Month: January 2021

Categories
A Time To Teach

Day 238

For most teachers, this school year didn’t start last August. It started last April with the first national quarantine we had ever seen (approximately 238 days have passed since then). No matter what our view of the situation was, every teacher was asked to invent new wheels over and over, and then asked to throw away those ideas and learn multiple new things their state and district dreamed up without telling them. It has been such an exhausting year. For the most part, teachers who stay in it for the long haul are a strong breed. We learn that to keep our sanity we must be willing to learn new ways, throw out work we have spent months or years developing, and make whole system changes with only a day’s notice. On top of that, we must maintain a countenance that leads the students to believe everything is just fine. You know…grace under fire. We listen to a new directive from our district leaders, that we know is going to cause complete chaos, shake our heads in despair and then walk into our classroom with a smile and extra sweet voice. Somehow, I think the students see beyond the smile. They’re pretty clever. Oh how I love those little teenage turkeys! And don’t worry, I actually passionately love teaching, even in all of the insanity.

Hopefully you have derived from my writing that I am oddly extra joyful and usually don’t struggle with the despair as much as some. God gets ALL the credit for my joy! But everyone has an off day and today was mine. During a normal year, I am known for being firm, expecting hard work, and not being a pushover. However, I am also known for being fair, compassionate, and kind. They know I expect their best, but they hear every day how much I value them. I don’t believe in giving someone credit for something they didn’t earn. I teach high school science; biology, physical science, forensic science, advanced biology, AP environmental science, and Robotics. It is an important yet tough subject to learn, but I absolutely love science and hope my students will come to love it too.

However, this year has been anything but normal. Fake excuses have abounded amidst a few truly legitimate struggles. The truth is, most of the students in our district and probably everywhere have simply decided not to do school. Their parents feel helpless because most cannot be there to make their student stay on task, and consequences are complicated in a city full of single parents who feel forced to compete for their child’s love or presence. I have the much dreaded task of determining what is believable and what is merely a convenient excuse…”Mrs. Cook, my hamster got Covid and gave it to the dog who ate my computer and spread Covid through the internet to half the student body. And by the way, this went on for exactly one semester and just now resolved the week before final grades go out…sorry about that.” Ugh!!! I actually just reached for my snuggly Hallmark blanket as I typed this.

So why was today so bad? I had to apologize to someone. No one was making me do it, but I have learned that I am only the best version of myself when I immediately own up to any wrongdoings. I was extremely uncompassionate, snarky, and downright rude to a parent about their child. I received an email from administration about a parent who said her son was experiencing multiple technical difficulties…oh and by the way, he has Covid. By now, this has become the most popular excuse. They know we cannot question the legitimacy of their claim. Now, I know some students actually are getting sick, but I also know the statistics and am aware of the very small percent of students who are likely to experience anything beyond mild symptoms. I’m no fool. Some are lying. Although I give them extra time, I still expect them to come back and do work eventually. The email about this particular student was copied to several teachers and counselors and I didn’t bother to look at the entire list of recipients (rookie mistake). I immediately replied (another rookie mistake) with an email, and pretty much called the excuses horse pucky and awful convenient in the last week that grades can be entered.

Well, I was about to receive the biggest humble pie of my entire year. Better grab some popcorn because this one is a doozy! Unbeknownst to me, the parent was in that list of recipients. Wait, it gets better. This student had just transferred to my class in the last month (I have 180 students and had forgotten he was so new) and…icing on the cake…I had encouraged a counselor to send him to my class to try to get him back on track (sometimes they just need a change). Forget the shovel, I was going to need a backhoe to get me out of this mess I made. I had spoken in haste and was not delivering love and grace, therefore I wasn’t representing God. Sadly, my district probably would have stood behind my bad behavior, as they almost always side with the teacher first. Thankfully, my parents taught me that apologies are not contingent upon discovery of guilt and should be offered immediately. I wasted no time in emailing the mom a sincere apology, along with some ideas of how to rescue her son’s grade. Then, I called her and bawled like a baby as I blubbered out another apology. She was so kind. She had already forgiven me and said she understood that we are all stressed out and not ourselves. Thank you, God, for showing me mercy today. Even teachers need mercy. The truth is, we have meltdowns, make poor decisions, misjudge people and situations, and fall into depression just like anyone else.

