Building Bridges in Education

                                                                                                                        Copyright   mikefoto58 If you can't walk the walk, do not talk the talk     Yes, we hear this saying often, but are we really listening to it?  In Christian education, it is important to make sure what we are saying to others, especially students and parents, we are doing ourselves. We need to be setting an example for our students to follow and we should be pointing them to salvation.  Why does that seem to be such a problem in today's world?  Each and every day we as Christians should...

  Homework      Homework seems to be a topic of interest lately.  Of course, this is because school has started back.  Parents and students have both gotten out of the habit of having homework to complete.  As a teacher, it is important to assign homework because the practice continues to help students master the concepts being taught.  Homework also allows the parents to see what is being taught and to see how their student is doing in learning the concept.  However, how much is too much?  This is a question that will be answered two different ways.  The teacher will answer it one way and the student and parents will answer it an entirely different way.       So, let's dive into the subject of homework, why we have it, and why it is important to complete the homework each night.  First of all, homework is assigned to give the student an opportunity to practice what they have been taught.  It is one thi...

        During chapel this week at Faith Christian Academy, we had a guest speaker named Matthew Berry.  His scripture reference was James 4:14 which says "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.  For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."  (KJV)  He also conducted an experiment to demonstrate how vapors happen or are made.  It brings to mind how we live our lives.  As it states in the Bible, our life is but a vapor.  We go about our daily lives without really knowing what kind of impact we have on the lives of others.  Our own children see us day in and day out at home so they know the real us.  However, our students see us from 8:00 - 3:00 each school day.  What kind of vapor are you making?  In your classroom, is your vapor having an impact on students?  How about outside of their academics, what does your vapor look like.  We...

  Hello!  Let me start by introducing myself to you.  My name is Karen Whitley and I am currently a 3rd grade teacher in the eastern part of  North Carolina.  I was raised in Onslow County, near Jacksonville in North Carolina.  10 days after I graduated high school, I began working for the Clerk of Superior Court in Jacksonville and stayed there from 1987 until 2002.  I attended Coastal Carolina Community College and earned an Associate in Arts Degree before I transferred to Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina.  I graduated with a Bachelor of Psychology in December 2001.   I married my husband in July 2002 and we moved to Greene County, North Carolina and I transferred to the Clerk of Superior Court in neighboring Greenville.    Our only son was born in 2005 and I quit work to stay at home with him.  Our plan was for me to stay home and homeschool our son.  I did homeschool him in K-4, K-5, and 1st grad...