Trent Renner

Having Done in Room 1501(Wk5 (Education > Classroom Academics)

After last weeks blog I’ve been curious how this week’s blog would go in regards to what is being done in Room

I simply want to say this. The administrative team at Joy Christian School are overwhelmingly supportive. I am grateful for the team environment at Joy. I don’t think I need to remind anybody that any conflict has the potential to cause great disaster…even a smaller conflict like the one I posted about last week. The Bible says in James 3:5 referencing our tongue/mouth, “But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.” The best way to snuff out a spark is to douse it with water. I could have chosen to bring gasoline to the spark, but I’m grateful I chose water. Are you bringing gasoline or water to your “fires”? In John 4:14 of the Holy Bible, Jesus says, “Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Does what you bring to a conflict/argument add life or bring death?

Sometimes we think it feels good to win arguments. I’ve found, that most of the time, when I think I have won the argument…I actually lost the person in my win. Can you relate? I would warn us all to be careful in enjoying a battle we are winning, because our focus on just the battle may blind us to the fact that we are actually losing the war. Some “wins” are not worth winning. I’m grateful for how my meeting went.

Enough about last week. This week flew by. First of all, Labor Day weekend used up Monday, leaving Joy School with a 4 day school week. Oh, I’m not complaining, 🙂 I’m just stating a fact. The 3 day weekend was great.

The remaining 4 days were packed with what is called extra-curricular activity that caused a lot of interruptions in Rm 1501. Many people needed to come into Rm 1501 to announce future events and bring clarity to school and church functions. We had a picture day where every student had to leave class to go and get their school photo taken. We had chapel on Wednesday. We had our first, All-School Pep Rally….And, our football team and Spirit line had to leave early on Friday to head to Tucson, AZ to play Pusch Ridge Christian Acadamy in what was called the 7th most recommended football game to watch in the state of AZ this week!

Pusch Ridge was ranked 4th in the state in our division. Joy Christian was ranked 7th. Joy beat Pusch Ridge decisively 28-6. (The competitor in me has to add that with 13 seconds left, we took a knee on the one yard line where we would have scored another touch down making the final score 34-6. (The competitor in me grumbled about this classy and great sportsmanship decision by our coaching staff.) 🙂 It was a great decision! I love the direction that JCS is going!

So, as you can tell, this past week was very challenging to get any academia completed in my 40 minute classes. I spoke briefly about this with one of Joy’s School Administrators. I suppose it might have sounded close to complaining. The administrator with a big smile looked at me and said, “Wow Trent, you are starting to sound like a teacher!” I laughed. They laughed too. That comment stuck with me and I have thought about it further.

As a teacher, I have an agenda and a lesson plan that I want to accomplish every day…every week. This agenda is full of academia…A very important thing. But, is it the most important thing? If I’m not careful I could easily slip into thinking that my academia lesson plan/agenda is the most important thing. I must pause and remember to…

Never let school get in the way of our student’s education!

Academia is a part of education. It is not all of education.

Education > Classroom Academia

Sports, Art, Extra Curricular activities, field trips, student council, free time, sick days, etc…are all a part of the world classroom’s education process. The world is our classroom…nothing can truly be controlled and the best schools in the world accept this fact. The best education is a diversified education. Even the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 8:1, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”

The students in Room 1501 will get to spend the rest of their lives learning knowledge. I am teaching the students of Room 1501 Bible Knowledge…and at 43 I am still learning it too.

I must make sure, in my attempts to transfer knowledge, to never forget…

LOVE is more important than KNOWLEDGE.

The love for sports, art, free time with friends, extra curricular activities, field trips, student council, and even being gone because of sickness is vital to a great education. I think the most famous educators in the world would agree that the best knowledge is not learned in the academic classroom. I think you would acknowledge this fact too. Do you agree?

It was a crazy-busy week, but it was a great week.

Here comes Monday

Having Done in Rm 1501! (Week2…I am full!)

Week two as a first year teacher is complete! Except I have some papers to finish grading and a few emails to get out. I have some students and a few parents to notify about the impact they are having on their sons and daughters…and it is showing in the classroom.

By impact, I mean positive and negative. Parents are so powerful. Mothers and Fathers are so powerful. The impact of, “I am so proud of who you are.” The impact of, “You are a whore.” I can see what phrase the students heard, just hours ago at home, by simply looking into their eyes as they enter Rm 1501. My students know they aren’t always great kids, but that doesn’t excuse certain phrases that come out of mom’s and dad’s mouth.

Two school weeks in and I have had many moments where I just want to drop the curriculum plan for the day and just walk around and hug these sophomores, juniors, and seniors to let them know how loved they are. How important they are.

I spent all morning reading through and grading papers that I asked my students in Rm 1501 to write. I asked them to write anything they learned this week and how it applied to their life. This pic is just one fun example of one paragraph I found on the back of a student’s paper.

I wish you could read them all…you would never be the same.

I laughed as I read some really funny comments. I was inspired as I read about hopes and dreams and biblical understanding. I cried when I read some things. I cried hard. The home is supposed to be the safest place on earth for a child. I wish I could promise all of my students, in Rm 1501, that all their homes are a safe haven to be themselves and to be free. That is a promise I can’t keep and they know it. So, the only thing I can do, is make Rm 1501 the safest place on earth. A foretaste of Heaven.

My students know I mean that. Some are still a little nervous, but they are learning to trust that this is going to be a great year in Rm 1501…no matter what life brings their way…they know how real it is going to be and that they can safely contribute to that real-ness.

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I have so taken my teachers and my kid’s teachers for granted. I can’t believe how hard the work is. I know every job has a hard factor to it. But teaching…wow…I had no idea. I have never been so tired.

As a new teacher, I am firmly aware of what teachers get paid. I also know that teachers don’t do what they do for a money reward.

I am so grateful for what happens on the campus at Joy Christian School, but even more so in Rm 1501. I am full. I am content. I am accepted. We laugh at each other in such a positive and safe way. We wrestle with questions that I have never dealt with in any other form of 23 years of ministry work. My feet, back, vocal chords, mental, and emotional assets have never been so tired.

But I am full.

I wish you could be a teacher for just two weeks.

I am so excited for Monday.