Tag Archive for: Resources

What’s In and What’s Out: My Circle of Control

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The deadline was looming: write an article on helping students learn to live within their ‘Circle of Control.’ I was delaying the process, making excuses, letting the urgent displace the important, fretting about what others would think about the article. That’s when I had a deeper revelation about my own circle of control and what I actually had control over.

I am passionate about coming alongside others, nurturing and encouraging them to walk in their God-given identities. Working as a school nurse in a cross-cultural setting is providing opportunities to teach and speak into the lives of children and staff about their whole selves: body, mind and soul. I want teachers and students to know who God has created them to be and be the healthiest version of that self. I am also eager to implement tools that build self-awareness, increase resilience, improve self-esteem, and develop a love of learning.

While searching for resources, I encountered My Circle of Control on Big Life Journal’s website.[1] The ‘Circle of Control’ is a tool that helps students identify areas where they do and don’t have control. Students learn that they do not control what others think, the weather, past mistakes, what teacher they have or what school they attend. Instead, focusing on what they can control helps them feel good about themselves and empowers them to make choices that will impact them personally.

Let me share how I used the ‘Circle of Control’ to provide students with tools to pursue their own personal growth. Perhaps this example will give you ideas to use in your school.

I chose to introduce the ‘Circle of Control’ to primary students during morning meeting time, a 15-minute block at the beginning of the school day when our students and staff connect as a large group. We created a tangible circle that students could step into and hold around themselves by using a hula hoop as a visual and tactile symbol of their personhood and separateness from others.

I distributed to the students laminated words and phrases from Big Life Journal’s Circle of Control poster. These cards had phrases of ‘Things I can Control’ (e.g., my behaviour, my words, my effort, my actions, my attitude, asking for help, taking care of myself) and ‘Things I Can’t Control’ (e.g., my grades, my school, my past mistakes, my family, my teachers, other people’s words, other people’s opinions, other people’s behaviour). Collectively the students decided which words belonged either inside or outside the ‘Circle of Control.’ Having students dialogue about where the different ‘things’ belonged helped reinforce the distinction between ‘self’ and ‘others.’

We then displayed the results on a bulletin board that was visible to both students and staff, providing common language and visuals to use when discussing specific situations. Since the bulletin board was also visible to parents during drop-off and dismissal time, it served to raise awareness even among parents. Several parents commented on how the ‘Circle of Control’ concept was impacting them personally, challenging them to think about areas over which they did and did not have control in their own lives. They were able to share personal experiences and convey empathy and understanding as they engaged their children in conversions about ‘My Circle of Control.’

Helping students learn to live within their ‘Circle of Control’ nurtures their growth in understanding themselves and others. It assists them in developing and establishing healthy boundaries necessary for engaging in loving, intentional, purposeful relationships with those around them. Students with a maturing self-awareness are better able to cope with everyday challenges, which impacts their academic success and improves their social health.

As important as it is for us to help students understand their ‘Circle of Control,’ we as educators also benefit by applying this concept to our own lives. Parker J. Palmer in his book The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life, reminds us that “the personal can never be divorced from the professional. ‘We teach who we are’…”[2] Even in writing this article, I needed to recognize and be honest about the things inside and outside my circle of control. For your circle, what’s in and what’s out?

Janice B.
School Nurse
  

[1] Find resources at the Big Life Journal website at https://biglifejournal.com/. This website has a plethora of Growth Mindset tools. Check it out and sign up for their weekly free printables.

[2] Palmer, Parker J. (1997) The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life. Jossey-Bass.


Photo Credits:

Encouraging a Student via Bingham Academy
My Circle of Control by Janice B.

An Invitation to Integral Health

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Every profession has its inherent challenges, difficulties, frustrations, and setbacks. Besides not being exempt from these, teachers are also susceptible, in many contexts, to health problems due to precarious working conditions, complex relationships with administrators, colleagues, and school community, and changes imposed on their role because of recent social transformations. If, in the past, the teacher’s main function was to facilitate the learning of his or her students, today teachers also participate in school management and planning and in meeting the demands of their students’ families. In other words, more and more is expected from teachers, but the necessary means and resources to accomplish these expectations are not always offered. Unfortunately, many times it is the teacher’s health that suffers the consequences of all this pressure.

