The Dock School Leader Podcast

Is Your School Swimming or Floating? (Steven Brubaker)

“Genuinely Christian schools will not always fit what everyone else is doing in education. We need to give ourselves permission to go against the flow.” But it’s not sufficient to seek difficulty and resistance. We need a goal. A mission. A burning love. A beautiful vision. As Steven emphasizes in today’s episode, “Nonconformity is not enough. We need something to be conformed to. And for us, that something is a Someone.”
 
Educational orthodoxy. What is it and how does it impact us? You’ll hear about this in today’s episode, but basically, it’s the body of assumptions and principles that unify the majority of educational efforts around us. This orthodoxy shapes the way we describe a well-trained person and the educational experiences we dream of offering. Steven Brubaker, speaking from a long history in teaching and school leadership submits that the educational orthodoxy in north America is inadequate as a source of guidance for our schools and maybe even dangerously misguided.
But we will need a solid basis for doing something different, for swimming against the current. “Every nonconformity is a conformity to something,” Steven reminds us. Every resistance is a defense of something. What’s worth defending? Worth conforming to?
Drawing penetrating insights from the analogy of salmon, Steven lays out a challenge for Christian schools to identify and relentlessly pursue a worthy homing instinct.
 
What is a compelling and worthy final end for Christian education? The end beyond which we stop looking for some further fulfillment?
Schools conformed to Jesus. How could you and your staff make a practice of asking and seeking, “Jesus, how do I teach in my school?” And what would your school look like if you then boldly followed his leadership?
 
 
Links
Contact us: https://thedockforlearning.org/contact-us/
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Stories with Jonas and Ken (Jonas Sauder and Ken Kauffman)

It’s Christmas season and here on the Dock School Leader Podcast we’re running a special episode featuring a collection of stories chosen and read by two experienced educators that have appeared before on this show—Jonas Sauder and Ken Kauffman. Their selections range from fables to short stories to poems and all convey a timeless truth through the penetrating power of story. Take a break from the heavier content and enjoy these selections with us.
What we read often sticks with us at a subconscious level. Stories have the power to embed their message deep within us. They shape our worldview and affect our actions even after we’ve forgotten the details.
See below for the titles of the selections and the timestamps for each one.
Perhaps you’ll find something here for an upcoming devotional or a story time with family over the holidays.
[2:30] Wellspring of Wisdom – read by Jonas Sauder
The free lunch
The magic sticks
Practical sympathy
Community
 
[7:45] The King and the Seeds – read by Ken Kauffman
[16:30] George Washington Carver – read by Jonas Sauder
Selection from a biography
Testimony in Congress
 
[25:00] Dear Mrs. O’Neil – read by Ken Kauffman
[34:20] The Blind Man and the Elephant – read by Jonas Sauder
[37:30] The Church Walking With the World – read by Ken Kauffman
 
Links
Contact us: https://thedockforlearning.org/contact-us/
3-minute feedback: https://forms.office.com/r/1G564EGQkn

Why Teach Math?

Why teach Math? John Swartz is ambitious here. Hear him connect the question of why he teaches math with the question of why he exists along with stories of Almanzo Wilder and his own experience. He brings teaching experience as well as specific training in mathematics. He’s worked in curriculum at Christian Light and also served as a minister for many years.
In this episode, John quotes Larry Zimmerman who states that, “Christian teachers motivate their students to learn mathematics in two ways: first mathematics exhibits the glory of God, second mathematics equips students to care for the creation.” This comes from Zimmerman’s book, Truth and the Transcendent. John recognizes the utilitarian value of mathematics but is most interested in exploring the proposal  that, “Math is the language of the universe,” and that it is not a neutral subject.
This talk provides a thought-provoking investigation of an underexamined subject that occupies quite a bit of space in all of our schools.
 
Links
More recordings from CASBI 2013: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/casbi/casbi-2013/
This recording was first published as “Why Teach Math?” on The Dock: https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/why-teach-math/
More information about Conservative Anabaptist School Board Institute: https://casbi.info/
Books
When Are We Ever Going to Have to Use This? By Hal Saunders and Jill Marino: https://a.co/d/cBKrSfT
Mathematics is God Silent? by J. Sire: https://a.co/d/56q16kb
Truth and the Transcendent by Larry Zimmerman: https://answersingenesis.org/answers/books/truth-transcendent/
Math Wonders to Inspire Teachers and Students by Alfred Posamentier: https://a.co/d/9v4c442
Fascinating Fibonaccis: Mystery and Magic in Numbers by Trudi H. Garland: https://a.co/d/c30zp0n

