Total Participation Techniques

Posted on by Paul Drake

Helping students increase their level of engagement and depth of thinking is one of the quickest, simplest, and most effective means of improving teaching and learning. Using these strategies can help you focus on what, and to what extent, your students are learning what you are teaching.

Lori Jill Keeler

Lori Jill Keeler has served for the past 10 years as the Loner School Principal at the Westminster School in Birmingham, AL. She earned a B.A. in Secondary Education and English Literature, and a M.Ed. in Integrated Curriculum and Instruction from Covenant College. She served as the educational expert on the founding Board of Directors for Evangel Classical Christian School in Helena, Alabama, has written second through six grade Bible curriculum, and has been a guest speaker on creating a culture of gracce at several classical schools in the Southeast. Lori Jill and her husband Scott have two sons.

Is Everything Better with Bacon?

Posted on by Paul Drake

We will explore the origin and spirit of modern scientism in Francis Bacon’s 17th Century project to establish human mastery over the universe

David Innes

David Innes is a the chair of the program in politics, philosophy and economics at The King’s College in Manha an where he seeks to integrate faith with the study and teaching of politics. He makes that integration in class and in his book, Le , Right, and Christ: Evangelical Faith in Politics (2011). Professor Innes teaches the Foundations of Politics course in the Core as well as advanced courses in modern and Christian political thought and political economy. Though a theorist and a Francis Bacon scholar, Prof. Innes writes a weekly column at WORLDmag.com on current political issues. In addition to his work on Bacon, he has also published in The City, The Washington Times, QIdeas.com, Patheos.com, and Relevant magazine. He earned his Ph.D. from Boston College and has taught previously at Assumption College and Stonehill College in Massachusetts, and Geneva College in Pennsylvania.

Re-Imagining Grammar School Science

Posted on by Paul Drake

We want our graduates to be the best technical scientists, without exception. At the same time, we also know that all of us, teachers and students alike, are called to something more than technical proficiency when it comes to understanding science. Scientists in our schools need to be masters of facts and frameworks, knowledgeable in narrative and well-formed in imagination, Modern culture’s scientistic and reductive narrative for science instruction will not lead us where we are called to go, and so we need to reclaim some lost tools of science learning in order to chart a new course, particularly in the earliest years. In this session, I will highlight several ways in which we have successfully moved our Lower School science curriculum towards a new paradigm, one that engages not just the head, but also the heart, through the hands. Through multi-generational gardening, a series of units called Skills of the Tracker, exploration of the history and philosophy of science, and a special kind of STEM that moves beyond pre-fabs and programming, we are forming our students’ imaginations alongside their technical skills.

Chris Hall

Chris Hall earned a BA in Philosophy from Ge ysburg College and an MAT in Elementary Education from Towson University. His naturalist pedigree starts far earlier than his college days: roving far and wide through the local streams and fields on his bike at a time when such things were not yet frowned upon by community associations, earning Eagle Scout, training in tracking, and logging years of outdoor time as a backpacker and ancestral skills practitioner. Before serving as Lower School Academic Dean at the Covenant School in Charlottesville, VA, Chris was a PK-8 Science department chair, a teacher of Conceptual Physics, and a wide-ranging classroom teacher in elementary and middle schools. He currently lives o the beaten path in central VA on a homesteaded microfarm with his wife, Catherine, and three sons.

Who’s Missing From Your School?

Posted on by Paul Drake

We know that our schools spread a daily feast of classical, God glorifying education. Are there any people in your city missing from the table? Come and hear how an emerging movement of schools are welcoming the children of urban poor families to “taste and see”. How could your school get in on the surprising joy of spreading the banquet of classical, Christ-centered education to those who could never imagine they were welcome at the table?

Russ Gregg

Russ Gregg is the Co-Founder and Head of School of Hope Academy, a K - 12, Christ-centered, classical school,serving the urban poor of Minneapolis. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin—Madison, Russ is an elder at Jubilee Community Church, and of his many responsibilities, he regards none as more important or more satisfying as teaching the scriptures each week to his li le ock of 120 six and seven year olds at Hope Academy. Russ and his wife, Phyllis, have lived in the inner-city of Minneapolis for 21 years and raised three adult children.

Saving Time with Plato and Walker Percy

Posted on by Paul Drake

How classical education lifts a man from the doldrums of wondering “Who am I?” (and an endless series of mediocre answers to this question)

Joshua Gibbs

Joshua Gibbs teaches great books at Veritas Christian School in Richmond and a ends St. Cyprian’s OCA. He blogs for the CiRCE Institute and is the editor of FilmFisher. He is the father of two daughters, both of whom have seven names.

Encouraging Science as a Noble Profession

Posted on by Paul Drake

Many view science as an enemy of the Christian faith. Astrophysicist, Dr. Jeff Zweerink, will provide tools to help teachers equip students to pursue scientific careers in a way that will strengthen their faith while contributing to our understanding of the universe.

Jeff Zweernik

Je Zweerink (PhD, Iowa State University) is a research scholar at Reasons to Believe, as well as author of Who’s Afraid of the Multiverse? and coauthor of more than 30 journal articles. He also serves part-time on the physics and astronomy research faculty at UCLA.

Beauty Will Save the School

Posted on by Paul Drake

What role does beauty play in a school’s development? In what ways does attention to beauty help a school fulfill its mission and vision? This seminar will consider the nature of beauty in a school setting, as well as practical means for incorporating beauty at every level of school life.

Jaimie Cain

Following a career in higher education and publishing, James Cain became Dominion Classical Christian Academy’s first headmaster in 2007. He and his wife, Kristi, who teaches upper school science at Dominion, have made education and discipleship their life’s work. They live in Buford, Georgia, with their three children.

Humane Letters: Integrating History and Literature

Posted on by Paul Drake

In this pedagogical workshop, veteran humanities teacher Rick Trumbo will explain how the Veritas School Humane Letters: Antiquity course combines history, literature, and writing instruction in a single, double period course. He will include illustrations and ideas from his Ancient Humanities text. Teachers will also share ideas, practices, and questions they have about interdisciplinary teaching. This workshop is intended for teachers new to interdisiplinary teaching and for those who wish to better integrate writing and literature into their history courses.

Rick Trumbo

Rick Trumbo teaches humanities, Bible, logic, and Latin at Veritas School in Richmond, Virginia. Mr. Trumbo has a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from Hampden-Sydney College. He has also earned a Master’s degree in Humanities from the University of Richmond. Mr. Trumbo joined the faculty at Veritas School in 2007 as a veteran teacher of 31 years. He enjoys helping students make connections and gaining insights into ideas. He especially enjoys lively discussions around books. Mr. Trumbo is a ruling elder in the PCA. He and his wife, Linda, have six children. They worship at Crown and Glory Presbyterian Church in Richmond.

Integrating the Gospel

Posted on by Paul Drake

All that we do has purpose and meaning, because as believers, we are going somewhere and should want to bring others along on the journey. We will discuss practical ways to help students discern the elements of the gospel across disciplines and specific ideas on how to train students to think redemptively and to put that thinking into action in their daily lives.

Pamela Stanford

Pamela teaches sixth grade humanities at the Westminster School at Oak Mountain. As a part of the school’s community since its founding, she has served as a board member, and although not consecutively, as a teacher there for eight years. She is married to Scotty and has four boys.