James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

So, I pray Lord that you bless that sweet mother and her son tonight, that you completely restore his health and protect their household from any more sickness. May they see You, Lord, in the healing, and may they experience Your peace that passes all understanding. I pray that they will be so filled with peace and joy that it spills onto everyone around them, and that they cannot deny that You carried them through it all.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Categories
The Curriculum

Kindness From California

When I recently took a stand against a worldly and abusive sexual education curriculum in my school district, my words reached a popular conservative commentator for television and radio. It’s funny how we tend to see only one thing God is doing when something magnificent happens and realize later that God was doing many things in that same situation simultaneously (say that five times fast). While I was reeling from the shock of my words reaching so many ears, Glenn Beck was hosting an amazing lady on that same radio broadcast. She is the founder of For Kids and Country and was ready to fight for me the moment she heard my letter. I was surprised to hear her vow to help me stay employed if my school acted unfavorably toward my rejection of their curriculum. At first I thought she was merely touched by my willingness to follow through so boldly. But, she was about so much more!

My favorite verse is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. The very first part of it tells us that everything under heaven has a perfect time it is supposed to happen. Every email, phone call, new acquaintance, conversation, and revelation happens exactly when God knows it will serve Him best. A few days after the radio show, I was able to finally talk to Rebecca Friedrichs in an email but it was weeks before we reached each other by phone. I thought we would just exchange pleasantries and wish each other well as sisters fighting for decent education. Instead, we had so much to talk about that we couldn’t even fit half of it into an hour long phone call. Rebecca and I decided to meet. Despite a few states existing between the two of us, I was thrilled to let her know that I would be flying her way in March. I have never been to California and thought it would be great for my husband and I to squeeze in a vacation as well. I love to see new places and travel, so I am beyond excited! I will be sure to bring back stories from the coast in a future article.

Rebecca had sent me a copy of her book Standing Up To Goliath, before we actually talked, and my eyes were opened to so much I didn’t know about the control school unions have and the corrupt things they are doing with that power that are nothing short of left wing political indoctrination and child abuse. I felt I had just stepped off the farm and emerged into the ghetto. The more I read, the more aware I was of my lack of knowledge. So many children are being led daily into the deceptive clutches of Satan and we are not fighting hard enough to save them. In fact, our inaction is silent endorsement. Unacceptable! Matthew 18:6-7 says, “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” So God knew the schools would become this corrupt, but the consequences will be unthinkably painful. And woe to the NEA and everyone else who is facilitating this destructive curriculum. I would not want to be in their shoes when their punishment comes. If you hear nothing else, hear this my friends…if we remain silent, it WILL get worse. We WILL watch our children go through unspeakable harm. But we have God ordained authority over this situation. We have the right and obligation to step up and rebuke these unacceptable school practices and restore morals and innocence in our students. We have the duty to restore the authority of parents over their children and empower them to boldly embrace their God-given role. Whew! I almost started singing!!

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7 NKJV

Public schools started more than a century ago with teachers, parents and students holding to this principle, teaching Scripture at every opportunity because they feared a world without knowledge of Scripture. It is time to bring the most important curriculum back, infuse it into our words and actions, and save our kids!

Categories
The Curriculum

Answered Prayers

Right before the weekend, I emailed my biology parents about the unacceptable indoctrination threatening their children in my school district. Even though I was choosing to trust God’s plan, I wanted to be as prepared as I could for the consequences of my actions. Once a girl scout, always a girl scout. I updated my resume and sent it to an amazing private Christian school near me. They had a solid reputation for putting God first and keeping Scripture as their foundation. It would be so nice to not feel like I needed to filter my Faith. So many times, when teaching science, I have had Scripture on the tip of my tongue and refrained from mentioning it, to avoid potential backlash later. The Christian school wasn’t hiring at the moment, but I emailed my resume anyway. Here I am, God. Send me.

