-
Are you a “teacher of redemption” in your classroom? Explain.
-
I try to be a “teacher of redemption” in my classroom, though I know I don’t do it perfectly. Bible lessons, scripture memorization, prayer, etc. are just a part. The real test of redemptive teaching is how I respond to sin, both that of students and my own. When I respond with grace, kindness and forgiveness when a student disobeys, they see the power and love of Christ’s redemption in me. When I sin and admit it and ask for forgiveness from my students, they see how redemption produces humility in me.
Redemption means “to buy back,” and the only way Christ could buy us back from the world and the devil is to shed His own blood, to give His life for ours. It is like the scene in The Chronicles of Narnia when Aslan dies voluntarily in the place of Edmund, he redeems Edmund’s life. So Christ has done for us. Let us do the same for our students.,
-
Our goal as teachers is to help kids succeed. In order to do that, I think we have to be a “teacher of redemption”. Not every student is going to get every concept right off the bat. It will take grace and time for others to get to the same learning point. Of course, there has to be effort in that process.
-
I seek to bring heaven to earth in fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer.
-
I am a work in progress. I will be honest there have been times where I have labeled students, but by the end of the school year, some really surprise me in how much they have matured and changed to be more like Christ. I want to be able to have more ways for students to show me how much they have learned throughout the year, to show mastery, even if they were not able to earlier in the year. I have asked for forgiveness if I may have embarrassed a student in the course. I’m so thankful the students can see that and are very understanding.
-
I believe I daily work on opportunities to work with my students on redemption and restoration. Beyond recognizing our mistakes and bad choices, we spend time understanding the process of redemption and that it takes talking about it, circling back around to it, discussing other options that could have been done and understanding that saying sorry is only a part of it. I also like to give students paths for redemption themselves like “thinking” skills to use for chronic bad choices. I am also always telling student to think about what they need from me to be successful and communicate this process with home.