They Call Me Teacher; He Calls Me His Child

I recently came across the journal entry copied below which dates back to the first year I taught STEM classes to 3rd through 6th graders. The entry was a timely reminder, so I thought I would share it here as well should I ever need to be reminded again.

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The theme of my STEM class today centered around air pressure differentials. As we performed various experiments in class to aid student discovery, the students' big takeaway was as follows:

When areas of high pressure meet areas of low pressure, the higher pressure pushes harder causing cool stuff to happen." 

The burning candle uses up air molecules reducing air pressure inside jar.  The air pressure outside of the jar is much greater, so it pushes the water down, forcing it up into the jar.

I shared how we all face seasons of high external pressure, whether it be persecution, loss, sickness, or any array of external stresses. But as believers, we also have a wonderful type of pressure that comes from the heart and was placed there by God. "Christ's love compels us." (2 Corinthians 5:14). 

I've been in a season of high external pressure lately with today being especially difficult, but thankfully, the love He has given me for those students is greater than those external pressures, so I was recharged and ready to go before class began. As I crushed a cup in class to illustrate what happens when the pressure outside is greater than the pressure inside, I thanked God for this truth:

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

After completing various activities to demonstrate competing pressures, particularly as it relates to the weather, I took the kids outside to meet their parents where we all discovered a very unexpected snowfall. Low pressure meets high pressure, beautifully illustrating what I had been trying to teach the students and sending a clear message of grace from our merciful Father. "Why are you feeling squeezed my child, when You know I hold all things together in my perfect, loving, all powerful hands? Rest in Me."

When His power meets the pressures of this world, He pushes harder, and cool stuff happens, amen?

"Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4) 

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)

Feminism Dogma in Higher Education Gone Mad: STEM Syllabi Deemed Sexist Because Women Cannot Think Logically Based on Facts

Laura Parson, doctorate candidate at the University of North Dakota tried to argue in her dissertation that STEM syllabi are sexist because she believes that women are not biologically capable of thinking logically or scientifically in terms of static knowledge.  See also Joy Pullmann's evaluation of the dissertation in her piece entitled, "Feminist PhD Candidate:  Science is Sexist Because It's Not Subjective".  My kids attend a tiny, average private K-12 school where seniors are required to present and defend a thesis to graduate.  Laura Parson, who should be far more educated as doctoral candidate than our young high schoolers would FLUNK if she submitted this dissertation for her senior thesis project our kids' school due to lack of any sound reasoning, logical arguments, or understanding of truth at all.  Check out the full paper here for yourself, or view Page 12 below as a sample.

The biggest flaw in her research is far too common in modern progressive academia. True science is examining, testing and building knowledge around what we already observe to be true. Science cannot and was never intended to be used as a way of proving what our opinions want us to believe is true. Replacing inference with opinion turns any attempt at true science into junk science.  Big words with no logic are like a large mouth disconnected from a face or a head.

Well no wonder there is so much gender confusion these days.  STEM syllabi are sexist in her view because they require women to use the scientific method and do not allow students to view science as being dynamic.   So apparently now feminists believe both moral truth and scientific truth are relative.  When will gravity cease to be a law so we can start floating and flying like hippies on an LSD trip?

So, given that I teach students how to think critically, have excelled in STEM fields, regularly use the scientific method, and specialize in systematic, logical problem solving as a consultant, the doctors who cried, "It's a girl" must have been wrong. And my two kids' births are more miraculous than we ever realized. Wow!

What gender am I then? I certainly don't want to identify with the modern day feminists' definition. I don't consider myself to be a piece of meat as Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, and Lady Gaga suggest. The bacon dress said it all. I'm not a dog willing to perform dumb tricks to get people to notice me and throw me a bone or a dog treat as most feminist celebrities (Lena Dunham especially) suggest with their sudden displays of nudity or shocking headlines to turn the spotlight back on them. I'm not interested in bashing men but would prefer to encourage and inspire them to become their personal best. My husband is the perfect complement to me. He is strong where I am weak and supports me in using my strengths to build up the weak.

I don't want any of those degrading legal protections or special treatments just because I'm a woman. Make me work as hard as any man to reach the same goals because the struggle is what makes me stronger and what makes the prize worth having.