According to surveys carried out in Brazil, the biggest cause (about one-sixth) of work absenteeism for education professionals is related to mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, burnout syndrome, and suicide.[1] Even when the situation is not as serious, it is estimated that up to 55% of teachers suffer from MPDs (Minor Psychic Disorders).[2] These are common mental disorders such as insomnia, fatigue, irritability, forgetfulness, and difficulty concentrating that affect the teacher’s productivity and good performance, and that can lead to more serious problems. When it comes to physical health, the main problems reported by teachers themselves are related to back pain and voice (about 30% each).[3] As Christian teachers, we are not exempt from these problems, which raises some questions: What does the Christian faith have to say about health? And what resources does it offer us?

When it comes to health, we usually think about its physical aspect first, but according to the WHO (World Health Organization), health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”[4] The Bible, due to its antiquity, does not contain an equivalent word to our modern understanding of “health.” Medical knowledge at the time was quite limited, being restricted to what could be observed or felt by the patient. Furthermore, some biblical texts have been misinterpreted, spreading the mistaken notion that the Christian faith is against conventional medicine, or that if we have faith, we will never experience psycho-emotional problems. Unfortunately, we are all subject to these things, there is nothing wrong with getting the help you need. In the rest of this article, we’ll explore some biblical ideas that suggest that as Christian educators we should, indeed, take care of our health.

Though the Bible doesn’t have a specific word for health, it offers something even richer—the concept of shalom. Shalom is the Hebrew word commonly translated as ‘peace,’ but its meaning goes far beyond the absence of conflicts and wars. It refers to a deep sense of security, well-being, physical integrity, and wealth (both tangible and intangible) that comes from having a right relationship with God, with yourself, with others, and with the rest of creation. In Genesis 43:27, for example, Joseph “asked them [his brothers] how they were, and then said, ‘How is your aged father?’”[5] In Hebrew, the original language of the text, it says literally, “he asked them about shalom and said, ‘What about your father’s shalom?’” By asking this question, Joseph wants to know if his brothers and his father are doing well, not only in terms of their physical health, but also in terms of their health spiritually, emotionally, socially, economically, and so on.

Furthermore, the Bible offers us an integral vision of the human being. Contrary to the modern tendency to reduce the human being to its material dimension and to some philosophical and religious tendencies that overemphasize its spiritual dimension, Genesis 2:7 states that we are a “living being” made from the “dust of the ground” (material) and the “breath of life” (spiritual).[6]Therefore, biblical teaching invites us to make a commitment to the Creator that includes all of our being – spirit, soul, and body (1Thessalonians 5:23) – and to grow in our devotion to Him with all our heart, soul, understanding, and strength (Mark 12:30). This does not mean that we should draw solid lines to divide these aspects, but that whatever dimension of human life we ​​come to identify, there we want to be healthy, or rather, there God wants us to experience shalom.

In future articles, we will address different aspects of teacher health: spiritual, psycho-emotional, and physical. Obviously, these dimensions are not the only ones, nor will they be dealt with exhaustively. However, we hope that they will serve as encouragement and build awareness for all those who work in education or who care about the teachers of our children, neighbours, and friends.

Raphael Haeuser
Educational Consultant
TeachBeyond, Brazil

Note: This article was first published in Portuguese at Didaquê, TeachBeyond Brazil’s educational resource website. Click here to access the original article.

[1] Approximate data, based on the article by GASPARINI, Sandra Maria; BARRETO, Sandhi Maria; ASSUNÇÃO, Ada Ávila. “O professor, as condições de trabalho e os efeitos sobre sua saúde” (Teachers, their working conditions and the effects on their health), in Education and Research, vol. 31, no. 2, p. 189–199, 2005 and in the SINPRO/RS digital booklet organized by MONTEIRO, Janine, “Saúde/Adoecimento Mental dos Professores da Rede Privada do Rio Grande do Sul: como avaliar e cuidar” (Health/Mental Illness of Private Network Teachers of Rio Grande do Sul: how to assess and care).

