cultivating Christian educators

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Diana Brunsveld Smithville

Jessica Geleynse Bowmanville

Heidi Elgersma

Stratford

Kevin Huinink Breslau

Willy Katerberg Georgetown

Allen Korvemaker

Smithville

Tanya Pennings Guelph

Linda Sennema Hamilton

Brent Smeenk Belleville

Natalie Van Andel Woodstock

Vivian Vanderhoek

Burlington

Randy Zondag Kitchener

Volume 32, Issue 1 September 2010

FFFFOODOODOODOOD F F F FOROROROR T T T THOUGHTHOUGHTHOUGHTHOUGHT

He has shown all you people what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

That’s NOT fair!

Every educator (and parent) has run into this famous statement. Fairness or justice is some-thing that students (and, I suspect, educators) are passionate about. I love the TV ads where the kids are given unreasonable expectations (like riding a bike in a confined area or giving ice cream to “new” children but not to everyone) and the voiceover talks about the unfairness of certain financial institutions. These scenarios resonate because they appeal to our sense of justice.

Many times the decisions that are made in our classrooms (or staff rooms) are perceived as unfair. But the question isn’t really whether the decision or the action is actually fair or not; the question is HOW you deal with the perceived or the real unfairness. How will it bubble to the surface so that an honest conversation can happen? Are you an educator who can speak and ACT in a way that allows people to ask you why you are doing what you are doing? Do you actually want your students (or colleagues) to challenge you to articulate why you do what you do? Are our office doors open so that you INVITE persons to ask you “why”? Of course some things are confidential, of course some things cannot be analyzed in detail—but it goes a long way to building relationships if you invite questions in an honest, transparent way. We each need to believe that we are accountable to our communities, those whom we serve as classroom educators, as leaders, as parents, as participants in a community. What happens if

1. A student feels picked on by a teacher? 2. A teacher believes the leader is being unsupportive? 3. A colleague thinks that his or her child is being treated unfairly by another colleague?

How do we confront these issues in a respectful, professional way so that the relationship is enhanced? How do we build TRUST? How can we ask our questions in a way that doesn’t put others on the defensive? These are tools that are not only fundamental to a Christian community but are fundamental to life. These are life skills that can enhance our witness as Christ ambassadors wherever we serve and live and work.

So, think about ways to build capacity for questions. Think of ways to serve your classroom (and school) that enhance communication and invite accountability. This bottom-up and top-down approach will witness to your students, to your parents, and to your community what it means to live in the tightrope of structure and grace. This does not abdicate your responsibil-ity of excellent management for your classroom, for your staff, and for the school, but it does open the door for good processes to be put in place to ask those nagging questions of fair-ness. In our three scenarios, it might mean the student going to the vice-principal; in the case of the leader, it might mean going to a dispute committee or your professional organization; in the case of the colleague, it might mean going to the leader of the school. In any case, there needs to be a “pressure valve” that releases built-up steam, and as long as everyone knows his or her role—that is, to build up the relationship that is perceived as unjust—we can con-tinue to have the courage to speak, to listen, and to grow into the communities that God has intended. Have a great year!! Diane

OCSTA is a community of professional Christian school educators working to equip and enable its members to provide Christ-centered education.

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Registration for OCSTA Events and Management of Membership Data

Over the summer, OCSTA entered into an agreement with Gateway Software Productions of Barrie to re-tool its conference and course registration and to get a better handle on membership data. Robert Tigwell, a former teacher at Unity Christian High School, is the owner of Gateway and was keenly aware of gaps and inefficiencies in our registration and data management capabilities. Thanks to his experi-ence as an OCSTA member and his extensive track record in web-based data management, we are proud to be able to launch our new registration portal for this year's conference. We have been very impressed with Gateway staff and are confident that your online registration experience will be a smooth one. Please take a moment, when registering, to review and ensure that all of your member data is cor-rect. There are obvious errors and inconsistencies in our data, and your attention to this will allow us to bet-ter communicate with you the array of professional opportunities available throughout the year. Again, many thanks to Robert and the staff at Gateway Software for their professionalism and commitment to Christian education. Kevin Huinink OCSTA Board Chair

