'Tis the Season

I've been dreading this time of year, and this weekend officially kicked it off. My birthday, Jenni's birthday, Thanksgiving, our anniversary, and then Christmas all line up neatly over the next few months. Celebrating anything, even when there are people around, still feels like I'm celebrating alone. It just doesn't feel right.

If the loneliness had turned a bit dull, it has certainly sharpened of late. A year ago today, at around this time, friends and family were showing up at the house for the best birthday party I've ever been thrown. Who else has a wife who would take the time to organize a Magic tournament in his living room? I was a lucky man. I am still a lucky man to have had her in my life as long as she was...

I think I'll order a pizza and then pretend I'm not home when trick or treaters come by. Maybe I can find something to do to keep my mind off of things. Jenni would pitch a fit if she saw the house so unkempt. Maybe I'll spend some time trying to remedy that...

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Rough Week and Weekend

I don't know exactly what it was about last week that had me in the dumps, but I know why Friday was so tough. It had a lot to do with Late Night With Roy on Friday. Jenni and I only went twice, but we sure enjoyed each one... and while the thought of going was enticing, the thought of going without Jenni just didn't sit right. So while I made tentative plans to go anyway, it bothered me all week long and I ended up sitting around the house just playing around on the internet. Between catching up on the last week of posts on tarheelblue.com, writing a little for outsydergaming.com (and subsequently scrapping it for being terrible), and catching up on all of the forums I run my mouth in, I happened across a post about a Lee Ann Womack song.

I was actually reading this post on Donna's blog. I don't really know Donna, although I have met her once. I just happened upon her blog by clicking Josh's blogger profile and noticed the link to her at the bottom. In any case, the song ("I Hope You Dance") is exactly what I imagine Jenni telling me to do, but I don't feel like I've been too successful so far. Of course, the dancing part is just a metaphor. "Homey don't dance" still applies here.

All joking aside, though, I'm not "dancing" at all. Very little truly excites me. Work feels like drudgery. Home is comfortable, but lonely. Before school started, I was at least managing to get my mind off of things with games, but school has pushed all gaming to the side. This is why I have to get into this counseling program at Lenoir Rhyne. I feel like all I'm doing now is spinning wheels... and something's got to give.

I do have most of my application finished. I'm waiting for LR to receive my transcripts and GRE scores. If I could quit teaching now and start counseling classes, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Here's to hoping I get to start in January...

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Mid-Week Ramblings

I'm usually fast asleep right about now. Over the last week and a half, I've gotten myself into a strange sleeping schedule. I was exhausted after football practice the Sunday before last, fell asleep around 3 PM, and slept about 10 hours. Then I woke up around 1 AM and (big surprise) couldn't get back to sleep... so I worked on school stuff for five straight hours. Yeah, I had that much to do. What is really amazing is how much work I get done in the wee hours of the morning. Who would have thought? There is nothing to do at 2 AM so there aren't any distractions. There isn't even anything on TV except for infomercials. Unfortunately, I've been pretty much stuck on this sleep schedule for a week now. Occasionally, I'll set my alarm to get up at a specific time (like last Wednesday for Ultimate Fighter), but then I just go straight back to bed and wake up at 2 or 3 AM again.

Other than being awake at all kinds of weird hours, I've been involved in an interesting conversation about Christians and the public schools. If you haven't kept up, it started on Josh's blog and then migrated here before continuing here. I'm enjoying the exchange. Even though Michael and I have quite different viewpoints, we're both concerned with the same thing: the welfare of young folks.

As I mentioned in part two of that conversation, though, it is awkward trying to communicate effectively when the conversation is spread out over several web pages and over a dozen comments. As soon as I find the time, I'd like to set up some forums for www.crazyteachermusings.com. It would be cool to post a link to a forum thread each time I post something with conversation starting potential. Unfortunately, I have no experience whatsoever in setting up my own forums and I also don't have a lot of time to figure it out. Sometime soon, I'll do a little google searching and see if I can find something simple.

I've also been flirting with the idea of going back to school. Yeah, I know I said that I didn't want to. I just know that I need a new angle for this education thing. Whether that means teaching a different subject or getting a whole new degree, I'm not sure yet... but I'm working on figuring it out. However, I'm pretty excited about Lenoir Rhyne's graduate program for counseling and I'm getting together transcripts, GRE scores, and reference letters so that I can complete my application. Things seem to be falling into place too perfectly, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up... but I can't help it. This will be a major leap for me, so keep me in your prayers. As I go through the application process and find out more, I'll keep posting updates.

