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Ten Things I Learned During My First Semester as an Art Teacher
Have you ever been an art teacher before? Me, either! Well, up until this year, that is. I taught art for a few months at the end of the last school year, but really began teaching in earnest this fall. Over the summer, one of my very talented students gave me drawing lessons and I also read both of Mona Brookes’s excellent “Drawing…” books. Here’s what I’ve learned during my first official semester of being an art teacher. Some of these lessons come directly from the classroom, and some of them come as a combination of classwork, drawing lessons, and Mona Brookes’s guidance. (Note: Illustrations to follow.) First, art is…
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Rethinking My Definition of Rest
I was recently listening to an episode of the Educational Renaissance podcast titled “Desirable Difficulties.” The three educators who host the podcast often discuss how modern research and Charlotte Mason’s methods of education fit in with the classical model of education. They also cover a range of topics relating to education, from accredation to habit training. In this episode, they focus on challenging students in order to help them learn. At one point, they discuss how students’ energy levels wax and wane during a typical class period. I’ve noticed this in both my Music and Chemistry classes; Chemistry moreso because I teach it during the first period of the day…
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Contributing to the Conversation: “Calling Evil Good: The Lie of ‘Christian’ Rock and Roll” by Spencer Smith
I grew up during the era in which contemporary Christian music’s popularity skyrocketed, eclipsing hymns and choral music in church worship services and on the radio. I remember when Switchfoot released their first big single, “New Way to Be Human,” and I loved (and still love) the song “Love Song for a Savior” by Jars of Clay. I sang “Breakfast in Hell” and “Shine” at summer camp, both Newsboys hits, and I can still sing all the words to “Let It Reign” by Michael W. Smith. I also remember when our youth group worship leader chose “Come Thou Fount” as our closing song one evening at youth group. I marveled…
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Let All the Nations Praise the Lord {New Music Monday}
Our spring program at school is coming up in a little less than a month. The students have been learning and practicing their songs since late in January. They did such an excellent job for the Christmas program that we’ve been working on some fun extra things as well. The theme of the program is “Let All the Nations Praise the Lord.” Here’s a summary of what my students will be performing for the spring program this year. Dona Nobis Pachem We’re beginning the program with “Dona Nobis Pachem,” a lovely canon, or round, meaning “grant us peace.” This song fits the theme of the program because it’s written in…
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Strawberry Cake and Cultivating a Biblical Worldview
Imagine you are making your friend a birthday cake. Your friend happens to love strawberries, so you decide that you are going to make her the most strawberry strawberry cake you can imagine. You go to the grocery store and buy strawberries to decorate the top of the cake, strawberry jelly to put between the cake layers, and strawberry extract to flavor the frosting and the cake. You even buy strawberry ice cream so you can offer your friend strawberry cake a la mode. Strawberry, strawberry, and more strawberry. Now, imagine that instead of making cake layers that taste like strawberry, you make chocolate cake layers instead. Chocolate is your…