Teacher Generated Problems

What images or models are your teachers taking into their classrooms? How do they see themselves and their students? What is really driving them?
Distorted images and motives can be difficult to identify but express themselves in all manner of persistent issues that do deep damage. Welcome to this episode where Anthony Hurst names a number of potential mindset problems, or areas of possible problems. He provides clarifying examples and concrete suggestions that will increase your perceptiveness about these mindsets and guide your response to problems. Anthony has experience as a teacher and school leader. What he explores here stems from his humility in learning from his own mistakes and allowing that to build his understanding of these mindsets.
Why does this matter? The work you do to develop the self-awareness of your teachers and aid the formation of healthy mindsets will have more to do with long-range fruitfulness than the best policies and policing that you can provide. It’s the difference between joyful labor and desperate survival.
The theme that runs through the talk is combatting disinterest, disrespect, and disorder in the classroom so that learning can be wholesome and fruitful for all involved.
Content vs. student
Teacher pets
Strictness vs. leniency
Inconsistency and mood swings
Respecting the personhood of every student
All work, no play
Criticism vs. complements
Unrealistic expectations
 
Winning students’ hearts
Interest in their personal lives
Passion for learning and for the subject
Special projects
Diversity of style
 
Model neatness
Know your subject
Plan your projects
Follow a schedule
 
Links
This recording was first published as “Teacher Generated Problems” on The Dock: https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/teacher-generated-problems/
Other recordings from TW 2010: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/fbep-teachers-week/faith-builders-teachers-week-2010/

Surviving the Scientific Battles

Description
How and why do we teach science in a time when for years we’ve been battling in the world of science trying to prove God’s existence? With what mindset do we approach the natural world? How are we seeing creation, and how does this shape the way we see the Creator? Rob Layne is quite interested in exploring some of what’s going on deep under the hood in science.
In this episode, you’ll find some ideas for what to cover in science and how to teach it. You’ll also hear Rob attempting to describe what an Anabaptist approach to science might look like. He speaks from a background in education that includes teaching and working for Christian Light.
Let me give you a little more context. Broadly speaking, Protestants and Anabaptists have somewhat divergent understandings of the relative importance of the hands and the head. On practice and reason. Rob highlights a problematic part of trusting too much in reason, in having things worked out in our heads compared to prioritizing a life of obedience and accepting a level of not understanding or having thorough reasoning for our practice. It almost goes without saying, but let’s not forget the reality that God did give us heads as well as hands, and there’s also a danger of giving too little time and attention to using our heads well. But back to the issues, where do we look for proofs of the Bible and God. Should we be looking to science? Do unanswered questions produce doubt? What do the examples of Christ and the Scriptures show us about the way God reveals Himself to the world?
Maybe there’s something in the world of science for us to reclaim and revive.
 
Links
This episode was first published on The Dock as “Why Teach Science?” https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/why-teach-science/
More recordings from CASBI 2012: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/casbi/casbi-2012/

Teacher Support Is Not Optional

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Description
Does supporting your teachers look overwhelming to you? You’re not alone. Caring for and nurturing teachers is not easy. Each teacher represents many relationships and responsibilities. Your teacher’s jobs matter. And they matter every day. That’s why teaching is hard. And why it’s hard to care for teachers. There is no autopilot at school.
Anthony Hurst, who is a school representative for Christian Light, addresses this reality with the experience of both a teacher and administrator. He also understands the perspective of a school board. There’s lots of combined talking to admin and school boards here. As you hear Anthony address school board members, ask yourself, “What is my place in cultivating a healthy principal to school board and staff to school board relationship?” In short, even for schools that have on-site principals or administrators, the presence of the school board is essential to providing a healthy support network for teachers. Teachers can’t do it alone. Administrators can’t do it alone. It takes all of us trying to understand each others’ perspectives and working together to welcome each others’ presence. This takes an inviting attitude, a strategic plan, and lots of patient dedication to make this happen. And Anthony has lots of ideas to get you started
Take heart, and may this talk strengthen you for your good work.
 
Links
 
Links
This recording was first published on The Dock as “Equipping and Supporting Your Teachers:” https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/equipping-and-supporting-your-teachers/
More recordings from CASBI 2018: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/casbi/casbi-2018/
Episode 8: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/pkmyqvkteavwti3f/2024-12-03_Mixdownbby87.mp3
The Thread That Runs So True by Jesse Stuart: https://a.co/d/5EeEO4N
The Seven Laws of the Learner by Bruce Wilkinson: https://a.co/d/j7mJBaW
The Seven Laws of the Teacher by Howard G. Henricks: https://a.co/d/3HZi0uj

Language Arts and What’s at Stake

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Most people can readily see the importance of English. Why do so few enjoy it in school or find it fulfilling?
In this inspiring session, Kendall Myers reminds us of why language arts classes rightly take a significant slice of our energies at school. Kendall brings a wealth of experience and thought to this topic from his time in the classroom, in school leadership, and as a parent. He asks the question: What should we accomplish in our English classes? He unpacks the basic goal of producing students who are capable of listening and reading with comprehension and speaking and writing with clarity.
You’ll hear a profound philosophy of language woven in here. Language opens the world to our students; it changes the way they see and understand. Articulating what they have learned or are coming to understand is a vital part of knowing. Expressing what they know clarifies their understanding and increases their ownership of the material.
But this talk doesn’t just give the philosophy. While that’s essential to caring deeply about English, Kendall’s talk also points towards the kinds of activities that can turn this subject into something students look forward to. Specifically, he offers an overview of how to think about cultivating your students’ reading. What should our students be reading and how do we identify a good book?
 
