Teachers of Faith

Are you anxious about situations that you cannot control? Take your anxieties to God. Are you troubled by changes that threaten to disrupt your life? Take your troubles to Him. Does your corner of the world seem to be shaking beneath your feet? Seek protection fro the One who cannot be moved. The same God who created the universe will protect you if you ask Him….. so ask Him… and then serve Him with willing hands and a trusting heart. Rest assured that the world may change moment by moment, but God’s love- a love that is unfathomable and unchanging- endures forever.*
(Thoughts from a Woman of Prayer Devotional)

*Conditions are always changing; therefore, I must not be dependent upon conditions. What matters supremely is my soul and my relationship to God.*
Corrie Ten Boom

“But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear Him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to His covenant, of those who obey his commandments.”
Psalm 103:17-18

Never will He hold your hand more tightly than when He is leading you through the dark.
Beth Moore

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12

“I have come into the world as a light so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.”
John 12:46

When Jesus says, “Come to me,” He doesn’t say come to religion, come to a system, or come to a certain doctrine. This is a very personal invitation to a God, an invitation to a Savior. Our God is not aloof-He’s not so far above us that He can’t see and understand our problems. Jesus isn’t a God who stayed on a mountaintop-He’s a Savior who cam down and lived and worked with the people. Everywhere He went, the crowds followed, drawn together by the magnet that was-and is- the Savior. The life of Jesus Christ is a message of hope, a message of mercy, a message of life in a dark world.*
Max Lucado

“Come to me….. and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28

It is hard to let go of our preconceived ideas of how God works when the things in which we have placed our hope lie shattered at our feet. Many of us carry around a heavy weight of discouragement. It seems as if nothing will ever get any better, nothing will change. In the midst of that I offer these words of hope; of promise: “God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Perhaps it seems to you that you are at the breaking point. I urge you in the name of the Lord to throw yourself on Him, to hide yourself under His wings. Don’t give up. You have come too far. The road ahead may look bleak, but trust in God. It is the way home.*
Sheila Walsh

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Galatians 6:9

“Be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”
2 Chronicles 15:7

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: ‘Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you’re drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.

We certainly don’t want to walk into our futures carrying the baggage of our pasts, but God forbid we’d walk away from our mistakes empty-handed. What we need is a baggage exchange. We need to drop off our destructive, heavy baggage at the foot of the cross then tarry there for healing until God loads us with treasures to carry into our futures.*
Beth Moore

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not harm you; plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

I am a teacher, and I absolutely love my job. Don’t get me wrong, teaching isn’t always the easiest gig. There are some very rough days. One of the things I rely on to get me through the tough times is my sense of humor. When things get tough, I just have to laugh. Quoting moviesis one of those things that gets me giggling every time.

Now, my humor isn’t magical. When I make a joke, it doesn’t bring my students and I together in a rousing, educational group hug to start singing “Kum Ba Yah”. No, not at all. Instead, It goes more like this: when things get tough or I am faced with a challenge, I think I make a joke, my students stare at me, I laugh at myself, then I forget what was wrong. Humor is my greatest self-distraction.

One of my comedy stand-bys is the use of well-timed and ironically placed movie quotes. There is no limit to the number of comments, questions, or marginally witted comments that students can come up with, and almost every one can be met with a movie quote. If you are like me, and need something to laugh at, then check out my top 10 movie quotes and the educational situations that they can help you through.

1. Movie Quote: “Yes you’re very smart. Shut up.”
From: The Princess Bride
When to use it: There are times when when you mess-up. Until someone creates a white-board or chalk-board with spell check, I will spell words like neccessary necesary, neccesary, necessary incorrectly. When a student takes time out of his/her morning to inform me that I have made a mistake, I am grateful that the student is paying attentions, yet I am a little perturbed. This is when you use this movie quote and say “Yes you’re very smart. Shut up”. This quote is best when followed with a “Just Kidding.”

2. Movie Quote: “No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.”
From: The Empire Strikes Back
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Sometimes, like Jesus’ disciples, we feel threatened by the storms of life. During these moments, when our hearts are flooded with uncertainty, we must remember that God is not simply near. He is here. Have you ever felt your faith in God slipping away? If so, you are in good company. Even the most faithful Christians are, at times, beset by occasional bouts of discouragement and doubt. But even when you feel far removed from God, God never leaves your side. He is always with you, always willing to calm the storms of life.  when you sincerely seek His presence-and when you genuinely seek to establish a deeper, more meaningful relationship with His Son-God will calm your fears, answer your prayers, and restore your soul.*
(Thoughts from A Woman of Prayer Devotional)

“Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!”

Forgiveness is not an emotion. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.*
Corrie Ten Boom

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.”
1 Peter 4:8

“How to Make Great Teachers”
 
Recently Time magazine wrote an extensive article that examined what qualities great teachers possess, how teachers should be evaluated, and the question Time believes is most important, “How should excellent teaching be rewarded so that the best teachers- the most competent, caring and compelling- remain in a profession known for low pay, low status and soul-crushing bureaucracy?”
 
Currently there are 3.2 million teachers in the United States but the demand for teachers will grow drastically in the future.  In the next eight years baby-boomer retirements, growing student enrollment and staff turnover will result in the need for 2.8 million new teachers.  Some researchers have suggested that a good teacher is the most important factor in raising student achievement, even more so than class size, the per student expenditure, or the quality of textbooks and materials.  Therefore, recruiting a number of quality teachers is paramount. 
 
School districts across the country have experimented with a variety of methods to attract and keep good teachers.  Some school districts have offered teachers extra pay who teach in hard-to-fill subjects or in hard-to-fill schools.  Time magazine points out that the method that is gaining the most momentum, along with the most controversy, is merit pay, a system that rewards quality teachers for their achievements.  The magazine admitted that there were instances where merit pay systems did not run as planned; however, there have been notable successes in many school districts. 
 
One school district that has seen success in regards to merit pay is the Denver Public Schools  Professional Compensation, or ProComp, which took seven years worth of planning by the teachers’ union, the district and city hall before it was implemented.  Teachers enrolled in the plan have nine different ways in which they can raise their salary.  Taylor Betz, a teacher at the Bruce Randolph School, a struggling school in Denver, stated she can earn up to $4,268 this year if the school meets all its goals.  Before ProComp she was maxed out on the district’s pay scale and would have only received an annual cost-of-living raise, which is currently $260, for the rest of her career.
 
 “I’ve worked in hard-to-serve schools my entire career,” stated Betz.  “I make home visits.  I make phone calls.  I’m looking at ProComp as compensation for the things that are above and beyond.  Now I refuse to let kids fail.  I’m going to bulldoze whatever the problem is and solve it.  I’m not a money grubber. Most teachers aren’t.  But people in other professions get raises,” she said. “Why shouldn’t we?”