I also received a mention in October's issue of The Water Cooler, our school system's monthly newsletter... and found myself extremely embarrassed. Just before the end of my planning period, I received an email asking for a short blurb about my class website. I quickly threw something together and sent it back. The next day, I get a little ribbing at school about being famous and read the newsletter to see what they're talking about. And what do I find??? A GRAMMAR ERROR! I find that I make mistakes on crazyteachermusings.com all the time, but most of my readers here are friends and family so it doesn't bother me too much. I rarely proofread anything before I post it here. But knowing that I, the only English teacher at CVHS, left a typo in a document that was distributed to all of the teachers and faculty in the system... that's embarrassing.

That's everything new that I can think of at the moment. I'm trying to get back to a normal sleeping schedule tonight. If I can stay up until Ultimate Fighter comes on, I'll be up until 11 and then (hopefully) get my schedule lined up with the rest of the world again. Let's hope I make it until then without nodding off...

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Beauty in Simplicity

Sometimes just looking up is awe inspiring. Kids, don't try this at home... or, uhhh, on the road in this case... but I couldn't help myself.

I just wish my phone camera was actually powerful enough to capture how beautiful the sky was last night. These images don't do it justice.

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Christians in Public Schools Part II

...continuing the conversation from here. This conversation has been a little awkward for several reasons. For one, my audience is split. I'm talking to Michael, but with the knowledge that there are other readers who are interested in this conversation. Secondly, there is so much I want to say that I keep slipping into stream of conscience style. Please forgive me for that. Lastly, it seems more than a little disjointed just because it is spread over several different web pages and comment blocks. After this paragraph, you (the reader, whomever you may be) may assume that "you" is referring to Michael and anything meant for my other readers is in italics.

Thanks again for stopping by, Michael. Conversations like this one are healthy and vital. You have certainly helped me understand your position, although I can't say that I have been converted. :-)

[1] I agree with you that immature teenagers is a modern concept. In fact, if you peruse my blog, you will see that I argue just this point, especially with respect to age of marriage. The short answer is, we have failed to prepare them. But implicit in preparation is a context in which to prepare them. I would argue that public schools increase the tendency toward prolonged adolescence and irresponsibility. Movies like “Failure to Launch” did not strike a nerve for no reason. 

Well, for the most part we seem to agree here... at least about the state of our teens. However, I don't believe that public schools are at fault. I want to narrow the topic a bit, though. I also find it interesting that you think co-ed classrooms to be such a large part of the problem (I did at least read as far back as this post on your blog). What keeps us from being completely honest about one gender's needs while we are around children of the other gender? Should the needs of one gender be a secret held from the other? The only arguments I can think of to separate the discussions by gender are: maturity level (which sparked this part of the conversation, ironically) and wasted class time (which is debatable, because I believe understanding the needs of the spouse is vital to strong relationships).

[2] I think many Christian teens go wild not so much because they’ve been sheltered, but because they been told (and had embodied for them) that Christianity = obeying a bunch or rules. Families and churches do not present teens with a compelling, transcendent, winsome vision of life in God’s kingdom. Turning them loose in public schools only makes moralistic Christianity look even worse. The notion that we the teenage years are a season in which we should expect rebellion is also a modern notion, and not biblical. Public schools foster, implicitly and explicitly, rebellion against authority, and portray parents and their beliefs as archaic.

I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of the problem. In fact, I believe I may have jumped to conclusions as far as your personal beliefs. I didn't realize it at the time, but I think I assumed you fit into the "rules lawyers" category, and for that, I apologize. Somehow, though, as I'm reading your response over and over, I can't help but think that this very argument supports my position that the schools are not at fault... at least until I get to the last line. If we were truly preparing our teenagers, "turning them loose" in the public education system would be no different than sending them out for job site training. In the workplace, assuming they work outside of a Christian organization (and perhaps even inside one), they'll be confronted by the ideas of unsaved people on a daily basis. I'm not sure how school is different. Your last line is what makes me pause. Can you give me an example of how public schools foster rebellion against authority and/or portray the parents' beliefs as archaic?


