Teacher Spotlight #1

In this first Teacher Spotlight, as principal, I would like to spotlight Mrs. Drinane. Mrs. Drinane comes to us from St. Paul in Ann Arbor.  She has been a part of our Church for a while now.  Mrs. Drinane is our 3rd grade teacher and may have one of the best locations for a classroom: the old Church library.

The reason I want to spotlight Mrs. Drinane is because of her fast learning and implementation of recording her lessons with the SMARTboard.  (as seen above).  We are still working on the fine details like getting a mic that will make the audio smoother, clearer, and louder.

I was able to sit in on some of her lessons using the SMARTboard.  Her teaching technique and skills engage the students.  The students are having fun and learning a lot.  Mrs. Drinane will be attending a conference on how to use the SMARTboard at the end of January, along with Mrs Efird and myself.  We are hoping to learn a lot and bring back some new tricks and skills for the other teachers.

Besides using the SMARTboard, Mrs. Drinane's class is having fun with the new whiteboards that we now have. According to Mrs. Drinane the two day conference we recently attended in Grand Rapids was exactly what she needed.  The love she has for Our Lord and for the children is incomparable.

Having previously taught 3rd grade, I understand the difficulty that grade level can conjure up.  The students are in a huge transition period.  They are no longer learning how to read, but reading to learn.  Students have to decipher answers out of a paragraph of text.  Students are pushing their limits on how to think critically.  I am always amazed, however, by the lack of limits third grade students have.  As parents and teachers we might not think they are capable of doing some of the concepts that need to be laid down as the foundation of their education.  But, guess what... THEY CAN!   I loved teaching third grade.  Partly because third grade students still love school, but also because I was up to the challenge to plant the seeds.  Planting Seeds to Succeed was my theme for third grade.  Sometimes teaching third grade is the toughest job emotionally as well.  Many times as a teacher, the seeds we are planting in third grade won't bloom until fifth, seventh, or ninth grade.  I commend Mrs. Drinane for taking on this challenge.

Every week I am looking forward to seeing what is going on in that third grade class and every week I am checking out what lessons are on the school website.  Mrs. Drinane, thank you for being a great teacher and doing what the Lord has called you to do.

I have some candidates for the next teacher spotlight.  Parents, if you see your child's teacher doing something wonderful in the classroom, let them know and let me know as well.

Martin Luther and the Reformation

Martin Luther was the leader in “reforming” the Protestant Church (thus the term “Reformation Day”).  At age 21, he became a monk and was ordained as a priest at the age of 23.  Throughout his career Luther was torn by this thought, “If man was ruled by sin, how could he hope to gain redemption in the eyes of God?”  He was never able to feel cleansed or at peace despite all attempts through “good works”.

In his study of scripture Luther came to a new conviction.  He realized that man could NEVER gain credit with God or earn His favor...BUT...that man could receive, THROUGH FAITH, the gift of salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  The doctrine of Justification by Faith became the basis of Luther’s teachings.  This doctrine teaches that through Jesus we are made right with God and therefore salvation is NOT “EARNED” by works; it is a DIVINE GIFT from God that we receive freely through faith in Jesus.

Based on this teaching, Luther nailed a critique of indulgences (purchasing merit earned by others for one’s own salvation) to the Castle Church in Wittenburg.  This critique was known as the 95 theses. In the years ahead, Luther faced many hardships, including excommunication from the Catholic Church.  Despite this and many dangers to his life, he continued to stand by his teachings and the number of people who followed his teaching grew.  Among his writings is Luther’s Catechism, which describes Lutheran teachings and gives biblical support for those teachings.

We celebrate the fact that due to Martin Luther’s convictions, we, as Christians know that salvation is ours not because of what we do…but because of our faith in Jesus.  All glory is given to God, who through His wisdom has provided us with a path to His heavenly home!!

Student Whiteboards coming to the Classroom

One thing we did purchase at the Conference was classroom sets of Whiteboards.  Below is a video for teachers, but it helps explain how these whiteboards will be used.

Conference Recap

The teachers and myself took two days to learn.   As a teacher, some may think we know it all.  Some may think why would you need to learn more?  The way I look at being a teacher or better yet, an educator, is we are never done learning.  What is a better way to show our students how important learning is than by showing them that we too as teachers are life-long learners.

