Categories
School Cartoons webcomic

Why no one likes standardized tests

But Misses Kriegel! Why can't we have more standardized tests?

Teachers hate giving them. Students hate taking them. Parents hate seeing their kids endure them. Who likes standardized tests besides politicians and the makers of these tests?

You finally see some politicians take up the cause of less testing. But some fear the pressure has already done too much damage to students, parents and schools.

Whether standardized tests are good or not, there was never any good campaign to promote standardized tests with the public. The marketing was poor or nonexistent. It was merely seen as a measuring stick by which all schools should be measured. The problem is, if all a school has time to do is measure whether the kids are learning, there is never any time for teaching… or at least the kind of teaching that makes kids fall in love with lifetime learning.

Categories
children's ministry cartoons School Cartoons teaching

Why who is in a classrooms matters

Cartoon of a baby, two adults and a scarecrow

Cartoon of two adults and baby with a scarecrow. A man says about the scarecrow, “He doesn’t interact with the kids much. But he’s always available and on time.”

I can usually tell when someone doesn’t feel comfortable in a classroom. They don’t look much different from the scarecrow in my cartoon. They’re stiff, standing tall among all the kids. They do dress better than a scarecrow, however. They also have a more worried look than the scarecrow in this picture.

Categories
webcomic

Can an old dog, or a new kid change?

20131007-080209.jpg

Kids can be just as stubborn as older adults when it comes to change. It doesn’t matter how young or old you are, change can be difficult!

Too often, adults know a change is coming, but figure kids will be able to deal with it because they are young. The truth is, every individual involved in a change needs to be informed and listened to, whether it’s the youngest or oldest member of a group.

So if a change is coming and it affects children, remember to be considerate of them and keep them informed in an age appropriate way. They have more in common with old dogs when it comes to teaching new tricks.

Categories
webcomic

One way to know someone just won’t budge

Cartoon of a boy and a stubborn, old manBoy talks to a man with a tree stump for his lower body. The boy asks, “How long does it take before you get firmly rooted in your ways?”

Categories
children's ministry cartoons

Cartoon: Using Auto-Tune

Cartoon of a girl asking her teacher why doesn't he use auto-tune

 

Cartoon of a girl asking her teacher, “I heard you singing during worship. Why don’t you use Auto-Tune?

A similar incident happened to me once. A girl came up to me after I taught her class. She had helped me in worship. She informed me I made a better teacher than a singer. So I thanked her. What else could I do?

Sometimes in children’s ministry, you have to wear different hats. I used to fret about whether I was a good singer or a teacher. At least now I know I’m a better teacher than a singer. The only question remaining is, how bad of a singer am I?

Don’t answer that. I’ll let the kids critique me instead.

I drew this cartoon for K! Magazine.