Thistle Me This

“And on going into the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then opening their treasure bags, they presented to Him gifts–gold and frankincense and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11 AMP).

Can you imagine what it must have been like for the Wise Men when they saw Jesus? Here He was just a child in a stable surrounded by animals, but these Wise Men recognized that He was the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords; the Savior of the world. Immediately, they fell on their faces to worship Him; but notice what they did next—they presented Him gifts as part of their worship. And they didn’t just give any old thing they had; they gave Him their absolute best—costly gold, frankincense and myrrh.

When we give Jesus our absolute best; our time, our talent, our resources, it is an act of worship. We are saying with our actions, “God, You mean more to me than anything. Because You are so awesome, I want to give You everything that I am.” It pleases Him when we come to Him with an open and humble heart. When we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. When you give Him your best, He gives you His best in return.

Have you noticed that Satan tries to ruin our day by bringing up negative things that have happened in the past? He wants us to remember every hurt, every offense, every injustice and every mistake, but the fact is, what’s happened has happened. You can’t go back, and neither can I. But we can make sure that the past doesn’t ruin our day.

Teenage Stress

What can Parents do?

We, as parents of teens, must communicate. A recent study from the Pew Research Center asked a national sample of adults which skills are most important for children to have to succeed in the world today. The answer: Communication. As parents, we should take our own advice and talk to our teens about expectations, goals, and ask teens about that they think, what they want, and how they feel.

This, of course, means that we should also be prepared to listen. Really listen. Teens need to know that although we clearly want what is best for them in their future lives, what’s best doesn’t necessarily have to equate to what we want. We should hear what they have to say and consider how they envision their future.

Our teens also need unconditional love, acceptance, and support, and we should be explicit in communicating this to them. We often assume that they know this (and they probably do), but they really need to hear it.

So researchers have been going back to the drawing board, trying to prove that, no matter which measuring stick you use, the worst teachers usually end up teaching the most disadvantaged kids.  Last month, one of the top researchers in this field, labor economist Dan Goldhaber, published a new study with some of the most convincing evidence yet.

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Blended Learning: The Evolution of Online and Face-to-Face Education from 2008-2015

This paper discusses definitions of blended learning and explores ways in which blended learning is being developed by a number of schools in an effort to answer these and other questions:

How does blended learning align with current conceptions of online learning?

How does blended learning help engage students and support academic success?

How are online learning and face-to-face instruction being combined effectively?

Is blended learning meeting unique student needs that neither fully online nor face-to-face models can achieve?