Now class, I need you to quiet down for a moment. I need a word with you…
How in the WORLD can I describe all that I do at LAMB school? It’s so diverse, so beautiful, so engaging…
I like teaching. A lot.
In fact, I want to teach and be a medical doctor.
Part of me wants to at the same time, but we’ll see.
Why do I love teaching? Maybe I can share with you a few reasons why from my experience at LAMB…
- Teaching Bible class to third graders and Bible stories at school assemblies. I love engaging them as I tell the stories. 6 semesters of musicals and 8 summers of Child Evangelism Fellowship tend to help build my story telling/dramatic abilities, it seems. I love coming right up to the children and asking questions that the characters would ask in the story, e.g., King Xerxes complaining to his servants about Queen Vashti not coming to his dinner – What should I do?! And then fun review games like Zonk (pull points out of a bag as many times as you’d like, but be careful, because you might get a Zonk and lose ALL the points!). Plus, in all this, I love the fact that I’m teaching God’s Word to students who may never hear it outside of LAMB, as a good portion of LAMB’s students are Muslim. No, we don’t force the gospel onto them. No, we don’t have TURN OR BURN invitations at the end of each lesson. We tell the story, and if any children have questions, we are open to telling them. But we do not force. Part of me wants to give an invitation, but I know why I should not: (1) it’s a school setting and (2) would the children really say no to something that their teacher tells them about doing, i.e., would it be their decision? Regardless, I praise God because His Word does not return void.
- Teaching social science to grade five. Basically, I got handed 4 days and was told, “Do whatever you want.” Alrighty then! In considering and preparing different lessons, I came to realize I truly do love learning about most everything. As cliché as it sounds, my mother did *twitch* instill in me *twitch* a “life-long love of learning” (aaaaaaaaaargh!). But seriously! I was reading all about China and Switzerland and Russia as potential topics to teach them on! I only ended up doing Russia and Switzerland due to time constraints, but it was awesome teaching them about everything from their meal times to their histories to Communism. Even before these 4 days when the teacher was still at LAMB (she went on home assignment partway through my stay), I loved learning about how technology had influenced everything from health care to transportation in Bangladesh! The world is a fascinating place, and I loved sharing that with all the fifth graders… and seeing their own curiosity lead them to new questions to ask and further discoveries!
- Teaching bioethics to the ninth grade. Though it was only for one day, I found I loved challenging their minds. As I mentioned earlier, I introduced them to principlism, a way of evaluating challenging ethical situations. I laid before them the question of embryonic stem cell research, asked them their thoughts… and whatever side they were on, I made sure to turn their thoughts on their heads with my questions. The ability to consider and reconsider needs to be a skill that all need to develop, not because we should not be sure of anything, but because we should be thorough in our evaluative process in understanding what is right or wrong, whether in medicine or other disciplines.
- Finally, to wrap up the year, we put on an end-of-year assembly. The school was divided so Preschool through Grade 4 put on one program, and Grade 5 through Grade 10 put on another (only goes through Grade 10, as that is when the students take O level examinations according to the British system). I got to work with grades 3 and 5 in their demonstrations for their parents. Grade 3 put on Daniel in the Lions’ Den, and I worked with a teacher to write a script up and put it in Bangla. It was great to see the children get into the skit (especially the lions ;) ), but also to instruct them about stage presence (facing toward the audience, speaking deliberately, slowly, etc.). Grade 5 put on a skit of their own making about a school fight, where a bully and his mean brother are confronted by their teacher. The fifth graders really came together to work on the skit, and everyone’s personality shone brightly in both the preparation and the final product (I could see some natural leaders in the group, and I loved how one of the student played the headmaster of LAMB’s school in the skit). To work with them in structuring it appropriately, and then let them take on initiative to make it even better… this is what education should do. Instruct to a point, and then boost students into their own development, guiding them as necessary. Which is why I need to be very careful about what I do and say in teaching, so I do not misguide any.
However God would have me teach in the future, I look forward to it. No matter what it is, I pray I wouldn’t step out in my own power, but in reliance on Christ, for I am not simply serving students with my life. I would hope instead that I would be a servant of the Lord, who would teach and instruct for His purposes, regardless of any sense of satisfaction I attain from the activity.
Use me as You will, O Lord, and ready me with each step.
In Christ,
MJW
How in the WORLD can I describe all that I do at LAMB school? It’s so diverse, so beautiful, so engaging…
I like teaching. A lot.
