The Dock School Leader Podcast

Supporting Parents and Selling the Church

If parents are responsible to train their children, what are the children doing in schools? Matt Peachy lays out a case for education that places schools squarely in a position of service to the church and to families. He then outlines some of the ways that this shapes a school, particularly in its relationships with parents and the church.
Matt teaches at the secondary level and has administrative and pastoral experience. Notably, he is also a parent. Matt addresses three core questions in his talk:
Who is responsible for education?
Where do teachers fit?
What kind of people should teachers be?
 
Outline of key sections of Matt’s presentation:
How can we support parents?
See yourself as a servant
Communicate well (Assume that parents want what is best for their children)
Lead your classroom
How do we sell the church?
Recognize your impact
Promote excellence
Emphasize discipleship
What qualities are we looking for in teachers?
Christlikeness
Competency
Commitment
 
For those of you who have been to Faith Builders, there are a few doses of Guys Mills sirens to stir your nostalgia.
Links
This episode was first published on The Dock as “Supporting the Parents:” https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/supporting-the-parents/
Teachers Week 2019: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/fbep-teachers-week/teachers-week-2019/
Reclaiming the Future of Christian Education by Albert Greene: https://a.co/d/7x2oukN

Caring for Your Families

What’s your greatest advantage as a teacher or leader in a Christian school? Stephen submits that it is the immeasurable gift of most of our children having parents that love them. What are you doing to know and care for those parents and your students, especially the average ones?
Stephen Gingerich speaks with year of experience teaching and administrating in a school in Guatemala that serves both mission and native families. This work carried him deep into serving severely broken families.
School leaders are often busy enough just keeping things at school under control. How will you carry these extra things? First, if I hear Stephen correctly, I think he’s telling us that if we’re too busy to care for our families we’re too busy. Second, Stephen leads us to trusting in God to provide in measure to what he’s called you to carry. Third, I would add that sometimes God supplies the kind of strength and direction that’s needed for leaders to facilitate reorganization, delegation, or other strategic responses to the awareness of overwhelming or unrealistic responsibilities.
I don’t know where this finds you, but I trust that as you follow his leading, God will supply the grace you need to help your school grow in caring for your families. They are precious to our Lord. Let’s renew our commitment to counting it a privilege to serve them.
Six ways to help
Be a model/good example
Be faithful
Be a mentor
Be a servant
Be willing to use our gifts
Be biblical
In sum, let Ephesians four saturate your teaching.
This episode was first published on The Dock as "Connecting With a Variety of Families:" https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/connecting-with-a-variety-of-families-stephan-gingerich/ Teachers Week 2013: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/fbep-teachers-week/teachers-week-2013/ 

Teacher Trouble - Redemptive Solutions

Just investing in a culture of growth as Gerald described in the last episode won’t solve all problems. Here he is again with a sequel episode exploring redemptive solutions to difficult people problems.
Few people enjoy wading into these situations. Gerald won’t tell you how to begin liking it, but he does outline a number of excellent methods for how to lead responsibly and honorably.
This episode describes how to break down a problem by:
Identifying the issues
Agreeing on the issues
Developing a plan (including specific steps, point person, timing, and contingencies)
Following through
Establishing accountability
These methods will help you gain confidence in bringing clarity as you labor to help teachers stay in the classroom and grow if that’s the right place for them or how to support them in moving forward to another vocation. This is not about toughing up as a leader. It’s about school leaders who are ministers of God’s grace through hard times.
Principles covered in this episode
Leaving things alone does not make problems go away
Name the elephants in the room
Principles of difficult conversations
Know thyself
Grace and truth
Clarity with compassion
You need eyewitnesses, kill assumptions
Act as one
Do what is best for your church’s future and your teacher’s future
Be a part of the solution
Speak no evil
Confidentiality
Links
CASBI: https://casbi.info/ 
 

Are Your Teachers Growing?

Schools are places for growth and learning.
Growth is essential for teachers.
Teachers must be learners.
This is not something that school leaders can force, but it very is definitely something that leaders can and should nurture.
Gerald Miller, long-time teacher and administrator makes a compelling case for those propositions which will shape how you think about what you look for in a teacher. He also shares straightforward ideas for how you can cultivate habits of development in your school. Some of these ideas aren’t as complicated as you might think.
The Call Develop
The Teacher as Learner
Cultivating Development
 
Links
Information about CASBI 2023: https://thedockforlearning.org/event/casbi-2023/ 

Shepherding Basics for School Leaders

What does it look like to shepherd your school?
This episode presents a passionate challenge by a board member to school leaders and to board members in particular to take full ownership of their responsibility for the people under their care. Ernie Weaver brings school board and business leadership experience to this talk as well as perspective from within the classroom through his own time as a teacher and as son and brother of long-time teachers.
Ernie shoots straight here: make the hard decisions for the good of your school and stick with your team no matter what. He outlines the principles of the book, The Way of the Shepherd, and applies them to school. His talk is full of examples and concludes with a collection of ideas to try. See the show notes for a few other ideas from the post-session discussion.
Additional ideas from post-session discussion
Take coffee drinks to school
Pack their lunches
Make sure single teachers are eating well for suppers
Pray over the school
Facilitate teachers getting into the homes of their patrons
 
Links
This recording was originally published on The Dock as "Encouraging and Blessing Your Teachers": https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/encouraging-and-blessing-your-teachers/ 
The Way of the Shepherd by Kevin Leman, William, Pentak, and Marc Cashman: https://www.zondervan.com/9780310305408/the-way-of-the-shepherd/
"Seven Essential Principles for Leading Productive People": https://thedockforlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Way-of-the-Shepherd.docx 
Information about CASBI: https://casbi.info/ 
More recordings from CASBI 2022: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/casbi/casbi-2022/ 
Personality tests:
DISC: https://www.discprofiles.com/ 
Working Genius: https://www.workinggenius.com/ 