Side Note: I'm actually quite guilty of fostering rebellion in teens. I tell my kids all the time that "just because your mom invites you to smoke weed with her doesn't mean you have to, and it doesn't make it the right thing for her to do either." Working in an alternate school puts me into contact with kids who have some of the worst upbringings, and I absolutely try to get my kids to think for themselves rather than blindly following in their parents footsteps. I'm still pondering how this plays into the discussion, but I felt compelled to make note of it.

[3] One could answer this by appealing to ancient Israel. God told them to get rid of the idols. Couldn’t they have obeyed him and “handled” the idols around them? I suppose, but he wanted them to be gone. We have this notion that unless kids are allowed to kind of “try out” the world they will not know how to stand up to it. I disagree. Real life happens in other contexts besides public schools, and kids can be very well equipped for all life temptations away from that context. Plus, there are certain temptations I want to keep them away from, no matter what school they’re at. This is simply wise parenting.

Point (mostly) ceded. I really just wanted to know your position on this one. I don't believe we should encourage (or expect) kids to give evil a spin either. I have heard quite a few stories, however, of kids in Christian schools who were experimenting with the same sinful activities... perhaps even a larger percentage of the school population, given the smaller size of Christian schools. If this is the problem, I don't think Christian schooling is the solution. We have to better prepare preteens for the temptations they will face rather than try to shield them from it. As for wise parenting, that seems a moot point if we've established that teens should ideally be adults. If they are, they are not in need of the same type of parenting. Parents don't stop being parents when their children reach adulthood, but neither can they (or should they, in my opinion) shield them from the rest of the world. It is this behavior (sheltering our teens too much) that I believe leads to the extended adolescence that you blame on the public schools. 

[4] This has nothing to do with fear, and the problem goes much deeper than “peer pressure” and unsaved teachers. The real problem is that public schools, in every way, take the view that Christ has nothing to do with knowledge or anything that’s important. He may come up in a history class as a kind of “religious figure,” but the official curriculum excludes any notion of teaching actual spiritual knowledge based on the lordship of Christ over all things. But students don’t realize this is happening. It’s not like they can go home to their parents and “report” the godlessness they were imbibing at school. It’s kind of like the nightly newscast. It’s not spewing out some explicitly anti-Christian garbage, but implicit (and explicit) in everything it broadcasts is the idea that God has no part of running and being involved in his universe. He is officially excluded. This is all-pervasive and has its effects on students who are not equipped to properly critique it. Heck, most Christian adults are not equipped to properly critique it. The Bible teaches that “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are found in Jesus Christ, and that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” But public schools deny this truth all day, every day. This is the real problem, not the kid who is talking about the pot he smoked last night (though that is a problem).

This is where I really take offense. I think you fail to recognize the power of Christian teachers despite the fact that many feel as though their hands are tied. The presence of Christian educators is needed even if we are not "officially" allowed to teach biblical knowledge. We do stand out. We do make a difference. We do form relationships with kids that reach beyond the classroom, where our hands aren't tied. I also think you forget the mentoring roles we play that have nothing to do with the curriculum and everything to do with improving our students' lives, which includes fostering relationships with Christ. Private conversations with students can and do include Christ whether we risk our jobs or not. To say that I deny that Jesus Christ is Lord all day, every day is ludicrous.

[5] This question seems to leave out the great mass of church history. The gospel has been spreading quite well over the centuries without Christian children going to officially agnostic government run schools. I’m talking about giving children a distinctively Christian education, not cloistering them up in a monastery or the like. Frankly, if Christians starting developing schools where Jesus’ command to “love me with all your mind” was taken seriously, I think we’d start to see the impact very soon. Historically, Christians were the ones who were sought after in various vocations because they could be counted on to work harder and with more integrity than others. Sadly, this has changed due to the church, not because the culture has become “better” people. Even our Christians schools need a lot of work. Your question also assumes a kind of “two worlds” idea: The secular world and the “Christian” world. There’s only one world and it’s God’s world, and the sooner we teach and embody this reality, the sooner Jesus and the gospel will be seen by all as the Lord that he is. The task is complicated today because of our radical individualism, but Jesus was clear that “all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” The call is for Christians to raise their children and educate them in a way that makes Jesus’ lordship clear. This will necessarily give God’s people many opportunities and venues in which to share the gospel.