I'm so much more than my body parts. I am also a mind that never stops thinking, a heart that never stops loving and caring, and a soul that will never stop living. I was placed on this earth for a perfect purpose that does not involve sitting on a display shelf expecting natural scientific laws to change as often as my feelings and moods do.  My purpose involves making an eternal impact on the lives of others. It also consists of growing in prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude as I grow in intimacy with the God who made me and saved me. It is a joyful purpose which keeps me in awe at God's goodness, mercy, righteousness, and love.

"So God created mankind in his own image,
  in the image of God he created them;
  male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  (Genesis 1:27-28)

This PhD candidate is majoring in education. Look out world because this woman and those who have been indoctrinated as she has will be molding the next generation to believe that women are idiots and that truth is relative.

Maybe....just maybe...she should not assume that just because the entitlement culture has failed to teach her critical thinking skills, the difference between unchanging truth and ever-changing feelings, or personal responsibility, she should not assume that all women are as she is.

Learning spiritual truth from a little boy and his experiment with ice, water, and air

On the way home from school, my 4th grader said, "It seems like ice melts faster in water than in air even when the temperature of water is cooler than air. Is that true? If so, why?"

So as soon as we got home and before I could finish unloading the van, he had already set up the experiment. He used identical bowls, a meat thermometer to measure the temperature in each bowl, metal tongs to transfer the ice so as not to add different degrees of heat by handling the ice with his hands.  He made sure the bowls and ice cubes were identical, recorded the temperature of each, and set a timer.  I'm not teaching STEM this semester and miss it, but my eyes got misty as I watched my little scientist test his hypothesis.  He soon observed that the ice cube melted completely in the bowl of cooler water before the same sized ice cube had barely begun to melt in a bowl of air.

So we began the process I love so much of asking questions to figure out why ice melted faster in a cooler environment than in a warmer one.  We built on knowledge gained during the last semester to discover the factors affecting heat transfer coefficient.

Then we considered what his discovery might reveal to us about God and/or spiritual truth. (Yes, I tend to spiritualize everything because God created all things to reveal His glory and because it makes life, discovery, and exploration much more fascinating.)  So we compared the references to air and water in the Bible, taking special note of references to "living water".

The term "air" is found in Ephesians 2 which describes Satan's work of hardening the human heart so it will not melt.

 "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."  (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Then my sweet boy noted that an icy heart would melt more easily if submerged in living water. John 7:38 teaches us that for the one who believes in [Christ], ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water."

When Christ returns as conquering King to throw down the evil one (the prince of the air), He will come swiftly, just as air molecules move faster than water molecules, and those who believe and possess the life of Christ (the living water) will meet Him in the air and live with Him forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) With all those water molecules in the air reflecting the glorious light of the Son, imagine how splendid that rainbow will be.

 

The Role of STEM in a Classical Christian Education (Part 3): Biblical Worldview

(Continued from Part 2) 

The previous installment of this STEM series showed how STEM methodologies complement the classical model of education. STEM methodologies also strengthen the foundations of an educational institution rooted in a Biblical worldview.  Knowing how to integrate and apply concepts across disciplines is vital for deeper understanding of God's word and for application of His truths to daily life.  STEM best practices train students' minds to constantly look for connections between classroom knowledge and Biblical truth to real life application for the continuous building of knowledge and wisdom.  

After the fourth blood moon in the last tetrad occurred on September 28-29 of this year, students were curious about lunar events and asked why and how the eclipse occurred.  As I guided my students with leading questions through the mechanics of a lunar eclipse and some of the Jewish history and significance surrounding the timing of the tetrads, I challenged the students to consider spiritual applications.  The discussion that followed compared a lunar eclipse to the spiritual darkening that takes place when we allow the world to come between God and man.  These elementary-aged students were able to connect in their minds the effect of the earth getting in the way of the moon so that it could not reflect the sun’s light with the spiritual implications of letting the things of this world keep us from looking to God so that we no longer reflect His light into the dark and dying world.  What absolute delight it has been for me to watch them see how learning more about the things God has made and the way they function in the universe helps them better understand who God is and how He loves each of them and works in them personally.

