What is a Trader?

This video says it all.

Experience vs. Performance

Two weeks ago, SFCS sent High School and Middle School delegations to the 2013 Youth In Government (YIG) Conference in Columbia, SC.  Youth in Government is a YMCA-sponsored event that brings together middle and high school students from all over the United States in a three-day conference where students gain a glimpse into the inner workings of the state government process. During the conference, students propose, write, and defend bills, run for offices for the next year, and meet state legislators. 

This year was especially great for the SFCS delegation – seven SFCS bills were signed into YIG law; four middle school students and one high school student were named Outstanding Statesmen; two SFCS bills earned the Outstanding Bill Award; and both delegations were named Premier Delegations.   (For more details and pictures, visit http://shannonforest.com/headlines.html.)

So what could possibly make this experience just as important as the SAT – a nationally recognized method of evaluating college applicants?   

The SAT by nature is designed to provide a generalized snapshot of an individual.  It is one-dimensional and says very little about the person, in that it cannot distinguish between two students who have the same scores.  Without any other information, a college admissions representative could view both students as essentially equal. 

Youth In Government, in contrast, allows our students to show what they are able to accomplish in the real world.  YIG participants participate in a student-run government system that not only gives them a glimpse into the “grown-up world” of politics, but requires them to think critically, communicate clearly and rationally, and to take responsibility for their decisions and actions.  It is incredible what these young adults are able to accomplish through their own initiative when given the opportunity. 

Don’t mistake me, I am not saying that your 11^th grader shouldn’t take the SAT just because it is limited in its ability to truly distinguish between students.  However, I am suggesting the personal and educational value of experiences such as Youth In Government should not be ignored.  Shannon Forest Christian School has created several opportunities for students to gain experience with the real world which we encapsulate under the heading Shannon Experience.  These include the EXPLORE program for 10^th graders through which they investigate potential careers and participate in an internship program with businesses around Greenville; the PURSUE program during which 11^th graders visit college campuses, talk about potential majors, and discuss their goals and dreams for college; IMPACT and CONNECT which bring our Lower and Upper School students together through community service projects. 

Here at SFCS we want to provide your child with a well-rounded education – one in which they are well-versed in the fundamentals of math, history, English, and science, but also one that has allowed them to become confident, thoughtful, creative, empathetic individuals who can truly impact their communities for Christ. 

Guest Blog - A Community of Grace by Emily Watkins

If you frequent this blog, you are accustomed to hearing from Bob Collins. I appreciate the opportunity to be a guest blogger. I am Emily Watkins, the Early Childhood Administrator at Shannon Forest Christian School.

I have the privilege of taking graduate classes. The class I am currently taking concerns the development of school and community relations. One thing that has been brought to mind, as I study for this class, is that Shannon Forest should be, and hopefully is, known as a community of grace. My hope is that school employees and families see evidence, and that visitors see evidence, of God at work by the way our relationships are conducted at Shannon Forest.

So often in today’s culture God’s grace is overlooked. How can we overlook something so overwhelming? If not for God’s grace none of us would be here, and now we have the privilege of sharing that grace with others on a daily basis!

How do we foster a community of grace at Shannon Forest? We have opportunities every day…now more than ever.  The goal is to create a school in which all involved are like-minded in mission, invitation, acceptance, and love. Isn’t this how Christ calls us to live?

The mission of Shannon Forest Christian School is to provide quality education from an evangelical, Biblical perspective in order to equip and challenge students to influence culture and society for Jesus Christ. I feel that we all agree with the mission of the school.

But what does it mean to be like-minded in invitation? A community of grace should be inviting. Christian theology is inviting by nature. As Christians, we believe that everyone is created in the image of God and has intrinsic worth. For this reason, our school should be committed to being a community of grace and make a constant effort to be inviting to all. A deliberate, inviting community can have a significant impact on the behaviors of its members, adults and children.  After all, why do we have our children enrolled in a Christian school?  I imagine it concerns the impact of the behaviors of those surrounding our children.

Lewis Smedes, a renowned Christian author, says that grace is seeing others with “magic eyes – eyes that see past the surface behavior into a person’s heart to see the soul that God is calling.” A community of grace is patient and persistent with its members. Think of the story of the master who forgave the servant’s large debt, only to have the servant throw one of his customers into jail over a much smaller debt. Members of a community of grace remember how much we need to be forgiven and are willing to offer forgiveness to others.

Finally, our school operates in love, not human love, but agape love. Agape love is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 as being patient and kind, not jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Agape love only comes from Christ so it does not demand its own way, it is not irritable, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Agape love rejoices when the truth wins. It never gives up, never loses faith, and is always hopeful in every circumstance. Imagine a community of people operating in this fashion!

