I'm hoping that this place starts to sparkle and become something more than a parade ground for my own eclecticism, idealism, and naiveté. (Idealism is a genetic trait with me. Rather than bring my parents into it, witness this lion trap that my daughter recently designed.)
I do have earnest hopes for this blog and want to share them before returning to my more real (and neglected) duties for a while. If anything develops on here, I'll eagerly rejoin the ruckus. If nothing happens, I'm still well above my target ratio for the month of ten to one failed versus fruitful ideas.
After outlining my thoughts behind this blog proposal, I'll make a modest request.
First, these kids will only turn out as strong and lively as our parent and teacher relationships. Parents who bleed together, succeed together. This blog is a convenient way to laugh and bleed together a little bit more as parents and teachers. These young people need us to succeed at this kind of thing (whether on the blog or elsewhere).
Second, I don't want to face these kids alone. I need correction and support from more adults as I engage these young people. And I think that my colleagues would enjoy it as well. It's not healthy to pontificate for long hours in front of eager or pliable young minds (or distracted and sullen young minds either). And who better to offer some constructive feedback than the parents? In loco parentis requires robust relationships and two-way communication.
Transparency before each other and our leaders should (mostly) be a good thing (in the end). It's not that I'm trying to indoctrinate students with my own positions at every point (or keep teaching all these classes!). However, teaching systematic theology, philosophy, apologetics, world religions, world literature, and senior thesis project involves a lot of input into young people as they leave high school. I want to be as honest and open about my ideas as I can. If you know me better, you can better support and teach your kids at home (in both areas of agreement and disagreement). And our leaders at CCA can better lead us (parents and teachers) if they know more about all of our interests, joys, and struggles (that's me speculating, not them talking).
Although I enjoy theoretical discussion, I don't care if that rarely makes it onto the blog. I want to see what parents and other teachers enjoy and consider important.
Of course, we need some wisdom and can't try to address everything on here. There will be mistakes if we are trying hard enough to share real stuff, but I'm confident in our wonderful school administration (and collective sanctification) to pilot us through the reefs.
So, post questions and ideas. You can't start a fire without some wood. Talk about how to best utilize the blog for developing constructive relationships and dialogue.
Here's my modest proposal. We have seven authors signed up right now. If we can find 14 people who will each post something every two weeks, that would be one post every day. My own feeling is that there should be enough on here for people to feel like they don't need to read it all. Not that I'm in favor of quantity over quality, but I'd like to see a sampling of different things from different people so that we start to get to know each other. I think it would be nice to browse through a diverse selection. But maybe that's a bad model. If you think so, put up other ideas. I've got lots more ideas, but I think that I'd better hold off and let God’s red pen (in your hands) do its work for a while.
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Well written, Jesse. Thank you! This is one of the ways the implications of the Gospel is lived out. It's not just taught in the classroom but it's the living out of it all, between the classroom and home, between teachers and parents, where our systematic theology meets practical theology.
ReplyDeleteHaving served with 4 others, we were bleeding as you say, for months over constructing CCA's mission statement. It is precisely what you are saying where the "rubber meets the road". CCA teachers can teach our children to thoughtfully engage the world, to see Christ in every sphere of life and to have a lifelong love of learning but in the home if we are not communicating and partnering, the success of the mission is far more difficult.
Perhaps at the next PTF we talk about our mission with parents, the thinking behind each component so parents can better understand. CCA is a special community, unlike any I've witnessed before. A community in which most understand the total depravity of man. Hence, WHEN sin manifests itself in the behavior of our children (or us for that matter), we confront it in a way that points us all to the only One who can save us from it.
I am so thankful for your humility Jesse and for your going above and beyond to serve our children and the CCA community. Thank you for providing this forum. I pray it serves and accomplishes the very purposes you intend... and more.
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