Christian School

Excellent Instruction in Action

How can a teacher teach an entire class and address all the individual learning needs? How can they help students at different academic levels? How can all the students get one-on-one instruction?

I am glad you asked! At Byron Center Christian, we recognize the importance of fostering strong reading and writing skills in our students. Teachers and staff use specific instructional methods called reading and writing workshop to accomplish this goal. The pictures below show this in action and the following paragraph describes how it works (and answers the initial questions).

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In a workshop block, teachers will give a mini-lesson on the particular topic or skill (i.e. poetry, a new reading strategy, spelling, five paragraph essay, etc.) and then allow students to break into individuals or groups. From there, students actually apply what the lesson was on (i.e. writing a poem, trying the reading strategy, spelling practice, typing an essay, etc.). The teacher is then free to conference (or help) students on an individual basis to make sure everyone has a strong understanding of what is being taught. This also allows the teacher the ability to challenge high performing students and assist students that have not yet grasped the particular concept. Following the work-time, teachers can have the students share their work with the class or can summarize and review what was taught. While this is not how instruction always happens, workshops are a powerful tool for almost any subject.

This practice seems simple, but it takes careful planning and a strong knowledge of and relationship with each student to ensure success. We are able to use these instructional methods to teach to the group and to the individual student. We are also able to address the individual academic needs of our students so each child is able to succeed. While no teacher or classroom is perfect, we are blessed with amazing teachers who want to help each student grow!

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SOS Day 2018

One important part of Christian education is helping students understand we all have a need for God, a need for His love, and a need for community. Once we realize this, we are called to go into God’s world and spread His love by serving others.

The video below has some pictures from SOS day, which is one of many opportunities we provide students to learn how they can be the hands and feet of Christ!

Like the song in the slideshow? You find out more here!


Teachers Teach People

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In his book "The Cause for Christian Education," Dr. Richard Edlin claims that "teachers first of all teach people, not subjects." He goes on to explain that while teachers do teach math, science, reading and more, they are also teaching children about everything in this world. (As a side-note, Edlin's text is lengthy, but definitely worth a read)

This is true at Byron Center Christian School as we provide a quality Christian education in the Byron Center community. We recognize the importance of equipping children to impact the world for Christ. The impact a teacher has on his or her students cannot be understated. A good teacher will prepare students for the next grade, but our teachers want students prepared for more than that.  The goal is to help students understand who they are as Children of God and how to act in this world. That, of course, includes academic achievement, but it also means emotional, social and spiritual growth as well.

 To help accomplish this, our teachers have been trained and are implementing the Teaching for Transformation (TfT) instructional model. Doug Monsma, describes TfT as “a biblical framework for the development of authentic and integral Christian learning experiences that are grounded in a transformational worldview with a focus on seeing and living God’s story.” A strong understanding of math, science, history, and social studies is vital, but that knowledge without the proper Christian worldview goes to waste.  Here at BCCS, we are are grateful for the opportunity to truly teach our students.

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