 
Links
This recording was first published on The Dock as "Why Teach English?" https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/why-teach-english/ 
More recordings from CASBI 2015: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/casbi/casbi-2015/
Info on how languages divide the color spectrum differently (two suggested links below; use some or all or other)
https://blog.duolingo.com/color-words-around-the-world/
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0701644104?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11759-russian-speakers-get-the-blues/ (summary of the 2nd link)

What They Won’t Forget

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You’ve heard it before; your school will develop a culture, a spirit. The question is: what kind of a spirit will it be and what can you do to form it?
Richie Lauer brings helpful insight and proactive ideas for you to consider as you get into your school year. Richie has taught and administrated and now fills a role at Anabaptist Financial. This talk comes from way back in 2001. Richie highlights the need to cultivate and guard respect, looks at ways to maximize participation, unpacks the significance of the various interactions around school, and offers examples of the kinds of traditions that bear a lot of weight in developing healthy school spirit.
Many of the details and too much of the information learned at school is forgotten. School plays a unique role in forming a child’s identity and that is something they never lose.
You can find the entire session from which this talk was excerpted at the link below. Jonas Sauder gives his thoughts and ideas in the second half of the session.
 Links
This recording was first published on The Dock as “Developing School Spirit and Traditions:” https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/developing-school-spirit-and-traditions/
7: Curriculum is Important, but What About Everything Else? https://administratorspodcast.podbean.com/e/curriculum-is-important-but-what-about-everything-else/

What’s Happening at Home?

As a school administrator, what is your role in speaking into your students’ homes? That’s actually a much bigger question than what this talk addresses.
Homes matter so much.
Perhaps we’re tempted to think we can take any student and transform them through a great school experience, but that only reaches so far. As we consider our influence at school and capacity to establish a particular culture, it’s important for us to come to grips with the influence of the home. This ought to inspire our gratitude for the good homes and parents from which we benefit as well as prompt us to prayerfully search for ways to care for the troubled homes with which we interact. Ultimately, we offer our work at school to our heavenly Father and trust Him to work through the Spirit to form and establish our students according to his good will.
Gerald Miller cares an awful lot about this issue as you are about to hear in this vigorous appeal to take the home’s influence seriously. He has taught and administrated for many years at Faith Builders Christian School in northwestern Pennsylvania. He is addressing parents and school leaders here as a parent and a school leader. This is an opportunity to consider important strengths and weaknesses in your own example if you are a parent and an opportunity for anyone to gain insight into the circumstances of the families that you serve.
We offer this episode in the hope that God will graciously guide you in responding to any needs that this talk brings to your attention.
Links
This recording was first published on The Dock as “Evaluating Seven Elements of Your Home’s Influence:” https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/evaluating-seven-elements-of-your-homes-influence/
More presentations from CASBI 2018: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/casbi/casbi-2018/
Artificial Maturity, Tim Elmore (book): https://a.co/d/97CIjO4

Governing the Classroom Gracefully

“A teacher can never put in a method what he does not have in himself.” -Emerson White
This is part 2 of this pair of talks from Jonas Sauder on orienting teachers to their work. Jonas speaks from a deep and passionate vision for education that has sustained and guided him over the past decades. It’s inspiring to hear him cast vision for teaching from a place of fullness and freshness.
In the first episode, Jonas laid out some basic concepts for teachers in forming healthy expectations for their work and their place in the community. In this episode, he delves into the need for and fundamentals of classroom management. Jonas is keen to emphasize that you don’t manage a classroom primarily by how you plan but through who you are. Especially for new teachers, that may feel daunting. Maybe even like a bit of a dead end. I hope you’ll find some language for how to communicate about both the more concrete and abstract components of effective classroom management.
Infused in this talk is a core understanding of children as persons, not pawns. Classroom management is about creating an orderly, nourishing environment for little humans not designing and maintaining some kind of machine.
Jonas closes with a few cautionary ideas on how to lose control of your classroom.
As you press into this new school year, may God give you grace to lead your team with clarity and joy.
 
 
Links
This recording was first published on The Dock as "Teacher Orientation: Managing the Classroom:" https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/teacher-orientation-managing-the-classroom-jonas-sauder/ 
More recordings from Teacher’s Week 2008: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/teachers-week-2008/ 
The First Days of School (book): https://christianlearning.org/product/first-days-school/