STEM education begins with training the mind in fundamental processing skills (observation, inference, comparison, classification, labeling, etc.) which help students become more discerning. Faith is strengthened as students learn how to answer tough questions from critics by applying their STEM knowledge to real life questions. After only two STEM classes, my 3^rd through 5^th grade students were already identifying false assumptions and recognizing the dominating role of opinion instead of inference and empirical evidence being used to support popular scientific theories, which are presented as fact while contrary to God's word.  They saw on their own some of the contradictions between the laws of nature and the theories taught by scientists.  "If science has proven that life cannot come from non-life," one student asked, "then why do science books teach that we evolved out of random matter?"  Another student asked, "Why do scientists say the earth is millions of years old when the Bible indicates it is only thousands of years old?"  So I explained to him the assumption of uniformitarianism and asked him if that assumption was a reasonable one to make when dating the earth?  I asked him to consider how we could test the reliability of such an assumption, and after giving him time to critically examine the issue, I provided examples of various tests that have already been done to disprove the assumption following his same line of thinking. We know that when catastrophic events like volcanic eruptions, mass flooding, tsunamis occur, changes take place in moments that would take millions of years under the assumption of uniformitarianism.   This level of critical thinking flows freely in STEM classrooms and equips students to defend their faith.

STEM training also helps the words of Scripture come more alive for students.  When my students "discovered" that density is directly related to mass and indirectly related to volume and that objects sink when they are more dense than the solution in which they are placed, Jesus’s words in Luke 9:44 took on greater meaning. What Jesus had told his disciples about his death in that verse was massive, yet He communicated within the "volume" of only 14 words (in the ESV translation), making his message infinitely dense. This dense message was to enter the ears and hearts of mankind which have negligible density compared to the infinite work of Christ on the cross. Thus, Christ's words could not have floated, rested, or simply gone into the disciples'  ears and hearts. Instead the passage uses the word “sink” which conveys to those who understand density an enormous differential between man’s lowly state and the infinite grace of God’s suffering in our place.  Christ's words fell like a million tons of bricks onto their hearts, and they were forever changed, just as all are who believe and trust in Him. In this way, the students could see that every single word and tiny detail of Scripture has a purpose and holds eternal truth from God.

During that same unit on density, the students considered the miraculous catch of fish described in Luke 5:1-11.  "How many pounds of fish would it take to sink just one of their boats, I asked?"  Interest piqued, the students figured out how to perform such a calculation based on what they had just learned about density.  After making some assumptions about the size of the boat and all it contained before the catch and with some help from a calculator and their teacher, the students approximated a number.  They were astounded by the result.  Suddenly this miracle they had read or been told about several times before become even more amazing as they could visualize just how many pounds of fish it had taken to sink those boats. 
 

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I could list examples from every class, but the primary point is that students who cannot apply what they learn in one subject to all of life and especially to God’s word walk through life as if their eyes are shut.  Christian education seeks to open eyes and fill hearts with the awesome truths of God's words.  Students will face critics of the faith, and they need freedom to ask questions and the tools to seek out answers, so they can stand firm in their faith instead of being trampled by the herd.   All of creation, every subject and discipline, and each experience and encounter exist to make God known and to bring Him glory.  If STEM principles can help equip students to ask questions, seek out answers with discernment, make necessary connections between classroom knowledge, Biblical truth, and life, and develop the habit of looking for God's hand in everything, trusting in His goodness, faithfulness, power, and love, then it certainly has a place in Christian schools.

⁵ “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  (Luke 8: 5-8)

The Role of STEM in a Classical Christian Education (Part 2): Similarities

(Continuation of Part 1 found here.) 

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Dorothy Sayers presented an effectual essay at Oxford in 1947 entitled, “The Lost Tools of Learning”.  This essay, along with a number of texts upholding similar ideals, has inspired numerous classical schools across the globe.  By teaching to each child’s natural bent and pattern of learning development (grammar, logic, and rhetoric phases), learning is optimized.  Classical education prioritizes broad, integrated, useful learning over highly specialized learning which is isolated into distinct subjects.  The goal is to teach students how to think for themselves as opposed to merely teaching them what to think for a test.  Classical education strives to inspire a life-long love of learning with tools to help students continuously grow in both knowledge and wisdom.  The Christian classical model strives to train the whole person (mind, body and spirit) while recognizing and nurturing the unique gifts, talents, experiences, and passions given by God to each child, so that students will be well equipped to fulfill God's individual calling for each and every student for His glory.

