Isabel 2012

"If that happened one night in America, it would be on the cover of Newsweek." - Jason Russell, Invisible Children


saturday night one of my students little sisters was taken from her room, she has been missing since. naturally this is a big deal and makes me physically ill thinking about it. this is precisely the point my wife pointed out, that was made in the viral kony 2012 film, a child's life is immeasurably valuable no matter where they are born, yet in the u.s. this event gets national attention. nancy grace says that isabel's school administrators should be suspect, there's a winning opinion.

please pray for isabel and her family, lets fight tirelessly to bring her home and always remember the value of every child's life...no matter where they were born.

u.s. education

dr. ravitch adjusts her philosophy on our national education system, as seen here from a conference she spoke at in phoenix.

“nations like finland and japan seek out the best college graduates for teaching positions, prepare them well, pay them well and treat them with respect,” she said. “they make sure that all their students study the arts, history, literature, geography, civics, foreign languages, the sciences and other subjects. they do this because this is the way to ensure good education. we’re on the wrong track.”

the superintendents gave dr. ravitch a standing ovation.

link of the week: building a better teacher

a "year" in review

my life as a teacher moves in peaks and contractions as far as busyness. this last year seemed to be one long peak.

i just got back from our graduation marking the end of an eventful year (sidenote, tim bee was the keynote speaker and was very good). the following are some of what filled up the last nine months of my life:

• my first year teaching high school and prepping for three different classes
• coaching two different volleyball teams
• the birth of my son in august
• joining the elder board at my church which we planted in september
• staff sponsored a christian club at academy
  
• took over running small groups along with my wife in april (sign up here).
  

overall i would say a very difficult but successful year. i made it through teaching five classes five days a week, focusing most of my energy there in planning (about three hours a day), unfortunately this left very little energy for the actual students, maybe the one thing i will regret most about my teaching year. my varsity volleyball team went 20-5-1, missing state by two points in game five of regionals, something i believe may have turned out differently if i could have mustered more energy in that area of my life during the fall.

taking care of my son was maybe the most tiring part of my year but also most rewarding. he has yet to know what it is to sleep through the night.

being on board at revolution has been amazing over this last year, planting a church in september with twenty-some people after an extremely difficult period and watching it flourish into an authentic community that broke 100 in april has been truly rewarding.

with all that said, i laugh when people say, "it must be nice having the summer off". its true, it is nice having the summers off after squeezing 12 months of work into nine and only getting paid for nine. it is nice having summers off until you realize your salary only covers nine month and you need to work over your "vacation". it is nice to have summers off because if i choose i can take a breath, and with that breath this is what i hope to accomplish.

• a quiet time in the bible five days a week
  
• read at least six book
• finish painting the guest room that has been left undone for the last two years
• spend quality time with my son
• revamp my geography class
• be as prepared as i possibly can to take my volleyball team to state and lord-willing win some games
• coach somewhere between 4-9 camps
• take two weeks of real vacation with the family in michigan
  

i learned this year that i hit a max. i learned i want to be great at a few things, my relationship God, my family, my teaching, my coaching and my church leadership. i know five things is pushing it, but i consider myself a high-capacity person. i want to be a person that can be counted on and relied upon to do these things well.