It is a privilege to be an employee at Shannon Forest Christian School and a blessing to have my children in school here. As I read the description of a community of grace, I am overwhelmed with gratitude as I realize that we all are a part of a community of grace!

Emily Watkins is the Early Childhood Administrator at Shannon Forest Christian School.  She has served the parents and students of SFCS since 2009.  Emily's two daughters, Riley (5th grade) and Reagan (1st grade), also attend Shannon.

Guest Blog - Problem-Based Learning, Part 2 by Kathy Neely

Hello from Kathy Neely.  I am not the name that you are accustomed to seeing on the “ComBOBulate Blog,” but I am pleased to have the opportunity to be a guest blogger. 

I’m sure by now you have heard the term “Problem-Based Learning.”  If you still have any confusion about it, read on.  Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is designed to make learning look like the real world where there are many authentic problems to solve.  The purpose of PBL is to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills that will prepare students for today’s workplace. 

Here are some elements that you can expect:  

• PBL is designed as a unit of study, not an add-on following a unit. 
• PBL teaches research skills in an authentic setting. 
• Problems are structured that have some ambiguity (i.e., ones that have more than one solution, can be solved in multiple ways, or may bring to light other potential “cause and effect” problems.) 
• Collaboration is needed if students are to develop the best possible solutions.  This also mirrors real life.  We all have co-workers and need to learn the art of cooperation. 
• Assessment is likely to include project-based options (PowerPoint presentations, papers, models).  Students communicate their defensible arguments and supporting evidence. 
• Teachers will act as coaches and facilitators.  Some element of pre-teaching may occur, but students will be learners, risk takers, and critical thinkers.  They will develop meta-cognition (understanding of how they learn). 
• Textbooks are a resource and may not be used in the traditional chapter to chapter format. 

Are you concerned that students will not receive the “facts” they need?  I would like to set your mind at ease about that concern.  Traditional teaching models with teachers as “givers of information” and students as “receivers,” has proven to be ineffectual for factual retention.  They learn, test, and promptly forget a larger percentage of informational facts.  When learning occurs in a PBL format, students gather information from researching and from their learning coach.  They are so engaged in the process that retention rates are higher. 

Are you concerned about scores on standardized testing?  Problem-based learning is more in tune with today’s testing formats.  Tests, particularly the Terra Nova that Shannon Forest is using, are more geared to interpreting information and making inferences.  Very few test questions are general knowledge facts. 

The best thing that I can tell you about Problem-Based Learning is this.  During my “Lunch Bunch” time with students, they tell me the best and worst parts of their day.  They are loving classes where problem solving is the base.  They love the interaction, the collaboration, the cognitive challenge, and the assessment – yes, I said assessment.  They love presenting their findings, even if it means writing and speaking. 

I would love to hear your thoughts or answer your questions.  I am located in the Lower School and welcome you to stop in. 

Kathy Neely is the Lower School Administrator at Shannon Forest.  She has served the faculty and students of SFCS since 2005.

Assessment and Problem-Based Learning

The school schedule was redesigned this year in order to accomplish two purposes.  First, we set out to maximize student learning using the best available research on how the school schedule affects students.  The second goal was to set aside periods of time for our teachers to further hone their skills through professional development and collaboration with their peers.  What I would like to do over the course of the year is share the topics and themes we are working through as faculty.  

Our first meeting focused on Problem-Based Learning.  We are committed to making teaching applicable for students and a problem-based approach does this.  Mr. Riddle leveraged his experience as a teacher and administrator to guide the faculty through the topic.

In many ways, the driving force behind problem-based learning is the increasing use of and access to technology in schools.  Shannon Forest is striving to be a part of an education narrative for the 21st century by encouraging the use of technology in the classroom in order to create opportunities for innovation, global connections, collaboration, teamwork, and multi-disciplinary learning.  The following video explains these goals further:

Our second faculty development session focused on student assessment.  Education generally gets this wrong, and we want to get it right at Shannon Forest Christian School.  

What we don't want:

Instead, Mr. Riddle emphasized two types of assessment: summative and formative.  Summative assessment usually takes the form of a test and is completed after instruction and used to determine a student's competency.  Formative assessment is ongoing throughout the school day and takes the form of frequent reviews, observations, activities, and general feedback.  As a school, Shannon Forest is seeking to move away from the concept of assessment as judgment and competition or as a way to obtain grades and to move toward a vision of assessment as a reflection that can improve classroom instruction.  Useful assessments should determine if students can use their learning - not just regurgitate information or facts.  With this information in mind, SFCS teachers, administrators, and staff are working to improve the effectiveness and use of assessments in the classroom.