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Another text that has largely influenced classical education and is often used as an evaluation tool for teachers is The Seven Laws of Teaching by John Milton Gregory.  To illustrate how intertwined STEM methodologies are with classical education, I have briefly summarized those seven laws of teaching and then described ten of the most effective STEM instruction methods as they relate to Milton's seven laws of teaching.

The Seven Laws of Teaching

1. Knowledge:  Know thoroughly the lesson to be taught.  Teach from a full mind and clear understanding.
2. Engagement: Gain and keep the interest of the pupils. Refuse to teach without attention.
3. Clarity: Use clear and vivid words understood by both the pupil and the teacher in the same sense. 
4. Connections:  Begin with what is already known by the pupil and proceed to what is unknown by single, easy, natural steps, letting the known explain the unknown.
5. Discovery:  Use the pupil’s own mind, exciting his own self-activities. Keep his thoughts as much ahead of your expression as possible, making him a discoverer of truth.
6. Reproducing:   Require the pupil to reproduce in thought the lesson he is learning, thinking it out in its parts, proofs, connections, and applications till he can express it in his own language.
7. Review:  Review, review, review – reproducing correctly the old, deepening its expression with new thought, deepening its impression with new thought, correcting false ideas, and completing the true.

As a STEM professional (engineer, project manager, analyst, process improvement consultant), STEM teacher, and math teacher and tutor, I have seen firsthand how helpful STEM methodologies are in providing a comprehensive and effective classical education for all students.  Some of the most effective STEM teaching methods I have used have been described by Middleweb.com as 10 of the best STEM practices. I have used that list merged with my personal classroom experiences within a classical educational system to show how STEM fits the classical model and helps teachers more effectively follow the seven laws of teaching.

The starting point for STEM instruction is to believe in your students.  This step is often missing in schools where teachers or administrations do not adapt teaching methods to match the different learning styles of their students or where assumptions about students are made or labels assigned inappropriately.  Confidence in one's own ability to learn is the gateway to increased learning.  Teachers must understand the power they wield with their words and their actions to open or close that gate for many years to come, perhaps even for a lifetime.  STEM classrooms demand caring, nurturing teachers who offer encouragement and legitimate, earned praise.  Confidence grows as students achieve, so teachers must provide a flexible classroom that provides every student the opportunity to succeed where they are instead of forcing each child to squeeze into the teacher's own odd-shaped mold or narrow rubric, which may be contrary to the child's natural bent. Flexible STEM teachers also offer challenging work to students who learn quickly and easily become bored.  Watered down curriculum with excessive review and no opportunity to go beyond the limits of the text communicates to students that the teacher does not believe they can handle challenging work or that they do not care enough to take the effort to stretch them.  Believing in your students especially helps with engagement (Law #2). 

Another fundamental STEM teaching method is to transfer control of the learning process to the student so that students become self-sufficient learners.  Teachers trained in STEM methods do not spoon feed information to students.  Instead, they help students derive answers for themselves using guided inquiry and self-directed lab activities to lead students to make their own discoveries.  Reference "10 Ways to Encourage Students to Take Responsibility for their Own Learning" for more ideas.  This STEM step is a direct response to the law of self-discovery (Law #5).

STEM programs make fostering curiosity a priority in the classroom.  Before presenting new information, teachers ask open-ended questions or present a real world problem for class discussion.  In a STEM class, the teacher will present a demonstration or lead the students through an experiment first before spitting out new facts and concepts to draw students in and get them asking their own questions out of genuine interest and curiosity. This strategy has been very effective in keeping all students engaged (Law #2), even those students who struggle to stay focused, both during and after my classes. Many of my students come to class each week with stories of different experiments they have performed at home or with interesting facts from books they have sought out and read pertaining to the subject matter purely out of their own curiosity.  When students are bursting to share related information they have learned or new discoveries they have made since our last class, then I am encouraged and motivated by that evidence of curious, active, stimulated minds.