[2] According to the article “Pesquisa revela dados da saúde mental dos professores do ensino privado” (Research reveals data on the mental health of private education teachers). Available at: www.sinprors.org.br/comunicacao/noticias/pesquisa-revela-dados-da-saude-mental-dos-professores-do-ensino-privado. Accessed on: 15 Jan. 2020.

[3] According to research carried out by SINPRO/RS, mentioned in ROSA, Stela. “Saúde do professor e ambiente escolar” (Teacher’s health and school environment). Available at: www.extraclasse.org.br/saude/2006/10/saude-do-professor-e-ambiente-escolar. Accessed on: 15 Jan. 2020.

[4] World Health Organization. Constitution. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/about/governance/constitution

[5] Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
[6] See Genesis 2:7, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®


Photo Credits:
Planning by Arbor Christian Academy
Integral Health by Raphael Haeuser

Safeguarding for Online Learning

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Throughout this past year and a half, so much teaching has moved to platforms like Zoom or Google Classroom. Even this year, many schools are continuing with online learning. With this being the case, how can teachers remain in touch with the needs of their students, especially when it comes to safeguarding?

I hope many of you have already taken TeachBeyond’s Introduction to Safeguarding training on Moodle (our members with a TeachBeyond email can access that here), but here’s a reminder of how TeachBeyond defines safeguarding: it’s a term to denote measures taken to protect the health, well-being, and human rights of individuals, which allow people—especially children and vulnerable adults—to live free from abuse. It is about people and organisations working together to prevent and reduce the risks, occurrences, and impact of harm.

Keeping this definition in mind, we want to promote 3 principles whenever you interact with children or vulnerable adults. These principles are Visibility, Accountability, and Power Balance (VAP). It’s easy to only think of these when interacting with children in person, but they are just as applicable when teaching children online.

We all know that teachers are some of the busiest people on the planet, so I want to get straight to the point and give some practical examples of ways to promote each of those principles. 

  • Visibility: 
    • Online lessons take place with a minimum of 2 students.
    • Emails from teachers are sent to a minimum of 2 students.
    • Where an email from a teacher is to only 1 student, their parent/the director will be copied on it.
    • All lessons will be recorded and retained for 1 month.
  • Accountability: 
    • Lesson days and times will be consistent, and any changes to these will be communicated to the director.
    • The teacher will use the waiting room facility and only allow students into the meeting once there are 2 or more students ready to enter the lesson.
    • Where the written chat facility is used, the teacher will keep a copy for the record until the end of the academic year.
    • In the event that the teacher is concerned about something said in a lesson—whether or not it was unintentional—they will report it to the director/safeguarding specialist anyway, for sake of transparency.
  • Power Balance:
    • The teacher will be referred to by title and name to indicate a working rather than personal relationship. This will also be reflected in the screen name of the teacher.
    • Teachers and students will wear clothing that is appropriately modest in the country/location of the school.
    • The teacher will avoid sensitive subject matter when there is only 1 student in attendance (if having a 1-on-1 lesson or meeting is unavoidable).
  • General Safeguarding:
    • If the teacher is teaching in a public location or other environment where they cannot control who is walking past, the background should be blurred.
    • The waiting room facility will be enabled, so as to ensure no unwelcome attendees log onto the meeting.
    • The teacher has an email account that will be used exclusively for school business.

As you can see, a lot of these suggestions have overlap between categories, and not all of these suggestions will be possible all the time. For instance, perhaps you need to mentor or tutor a student 1-on-1; you cannot achieve visibility in a situation like that, but you could promote accountability by letting your director and the student’s parents know when you’ll be meeting, for how long, and an overview of what you’ll be discussing. Please continue to remember that when it comes to VAP, 1 is good, 2 is better, and 3 is best.

Now that you know some practical tips, here’s a scenario for you to consider: 

          You’re teaching online and 1 of your students is having a hard time
          paying attention. One of their parents comes in and sees them
          struggling so they grab the book the student has on their desk and slams
          it down in front of them. You can see that this distressed the student.
          How could you handle this situation, keeping in mind the VAP principles?

Take a moment to consider this before reading on.