In trying to write quickly so as not to forget any of the questions  that were brimming, I believe I worded this question poorly. What I really meant was: Aren't we missing out on an awesome opportunity to influence the lives of the unsaved children in the public schools? I did not intend to leave out the history of the church. 


I also disagree with the idea that there are "two worlds" and I think this whole discussion originated with that very point, which Josh McDowell made on his blog ("let's take Christ with us into the secular world"). Aren't Christian schools just another attempt to create our own little niche? 


Also, how do you feel about preparing kids for globalization and/or diversity in the working world? Does the school in which you work have a population that reflects the races/cultures of the surrounding community? I guess what I'm getting at is this: When I was growing up, I never knew anybody who went to a Christian school. As far as I know, nobody I was around knew anybody from Christian schools either. (If I have any readers from way back when, feel free to correct me on this one.) We knew about Christian colleges, but the kids from the Christian schools in the area might as well have been invisible, despite the presence of several schools in the county. Isn't that a little "cloistered," as you put it? Or is it just coincidence that I never encountered them?

[6] When I say that government schools are “officially agnostic,” I mean precisely what you’ve said, namely, God gets the silent treatment. I say it’s agnostic because the public school doesn’t take an official position for or against God’s existence and reality. But of course, the way it works out is “against.” I think I explained that earlier. Believe me, the ACLU and others are standing by to make sure that nothing positive about God’s existence gets talked about in public schools. So it’s official. You’ve pointed up the problem rather well. Public schools teach children that if they want to believe in God, that’s find for them, kind of like believing in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. No one will stop you if you want to believe in them. But don’t try to bring it into the classroom as though it actually had anything to do with knowledge. It’s just your belief, right? And you should probably keep your beliefs to yourself and your church. So kids learn to privatize their faith, to wall it off and put it in a separate category. They don’t necessarily know they’re doing this, but they are. They’re being taught that spiritual knowledge is all relative, that is, unknowable, and that if they want to have “faith,” then they hope that does something good for them. But don’t possibly think that it is true for all people everywhere. How narrow-minded! You get it?

I get what you're saying, but I'm inclined to think that either I've been extremely lucky or you've been extremely unlucky as far as the attitudes of the educators we've encountered in the public schools. It may be geography as well, as being reported to the ACLU here in the Bible Belt is probably less likely than in California. In fact, the only time I can think of the ACLU getting a mention around here (in this context, at least) was when an atheist teacher at my own high school tried to tell a student that he couldn't read his Bible in class after he finished his classwork. (Again, readers, correct me if I'm wrong.) Also see #4... most of my responses there apply here as well. Perhaps we should combine these two if this continues?

[7] I’m not some kind of utopian, so I don’t think all Christians are going to abandon the public schools next week. But I’ll tell you this, if Christians finally decided that biblical wisdom required them to pull out of the public schools and give their children a Christian education, the public schools would have to shut down. It’s Christians who are keeping them open. We have the power to decide about these things. We’re not stuck. But we’ve got to do some better thinking.

What I was specifically addressing was the role of Christian teachers. I really took offense to the statement on your blog about the advice of the toothless drunk hanging out by the liquor store being equivalent to the advice of a teacher in public education. I realize that may be an extreme example, but it implies that every teacher in public education is guided strictly by the state curriculum rather than by the presence of Christ in his/her life. I really wanted to know if you believe that we, as educators in the public schools, are somehow going against God's will by remaining in our chosen career paths.

[8] Again, the church needs to decide that they’re serious about education. The real indicator to me that large swaths of the church don’t take the life of the mind (and heart) seriously is how little the church puts towards Christian education. Sure, we’ll spend hundreds of millions of dollars on church building programs, but where’s the line-item in the budget for scholarships to fund children’s educations. We’ll spend millions on dollars on Christian camps, but not Christian education. At my Christian school, we scholarship a lot of students who can’t afford our school. Even more significant is the issue of taxes. Give everyone back the taxes they have to pay to support government schools and we’ve got a different ballgame going, don’t we? There are ways to pay for it, but the church isn’t interested. That’s because our Christian children are on largely the same trajectory as the non-Christian ones. They aspire to the same things and the same standards of living and the same ideas about material progress and accumulation. And the public schools are their ticket to these goals. 

Ironically, even though I'm defending public schools here, I support vouchers as well. I think more choices for parents will help children in poverty compete with children from higher income homes. I just don't think that the public education system is the fundamental problem for Christian teens struggling with temptation. All of this still boils down to the point made earlier: most of today's teens aren't spiritually prepared for the world. 


