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Inspiring Voices - Sylvia Artmann

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88 pages

English

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Called to Teach meets the critical needs of those of you who have decided that you want to teach, yet are unwilling or unable to pursue the standard elementary teacher certification. Some of you may be on the verge of completing a college degree for which you cannot find employment, and have been offered a job teaching at the elementary school of your local church. Others, unwilling to go through the currently popular shortcut methods of Alternative Certification, sense the great need for Christian teachers in public schools as a calling for Christian service. Desiring to show yourselves as workmen approved, you seek instruction that is both practical and grounded in the Christian calling by which you are led. Are you one of the burgeoning numbers of Christian parents who have decided to home-school your children? Although dedicated and bright, you may nevertheless be unaware of ways to use the latest research to further your childrens educational development. Essential principles for every part of the elementary school curriculum are included, as well as suggestions for organizing time and materials and the nurturing of self-discipline in your child. Called to Teach contains information on developmental expectations for children from age three through ten years of age, along with the latest research on methods to effectively engage each age in a variety of curriculum experiences to produce lifetime learners. The motivation of inspiration from scripture is maintained throughout; emphasizing that any effective teaching method must relate to children as God created them, and that all truth is Gods truth. Each chapter has a keynote scripture, and other relevant scriptures are quoted as appropriate.All subjects of the curriculum for age-three through sixth-grade are covered from research-based methods to practical teaching tips. By the final chapter the reader will emerge as being fully equipped for answering Gods call to teach.

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Education

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Publié par	Inspiring Voices
Date de parution	21 mars 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781462400713
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0240€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Called To Teach
A Guidebook for the Journey

Sylvia Artmann

Copyright © 2012 Sylvia Artmann.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

ISBN: 978-1-4624-0072-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-0071-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012932794

Inspiring Voices books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

Inspiring Voices
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.inspiringvoices.com
1-(866) 697-5313