In a situation like this, ensuring that you let the director or the safeguarding lead at your school know that this has happened is crucial. They will be able to follow up with the student. However, you can only do this once your class is over, so until that happens, you should focus especially on the area of Power Balance. A huge part of power balance is making sure that children and vulnerable adults feel safe in your presence. Ask yourself how you could specifically interact with this child in order to ensure that they feel safe with you. Perhaps you could mention to the class that you understand online learning can be hard because it’s so easy to get distracted, and then lead the class in stretches. In addition to communicating the need to pay attention, this action communicates to the struggling student that you understand and that you want to do something to help them. Showing care and a healthy power balance can lead to the student telling you more about their situation at home, which could be significant. Becoming a trusted adult within your school community is worth the effort you need to put in.

Putting these principles and suggestions into practice will look different depending on where you are and your context, but I’m sure you all have different and great ideas on how to deal with a situation like this within your specific context. Start a conversation with your school staff about this to share your ideas and hear those of others! Talk about which actions promoting visibility, accountability, and a healthy power balance would work best for your school community. The best part about safeguarding is there’s always more to discuss and learn, and this learning leads to children and vulnerable adults being better cared for.

 
Alison Neumann
Safeguarding Team Specialist
TeachBeyond Global
  

Photo Credits:
Learning Online via Startup Stock Photos
Online Meetings via Startup Stock Photos

Principles of Curriculum Planning

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If you’ve never done it before, the very mention of planning your yearly curriculum can be enough to throw you into a panic. However, curriculum planning–whether for a full year or simply a unit–doesn’t need to be scary. Here are a few key principles to keep in mind as you approach planning the curriculum for your course.

  1. The longer the amount of time covered by a plan, the broader (more general) it will be.  Thus a yearly curriculum plan will have far less detailed than a unit plan, which will be less detailed than a daily lesson plan.
  2. Curriculum plans of all levels are living documents. It is not a bad thing to make changes and adjustments as you go along. It is a good idea to keep track of these changes so you have them to use in the future. (No matter what you think, you won’t remember everything!)
  3. Curriculum plans are helpful for tracking time but also for tracking resources available. Keeping resource lists as up-to-date as possible is helpful.
  4. When you are first starting out, your curriculum guides will be less detailed than those of people who have been teaching for years. That’s okay. You can flesh yours out with time.

As an example of how to get started in curriculum planning, let’s look at a medium-sized curriculum guide–the Unit Plan.

Unit Planning
At the start of each unit, you want to use your yearly curricular plan to help you determine how many instructional days that you have to cover the material in the unit.
Step 1: Determine the content and skills that you need to cover during the unit and what resources you have available to help you do this.
What do your students already know? Need to learn?
Which standards will be addressed in this unit?
Are there any mandatory field trips or activities you need to be sure to include?
Step 2: Write broad instructional objectives for your unit. By the end of this unit, what do your students need to know and be able to do?
Write your objectives.
Consider how you will assess these objectives. If possible, design your final assessment for the unit at this stage. If time is an issue, at least be sure you have outlined a workable plan for the final assessment.
Step 3: Using the number of instructional days you have allotted to the unit, determine how many days will likely be needed for students to reach these objectives. At this stage, you might consider the following:
Have you left 1-2 days at the end of each unit “open” so that you have some wiggle room if you need to go back and reteach a concept?
How much time is necessary for students to complete the unit assessment? This is especially important if you are assessing through:
presentations (How many students can present in a class period? Have you left enough days for this?),
projects (How much time do students need to complete the project after having been taught the material?) or
performances (How much class time do you need to set aside for students to rehearse?).
Are there any interruptions in your instructional time, and how will this affect the students ability to succeed? (Is it fair for half the class to present their projects on Friday and the rest on Monday? Is there a holiday or other non-instructional day right before the unit assessment?)
Step 4: Lay out your unit plan, collect resources, and schedule the time for the final assessment.
Lay out a tentative schedule of your lesson objectives on the calendar.
Consider the final assessment. What content, tools, skills, practice do your students need to master before they will be able to succeed?
Have you built in time for supplemental activities such as field trips, lab work, etc.?
Consider outside factors that could affect the scheduling of these things. You may have to shift the order of your unit around slightly to accommodate factors outside of your control.