Staff Development and Care

Is an incompetent teacher better than not having a one?
We are beginning a new segment focused on staff development and care.
In this opening episode, Ken Kauffman speaks from his experience as a teacher, principle, and educational representative for Christian Light. He leads the way in thinking about the following three issues:
How we prepare new teachers
How we identify and nurture the next generation of teachers
How we build up experienced teachers.
This talk will give you a thought-provoking and actionable collection of ideas for you to take steps towards your school being a place where the craft of teaching is prized and where that craft is intentionally being reproduced.
Ken suggests that teachers may have nearly as much influence on the church as its ministry. If that’s the case, our vetting processes and methods of preparing teachers are often sadly lacking. And while good character is of fundamental importance, teachers need more than that.
Links
CASBI 2019: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/casbi/casbi-2019/ 
Teacher Training Programs
Faith Builders Training Institute Summer Term: https://www.fbep.org/academics/summer-term/ 
Faith Builders Training Institute Teacher Apprenticing Program: https://www.fbep.org/attend/two-year-programs/ 
Teachers Week: https://www.fbep.org/attend/events/teachers-week/ 
Teachers Conference: https://www.fbep.org/attend/events/teachers-conference/ 

Coping with Reactive Attachment Disorder

Our rationale, resources, and methodology matter.
But what about the students who come to us with such deep brokenness and dysfunction that our best efforts to help them go nowhere unless backwards or in circles? The subject of disorders is huge. Here in this bonus episode we’re going to look at just one of them: Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD).
 Wesley King is a father of a RAD child and has experience as a principle. He speaks vulnerably and compassionately about this issue. This talk will help prepare you to approach a situation involving a child with RAD, but it will also take you to a more basic level of questions about student needs than when we’re talking about curriculum and rationale. These questions take us deeper into serving both our ordinary students as well as those dealing with RAD or other disorders.
Links
This episode was initially published as “Coping with Reactive Attachment Disorder” at: https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/coping-with-reactive-attachment-disorder/
Other presentations from CASBI 2015: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/casbi/casbi-2015/
“Specific Learning Disabilities” by Lynell Nissley: https://thedockforlearning.org/specific-learning-disabilities/
“Resources for The Exceptional Learner” by Lynell Nissley: https://thedockforlearning.org/document/resources-for-the-exceptional-learner/
“Reactive Attachment Disorder Part 2” by Sumner Loomis: https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/reactive-attachment-disorder-part-2-sumner-loomis/

Curriculum is Important, but What About Everything Else?

A common theme in academic discussions is the curriculum. For our final episode in this segment on academics, we’re looking at this common theme, but with an important distinction.
Gerald Miller, teacher and current administrator at Faith Builders Christian School differentiates between the formal curriculum (what you pay money for every year) and the hidden curriculum, which is everything else. He’s casting vision here for schools that produce students that both know things and know how to serve with the things they know.
“Formal curriculum is intentional; hidden curriculum is inherent.
Formal is obvious, hidden is subtle.
What is learned in the formal curriculum leaves you eventually, at least the details.
But what you learn in the hidden curriculum lasts a lifetime.”
– John Ortberg
 
Links
This presentation was initially published as "Examining Your School’s Hidden Curriculum” at: https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/examining-your-schools-hidden-curriculum-by-gerald-miller/
Other presentations from CASBI 2019: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/casbi/casbi-2019/

Raising Readers

We are continuing our segment of episodes addressing particular subject areas.
Building a strong reading program is more than helping students with dyslexia. How well is your school doing overall at shaping your students into adults who love reading, who can do it well, and who can enter deeply into their reading?
Drawing inspiration from Nehemiah where the law was rediscovered through distinct reading that gave the sense and caused the people to understand, Lyndon Hartman calls us to reevaluate our commitment to developing the essential craft of reading. Lyndon speaks from a background of teaching reading and literature in several different grades, working with reading curriculum, and most importantly speaks from a deep love of reading.
He outlines six area for us to evaluate:
Our teachers
curriculum
books
judgement concerning struggling readers
libraries
examples
Links
This presentation was initially published as "Raising Readers” at: https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/raising-readers/
Other presentations from CASBI 2022: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/casbi/casbi-2022/
Find more resources that support teaching and learning at https://thedockforlearning.org/

Why We Teach Music

Description
Singing has been an important part of our Anabaptist heritage. But what are the trends of music literacy and quality in your community? Does your school delight in music making? And what is at stake if music education is off track?
Lyle Stutzman approaches this topic with many years of experience in music teaching and directing. He's taught at the elementary, high school, and secondary levels including places like Shenandoah Christian Music Camp. He currently directs Laudate Mennonite Ensemble. Lyle brings a deep care and concern for music in the classroom. While he doesn’t directly address the issue of music discernment, he describes a foundation for music making that will orient you for making decisions both at school and beyond. Lyle lays out three reasons why we should attend diligently to music education:
Music is essential in the kingdom of God
Christ-centered music education prepares students to be effective in the kingdom
Illiteracy and it’s results if we ignore music
He finishes with a collection of ideas for how we can improve. It’s heartening to see some progress in the years since Lyle gave this talk in 2014. There’s more ground to be gained. 
 
Links
Pilgrim Choral Series: https://blueskymusic.net/pilgrim-choral-series/ 
Sing for Joy: https://blueskymusic.net/shop/satb/sing-for-joy-you-happy-people/ 
Lyle has taught at Faith Builders Training Institute: https://fbep.org/ 
Lyle has taught at Shenandoah Christian Music Camp : https://www.musiccamp.info/