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 3/13/2012

All quotations from the Bible are from the New King James Version.
Contents
Chapter I What Have I Got Myself Into ?!
Chapter II Created In His Image: In The Beginning
Chapter III The Early Years: Our Greatest Opportunity
Chapter IV Combining Young Children With Curriculum: An Awesome Responsibility
Chapter V Ready for Formal Learning
Chapter VI Reading--the Basis of Lifelong Learning
Chapter VII Writing As a Parallel for Reading
Chapter VIII Math--Measuring and Quantifying God’s World
Chapter IX Science: A Sense of Wonder About God’s World
Chapter X Social Studies: How the Child Relates to His World
Chapter XI Art and Music: Appreciating the Beauty Around Us While Soothing and Stimulating the Soul
Chapter XII Discipline and Classroom Management: Part A Planning To Prevent Problems
Chapter XIII Discipline and Classroom Management: Part B Dealing with Misbehavior
Chapter XIV Putting It All Together
Chapter I What Have I Got Myself Into ?!
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” II Corinthians 3:5
The young woman shifted nervously from one foot to the other as she stood in the door of my office in the education division of a small Christian university. “I’ve always loved children,” she said hesitantly. “I guess I should have majored in education to begin with. But I just didn’t have all my goals in place when I first came to the university, and now I find myself with a degree that I really don’t want to follow for my life’s work. I think God is calling me to be a teacher, and I have an offer from a Christian school to teach. What can you do to help me? Is there a book I could read to help me to be prepared ?”
I fidgeted uneasily in my chair. She was not the first student to come to me with such a request. Certainly I did not think that one book could take the place of a complete course of study in teacher education, but there were many students who, because of having a university degree, were being invited to teach in Christian schools where pastors or educational directors had confidence in their character and dedication. Several had take one of my courses in educational methods and thus trusted me to help them. I had searched in vain for an effective book of this nature, since I feel that biblical precepts should be wedded with methods validated by educational research. Surely I have an obligation before God, I mused, to see that these dedicated young people are equipped to serve in this important role, for many would pursue the opportunity with or without further preparation. In addition, the Lord prompted me to realize that many parents are currently engaged in home schooling their own children. Perhaps they are not geographically close enough to attend a Christian school, or there are budget constraints, or perhaps they simply desire a closer bond and influence on their children’s lives. Whatever the reason, few of these parents have ever had formal educational methods courses. They, too, needed the tools to do the very best job of teaching their children.
Christian education should be the very best that can be provided, whether at the preschool, grammar school, high school, or university level. This has always been a major precept of mine; and as a professor of education over the past twenty-eight years, I had felt obligated to defend this precept many times. When students had come to me complaining that my courses were “too hard; because, after all, isn’t this a Christian school ?” I had felt it my responsibility to explain why my courses are consistently challenging. To me, Christian education should have even higher standards than the best of secular education. Scripture guides us in this by saying “Study to show thyself approved unto God; a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” II Timothy 2:15. It is not kind, either to the university students or to their future charges, to allow them to “slide by” with little challenge. True Christian love is demonstrated in helping others to be the best that they can be, taking full advantage of the talents that God has given to each one.
Nevertheless, I know that in many instances it is customary for Christian schools to hire any person of good moral character and intention who has a university degree of any sort. Christian character and morals are indeed important, but these fine young people need to be given the tools to teach, so that they will not be overcome with the demands natural to being an effective teacher. Similarly, many parents are extremely bright and able, in addition to being highly motivated to teach their children. Should such willing but untrained parents be abandoned to randomly experiment and succeed or fail as they struggle to provide the best education for their children? If so, this isn’t far from the historical perspective when it was believed that any intelligent, literate person could teach. However, there has been so much research into how to facilitate the process, it seems a shame for dedicated Christian teachers not to have at least the rudiments of such information available to them. This is not to say that God cannot lead an untrained person to become a good teacher. I know this can happen. Yet, He has allowed me to learn much through study and personal experience in teaching over the past thirty-five years. Could it be that He was now calling me to share some of these truths with beginning or prospective teachers who have not had the opportunities for study that I have had?
It was a disturbing thought. As Professor of Education in this small, Christian university, I had a “number of bases to cover.” I taught a full load of courses each semester, supervised student teachers, served as Certification Officer, and was Faculty Sponsor for the pre-professional Student Educators’ Association. Additionally, of course, I had committee responsibilities, advisory responsibilities, and a number of students seeking me for counseling in their individual lives. When could I ever find time for such a major project? But, I know God never calls us to do what He does not provide the strength and wisdom to accomplish. For over five years I wrestled with this calling, constantly becoming more aware that it is, indeed, a calling. And so this book was born, and a new chapter in my life begins. Perhaps you are part of the reason that He called me to write this book. I pray that it can be of assistance to you.
Chapter II Created In His Image: In The Beginning
“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:14
Do you expect me to put up with THAT ?
Many of the characteristics of young children try our patience until we feel we should teach them to respond and act more like “civilized” adults! But, have you ever stopped to think that God could have created children just like adults from the beginning if He had wanted to do so? Therefore, there must be a reason that they have short attention spans, don’t really understand abstractions, learn primarily through firsthand use of their muscles and senses, etc. So, it seems that the effective teacher must seek to understand the child just the way God created him to be at various ages and stages, then use that information to more effectively teach. This doesn’t mean that we should not try to “stretch” children in various ways to help them become more mature in behavior. But it does mean that we should learn what is reasonable to expect at various ages.
Why do we attempt to change children from the way God created them to be during developmentally different ages ? Well, in order to work with a group of children, it is indeed necessary to create an orderly, efficient (within limits), and relatively quiet environment. Otherwise, the learning situation can quickly turn into chaos, where nothing of worth can be achieved. But, if we become intent on this orderly environment as being a higher priority than the needs of our students, we are forgetting that the main goal of the teacher should be to reach children and help them gain academically, physically, morally,