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How do the concepts discussed in this lesson apply to your work in your classroom?
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I teach science and so this directly relates because it is important for students to have a real knowledge of where man comes from, where we come from, and having a biblical worldview overall. Science can be tricky because the world tells kids that science and a Christian worldview must fight each other, that science and God cannot exist together. But, God created science and I hope to show my students how science points to our God who created and loves us. I also teach middle school and high school students where they struggle with identity and feeling loved and accepted. To teach them that they come from a God who chose to create them, that He loves them, and they were created specifically for a purpose is so important at this age level.
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In the classroom, I need to make sure that my lessons are showing the connectedness of our lives today and tomorrow. I need to instill in the students a vision of something broader and more important that just the day to day events of their lives.
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I know that my and my students identity, worth, and purpose is found in Christ. I can instill that in my students, so they can start to see that in themselves. When confidence is built on an identity in Christ students will start to excel in areas they never thought they could.
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The concepts in this unit impact my planning very deeply. Arranging units, defining focal messages for each unit, pruning content, etc… is based more and more on my philosophy and less and less on what a secular textbook/curriculum says. However, I still find it difficult to address these questions with my students “in the moment.” I often stumble over my words, hurry my response, and feel unprepared when these conversations are not part of the lesson. That is getting easier over time, but still wish I was more poetic on the fly.
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The Big Questions apply to my classroom in that as I teach students English, I want to get students to think through these questions–Who am I? What is the meaning of life? Where did I come from? I want students to be able to see behind the words they read to see authors’ answers to these questions. This requires not only foundations in the Bible and understanding that people are created in God’s image and for His purposes, but also teaching students observation and critical skills to understand what is being promoted by individual authors. So as a Christian educator, I cannot simply say that the Bible teacher is responsible for building a Christian worldview in the students. I am also responsible. When the whole school is on board with this type of mission, the ethos will be of helping students explore and evaluate in a safe environment with mature believers to help answer their questions and guide them in further exploration.