This conference was the MANS conference, which only comes every 3 years.  This year was also celebrating their 40th year.  I heard one teacher state, this was the best MANS conference in their forty year history.  But, what is MANS?  MANS stands for Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools.  MANS is an organization that CTK belongs to.  Our membership to MANS lets us be part of these conferences, but also gives us as a Private School, a voice.  Mainly this voice is in the Michigan courts and congress.  MANS fights for the equal rights and protection of Non-Public Schools.  Some of MANS recently victories are the change to Shared Time teachers with the public school districts.  They made it easy for private schools to work with school districts and work better to avoid conflict with public school districts that do not want to participate in the program.  Another victory was dual enrollment for private school students.  When I was the principal at Holt Lutheran, I was watching this case very closely.  This victory lets private high school students dual enroll with a college or university.  Previously the private school student had to enroll into at least one class with the local public high school and then they could enroll in classes in the college/university.  MANS has been fighting for us for the last 40 years and I thank them.

So What did we learn?

As an administrator, there is not usually a lot of sectionals for me or the keynote speakers wouldn't be focusing on the office staff.  Even with all that, I loved the keynote speakers.  They were engaging, funny, smart, and full of wisdom.  I have chatted with one keynote speaker over twitter a little bit, to thank him and to continue conversations.  His, Kevin Honeycutt, presentation was more of using technology and tools to engage students and let them,the students, become important.  I have read some of his stuff before, and  seen his video about how teachers need to learn.  The premise of his thought is, technology isn't something to be scared of, it is a tool and who is going role model it for the kids.  Some of his thoughts and how he uses technology is interlaced in a program our teachers are working on.  We are working on a Tech Plan for the school.  In this tech plan, we are thinking about what do we want, where do we want to go, and how will we get there.

One of my goals for this tech plan is, that every graduate of CTK will leave with an iPad (or similar tablet).  The need for them in high school is irreplaceable.  Lutheran South is a BYOD (bring your own device) campus.  What Mr. Honeycutt and I agree on, that yes it is a "toy" but more importantly it is a "tool" that can open your child's mind and feed his hunger for learning.  My first goal is to get the teachers trained on how to use tablets in the classroom and to use them effectively.  I see a tablet as important as a pencil or a ruler.

The teachers went to many different sectionals.  I can't wait to discuss it with them and hear what they had learned.  Some of the ones I am really looking forward hearing about is the RTI (Response to Intervention) and the FLIP Classroom sectionals (Flip classroom has been a teaching method I have used and seen growing over the last 5 years).

The best part of conferences is learning all this new stuff and being able to implement them into the classrooms.

Garage Sale

Our CTK garage sale has two more community sale dates-Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26th and 27th and Friday and Saturday Nov. 23rd and 24th. We have some beautiful Christmas, Halloween, and Thanksgiving decorations on display like wreaths, dishes, tree decorations, angels, etc. We also have artificial trees, lights, and outside blow  up figures.  We could use help on those days, as the community is invited.

Fall Festival

Family Fall Festival

Sunday, October 21st

At the Pennsylvania Campus

Events:

4:30 PM                   Prayer & Praise Service with Cherub Choir

5:00 PM                   Mostaccioli Dinner -Pre-purchased tickets

-  6:00 PM               sponsored by Lutheran High South       - gym.

5:00 PM                   Café open: $1 hot dogs, $.50 chips, $1 pop

5:00 PM                   Hayrides - West Lawn

5:15 PM                   Pony Rides & Petting Zoo - Middle Lawn

5:15 PM                   Games

6:00 PM                   Free Dessert Available - Atrium

6:30 PM                   Treat Trek - Inner Square

Mission U

The next Mission U course is scheduled for Saturday, October 27 at Christ The King, Trenton Rd.  There were over 90 people registered for the September course.  If you missed the September course you can still attend one of the other five.  They are all independent topics. These courses will equip lay people with the tools and training needed to confidently accept their mission of sharing Jesus Christ with unique people in diverse settings. The sessions are from 10:00 AM—3:00 PM:

                October 27 - Witnessing Methods

                January 12 - Tough Questions

                February 2 - Outreach Minded Church

                March 9 - Sharing the Gospel in a Digital Age

                April 20 - Christ Alone

Course costs are $20/course or $99 if you pre-register for all six. Register online today at www.michigandistrict.org/missionu.

