To close the gap between the words of your mission statement and the reality of your current situation, do 4 things: focus on your mission, empower others, work smart, and pursue excellence.



To what extent do staff in your organization do these 4 things? To find out, take the following self-assessment. Read More...

As an administrator at an international Christian school, you know that staff play a vital role in carrying out the mission. Because your care about your staff, want to be good a steward of the staff God has provided, and want your school to carry out its God-given mission, you ask yourself, “How can we energize, focus, and unleash staff both personally and professionally?”

To find out, take the following self-assessment. Rate each item, using the following scale:
4: Consistently • 3: Usually • 2: Sort of • 1: Rarely Read More...

Your client wants to clarify and strategically pursue God’s calling. That’s great!

Question: How can you empower your client to do this?

Answer: By asking 10 questions:

1. How has God blessed you to pursue His calling?”
2. What problems and opportunities are you passionate about & blessed by God to address?
3. What’s your mission?
4. What’s it take to carry out your God-given mission?
5. What’s already been accomplished?
6. What helps/hinders you in achieving your goals?
7. What are your options for achieving your goals?
8. What will you do to achieve your goals?
9. What will you do this week?
10. How can you continue to make progress?

Your client will need multiple sessions to reflect on these 10 questions, and your client might benefit from using tools. This set of tools includes a self-assessment and addresses questions 1-7.

To get an idea of how you can more effectively lead by asking questions, complete the following self-assessment (download). Rate each item, using the following scale:

4: Consistently • 3: Usually • 2: Sort of • 1: Rarely

Lead from your heart
___ I trust that the Holy Spirit is working in the heart of every believer.
___ I believe others can define and achieve their goals.
___ I target motivation, not information. Read More...

Want to help your students to better connect the course content and Biblical principles they study to God’s story of creation-fall-redemption-restoration? Good. Reflecting on a set of DRAW questions can help you determine what action steps to take. What does “DRAW” stand for?

• Define the facts.
• Respond to the facts in terms of feelings/experiences.
• Analyze the facts, feelings, and experiences.
• What’s next?: Consider next steps.

As a result of reflecting on the following set of DRAW questions, you will identify 1 or more SMART action steps you will take to help your students better connect the course content and Biblical principles they study to God’s story of creation-fall-redemption-restoration. Read More...

Want to use your curriculum to help students develop a Christ-centered worldview? Reflecting on the following 7 questions can help:

1. What’s the goal?
2. Regarding developing a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum, what are the opportunities/problems?
3. What’s your stakeholders’ perspective of a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum?

Read More...

You want to help your students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches. But you’re having difficulty developing an effective lesson plan.
 
Question: Is there a lesson model that can help? Read More...

You want to pursue God’s calling. You’ve heard about coaching, and you want to explore getting coaching. Good. Start your exploration by watching this 1-minute video.



Does coaching help people pursue God’s calling? Yes.

• As a result of getting coaching, I’ve clarified my ministry, better balanced home and work, and more effectively led change.
• Those I coach consistently testify that coaching helps them achieve their goals.
• And research indicates that coaching, for example, increases training impact by 300%.

To further explore coaching, focus on 4 questions:

1. What is coaching?
2. In coaching, who does what?
3. What could you work on with a coach?
4. Are you ready for coaching? (Download, print, and complete this self-assessment.)

Review: You’ve explored getting coaching by thinking about what coaching is, what the client and coach are responsible for, what you can work on with a coach, and how ready you are to be coached.

Question: What are you going to do?

The challenge: At Christian schools, we want our students to develop a Christ-centered worldview, to see all of life through the lens of Scripture, to learn about God and His creation. This is a big challenge! One way we address this challenge is by having our students connect what they study with Biblical teaching.

Where can you get some help with this challenge? Read More...

You’re sitting in your classroom thinking: “How can I help them get this? I’m supposed to teach them a Biblical perspective. Maybe I should talk with Tom. Michele mentioned a good book and a workshop next month. I wonder if we should work as a department to develop some curriculum for this. What would be the best thing to do?”
 
Stop. Don’t start by talking to a colleague. Don’t start by a reading book or attending a workshop. Don’t start by writing curriculum. These are solutions.

Instead, DEAL with your students' learning needs. Read More...

Christian education involves worldview education, education that helps students develop and apply a Christian worldview. Here's a 6-part tutorial you can use to explore Christian worldview education. Read More...

A key goal of Christian education is students increasing their understanding and application of a Biblical perspective. Assessment can help! Here's a 4-part tutorial on how you can use assessment. The tutorial address the vision for assessment, assessment for learning, goal setting, and rubric usage. Read More...

You want your students to honor Christ and impact the world from Him. Consequently, you want to nurture faith in Christ. One way you do this is by helping your students understand and apply a Biblical perspective to what they study. You've heard that asking questions is a good way to do this.

You wonder, "Does asking questions help students understand and apply a Biblical perspective?"

• Heidi Schaeffer, who teachers Science 5, says, "Questions helped my students see how creation points to God."
  
• And in the following video, Michael Essenburg says that asking questions is a doable, effective way to help students understand and apply a Biblical perspective.

Read More...

As a Christian school teacher, you want your students to love God with their minds. So, you work to help your students apply a Biblical perspective to the course content you teach. This is a challenge. To meet this challenge, target student application of a Biblical perspective. This tutorial can help!

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