Friday, March 6, 2015

The Reason Why . . . .


     I must admit that most of what is visible on this blog is the fun stuff-- the achievement parties, the dress up days, February Fun Days, etc.  But that is only what appears on the surface.  Behind every fun picture or motivational idea is something else: hours of work.  Hard work.  Hard work on our part-- teaching, presenting, and motivating.  And hard work on the students’ part-- understanding what we are presenting, remembering it long term (not just for the test), being able to say it aloud, and then writing on paper the concepts we have been learning in math and English, or elaborating on topics we have been discussing in science and history.  

THAT is the ultimate reason we do all the fun stuff, so that school is an interesting place to be, and so that students are eager to be there-- eager to learn, eager to think and write and expound and dream.  That is the reason why.  And, for us small private schools, there is another, more important reason.  To assist parents in bringing up the children of our churches in the admonition of the Lord.  

     I am reminded of this concept every time I grade a set of papers and all of the students in the group get good grades, or all 90s, or, in this case, all 95s or higher.  (This was a four-page Rod and Staff English test, and those are pretty hard!)  That is one of the main reasons we do all the other fun "stuff".  

     For more on motivation, click here.