If you want to help your students to better connect God’s world and Word, meet their learning needs. “Learning needs” are anything your students need in order for learning to happen. Watch this video about meeting 5 learning needs students have:




Want to work with your colleagues to better meet student learning needs? If so, then purchase Meet Your Students’ Learning Needs (US$25), a discussion-based kit with 7 sessions. As a result of completing these 7 sessions, you will…

1. Define and meet your students’ learning needs.
2. Help your students better understand the importance of connecting God’s world and Word.
3. Help your students better understand that God’s Word can be connected to the part of God’s world they are studying.
4. Help your students understand more biblical principles that connect to what they study.
5. Provide the engaging instruction your students need in order to connect God’s world and Word.
6. Provide time during class for your students to reflect on how God’s world and Word are connected.
7. Demonstrate your commitment to meeting your students’ learning needs.

Download a sample session.

Purchase Meet Your Students’ Learning Needs (US$25). This kit is 1 of a 4-part series:

1. Help Your Students Connect God’s World and Word
2. Use Assessment
3. Use Questions
4. Meet Student Learning Needs

Here's a set of DRAW questions you can use for a discussion of “How can you help your students understand that a Biblical perspective can be applied to course content?”
 
Define: Get the facts defined.
What do your students think a Biblical perspective applies to? doesn’t apply to?
 
Respond: Get the facts responded to in terms of feelings/experiences.
What’s satisfying/unsatisfying about your students’ recognition that a Biblical perspective applies to what they study?
 
Analyze: Get the facts, feelings, and experiences analyzed.

1. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being high), how well do your students understand that a Biblical perspective can be applied to what they study?
2. How would it help your students if they better understood that a Biblical perspective can be applied to what they study?

What’s next?: Get next steps considered.

1. What are 5 things you can do to help your students understand that a Biblical perspective can be applied to what they study?
2. What will you do?

Your students’ objective is to better connect what they study and God’s story of creation-fall-redemption-restoration. You want to help your students achieve their objective. Good.

Now what? Help your students achieve their objective by meeting 1 of their learning needs.

Question: What are you students’ learning needs? To identify your students’ learning needs, review the list of 10 questions below. Note which questions you think you need to answer in order to meet your students’ learning needs:

1. How can you help your students see the importance of creation-fall-redemption-restoration?
2. How can you help your students understand that creation-fall-redemption-restoration can be connected to course content?
3. How can you show your students what connecting course content and creation-fall-redemption-restoration looks like?
4. How can you help your students understand how you teach using creation-fall-redemption-restoration?
5. What vocabulary words do your students need to learn?
6. What engaging instructional strategies will help your students?
   
7. How can you give your students opportunities to think through answers for themselves?
8. How can you provide time during class for reflection?
9. How can you design assessments so that your students connect creation-fall-redemption-restoration with their lives?
10. How can you give your students more practice?

Take action: Answer 1 of the questions you noted. Then use your answer. You might be tempted to answer more than 1 question. Don’t. Keep it simple and doable. Just answer 1 question—then use your 1 answer.

Remember, the goal is not to have an answer. The goal is to use your answer to help your students connect what they study and creation-fall-redemption-restoration. Today.

Meet Tomoko, your new student. At home and at church, she talks about living for Jesus, doing devotions, and telling others about Jesus. At school, you talk about applying the Bible to what’s being studied. This is new to Tomoko.
 
While Tomoko gets how the Bible connects to behavior, devotions, and evangelism, she doesn’t really get how the Bible is connected to math, social studies, and English. She doesn’t really understand how a Biblical perspective can be applied to what she studies.
 
Question: How can you help Tomoko? (How can you help Tomoko understand that a Biblical perspective can be applied to course content?)
 
Answer: Kim Essenburg, English 10 teacher at Christian Academy in Japan, says:
 
I want my students to connect the Bible and what they study in English 10. As a starting point, I have to get my students to see that this is possible. I have to get my students to see that the Bible can be applied, for example, to the literature and grammar that they study.
 