In fact, I want to teach and be a medical doctor.
Part of me wants to at the same time, but we’ll see.
Why do I love teaching? Maybe I can share with you a few reasons why from my experience at LAMB…
- Teaching Bible class to third graders and Bible stories at school assemblies. I love engaging them as I tell the stories. 6 semesters of musicals and 8 summers of Child Evangelism Fellowship tend to help build my story telling/dramatic abilities, it seems. I love coming right up to the children and asking questions that the characters would ask in the story, e.g., King Xerxes complaining to his servants about Queen Vashti not coming to his dinner – What should I do?! And then fun review games like Zonk (pull points out of a bag as many times as you’d like, but be careful, because you might get a Zonk and lose ALL the points!). Plus, in all this, I love the fact that I’m teaching God’s Word to students who may never hear it outside of LAMB, as a good portion of LAMB’s students are Muslim. No, we don’t force the gospel onto them. No, we don’t have TURN OR BURN invitations at the end of each lesson. We tell the story, and if any children have questions, we are open to telling them. But we do not force. Part of me wants to give an invitation, but I know why I should not: (1) it’s a school setting and (2) would the children really say no to something that their teacher tells them about doing, i.e., would it be their decision? Regardless, I praise God because His Word does not return void.
- Teaching social science to grade five. Basically, I got handed 4 days and was told, “Do whatever you want.” Alrighty then! In considering and preparing different lessons, I came to realize I truly do love learning about most everything. As cliché as it sounds, my mother did *twitch* instill in me *twitch* a “life-long love of learning” (aaaaaaaaaargh!). But seriously! I was reading all about China and Switzerland and Russia as potential topics to teach them on! I only ended up doing Russia and Switzerland due to time constraints, but it was awesome teaching them about everything from their meal times to their histories to Communism. Even before these 4 days when the teacher was still at LAMB (she went on home assignment partway through my stay), I loved learning about how technology had influenced everything from health care to transportation in Bangladesh! The world is a fascinating place, and I loved sharing that with all the fifth graders… and seeing their own curiosity lead them to new questions to ask and further discoveries!
- Science lab. Oh boy! Getting to find fun microbes under microscopes is quite fun, especially when things move! But really, I love building up a spirit of inquiry in the children’s minds. Some catch on quicker than others, but regardless, I find it great that I can both teach them about different materials and living things, and also about experimental set-up.
- Teaching bioethics to the ninth grade. Though it was only for one day, I found I loved challenging their minds. As I mentioned earlier, I introduced them to principlism, a way of evaluating challenging ethical situations. I laid before them the question of embryonic stem cell research, asked them their thoughts… and whatever side they were on, I made sure to turn their thoughts on their heads with my questions. The ability to consider and reconsider needs to be a skill that all need to develop, not because we should not be sure of anything, but because we should be thorough in our evaluative process in understanding what is right or wrong, whether in medicine or other disciplines.
- Finally, to wrap up the year, we put on an end-of-year assembly. The school was divided so Preschool through Grade 4 put on one program, and Grade 5 through Grade 10 put on another (only goes through Grade 10, as that is when the students take O level examinations according to the British system). I got to work with grades 3 and 5 in their demonstrations for their parents. Grade 3 put on Daniel in the Lions’ Den, and I worked with a teacher to write a script up and put it in Bangla. It was great to see the children get into the skit (especially the lions ;) ), but also to instruct them about stage presence (facing toward the audience, speaking deliberately, slowly, etc.). Grade 5 put on a skit of their own making about a school fight, where a bully and his mean brother are confronted by their teacher. The fifth graders really came together to work on the skit, and everyone’s personality shone brightly in both the preparation and the final product (I could see some natural leaders in the group, and I loved how one of the student played the headmaster of LAMB’s school in the skit). To work with them in structuring it appropriately, and then let them take on initiative to make it even better… this is what education should do. Instruct to a point, and then boost students into their own development, guiding them as necessary. Which is why I need to be very careful about what I do and say in teaching, so I do not misguide any.
However God would have me teach in the future, I look forward to it. No matter what it is, I pray I wouldn’t step out in my own power, but in reliance on Christ, for I am not simply serving students with my life. I would hope instead that I would be a servant of the Lord, who would teach and instruct for His purposes, regardless of any sense of satisfaction I attain from the activity.
Use me as You will, O Lord, and ready me with each step.
In Christ,
MJW
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