Use this plan to help pace your individual lessons. Keep it handy, and make notes on it as you actually teach the lessons. Which lessons (objectives) took longer to teach (master)? Which went faster than you expected? What should you consider adding/dropping from the unit? What new ideas do you have for the next time you teach it?

Keeping track of these unit plans and updating them at the end of the school year can be a very helpful exercise. Not only is this a quick way to assess whether all the mandatory material for the course has been covered, it also is helpful for preparing yourself and/or subsequent teachers to teach the course in future years. A little time spent now can save a lot of time (and worry) in the future.

Becky Hunsberger
Coordinator of Teacher Education Services
TeachBeyond Global

Photo Credits: Planner. By Evgeny Karandaev, via Shutterstock. Teacher’s Desk. by User:Mattes – Own work, Public Domain, Link.

Tags: Professional Practice, Resources

Reflecting on Transformation

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Here in the global offices of TeachBeyond, we spend a lot of time thinking about, discussing, and seeking to find ways to implement practices that will help foster transformational education in the classrooms, schools and communities in which our teachers serve. We are constantly reflecting on how we can support our members to live out this critical element of TeachBeyond’s mission.

As the school year draws to an end, we want to encourage you to engage in some reflection of your own. Here are some questions[1] to prime the pump. We’d love to hear feedback from you as you reflect on this. Drop us a line at onpractice@teachbeyond.org.

As you reflect back over this past school year, how have you seen the Holy Spirit directing you in regards to the three elements of the TB vision prayer: serving the Father’s world, loving Jesus, and seeing individuals & societies transformed by the Holy Spirit?OP

  1. As agents of transformation, we ourselves must be transformed. What are some personal transformations that God has done in you during your journey with Him? How have these affected your classroom practices? Are there thoughts, attitudes, and/or behaviors that God wants to transform in your life? What is a next step in that process?
  2. How has your understanding of transformational education developed over the course of your service with TeachBeyond? What are some next steps you can take to continue deepening your understanding of this concept? How will you practically apply what you’ve learned to your ministry assignment?
  3. Transformational education looks different in different contexts. What are some of the key elements that remain the same regardless of cultural contexts? How do you see these elements lived out in your particular context? What are some of the challenges you face? How are you addressing these challenges?
  4. When was the last time you looked at the TeachBeyond Distinctive Characteristics? Which of these have you embodied in your ministry? Which might you like to grow in?
  5. What has it looked like in your context to live and teach from a Biblically integrated worldview? What areas would you like to invite the Holy Spirit to transform in you and align more closely to His perspective? What are some of the challenges you are likely to face in this process?

If you are looking for some resources to challenge your thinking about transformational education this summer, here are a few suggestions from our TeachBeyond global staff.

  • What If Learning: “What if Learning is a ‘distinctively Christian’ approach developed by an international partnership of teachers… Its aim is to equip teachers to develop their distinctively Christian teaching and learning strategies for their own classrooms.” This approach is appropriate for Christian teachers in all types of schools.–Helen Vaughan, School Services
  • Fostering a Reflective Culture in the Christian School (John Van Dyck): This book is written in story form to encourage Christian school staff to think together about foundational principles, reflect in the midst of daily activity, and then carefully process everything after it happens. A reflective culture helps everyone actually put into practice the principles that are often only talked about. –Harold Klassen, Teacher Education Services
  • The Courage to Teach (Parker Palmer): It’s probably dated, but still good stuff. It’s about integrity, authentic living and being, connectedness, and… I don’t know what else to say. Palmer put words to what I knew but couldn’t verbalise about teaching being so much more than good techniques.—Pam Sanderlin, Communications
  • Teaching and the Christian Imagination (David I. Smith and Susan M. Felch): What happens if you “re-imagine” the classroom and learning? How might this help you to better understand education in light of the gospel message? These and other questions are addressed in this very thought provoking book. Though it isn’t a difficult read, this is a book you’ll want to take your time with as it challenges you to rethink everything you thought you knew about classroom metaphors. -Becky Hunsberger, Teacher Education Services

[1] These were initially developed for TeachBeyond New Member Orientation to help those starting their time on the field connect their own personal call to the mission and vision of TeachBeyond. We’ve adapted them here for those of you already serving in the classroom.