I'm not sure how to take your point about public schools being the ticket to material progress and accumulation. Would I be right to infer that you assume the students of Christian schools are less likely to be materialistic and/or financially successful? Don't Christian schools prepare their students for college and careers just as much as public schools? 


I think that through this conversation I've come to realize that Christian elementary schools might make sense... perhaps even middle schools. A large part of my argument hinges on Christian students being good influences on non-Christian students, and preteens aren't prepared for that responsibility. Many teens (and adults, as you said earlier) aren't prepared for the responsibility, but I think the problem lies in the preparation rather than with the public schools. 


I'm not completely sold, though, because of a very solid argument made by my late wife: her Christian education did not prepare her for the critical thinking she needed to be successful in college. Jenni was just as intelligent as she was stubborn (the two qualities I loved most about her), so she overcame the obstacle and was actually more successful than our whole college crew. However, she often talked about feeling shortchanged because she had to adjust in her senior year of high school (at a public school) to the higher level thinking skills with which her classmates were already accustomed. Perhaps her experience was atypical, but her accounts make up the deepest pool of knowledge I have to draw from when it comes to Christian schools. Is this an issue at your school? Is it what you had in mind when you mentioned Christian schools having things they need to work on as well?


I'm enjoying this exchange. I'd like to continue, but the hour is too late and the post is too long. I'm sure you'd like a response before I write a book on my beliefs and opinions. As you suggested, the opportunity to examine our assumptions is healthy and vital. I hope to continue the conversation soon... thanks again for stopping by!

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Christians in Public Schools

Well, a comment on Josh's last post has gotten my brain churning out things to discuss. I encourage anyone to go read it, but if you refuse, here's a summary of the exchange:

Josh made a comment about taking Christ with us into the secular world instead of creating places specifically for Christians, and included schools as an example. The commenter responded with this:

I'm with you, but I have a bit of a different take on "Christian Schools," especially since I teach at one. I believe that Christians need to stop "taking Christ" into the officially agnostic government (i.e., public) schools. Christ is already there, of course, but most Christian teenagers are not prepared to properly discern and stand firm in the face of the onslaught they will face there.

As a teacher, I'm not sure how to take this. I don't think it was meant as an insult to my profession or my workplace. I'm pretty sure it has more to do with government policies higher up the ladder, but it stings nonetheless. Basically, I just have a bunch of questions in response to this. I'd like to write a ton, but I don't have time at the moment and I'd really like to see his answers before I elaborate on my own opinions. I hope this generates a deep and thoughtful conversation.

1. The idea that teenagers aren't mature enough to properly discern and stand firm is a fairly modern concept. In some cultures, teenagers are considered adults even today. Does it have anything to do with their age or have we failed to prepare them? Or do we just not trust in our ability to prepare them?
2. Can't we be too sheltering? Isn't the tendency for Christian teens/young adults to "go wild" when they first leave home (for college, perhaps) a direct result of the sheltered lifestyle?
3. There is, of course, the age-old question: Is one really good/strong/pure/whatever if he has been sheltered from the temptation in question?
4. Are we so fearful of those unsaved children (and teachers) that we don't trust God to watch over our own while they're outside of our comfort zones?
5. If we took all of the Christian kids out of public schools, how would we reach the unsaved children who might otherwise have no link to the Christian world?
6. No public school I've taught in has been officially agnostic. Rather, the whole topic usually gets the silent treatment because so many teachers fear losing their jobs if they discuss it. Perhaps that's a policy I've just never come across before. Was that just a personal observation or is it really "official"?
7. Should all Christian educators move to Christian schools so we aren't "stuck" in "officially" agnostic programs?
8. I've never seen a free Christian school. How do Christian schools benefit students at or below the poverty line? Some of my kids have to skip meals. I can't imagine them paying to go to a private school.

Well, that's all I have time to type right now. I should have company on the way shortly. Here's hoping that the commenter stops by. I'm interested in hearing his opinions... but I'm also interested in my readers' opinions. Feel free to contribute!

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Pranking the Teacher

I would absolutely love to pull something like this off someday. Check out the video... it is over eight minutes long but worth the time, especially if you've ever been in a terrible parent-teacher conference!

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