Key strategies I use include:

1. Asking essential questions. I ask questions like “What’s wrong with the world?” Questions like this result in my students connecting the theme of restoration in Cry, the Beloved Country and what the Bible teaches about mercy and justice. When my students experience connecting course content and the Bible—or when they see classmates do so, they see how the Bible applies to everything, including literature.
2. Modeling. During class, I intentionally articulate how the Bible connects to the literature we are studying. When we read Confucius, I note how some of the analects sound a lot like some of Solomon’s Proverbs, and I talk about how people can see some of God’s truth reflected in creation.
3. Doing devotions. I deliberately choose scripture passages that are relevant to what we are studying in class—like Micah 6:8 when we’re reading Cry, the Beloved Country or Romans 1 when we’re reading Confucius. I relate the passage to the literature we’re studying.

You (at a coaching session): They don’t seem to get it—that there’s a biblical perspective of what they are learning. My students get Bible class, devotions, chapel, and proper behavior. I know that a home and at church they talk about living for Jesus and telling others about Jesus. But they don’t get that the Bible can be applied to what they learn. And I did talk with them about using a biblical perspective at the start of the year.

Me: Tell me more about this.

You: Well, on assignments, they show their thinking, but without referring the Bible. Or they come up with object lessons (which are interesting), instead of applying a biblical perspective to the learning.

Me: Anything else?

You: Sometimes I feel like they don’t think a biblical perspective can or should be applied to course content. Like I’m trying to do something that’s not really possible, and they’ll just wait me out. Sometimes it’s discouraging.

Me: So you think your students think the Bible applies at home, church, and the “spiritual” parts of school?

You: Yes, I guess so. I mean, they’re good kids, but they just don’t seem to get it. I’ve been praying about this, and I want my students to get this. During this coaching session, I’d like to develop a doable action plan to help my students understand that a biblical perspective can be applied to course content.

Me: OK, you’ve identified your goal and you’ve been praying about it. Would you like to explore options?

You: Yes.

Me: How could you help your students understand that the Bible applies to what they are learning in your class?

You: I could tell them how I use a biblical perspective. I could put posters up that have biblical perspective statements on them, have them apply biblical principles to a case study, memorize and apply a verse during our next unit. And I could teach them a biblical perspective of wealth.

Me: What else?

You: I could teach them a biblical perspective of social studies. Well, I could have guest speakers talk about how they use a biblical perspective in their jobs. And I could ask my students questions like, “How can I be a wise steward?”

Me: What else?

You: I could have them read articles written by Christians who are applying a biblical perspective.

Me: Anything else?

You: No. I think that’s good.

Me: OK, you’ve identified 9 things you could do. And you said you want to come up with a doable action plan.

You: That’s right. I think I’d like to start with 1 thing and go from there.

Me: What action step would you like to take?

You: I think I’d like to start by getting them to just do it—just get them using a biblical perspective. I’d like to start with having them apply biblical teaching to a case study related to content in our next unit.

Me: On a scale of 1-10, how committed are you to using a case study?

You: About at a 7.

Me: What would it take for you to move to a 9 or 10?

You: I’ll share my goal with my principal as soon as we close. That’ll move my commitment level to a 9. Hey, I just figured out that we used the IDEAL process. I identified and defined the problem, explored options, and got ready to act. Now I need to act and look at the results, right?

Me: Right. What insights did you have during our session?

You: I discovered that there are quite a few things I can do to help my students understand that the Bible applies to course content. Quite encouraging. See you next week.

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Teachers, to what extent does this describe your thinking? Principals, to what extent does this describe your teachers’ thinking?

I’m not sure how my faith is related to my subject area. My family and my church talk about being a Christian, living for Jesus, doing devotions, and telling others about Jesus. But I’m not sure I could explain a biblical perspective of my course content. I think other teachers might get this, so I don’t want to bring it up.

If the above describes your thinking or the thinking of your staff, what are 5 things you could do to increase your understanding of a biblical perspective of your subject area? Pick one and implement it. Today.