Developing a Sticky Faith

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One of the books that has significantly influenced the way that I think about Christian education is Sticky Faith by Dr. Kara Powell and Dr. Chap Clark. The book is based on a longitudinal research project asking: why are so many young people—who would claim an active Christian faith position when they leave high school–unable to make the same claim five years later? “Most churches in America would give anything to develop a deep, growing faith in kids that ‘sticks’ and continues to mature long term. Yet…the reality is that almost half of their graduating seniors struggle deeply with their faith in college.”[1] The book explores a number of reasons for this catastrophic early adult drop out.

When I came across Sticky Faith I had been high school principal at a very international school in Asia for a number of years. We were wrestling with how to prepare our growing number of graduating students for the faith challenges that life after several years in a Christian mission school would bring. One key line from the book that struck me was: “…as eight years of research has shown, it is not doubt, or hard questions that are toxic to faith. It is silence.“[2]

This resonated with our experience, so we decided to fill the silence with some hard questions that allowed for, if not doubt, at least conversation. We did so in the belief that it would be better for our students to wrestle with these hard questions while still surrounded by their families and the faith community within our school.

As part of our biblical worldview agenda, we encouraged staff to add challenging questions to the learning outcomes already existing in our high school curriculum. Some examples are:

  • In English, we study The Crucible by Arthur Miller, so we added: “There are voices of fear in this book. Discuss what voices of fear, if any, are heard in your church.”
  • In Cambridge IGCSE Geography, learning outcomes exist around environmental safeguarding, so we asked: “Christians have differing views about global warming. Which of these differences are based on their Christian faith?”
  • In our IB Theory of Knowledge course we look at how we know the things we know. We introduced the question: “Some Christians think God has been creating the universe we see for 6000 years, others for 14.5 billion years, and others somewhere in between. What evidence do these Christians base their view on?”
  • Our grade 12 Christian Perspectives course explored the basis for the dominant cultural postmodern worldview. We asked: “What aspects, if any, of modern main-stream Christian faith positions reflect a postmodern worldview?”

We found the discussions that followed from these and similar questions could be challenging for us as a staff as they prompted us to share more of our own faith position. We also were forced to be vulnerable with students in admitting to our own lack of certainty around some questions. However, we also felt this process helped us to foster an environment where students could approach staff with other faith questions they encountered.

We were initially concerned with how our parents might respond to this approach, and this could be a significant issue in your context. I think one of the things that helped calm some concerns was that I, and others who were primarily involved in developing this approach, had been at the school for a number of years. Parents had learned to trust us, both professionally and as Christians who cared about their children’s developing faith. Another factor was that we limited this approach to our high school students (grades 9-12); and a number of parents acknowledged the benefits of taking some faith risks with older teenagers that they would not have considered appropriate for children even a year or two younger.
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As you think about filling in the silence at your school, what questions would you ask in the cultural context of your educational setting to reduce the chance of your teenage Christians faith failing to stick through early adulthood?
Mark Prothero, M.Ed.
School Services Consultant
TeachBeyond

[1] www.stickyfaith.org

[2] Clark, www.stickyfaith.org.
Bibliography
Clark, Dr Kara Powell and Dr Chap Clark. Sticky Faith. n.d.
www.stickyfaith.org. n.d.

Photo Credits: BFA middle schoolers, TeachBeyond Facebook page.

Mark Prothero (mprothero@teachbeyond.org) has a M.Ed in curriculum studies from the University of Leeds. He has 16 years experience in 5 urban high schools in England, 3 years in a rural ex-mission school in Malawi, and 10 years as high school principal at Hope International School in Cambodia, from where he recently returned to the UK and became a member of TeachBeyond.

What’s your hook? Technology for Today’s Classroom.

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23775190436_e198db1731_mEver since the introduction of the use of a slate and chalk in the classroom, educators have been looking for new and different ways of engaging students in their learning. Our challenge as educators is to discover the most effective tools for reaching a particular student or group of students. Technology is a prime hook for this generation.