 High School Youth: Don't miss out on the special event designed JUST FOR YOU! Go to www.michigandistrict.org/missionu for details.

Membership At CTK?

Discipleship Class

Nov. 6 – Nov. 20, 2012

Tuesdays, 7:00 – 8:00 PM

CTK Trenton Rd., West Gallery

     

This class is led by Pastor Jay and discusses Christ The King Lutheran Church as a group of believers in Jesus.  New Member Sunday is Dec. 2.

This class is designed for those who have attended the Good News Class or are transferring as members in good standing from other LCMS congregations. This class is informal and reading out loud is voluntary.

Town Hall Meeting

Town Hall Meeting

 Sunday, October 14

Bible Classes at TR and PA

We have a lot of exciting plans to talk about as we prepare for the 2013 and beyond.  We are going to have a “town hall” type meeting during Bible Class, on October 14.  We are hoping the bible class hour will be a more convenient time to reach more people. This town hall meeting will address the plans for staffing.  We will also talk about plans to enhance our worship at the Pennsylvania Rd. Campus.  Bring your questions, comments and ideas to the gym on Oct. 14, 9:45!

Shift into Oxygen

Wieser (1991) and Lehman (2009) state that, “the most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it. It needs to be like oxygen; ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible.” Wieser (1991) went on to state that “whenever people learn something sufficiently well, they cease to be aware of it. When you look at a street sign, for example, you absorb its information without consciously performing the act of reading.”

Weiser, M. (1991). The Computer for the 21st century . Scientific American Ubicomp Paper, Retrieved from http://www.cosy.informatik.uni-bremen.de/staff/seifert/UC-Seminar-2006/T...

Lehmann, C. (2009, February 28). School tech should be like oxygen. Retrieved fromhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUWzQYLqLLg&playnext_from=TL&videos=GPAxi...

Effective Communication

Dear Parents,

I want to first off praise the Lord for what he has given me in my life.  I am loving my Call to Christ the King. My family and I feel welcomed and at home.  I am glad I am the principal here and I want to keep moving CTK in a great direction.

I will come out and say a flaw of myself.  Usually it is hard for someone to admit their weaknesses.  Most interviews, you have the question, "What is one of your weaknesses?"  We are trained to spin that question into a positive, instead of actually admitting our faults.  One of my key answer for that question has been, I work hard, sometimes too hard.  That answer is true, I am not lying, but I want it to portray a positive image about myself.  I remember in one of my interviews, which I wasn't too sure about the position or even if I wanted to get the job, I was asked that famous question and I answered it, "I am a sinful person, I don't deserve anything I have received."  I could never been more honest in that question, but also didn't really answer the question.  So here I am looking from the outside onto myself, one of my weak areas is, "EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION".  What does that mean though?  If you don't know by now, I am not a paper type of person.  I am very online, electronically, and green.  I can be very stubborn in that way.  Also with that, I know what I want, or I know the goal I want, but I am not always the best explaining it or putting it in words.   If you have something to say to me, I prefer to have it in an email then face to face or on the phone. That is how I feel comfortable.  Part of Effective Communication is adapting to how others communicate.  My door is always open for you to stop by to say hi, or need to talk.

The secular world would want to believe, that we would never have an issue at CTK with sin or anything, but we do.  We are sinful and we do sin.  I have had a few conversations with individuals and some items have come up that would fall into the non-effective communication pot.  Looking at my own weakness, I want to change that.  One thing that I found and I have brought it up with my teachers is this concept " The Question Behind The Question." http://qbq.com/ While reading about this concept, they gave an example of a teacher asking, “Why don’t the parents read the beginning of the year information that was sent home?” I have heard that question before as a Principal and I have asked that question as a teacher.  Griping and moaning, Why can't the parents just get it?  Going to a fellow teacher, Do your parents get it?  Do they understand what we are trying to do here?  But, what is the problem with all of those questions?  It has nothing to do with yourself or something you can change.  It is putting the focus on someone or something else.  The QBQ method wants us to ask the question behind that question.  So taking our initial question from the teacher, "Why don't the parents read the information..." We shouldn't just ask that, but ask “What can I do differently to communicate this important information to the parents?” Another QBQ might be, How can I communicate to all of the parents the importance of this information?”  I am asking my teachers and myself to do this and remember to ask that question behind the question.

