Last week, I passed out a 20-question paper to each of the students in my classes. This questionnaire is full of self-reflection questions to get them thinking about the school year that is about to come to a close. At first they complained, but after about five minutes, they began to reminisce over the past ten months. I asked them questions about the most important things they had learned this year. They were to list three nice things they had done for a fellow student or teacher. I asked them to share a time when something was really difficult but they persevered and finally got it down. These questions were not just based on classes they had with me, but on their school year as a whole. Then they began to ask me the same questions..."Mrs. Henry, what is your favorite memory from this year?" "Have you done anything to help another teacher this year?" It definitely got me thinking about my school year...
Sometimes I feel like an outcast among my fellow educators. My focus tends to be on building relationships with the students rather than making sure my lesson plans touch the highest level on Bloom's Taxonomy and match up with the Common Core ELA standards. Does that mean we don't learn in my class? Heavens no! The content that is covered in my room is very important to me. Learning how to use Microsoft Excel to create a household budget is something every person should know. Using Adobe Photoshop to design programs and edit photos is a great skill to have. Learning how to go about owning your own business is vital. But so is learning respect. So is showing students that they are important. Making my students laugh (many times at my expense) is also important to me.
We had a guest speaker at church yesterday. He spoke about a very common verse...one most people are familiar with. John 3:16. He told us God SO LOVED the WORLD, he gave his ONLY Son, that whoever BELIEVES in Him, shall not PERISH, but have ETERNAL life. While I can't preach this to my students, I can live it. Someone loves them. Someone made the ultimate sacrifice for them. Someone gives them a choice to believe. Someone can save them from hell. Someone can embrace them forever in eternity. That same Someone has asked me to be a witness in my surroundings. Have I done that this year?
I can't make my students believe, I can't save them from hell and I can't get them to heaven. But I can show them what it means to make sacrifices for others. I can show them the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. I can be an example of God SO LOVING the WORLD by being Mrs. Henry who SO LOVES the WORLD. As Dr. Branch said, who am I to love the world less than God does? Have I done enough this year to make a positive impact on the teenagers I see every day? Have I shown them that Mrs. Henry SO LOVES the WORLD because GOD so loves THEM? Do they know they were fearfully and wonderfully made? Or do they think they are here by chance and have no purpose but to live life to the fullest until they die?
I do not teach because I love Photoshop. I do not teach because I think everyone needs to learn how to manage a business. I do not teach so that everyone can type properly. Plain and simple, teaching is my mission field. Work is the only place I regularly encounter non-Christians. Am I doing all I can to win them for Christ?
I wish I could have recorded Dr. Branch's sermon yesterday and then hijack the loudspeaker on the last day of school to play it for all to hear. But I can't. I can simply pray for my co-workers and students. I can be intentional of my conversations on these last few days of school. And I can continue to SO LOVE the WORLD because God SO LOVES me.
Sometimes I feel like an outcast among my fellow educators. My focus tends to be on building relationships with the students rather than making sure my lesson plans touch the highest level on Bloom's Taxonomy and match up with the Common Core ELA standards. Does that mean we don't learn in my class? Heavens no! The content that is covered in my room is very important to me. Learning how to use Microsoft Excel to create a household budget is something every person should know. Using Adobe Photoshop to design programs and edit photos is a great skill to have. Learning how to go about owning your own business is vital. But so is learning respect. So is showing students that they are important. Making my students laugh (many times at my expense) is also important to me.
We had a guest speaker at church yesterday. He spoke about a very common verse...one most people are familiar with. John 3:16. He told us God SO LOVED the WORLD, he gave his ONLY Son, that whoever BELIEVES in Him, shall not PERISH, but have ETERNAL life. While I can't preach this to my students, I can live it. Someone loves them. Someone made the ultimate sacrifice for them. Someone gives them a choice to believe. Someone can save them from hell. Someone can embrace them forever in eternity. That same Someone has asked me to be a witness in my surroundings. Have I done that this year?
I can't make my students believe, I can't save them from hell and I can't get them to heaven. But I can show them what it means to make sacrifices for others. I can show them the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. I can be an example of God SO LOVING the WORLD by being Mrs. Henry who SO LOVES the WORLD. As Dr. Branch said, who am I to love the world less than God does? Have I done enough this year to make a positive impact on the teenagers I see every day? Have I shown them that Mrs. Henry SO LOVES the WORLD because GOD so loves THEM? Do they know they were fearfully and wonderfully made? Or do they think they are here by chance and have no purpose but to live life to the fullest until they die?
I do not teach because I love Photoshop. I do not teach because I think everyone needs to learn how to manage a business. I do not teach so that everyone can type properly. Plain and simple, teaching is my mission field. Work is the only place I regularly encounter non-Christians. Am I doing all I can to win them for Christ?
I wish I could have recorded Dr. Branch's sermon yesterday and then hijack the loudspeaker on the last day of school to play it for all to hear. But I can't. I can simply pray for my co-workers and students. I can be intentional of my conversations on these last few days of school. And I can continue to SO LOVE the WORLD because God SO LOVES me.
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