In the 21st century, we have a veritable smorgasbord of technology, software, and apps at our disposal for instruction, research, collaboration, study, assessment, and record keeping.

Teachers have successfully implemented technology with their students in one, some, or all of these areas. Many apps and websites are free or offer free versions, making it easy to experiment and explore. My professional technology goal has been to locate and meaningfully implement one new tool –app, website, software– every year. Here are some of my favourite discoveries.

Instruction – Using technology for instruction or to enhance instruction has gone far beyond Powerpoint, an occasional video clip, or even YouTube. Khan Academy provides instruction on a variety of topics. Many teachers are creating their own teaching videos using something as simple as Educreations and posting to a web page or a more sophisticated open source learning management systems like Moodle. Zapation embeds questions within your video. QR codes provide instantaneous links to more information.

Tired of Powerpoint? Try Prezi. No budget for smart boards? Promethean’s free, simplified version of their Inspire software can be projected from a computer. Add a wireless mouse for your students and experience interactive fun. The Promethean Planet website contains a library of flipcharts for all ages, including game templates like this Jeopardy-style game.

Research/Writing – WebQuest is a platform for authoring and hosting internet searches. For students, NoodleTools provides tools for research and writing processes. Citations become simple with EasyBib. Younger students or those with limited language proficiency can use words and pictures for their written presentations with Haiku Deck or MakeBeliefComix.

Collaboration – The Google family (docs, slides, sheets) is invaluable for collaboration. At ECA, we use these almost daily. Wikispaces is another popular site. Social media can also help inspire writing and collaboration. Student blogs, on sites such as Kidblog and Collaborize Classroom, motivate young writers – even primary age — and can provide helpful peer feedback while giving parents a portal to read their child’s work. These teacher-monitored, private sites can also serve as a platform for teaching real life skills related to on line etiquette and safety.

Study/Review – Years ago, one of the first sites/apps I used with my students was Quizlet — and I still love it! Flashcards, quizzes, and games help to keep interest level high. For studying and writing, my English learners prefer both the web sites and apps for Dictionary.com, Thesauras.com, with the word-to-word translation feature.

Assessment – Smart student response systems can be expensive. A free alternative—if students already have devices (smart phone, iPad, computer)—is Socrative. Socrative Teacher and Student are available on line or as an app. If accessibility is an issue, Plickers only requires one device used by the teacher. Back-channel chat tools like TodaysMeet also have classroom assessment potential.

Record keeping – If your school isn’t using an electronic grade book, check out LearnBoost or ThinkWave.

So, where does one begin? Any Internet search turns up more ideas than could be implemented in an entire career. Instead of allowing yourself to be overwhelmed by the choices, start small.

  • Select an area of your teaching in which you would like to implement new technology.
  • Choose one technology tool, and give it a try.
  • Allow yourself and your students multiple interactions with the new technology before deciding its value.
  • Take risks. There’s nothing wrong with taking delight in discovery and admitting that you don’t know all the answers!
  • Allow your students to collaborate with you while you share with your colleagues.

 

As with learning any new skill, we all have to start somewhere. As you step out in the area of technology, check out TeachBeyond’s Yammer group for Educational Technology. This is our in-house resource for discussing our discoveries, failures, successes, and insights as we try new educational technology tools. We can grow in this together, so please join the conversation, ask questions, and of course, share your discoveries!

Lynette Sorensen

ELL Coordinator, ECA Spain

TeachBeyond

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Lynette Sorensen is in her third career as an educator. Currently the English Language Learner Coordinator at Evangelical Christian Academy in Spain, she embraces a love of learning and trying out new things – as demonstrated by the fact that she “retired” from public schools in Minnesota to take her current position.

 

Photo Credits: Fishhooks. www.ilkkajukarainen.fi via Compfight cc.

Choosing a Master’s Degree in Education

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One of the questions TeachBeyond members often ask Education Services is how to choose a master’s degree programme. There are as many variations of this question as there are questioners, and in all fairness, there is not a one-size-fits-all program. However, there are some things that everyone should consider when facing this decision—a decision that can be even more challenging when looking for a programme that will help prepare you for international school work.

