Articles on Teaching

Using Prayer Trees by Jody Capehart

We all want our children to have a deeper prayer life. We encourage them to pray. At home, we may notice that our children’s prayers may start becoming more rote. In the classroom, we notice that whoever leads off with the first prayer request, everyone else tends to follow. For example, if the first child prays for a "hurt knee", suddenly every child has a 'hurt something'. If the first child prays for Grandma, the other children tend to pray for their Grandmas. So how do we deepen their prayer walk and help stretch in their walk?

This is a tool that I have found to be very helpful over the years. It begins to move their prayer life to a deeper level and helps you to bond with the students over time. The purpose of this is two-fold:

1. To have a tangible reminder of how God is working in our lives - to see the answered prayers.
2. To walk with children through the journey of praise when God says "yes", grieve with them when God says "no" and help them to learn patience when God says, "wait". Each one provides an invaluable training with the children in their spiritual journey.

How to Make It:

1. Put the outline of a tree on a bulletin board in your classroom, or if at home: by the kitchen table, your child’s table, or some easy to reach place.
2. When you pray, post major prayer requests on a tree that you have cut out of paper. For each month, select a new shape, fruit, or leaf to put on the tree. Cut out shapes or items for your tree that change each month.

For example:
September:	apples
October:	pumpkins
November:	fall leaves
December:	Christmas lights
January:	snowflakes
February:	hearts
March:	shamrocks
April:	lilies
May:	apple blossoms

They don’t have to be authentic, botanical items. They can be a symbol to represent the holiday or month.

How to Use It:
Either you or your child writes a short prayer request and puts it on the tree. Each time you use the Prayer Tree; you look at the tree and take an item you have prayed for. When the request has been answered, the item moves from the top of the tree to the bottom of the tree, to look like it is lying on the ground. As the year advances, the top of the tree, as well as the ground under it, becomes a kaleidoscope of prayer requests. Those on top are still unanswered and thus a visible reminder to keep on praying. Those on the bottom serve as a growing reminder of the many prayers God has answered. At the end of each year, gather up all the answered prayers, put him or her in a baggie and send them home with each respective student or at home, place them in your child’s memory box.

Please note, the year can begin whenever you want.

1. January to December (calendar year)
2. September to August (school year)
3. On your child’s birthday, so each will represent one year of life.

Balancing the 3 A’s of Academics, Arts and Athletics by Jody Capehart

Recent brain research has taught us a great deal, about how the brain functions. This research is confirmation for experienced educators who have believed intuitively what they have observed in the classroom for many years. The brain and thus the body require a delicate balance of many different activities for a student to function at optimum level. The academics, arts and athletic programs must work in tandem for students to develop their full potential.

For example, in order for academics to function at the highest possible level, the body needs water to allow the brain to enhance alertness and connect the dots in the learning process at a more efficient level. The body needs brain breaks to exercise and facilitate the movement of information from short-term memory to long-term memory. The body needs movements in which the arms not only are lifted above the head to get more oxygen in the brain but also are moved across the midline of the body to enhance cross-lateral brain functioning.

Research shows us that training in music provides the best brain training because it utilizes both hemispheres of the brain in a balanced way. Rhythm develops the left side of the brain and melody develops the right side of the brain, while pitch and harmony use both sides simultaneously. Piano lessons provide excellent training to enhance brain development by utilizing both sides of the brain at the same time, creating a stronger student in school.

Using certain functions from the arts such as color and design enhance brain development as well. Learning environments that are rich with positive brain colors, green plants that are colorful and affect the ionization level, and creative learning aids on the walls provide periphery learning which enhances brain development.

The concept of Multiple Intelligences, which came out of Harvard University by Dr. Howard Gardner and furthered developed by Dr. Thomas Armstrong, provides strong research and support that people are “smart” in different ways. The traditional perception of a person as “smart” comes from one of two concepts: the person who works best from the logical mathematical area of the brain, or the person who communicates well and is word smart. Brain research strongly supports that bodily kinesthetic smart is just as important as the logical math smart. A high percentage of doctors, nurses and surgeons who are tested display this body smart intelligence that gives them the ability to think on their feet and respond quickly in a crisis. Gifted musicians are often evident at an early age because the music smart surfaces in early childhood and shows us why music training is so important. Picture smart people often grow up to be artists, architects and designers. In schools, if we operate on the basic premise that everyone is smart and it just manifests in different areas, we will help our students to find their gifts and develop them.

A key ingredient in building a positive school community is to recognize that not only does learning occur in the area of academics; it is also involved in the achievement of a balance of the arts and athletics. When we can find the arena in which a student can attain success, we can build upon that student’s strengths. For all of us, when we experience success, we feel energized and empowered and this affects other areas of our lives.