"What is assessed signals what is important to learn.  How it is assessed signals how it should be learned."

Jay McTighe

Blessing Leads to Service

At Shannon, service is an integral part of what we do.  We purposely build opportunities for our students to serve.  Occasionally someone will ask why this emphasis on service and so I thought I would write an answer.  The short answer is that serving others is part of our calling as disciples of Jesus.  Starting in Genesis 12,

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Our blessings are not meant to be held on to but passed along.  We love because we have been loved.  We give because we have received gifts.  We serve because we have been blessed.  Our greatest example is that of Jesus who said of himself, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10.45)

Peter states it plainly, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4.10)

At its core, service is about character development.  Humanity is flawed and nowhere is this more evident than our intrinsic selfishness.

Any parent, or anyone who has worked with children, knows of the phase of development called the terrible twos.   Cognitive scientists explain this phase as a result of children learning for the first time that other people are separate identities from themselves and as such, don’t always share the their wants and desires.  Until this point, toddlers view their wants and desires as being universal.  Now they have to recognize that this is not the case.  How do they learn this?  They test the boundaries.  They look for areas where wants and desires conflict with those of someone else, and they test it repeatedly to identify the boundary. 

In many regards this process continues the rest of our life.  A perennial complaint of parents of teenagers is that they act as if they are the center of the universe.  Service is the best way to help us breakout of this tendency.  In serving others we recognize our blessedness.  Service creates gratitude.  Service creates compassion.  Service creates character.

Changing the World, Fast and Slow

Teachers have summer reading, too.  At least at Shannon Forest, that is.  Every summer, the faculty and staff read and discuss books on topics that will help them become better and more effective teachers and leaders.  In the past, these books have included Philip Yancey's What's So Amazing about Grace?, Timothy Keller's Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just, Daniel Coyle's The Talent Code, and Norman Doidge's The Brain That Changes Itself.  

This summer, the two books that everyone will read deal with two topics that the leadership at Shannon Forest discuss often: thinking and influencing culture.  James Davidson Hunter's To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World begins with a penetrating appraisal of the most popular models of world-changing among Christians today, highlighting the ways they are inherently flawed and therefore incapable of generating the change to which they aspire. Because change implies power, all Christians eventually embrace strategies of political engagement. Hunter offers a trenchant critique of the political theologies of the Christian Right and Left and the Neo-Anabaptists, taking on many respected leaders, from Charles W. Colson to Jim Wallis and Stanley Hauerwas. Hunter argues that all too often these political theologies worsen the very problems they are designed to solve. What is really needed is a different paradigm of Christian engagement with the world, one that Hunter calls "faithful presence"--an ideal of Christian practice that is not only individual but institutional; a model that plays out not only in all relationships but in our work and all spheres of social life. He offers real life examples, large and small, of what can be accomplished through the practice of "faithful presence." Such practices will be more fruitful, Hunter argues, more exemplary, and more deeply transfiguring than any more overtly ambitious attempts can ever be. (www.amazon.com)



Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman, the renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems shape our judgments and decisions.   Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and selected byThe New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 2011, Thinking, Fast and Slow is destined to be a classic.  (www.amazon.com)

Why we send seniors on a mission trip. . .

From a recent alumna. . . 

Costa Rica 2013

Seniors,

 Well you've made it this far. Only a few more weeks of school at Shannon and you'll be off to the big world of college. But before you go, God has given you have the opportunity to visit a place that many people don't get to. I know you have all heard the past two years' students talk about it and how amazing it was. I know some of you are nervous or scared for many different reasons; the language barrier, a new culture, living with people you don't know, and just worried about travel in general. All of these worries are valid especially if you have never experienced something like this. However, the truth is, this trip will change your life in some way. If the kindness of the Costa Ricans doesn't effect you, then the way they live their lives will. They live everyday thanking God just for the simple air they breathe, treating each other as if they are all family, and appreciating the little things in life. I can't begin to describe the things I learned while I was there and the experiences I had with the people just eating a meal with them. Those people taught me more than I could ever learn while in college.
 In Costa Rica, you will see hardship, pain, and love unlike any other; you will come to the love the children in La Cuenca and your heart will burn when you have to leave them; you will come to treat your host family just has if you have been living with them your whole life and have the upmost respect for the struggles that the mothers go through to care for their children. Hugo is a clown (which he will tell you frequently), but his love and relationship for the families in La Cuenca is unexplainable. Carlos is always happy and smiling about everything and when he doesn't understand your English, he just says,"Oookk" and smiles. Nathan and Magaly make tons of jokes and work hard everyday to help and play with the kids. These are the people that make an impact in La Cuenca. They make what happens, happen. If I could get on the plane with you all tomorrow I would, my heart literally hurts everyday when I think about them and how much I miss my friends and "family" there.
 I hope that this letter serves as an encouragement for all of you, that you will feel the same as we all did getting to know the people there. Like I said, God has a plan for all of you and maybe your plan will be revealed to you through this trip; mine was. God bless you guys and I wish you the best of luck in your futures. Love you all!