Another STEM best practice that has had a huge impact in my class has been providing hands-on, experiential learning.  Kinesthetic learners are not the only students who need interactive learning.  All students are better able to remember concepts when they interact with them in a multi-sensory way.  Hands-on manipulation and experimentation builds critical thinking skills for cross functional applications while keeping students engaged and motivated (Law #2).  Hands-on experience also provides students with the ability to transfer book knowledge into useful applications which is so vital to becoming college and career ready. Since students know to expect hands-on activities in every class, they consistently come to class excited and eager to learn.

The list of STEM best practices also includes collaboration among students, usually through team exercises or interactive class discussions. When facilitated in an orderly manner, collaboration fosters clarity (Law #3) while helping students make more mental connections for more efficient knowledge building (Law #4).  Learning to become a team player will not only help students succeed in school and in their careers, but it will also give them greater joy and success in personal life and ministry. As students experience the synergy that flows out of group collaboration, they value each other more highly and are more inclined to build up one another.

STEM methodology insists that teachers provide opportunities to take risks and to accept failure, for failure is a critical step in the learning process.  The greatest contributors to society throughout world history have made big mistakes, but the rich lessons gained through those mistakes led to greater discoveries and contributions.  Students need practice making mistakes without reproof to build courage and confidence.  Occasionally, experiments I have planned for my classes and practiced at home have not worked as expected during the class time.  Seeing their teacher's project fail gave the students more freedom to take risks themselves.  Those failures were not wasted, however, because then the students were tasked with helping me figure out what went wrong which built trouble shooting and problem solving skills. This risk/failure teaching tool addresses the laws of engagement (#2), connections (#4), and self-discovery (#5).

The next few STEM best practices support the laws of knowledge (#1), engagement (#2) and clarity (#3).  MiddleWeb advises STEM teachers as follows: "Be an inspiring leader and role model for students. Be positive and enthusiastic about what students are learning and how they are learning it. Be passionate in your teaching and your love of your subject area."  Those directives are a paraphrase of classical education ideals.  Teachers will not be passionate about a subject they do not understand really well.  Knowledgeable teachers (Law #1) are inspiring teachers.

Another imperative of effective STEM teachers is to be flexible and know how to quickly redirect lesson plans when class discussions take a different though productive turn according to the developing thoughts of the students.  The teacher must know the subject well enough to following the change in direction and pull the conversation back when appropriate without being too dependent upon a scripted lesson plan.  (Law #1).

STEM methodology also insists that teachers never stop learning.  Teachers must constantly seek out ways to communicate more effectively (Law #3) and gain more knowledge of their subjects. (Law #1).  STEM teachers learn in community, working with colleagues to build knowledge together (Laws #1 and #4).

 

While the laws of reproducing and reviewing may not be as obvious in this summary of 10 best STEM practices, those laws are a natural result of a classroom following the STEM format. Every class I teach begins with a comprehensive review session, but I do not ask students to recite vocabulary definitions word-for-word as I gave them,for repeating my words verbatim does not indicate comprehension.  I also avoid asking each question the same way.  Students have to reproduce the information for me in their own words or show me through demonstration. Review continues as students are asked to apply the new concepts to other real world applications.  Even though I teach elective classes without testing or grading requirements, students can reproduce advanced concepts for me without losing memory because they have interacted with the topics in so many different meaningful ways and have associated the concepts with everyday life.  The structure of an integrated STEM class allows new concepts to build upon previous concepts, so each new topic is an expansion or an application of previous material.  For example, when we introduced the concepts of buoyancy and ballasts to maintain a boat's stability in the water, the students then asked if airplanes use ballasts to remain stable in the air. When we study air pressure, flight, and aerodynamics in future classes, they will review again the concepts taught within the context of oceanography and then build upon them within a different context.  The processing skills introduced in the first few weeks of class are practiced in every other class to follow as the students build their processing capabilities.

Part 1 of this series defines STEM and provides a brief history and summary of the goals and philosophies driving STEM programs. Part 2 compares STEM to classical education.  The last installment shows how STEM methodologies can also supplement and enrich an education founded upon a Biblical worldview.