Type of Degree:

There are two degrees which are often confused: a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), and a Master’s in Education (M.Ed.). The MAT is geared more toward initial teacher licensure and focuses on practical classroom skills and teaching specific subjects. The M.Ed., on the other hand, is for experienced educators and provides more in-depth instruction designed to prepare teachers for new leadership roles. A Master of Science in Education and Master of Arts in Education are similar to the M.Ed.

Make sure not to confuse master’s program in Christian education designed for the church worker or youth/children’s ministry versus programs focused on the school teacher or administrator. The two are quite different.

Program Delivery:

Do you want to pursue an online programme, a campus-based programme, or a hybrid programme, which combines online learning with a summer residency? The chief benefit of pursuing an online degree is convenience; it allows you to pursue your education from wherever you happen to be living while working on your own time schedule. One drawback to earning an online degree, however, is lack of face-time with instructors. Consider your learning preferences: If you learn more from being in class than reading textbooks, it may be best to consider a traditional campus-based or hybrid programme. However, if you are a self-motivated learner and do well translating written text to real life, an online programme could be a perfect fit.

If you are looking at a programme outside North America, you should also consider the language of instruction. Some programs in Western Europe may rely on articles and journals that are in languages other than English.

Philosophical Underpinnings:

In order to grow in your understanding of how faith and education intersect, look for a programme that provides a biblical understanding of education, which becomes the foundation of how one serves as a teacher or administrator.[1] Educational theory and practice should be guided by Christian principles and applied with a biblical worldview. An indicator of this is the requirement of a philosophy of Christian education course. Be aware that not all Christian colleges and universities have education programmes which equip teachers and administrators with this biblical foundation. If you are looking for a programme built on a foundation of biblical principles, check out this resource list put together by TeachBeyond’s Education Services team.

 

If you are looking at a program outside North America, finding this philosophic grounding may be difficult: biblical integration is not often combined with an educational degree in Europe. If you choose a program that lacks this foundation, you can address this by creating your own supplemental course of study.[2]

Program Design:

Closely related to the question of philosophic underpinnings is the question of purpose. What is the programme designed to prepare graduates to do? Many programmes (even in Christian universities) will admit they are preparing teachers for public school teaching. Because of their purpose, these programmes would not expose participants to quality curriculum and aspects unique to Christian education. Similarly, many master’s degrees can include a strong focus on state/provincial law and practices. It is important to find out how much flexibility there is in the programme: consideration should be given to how much emphasis is given to pedagogical and administrative content and how much focuses on national/local law and practices. This is true both in North America and across Europe.

Areas of Concentration:

Most master’s programmes offer areas of concentration. Common areas of concentration are:

  • Curriculum and Instruction
  • Educational Leadership
  • Special Education
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Adult Education/Adult Learning
  • Higher Education
  • Secondary Education

As you consider which of these you would like to pursue, ask yourself what your long-term goals and plans are. Do you see yourself continuing to work internationally? Do you want to continue in the classroom, or would you like to pursue a role in school leadership? Use the answers to these questions to help you narrow your focus.

While these are certainly not all the questions that you should be asking, they will help you begin the process of deciding for yourself what type of course is right for you.

 

Education Services Council

TeachBeyond Global

Special thanks to contributors Helen Vaughan, David Midwinter, Geoff Beech, and Melanie Moll

[1] Developing a biblical foundation of education is as important, if not more so, for those who teach or plan on teaching in state or national schools as opposed to openly Christian schools.

[2] Several departments within TeachBeyond—Lifelong Learning, Teacher Education, and Higher Education—have developed resources to help you grow in this area, even if the program you choose does not contain this component.

 

Don’t miss an opportunity to deepen your understanding of Transformational Education

This summer TeachBeyond is hosting a Transformational Education Conferencein Manila, Philippines. Spend four days (June 7-10) with other international workers learning how to apply the concepts of transformational education to your specific context. This is an opportunity that is too great to pass up!

For more information or to register for the conference, visit http://teachbeyond.org/teachbeyond-conference/