Hey Stress: You're a Jerk

No, I'm not referring to the 2010 smash hit by the New Boyz, I'm actually talking about myself.

Recently I spent 8 days at the Lakehouse with Jenny and the kids.  Relaxing enough, right?  Wrong!  I had a final project for one of my doctoral classes due on the last day of our trip.  And if you are sharp enough to infer based on the title of this blog, I was a jerk almost the entire trip.

It's not that I'm a procrastinator, and if you know me, you know that I'm not a perfectionist, but there was something deep inside me almost the entire vacation that overwhelmed my thoughts and took captive my easy-going personality:  STRESS.

I was so concerned about this final project, even the time I did spend with my kids wasn't enjoyable because I felt the suffocating pressure to see the project's completion.  This is bad.

Reflecting on our getaway, I found one reoccurring theme, I was a jerk.  And after a revelation like that, I was encouraged to find Jesus on the night of his arrest in Luke 22:

"Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done."  And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.  And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

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There is an actual medical condition in times of intense anxiety that individuals will actually sweat blood (as we see here with Jesus).  And when considering Jesus's foreknowledge of what was to come (his brutal and humiliating crucifixion, not to mention the recipient of God's wrath), I get the fact that Jesus was under an incredible amount of pressure.  But what we find with Jesus is a man who trusts in the promises of God and even in agony, "he prayed more earnestly."

Wow.

When was the last time, under a deadline, or in a pressure situation, or even in agony did we really stop and talk to God?  The Bible tells us to let our requests be made known to God, but I wonder what percentage of us hauls around our burdens leaving a trail of relational carnage behind our 18-wheeler of stress (license plate: "JERK")?

I suppose the next time I will do my best to follow my Savior's example and I want to encourage you to do the same (our families will appreciate it).

Top 5 Ways an Educator Can Use a Blog

I've been asked to offer some ideas on how educators might use a blog, here are my top 5.

1. An educator can write their thoughts on a topic, issue, or struggle and solicit feedback from colleagues.
2. A principal can write a weekly or monthly blog to offer casual reflections and thoughts on how the school year is progressing, how the students have been working hard, etc.
3. A teacher can give students a piece of literature, mathematics, history, science to analyze and students can leave public feedback.
4. Students can manage their own blogs.  Teachers can give students a critical writing assignment and students must write on their personal blog.  Teachers can also make a requirement to comment on 5 other students blogs as part of their "grade".
5. Students, teachers, administrators can find thought provoking blogs to challenge their paradigms.

Action Research, It's More Than a Feeling

Some individuals are born with artistic talent, and those of us who are not "artistic" are acutely aware of our creative deficiency.  For decades, individuals have relied on the "art" of teaching to inspire and mold our world's young minds into capable vessels to change the world.   

We are now in the age of high stakes testing, with increased accountability for public schools around the nation.  School administrators can no longer count on hiring the best "artists" to make masterpieces, but are now looking to recruit carefully calculated artists that have the natural ability to "paint", but with a meticulous scientific left-brain approach to excellence.

If you haven't figured out my analogy yet and simply want me to get to the point, here it goes:

Now, more than ever, our nation's future are in need of administrators in schools and in districts that are actively researching and making changes based upon data.  "It's More Than a Feeling!"  In years past, perceptive leaders would "feel" programs weren't meeting the needs of students, or teachers would get the impression students weren't mastering the content as they should, but never truly having real evidence backing up that feeling.

Action research is the part of the solution to this "making decisions on how we feel" problem.  By making common based assessments within professional learning communities, teachers will be able to answer the question with confidence, did they master the concept, how well did they master the concept, and how might I, the teacher, instruct the students next time so they will have a better mastery of the concept?  Isn't that what teaching is all about anyway?

More details to come on this topic later, but in the meantime, I suggest picking up a book titled The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction by Sean Cain and Mike Laird to read about "Cain's Foundation Trinity" that tips the iceberg of the action research topic.

Go Big or Go Home in 2013

It was either Nike or Addidas or some other athletic entity that coined the phrase, "Go Big or Go Home". And the American public has embraced this phrase as a way of living - an encouragement to take risks, be the best we can be, and whatever we do, make it "epic". You can see it all around, we're infatuated with the long-ball (home runs), world's strongest man competitions, world champs of this or that; all in an effort to "Go Big or Go Home".

When I evaluate my life over the past 12 months, it is this phrase (Go Big or Go Home) that has been the source of my paralysis rather than the source of my encouragement. It is a funny kind of irony, and it makes me question my heart's condition, that I've spent more time planning, envisioning, and romanticizing doing something big and "epic" for the multitudes; and as a result, I've done nothing at all.

Evaluating 2012, I've had more personal growth and unintentional influence in the shadows of the big stage rather than under the stadium lights. Regarding personal growth, it has been through the fellowship of a few guys and a 5:30am coffee at Starbucks that has brought the most encouragement, challenge, and conviction. Vocationally, it has been under the mentoring of God-sent individuals that I was even able to tread water, especially this fall. When I consider my influence, it has been within the four walls of my tiny office, or sitting down for a humble 1-on-1 breakfast with one or two guys that God has decided to be the most gracious in deciding to move.

Also, the men I consider having the biggest impact in my community are quiet and humble individuals that are discipling others (including their families), sacrificing their time and sometimes their money, all for the purpose of spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth.

**Nevertheless, the point I'm trying to make is that sometimes when I'm moved (through scripture, challenge, conviction, or encouragement) I won't do so unless I'm going big. I made decisions to not play unless the stakes are high and I didn't volunteer unless I felt the cause was great. This is a problem.

So for 2013, instead of going "Big", I've decided to "Go Home". What I mean by that is this:

1. I will be intentional about my time with my family. I don't have to take them to Disney World or dissect the prophesies in Isaiah, I need to put my cell phone down, pay attention and play with them.
2. I will be intentional about my relationships. I don't need to speak in front of multitudes, I don't need to worry about making my name known - I need to really invest in a few and let God work.
3. I will be intentional about serving others. I don't need to personally lead a team to do a home makeover, or raise money to buy someone a car - I need to see the opportunities in front of me and act.

So what are your intentions for 2013? Does it involve making yourself great, does it involve "Going Big"? Whatever your plans, I encourage you to consider this New Year's analogy:

A sparkler burning in the pitch black of the night is much brighter than a firework finale in the middle of a city.

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