OK, now this is what I really like to see.
Excerpt:
Set up my classroom today…it’s an ordeal.
I have this gigundous bookshelf next to my desk that contains the books I’ve read. My theory is that if I want to make my students readers, I must model it myself. In order for that to happen, they need to see me as a reader, which means they should see what I read.
If a student’s parents sign a waiver, the student has permission to check out any book in my room, including from my shelf (the lone exception is that books from my shelf can’t leave the room–I’m very territorial about my books.
).
While I have a large range of reading interests, there are many Christian themed books. Science, philosophy, theology, history–it’s all represented.
I can see some students balking at this. “Isn’t that illegal?” they might ask. “Hey! Them’s religious books, and that violates the separation of church and state!” they might quip.
One time during a discussion at my previous school in which a religious question came up, a student objected: “my junior high teacher told me that it’s a sin to talk about religion in the classroom.” Now there’s a contradiction if I ever heard one!
There’s no way I’m gonna let some ill-thought out one liner from a student or even parent get me to back down. I’ve thought about this, and I have a ready response.
Read the whole thing! He goes into details explaining why he is not intimidated by the threat of people being offended. This is a great post. Very inspiring!
And now I want you all to consider trying to be like Rich! If you have a workplace, consider adding something that identifies you as a Christian. Rich just got married, and it hasn’t affected his level of bravery one bit! One of the main reasons I avoid marriage is because to me it means the end of adventures. I just cannot believe that my wife would encourage me to be brave. But Rich’s example should be an inspiration to us all!
This is exactly what I wanted to do in life, but by then I was committed to computer science… I dream of teaching! But I’m not sure how to get into it, and I don’t want to be in a union.
To learn more about bravery in the workplace
Listen to some lectures by my favorite Christian of all, the one I try to emulate most in my day to day life.
Dr. Walter L. Bradley
- Ph.D. in Materials Science, University of Texas at Austin, 1968
- B.S. in Engineering Science, University of Texas at Austin, 1965
My favorite lecture of all time:
- Giants in the Land (low volume)
And variations of his “Giants in the Land” lecture that I like:
Other lectures:
Post what YOU do to be identified as a Christian in YOUR workplace in the comments!