I prayed for God’s direction as I sent my resume out. The very next day, I had an email asking to interview me. I took this as assurance from God that He was going to carry me no matter what happened. I quickly responded and set an interview for the following week. Everything seemed to be falling into place seamlessly. Could taking a stand be this easy?

By Sunday, I had messaged my pastor and his wife about everything that had transpired. My church prayer warriors surrounded me and prayed over me. We were a growing army now trusting God with what was becoming clear as the beginning of a battle. As I stood there in the middle of outstretched arms and hearts, I had an overwhelming feeling that there was so much more to do and I would need to roll up my sleeves and be ready to work hard. Even five years ago, I would have been too afraid to put my paycheck and reputation at risk. When my son passed away, though, it was my mother who added some new perspective to my life. She reminded me that everything we accumulate is temporary and can’t go with us when we die. Our time in these bodies is such a tiny blip on our eternal radar. When we go home to God, it will not matter how high we climbed the ladder at our job or how fancy our belongings are, or how decorated our children are. The only thing we will take with us is how we loved God and others. How much do I love my students? Enough to do whatever I can to protect them from this worldly indoctrination? The answer to these were surprisingly complicated as I walked out of an amazing interview with the Christian school. I felt so torn and desperately needed some clear direction from God. Time to hit your knees again, sister.

The next week at school, I was summoned to the principal’s office. Even though this is a person I am honored to serve under, who runs our school with patience and amazing poise at all times, I was sweating like a teenager and silently praying all the way there. It was a long walk, so I managed to go through Psalm 23, Philippians 4:6, and several pleas for peace and wisdom. I knew what this was about and would own my actions. As she closed the door, I quickly rehearsed my polite acceptance of being canned. Instead, she sat down, smiled and assured me that she had no intention of losing me and was equally concerned with the content of the curriculum I was opposing. I had already informed her that I would not continue working there if the curriculum was forced. She assured me that she had carefully formed a plan to meet my requests because she valued me as a teacher and did not want to lose me. Thank you, God, for this woman!

I walked back to my classroom and taught my next class with an ear-to-ear grin. God was clearly in charge and I felt so safe and relieved. When I realized I would not have to leave my amazing, sweet students, I sat in my empty classroom and wept. These students have been burned into my heart. They have their whole lives ahead of them and look at me with big eyes and share with me their even bigger hearts and dreams. They have taught me patience and compassion on a level I didn’t know existed before I began teaching. I can have a rotten start to my day and then my students instantly turn it around with their funny antics and the innocence they try so hard to pretend isn’t there. They are a true source of joy for me.

If you are a teacher and are struggling to find joy in your job, I would like to offer you this: A wise person once said that whatever you expect from a child will not leave you disappointed. In my third year of teaching, I decided to expect only the best from my students every day, to assume that they would be amazing in their behavior and their work. I would enter the building, smile at everyone, exclaim what a wonderful day it was, and let my joy well up and spill out on everyone around me…every day. Love is messy, folks! Warning…if you stand close enough to me, you WILL get sticky with joy. I noticed some other teachers seemed to be equally as happy and it was encouraging. Then, I noticed something phenomenal. Most teachers will testify that there is a noticeable depressing cloud that drags teachers down as Christmas break approaches. Faces are battle worn as teachers sink into survival mode. Teaching is not for the faint of heart. But that year, teachers were still smiling after Thanksgiving and exclaiming how few fights there had been and how wonderful the atmosphere was in our school. God was working there and it was exciting to watch. Proverbs 15:13 says, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” If we want our students to be filled with joy and peace, we must first show them what that looks like. We must choose joy, so that they may recognize it on our faces.