Yours truly,

Katherine Roach

"Excellence" Rediscovered

The word excellence has been so over used that it has lost a lot of its meaning. And yet I have been getting excited recently about this word again. Actually I feel as though I have rediscovered it.

As I picked it up and dusted it off I discovered that excellence means so much more than what it has been reduced to in pop culture. At its core, it really isn’t a qualitative word. Our concept of the word originates with its use in Ancient Greece as the word arête. Its original use conveyed the sense of fulfillment of purpose or function, to fulfillment of potential. It means to completely fulfill ones purpose.

Excellence then is not some fixed measurement for each student, a cookie cutter mold that each student should adjust themselves to fit. Instead it means that we must bring excellence out of them in every facet of their individual personhood. It means that we recognize the varying degrees of giftedness unique to them, and shape them to reach their own maximum potential, much like the parable of the talents, as I’ve included below.

In light of its true meaning I emphatically want us to be a school of excellence. We should strive daily to help each student reach their full, God given potential. We should equally strive to fulfill our purpose as a school and our full organization as a community; the personal excellence intersection with skill-specific proficiency.

¹⁴ “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶ He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷ So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. ¹⁸ But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. ¹⁹ Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²² And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ²⁹ For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 25:14—30 

Great Reads from 2012

If you know me, you know I like to read and 2012 was a good reading year.  Here are my top reads from last year.

1.       N.T. Wright, When God Became King:  The Forgotten Story of the Gospels.  Wright reminds us that the Gospel is a much bigger story than just our personal salvation.  Jesus ushered in the Kingdom of God and we join with Him in Kingdom work right now.

2.      Shusaku Endo, Silence.  A novel about the martyrdom of the Japanese Christians in the 16^th century as Japan sought to remove Christianity from their culture.

3.      James Ballanca and Ron Brandt, 21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn. A collection of articles by the leading reformers in education.  This book encapsulates many of the current strategies we are working toward at Shannon Forest Christian School.

4.      Linda Sue Parker, When My Name was Keoko.  The story of a young Korean girl growing up under Japanese occupation and forced to have a Japanese name.

5.      Daniel Kahneman.  Thinking, fast and slow.  We understand so little of how our brain works.  Kahneman, a Nobel laureate, presents a reader friendly synopsis of the best research on cognition.

In no order of significance, here the rest of my 2012 reading list.

Alcorn	Randy	The Grace and Truth Paradox
Bascomb	Neal	The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less than Four Minutes to Achieve It
Blevins	Win	Stone Song: A Novel of the life of Crazy Horse
Bridges	Jerry	The Discipline of Grace
Child	Lee	Tripwire
Child	Lee	Running Blind
Child	Lee	Echo Burning
Child	Lee	Without Fail
Child	Lee	Persuader
Child	Lee	Enemy
Child	Lee	One Shot
Child	Lee	The Affair
Child	Lee	The Hard Way
Child	Lee	Nothing to Lose
Child	Lee	Gone Tomorrow
Child	Lee	Worth Dying For
Collins	Suzanne	The Hunger Games
Collins	Suzanne	Girl on Fire
Collins	Suzanne	Mockingjay
Connelly	Michael	The Drop
David	Howarth	We Die Alone
Donovan	James	A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn
Fin	Adharanand	Running With The Kenyans
Flynn	Vince	Kill Shot
French	Thomas	Zoo Story
Friedman	Edwin	Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix
Gambetta	Vern	Athletic Development
Gordon	Noah	The Physician
Keller	Timothy	The Meaning of Marriage
Kinnaman	David	You Lost Me:  Why Young Christians are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith
Kyle	Chris	American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in US Military History
Lewis	CS	Mere Christianity
Lyons	Gabe	The Next Christians
Marzluff	John	Gifts of the Crow
Mills	Kyle	The Immortalists
Mistry	Rohinton	A Fine Balance
Parker	John	Again to Carthage
Pierce	Bill	Run Less, Run Faster
Prescott	Michael	Dangerous Games
Prescott	Michael	Mortal Fault
Richardson	Don	Peace Child
Robertson	David	Once They Moved like the Wind
Rollins	James	Altar of Eden
Stone	Irving	Men to Match My Mountains
Tribelhorn	Thomas	My Professor Says the Bible is a Myth
Tucker	Ross	The Runner's Body
Vigil	Joe	Road to the Top