OCSTA Educators Convention 2010 OCSTA Educators Convention 2010 OCSTA Educators Convention 2010 OCSTA Educators Convention 2010

On October 28 and 29, the whole community of OCSTA’s Christian educators as well as guests and friends will come together to worship, learn and reconnect. Our theme this year is “Woven Together in God’s Faithfulness” is based on Hebrews 10:23-25. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Teaching in the classroom and leading in schools can be lonely work. This passage seems to suggest that we are made for community….a community that encourages us, a community that spurs us on to do good work, a community where each person as an individual thread comes together with others to create a beautiful fabric, a fabric of faithfulness. We are not alone. We can depend on each other….work together in collegial settings or profes-sional learning communities. We are very pleased to have Dr. Steven Garber and Dr. Gideon Strauss as our keynote speakers. Dr. Garber will address the OCSTA community on the theme of “The Fabric of Faithfulness, Again and Again”; Dr. Strauss will address us on the theme of “The Thread of Justice (in the Warf and Woof of Schooling)”. Both presentations will focus in on the integrity or coherence of a Christian worldview and the living of life. Our Convention theme song, “God is Making a Tapestry”, (music and lyrics by Debbie Sawczak)speaks eloquently to God’s presence woven into our lives and how we become the beautiful tapestry together in community as we embody His promise. God is making a tapestry, full of colour and artistry, Weaving each strand on the loom of our hearts, And we see how His Glory is the theme of the story: His is the thread running through ev’ry part. Old and new, me and you, blended as one; Time and place and the work of grace in daughter and son. The OCSTA Convention Planning Committee trusts that through this convention you will be refreshed, enriched, encouraged and spurred on to continued learning and teaching and leading individually and in your communities! — Diane

Member of Christian Schools Canada.

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Of Portfolios, Performance, and ProfessionalismOf Portfolios, Performance, and ProfessionalismOf Portfolios, Performance, and ProfessionalismOf Portfolios, Performance, and Professionalism

One of the things that most impresses me about education is how the job is never done. A lesson plan can always be improved, a method of evaluation can always be updated, a bulletin board can always be planned. Teachers and educators must always continue to learn how best to utilize their time because time is in such short supply. It may be this constant pursuit of excellence for our students, the constant change in educational theory, and the sense of “never being totally ready” that sometimes allows educators to forget to put their own ca-reers, plans, and needs first. In the profession of teaching, many of us never take the time to reflect on our own paths for advancement and improvement because there never seems to be time. Many of us forget to record and update our own professional portfolios because there are so many other things to do to get ready for a new school year. However, there seems to be a new mood “out there” in our Christian schools, and your association is mak-ing you aware of it. It has to do with each of the three P’s in the title and how they are related. As profes-sional educators, it is our duty to keep up with new trends and thinking in education; after all, to continue to learn is at the heart of teaching. A professional realizes that it is important to stay fresh, remain current, and change things up regularly. In order to keep track of our journey to professionalism, it is important to update one’s professional portfolio annually or biannually. Books, conferences, workshops, leadership op-portunities, co-curriculars, courses—all add to the richness of our experience, and keeping track of all of them helps to shape our path. Professional portfolios can assist in conversations with administration, especially with regards to supervi-sion and evaluation or performance objectives. Having the opportunity to share your portfolio with your school’s leadership is particularly important on the way to professionalism. Invite your school leadership into your classroom to watch a lesson or activity that you are particularly proud of. Have an open door policy! Ask your principal/vice-principal or a colleague to watch you teach and give suggestions on how to improve your pedagogy. Teaching is a profession where we expect growth and experience to increase as we age. (Our salary grids are set up on this premise.) Our expectation is that teachers grow and improve the more they teach. The function of teacher performance evaluation is to seek out, document, and acknowledge the good teaching that already exists. We all need affirmation that we are doing a good job. Teacher perform-ance evaluation provides feedback on all the things that we are doing well and it may well point out one or two things that we need to work on. It is also important to verify or reassure our clients that good work is going on. Teacher evaluation, I believe, must make the teacher the centre of the evaluation activity. Teachers ought to direct which areas or components will be evaluated. There are, of course, general evaluations where a person (principal) will just observe or note the “feel” of the classroom. We may all have had our adminis-trators walk through a classroom while we are teaching or sit down and watch our classrooms for a while. It is also a good idea to use more than one person to judge teacher quality and performance. Peer as-sessment is invaluable. Watching other teachers perform their “magic” is usually inspiring, and having col-leagues watch and comment on one’s own teaching can be very enlightening. In the end, teacher performance evaluation should be used to encourage personal professional portfolio building. As professionals, we need to encourage our administrators to drop in, stay awhile, and work with us to provide written reports for our growth and development. It is through these methods that ac-countability can be built into the workplace. If you have any thoughts, reactions, or comments to this article, please email me at dstronks@ocsta.org.