On a philosophical level, we can see how the three A’s of Academics, Arts and Athletics can enhance one another. On a practical level, we may find that they create a scheduling conflict. For example, an AP teacher may have scheduled a major exam on a particular day without taking into account the athletic schedule. If there is a district away game the night before a test, many of the students may be playing in the game, cheering for the athletes or attending the game for school support. When the students return late, they may not be as well prepared for the exam the next day. Likewise, there may be a major fine arts competition on a weekend in which many students participate and what if some of them were involved in a major athletic tournament that same weekend? Further, what if all of them need to complete a paper for Monday morning?

There is only so much time and energy that we can expect from our students. How do we prioritize what is most important? It requires a great deal of communication and planning between the departments, faculty and administration. It takes reviewing the master calendar at faculty meetings so everyone can get a sense of the whole picture. It requires publishing the master calendar so each teacher can see both internal and external events and activities that are coming. Even with this careful planning and communication, train wrecks still may occur at times because major competitions occasionally are scheduled for the same weekend. For some schools, the academicians, athletes and fine arts students may compete only in one discipline or area, but often these areas intersect and create conflict.

At the school where I serve as headmaster, we view the three A’s as the key area where we must work continually to provide the proper balance. I am sure this is true of most schools. For example, we have a strong academic curriculum, as well as excellent fine arts instruction and superb athletic facilities with a full athletic program. As a relatively new school, we are very pleased with this progress. So how can this be a problem?

As do most schools, we appreciate the intrinsic value of each of the 3 A’s. We plan ahead and study the master calendar every week, and yet the inevitable collisions still occur, usually in the spring. No one could have guessed when we formalized the master calendar a year ago for the 2004-2005 academic year that in a recent week of competitions our school would place first in nearly every academic area as well as in the different fine arts, and that the state competitions for all of these would be on the same weekend but in different cities! In addition, did I mention a district baseball game that weekend also? Many of our students qualified for all three events: academic, arts, and athletic. What’s a school to do?

For students who placed in multiple areas, we have to carefully weigh the pros and cons of each to determine which competition the students should attend. It is difficult, but the struggle is worth it because in the process we are building up students who are learning to balance the different areas that enhance brain development. The most important goal is to graduate students who are successful, have found their niche and can become contributing members of society. We are shaping and developing the adults who will be running our world in a few years. Let us take the time to find out where our students’ strengths and talents lie and build upon them. The time spent is worth the investment, and there are rich dividends to be reaped for many years to come.

Published in Frisco Style Magazine

Creating a Positive School Community By Jody Capehart

Have you ever walked into an environment such as an office, school or business and simply felt good? Was there an obvious reason such as the décor or the people, or was it not so tangible? Likewise, have you walked into a place and immediately felt depressed and again, for no obvious reason?

How do we create a positive school atmosphere in which everyone feels welcome and an important part of the community? Even if we teach in a public school, we can silently pray for the school, students and teachers as we walk down the hallways, into the library, office area and workroom. Every person can put a smile on their face and give a friendly greeting. For many of our students, our smile and words of encouragement may be the only ones they ever hear. Our character is contagious!

Brain research has taught us a great deal, about how the brain functions. For some educators who have been around the block for many years, it has confirmed what they have intuitively believed. The brain and thus the body and thus the student require a delicate balance of many different activities in order to function at optimum level. The environment in which we work affects our attitudes and learning levels.

How can we enrich the environment to create an optimum learning community for all of our students? If we have any input on the physical environment, brain research supports that the colors, lighting, smells, and plants affect learning. Even if we cannot paint our classrooms or change the lighting, we can bring in plants, which affect the ionization, provide excellent visual aids, which affect peripheral learning and a very subtle plug in “smell good” which makes our classroom a more inviting place to be.

More importantly, it is what we bring into the classroom or school office that affects our students the most. A smile and a kind word can bring cheer into any learning environment, and it does not cost a thing! Brain research shows us that learning is enhanced by encouragement and is inhibited by a threatening and fearful environment. That fact is so exciting because it is an environment that each of us can work at creating for our students.

The teacher who is excited about learning brings positive energy into the classroom. Our students are very perceptive and can tell if we are simply cranking out the same lesson. When we are sincerely (which is key) interested in our subject and communicate in a way that connects with our students, we can affect the learning climate.

Let us always be exercising our own brain! I like to take classes on a regular basis just to keep my brain alive. When a class is particularly interesting, I share what I am learning with the students. If the professor is boring and does not challenge me, I tell my students. It creates a bond between us because now we are all students. I learn a great deal from students about what works and does not work in the classroom. This is authentic teaching and provides relationship building. I ask for their input on ways to make our class more exciting and to enhance their learning. Our students love to feel a part of the learning process.

Our schools are institutions of learning. How do we make them a community that that draws in our students into the learning process makes our parents want to support us and is a beacon in the community? It begins within each classroom and this excitement permeates out in concentric circles. It affects and enriches the very environment of our schools. Let us be that teacher who makes a difference in the lives of our students, our schools and our community!