In the same request of the teachers to ask the question behind the question, I am asking you, the parents to do the same.  I know it may be hard, and it may take some time to get into the habit of asking that question.  We are all sinful.  But, Effective Communication is needed.  One of the issues we have right now at CTK is our parking lot.   Speeding, Wrong Way Driving, and plain, old selfishness is plaguing our parking lot.  I have been asking the question behind the question on this topic.  The question is, "How do we get people to act courteous and drive safely?"  I have been wondering how can we better ask that question.  We tried having Vickie standing out in the corner of the modular, which was after we put the few cones and slow down guy.  We have put it in the newsletter, fast direct, and school reach messaging system.  You can find a parking lot diagram on our website.  I have had a few parents give great thoughts about how to change some of our issues, and we are looking into them, but as of right now, not sure that will decrease the speeding, wrong way driving, or mean words that have fallen onto our parking lot.

Lastly,  I want to remind you the parents, that I welcome your thoughts, your opinions, and your love for CTK.  I know when you are upset, it is because you want the best for your Child and for the school.  But, I urge you to follow the Gospel of Matthew.  If you have an issue with a teacher or a coach, go to them first.  And, follow the chain of command.  I know the frustration you may have or the feeling that as Principal I can dictate orders, but as much as I am here for you the parents, I am here for my teachers.  It will help my relationships with my teachers by doing so.  It is not that I don't care, because I do.  I care too much at times (another great answer to that weakness interview question).

We are in a Customer Service business / ministry.  We want everyone to be happy and we want everyone to learn.  Lastly we want everyone to grow closer to Christ.

When I started this post, I goodsearched Effective Communication.  It returned this website http://www.helpguide.org/mental/effective_communication_skills.htm Now, I haven't read everything on it word for word, but looked over their skills and believe those are wonderful skills to work on to help improve CTK all around.

If you have pointers so I can effectively communicate with you in a more concise and appropriate way, please let me know.  Some of you will be leaving CTK for one reason or another (and besides moving or graduating, I will be sad) and some of you are CTK lifers.  Your in here for life.  Maybe because you have many children, or you are part of our Church family.  I know it has been a long time since we bought the Penn Campus and talks about us moving over there.  That is still in the works and I am hoping to better communicate where we are at and where we are going in the near future.  My goal is to be moved over as soon as possible.  But, I know it may take longer than I want.  See that is another weakness of mine.  When I have a goal, I just want to get there.  I am never happy with where I am at, I always want to improve (another stock answer for that weakness interview question.)

In God
Dan


QBQ Article I read - https://luthed.org/mailingfile/viewfile/id/23949

Shift into Child-centered Program

(Bocchino, 2000). In a child-centered program, learning is developed by the student discovering, experimenting, and exploring new thoughts and ideas. According to the child’s development needs, teachers guide the student through activities and experiences that will meet each learning objective. Teachers are needed in child-center program to support the student and reinforce the learning objectives as they play. Academics, social development, and emotional development are all concerns the teacher must support growth and development of in each of the students. The teacher must be of superior quality (Gnezda, 2006). A child-centered approach provides enriched learning experiences that go beyond learning in a program focused on direct-instruction. In a child-centered program, the learning occurs as the child explores life and the world around them. Student become confident, self-motivated learners. They learn how to use their experiences, seek answers to their own questions and develop understanding for themselves. Learning becomes authentic and meaningful, and children can use their knowledge and skills in a variety of situations. In a child-centered program, children come to own what they know because they discovered it, and they can easily use their new found experiences when faced with new questions and ideas (Hersh, 2009).

Bocchino, R. (2000). What about Direct instruction?

Gzenda, Ph.D., M. (2006, January). Child-centered or direct-instruction preschool what's best for my child?. Washington Parent.

Hersh, R. (2009, July 16). The Importance of child-centered learning. Retrieved fromhttp://classroom-issues.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_importance_of_child....