The OCSTA News is produced by the Ontario Christian School Teachers Association

777 Garner Road East, Ancaster, Ontario L9K 1J4

Executive Director: Diane Stronks; email: dstronks@ocsta.org Administrative Assistant: Faith Boer; email: office@ocsta.org

�: 905 648 1200 �: 1-877-486-3233 �: 905 648 8670; website: www.ocsta.org

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Looking to take an AQ course? Redeemer’s Education Department offers AQ courses in a blended on-line and in-class format. The following AQ courses are being offered this fall: *NEW Special Education – Intellectual – Gifted *NEW Kindergarten Special Education I Classes begin on October 16. Please register by October 7. For more information on our AQ courses, including a new, dramatically lower tuition fee, please visit www.redeemer.ca/clear.

Building Community Within Our Membership

Pray With Us

We mourn with Darrell Gillespie (new principal at Beacon Christian Secondary School, St. Catharines) and his family on the passing

of his mother on September 8, 2010. Please keep Darrell and his family in your prayers.

Wayne Drost (honorary member) passed away in the early hours of September 9, 2010 due to complications from Alzheimer's.

Please keep his wife May Drost (also an honorary member) and his family in your prayers during this time.

Celebrate With Us

We celebrate with Roger and Genille Kroeker (Beacon Christian Secondary School, St. Catharines) on the birth of their daughter,

Alana Kroeker. Alana was born in May 2010.

Congratulations to Shawn and Lisa Van Andel (Scugog Christian School) on the birth of a baby boy, born May 16, 2010.

Neal and Tanya DeRoo (Beacon Christian Secondary School, St. Catharines) welcome their first child, a baby boy. Hendrick was

born the beginning of June 2010.

Congratulations also to Len and Lisa Smit (Sarnia Christian School) on the arrival of Levi Kenneth Smit, weighing 8lbs 11.5oz. Born

on June 3, 2010.

Ann and Lance Wylie (Guelph Community Christian School) were blessed with a daughter on June 10, 2010. They have named her

Elianna Linda Grace. She is a little sister to Nehemiah.

September 1 Woodstock District Breakfast Meeting, London September 10-11 Christian Educators Journal Retreat, Grand Rapids September 16 Finance Committee September 17 High School Administrators and Curriculum Coordinators, TD Christian September 20 Promotion and Membership Committee September 21-25 Christian Schools Canada Convention, Edmonton

September 29 Convention Planning Committee, Lindsay October 6 Coordinating Committee October 13-16 Assessment Summit: Ahead of the Curve, Niagara Falls October 14 Tyndale University College, Education Conference October 28/29 OCSTA Educators Convention, RUC

Calendar of Events