – tomorrow, or decades from now. SJ

Wanted: Faithful Parents in the Maze

Phones, tablets, gizmos and screens. They are part of our life and certainly part of our everyday reality for most parents, employees, and students.

I’m sure that you have been part of a conversation at some point in which mention is made of what you did or didn’t have yourself as a child in terms of “things with screens.” Perhaps you’ve even laughed about what an adult can’t figure out themselves on these devices, even though a three year old in their life can figure things out on their own. Perhaps the fact that children can use a tablet at a young age isn’t actually an indicator of being “smart”, as much as it is the skill of software designers in making use of navigation that is repetitive and predictable. They have, after all, just memorized a short sequence of actions to get what they want. That is not wisdom by definition.  

Most mornings this fall I have been walking to school with two of my children. We have to cross streets, use traffic lights, gauge traffic speed, and assess driver’s abilities to see us. When reasonably safe, I allow them to make these decisions – hovering close by to trump their decision if it is unsafe or unwise. They are clearly not ready to take this task on entirely by themselves, but I hope I am planting seeds of safe pedestrians in the future.

This example is, of course, rather ordinary. I name it only to make the case that there is a parallel for an immediate and pressing need for parents to enter the maze of these devices alongside their students. Your faithful presence, rather than silence is needed in this area too. There is rich potential for good in the form of innovative and expansive learning, communication & collaboration, and personal participation is immense in using devices. They also are concerning in terms of forming habits, changing the nature of relationships, and perhaps most concerning - wasting God’s gift of time and opportunity on things of little or no value.

In the same way that it would not be realistic or appropriate for our children to transition from first time walkers directly to independent pedestrians without help, our children need adults working with them to seek out balance and know what it feels like. They need close guidance to sort out what is true, right, and honorable as they use them so they eventually do that on their own.  Let’s enter the maze, and take God’s Word with us. We’ll learn on the way.

SJ

P.S. Two resources:

1. LCES E-Devices Guidelines
2. Questions about tech for parents to consider

Time Change: So What’s New?

My first task Monday morning was to set the school bell system clock to the new time. It reminded me that much of what happens in a school setting follows a predictable rhythm. Bus/car trips to and from school, class schedules, outdoor recess, devotions & prayer are examples of things that give predictability to our life here at LCES. I think that students (and adults) actually appreciate routine in a good part of their life, with a portion of spontaneity liberally mixed in. A presenter I heard once proposed that without routines, or as he called them - habits, every decision all day long would be processed as if we had never faced it before. Sounds exhausting!

We find ourselves at LCES in that delicate balance of managing routine and new things all the time. Structure and habits cease to become valuable to us when we too infrequently circle back and evaluate - how is that working for us? Here are a few routines I see being challenged here at LCES right now:

Grade seven, with Mr. Hosmar as guide, is trying out a very different classroom arrangement. They have replaced most desks with multiple areas to work at depending on what the learning task at hand is.

Sometimes they sit in a stadium style arrangement, other times it looks more like a family living room, other times it looks like a research lab.  There is nothing permanent about the configuration, but it has been fascinating to watch how space changes learning.

Our JK and SK classes are developing differently as learners in how they shape their own learning. In addition to teacher directed learning activities including prepared materials, allowing students to shape their own learning based on what they want to do, learn, and share in lessons shaped by inquiry based learning. Students pose questions, answer them, investigate, and collaborate - with the teachers supporting them every step of the way. It is exciting to watch their progress. Building bird feeders out of pumpkins is an example I saw recently - research in action!

Adding Chromebooks to our toolbox of learning tools has been fascinating this fall. These very mobile, simple computers have been used from JK all the way to grade 8 in many subject areas. What’s interesting to me is that when they are the right tool for the learning underway, using them causes the tool to become less important than the learning that is happening with them. They are not “doing computers”, they are learning and it happens to be on a computer in their classroom.

At LCES, I’m thankful for both routine and new things to challenge us. SJ

Smiling Young Faces: In Whose Image?

Picture retakes took place today, offering some students or staff who were not pleased with the original image captured to “try again” at striking their best smile for posterity.  A blink, a crooked smile, or an awkward head positioning is hardly how we want to be remembered after all.  The photo company provides me with a “principal brag book” which has class pictures of each grade and includes the staff group shot. I look through it from time to time throughout the year and can’t help but smile when I do. Tracking the growth, inward and outward, of our students is part of what makes a school a wonderful place to be.

High-tech camera gear captures their image, but it is worth remembering the author of that image.  Genesis one reminds us that God man people in his image, one of the key things that distinguishes us from the rest of creation. So what does it mean that our students, your children “bear God’s image?”

To start, here are few ideas. It means our students:

·         have as their life-long goal (like us) to glorify God and enjoy his goodness forever

·         are tasked and equipped by God to be captivated by his world and care for it with  a love modelled by its creator

·         are more than the sum total of their emotional, physical, and spiritual selves. They are dearly loved, intimately known, and have a specific purpose – all known by the creator they reflect.

·         are able to create things in ways that reflect the way our creative God who fashioned the universe

·         are in relationships with many people, in the same way God connects with his world and his people every day

As I enjoy the picture records of beautiful smiles, carefully chosen clothing and groomed hair for years to come, I’ll be sure to appreciate the picture, but more importantly I’ll praise God for the image-bearers I had the chance to be with every day.  SJ