Joshua: A Bible Study Moment for Teachers

Joshua.
The name alone evokes so many emotions within a Christian.  We usually know so many stories about him.

I must admit, I've always studied his heroic moments---Battle of Jericho, being one of only two ready to claim the Promised Land, the iconic sun stands still victory--and I've often not focused on the fact that he was in a wilderness for forty years.

FORTY long years.

Think about his life.  Born a slave.  Saw God's promises fulfilled for the Hebrews through Moses.  Watched the plagues topple Egypt, the death of the firstborn, the parting of the Red Sea, the Ten Commandments, our boy Joshua had a front seat for it ALL.

When it came time to claim that Promised Land, only he and Caleb trusted God enough.  After all those miracles, after all that deliverance, watching the entire Egyptian army wash away to their deaths---and ultimately, Joshua ends up wandering in the wilderness for FORTY YEARS because of someone else's sin.

Someone else's sin!  Oh how the justice part of my heart wants to scream, that's not fair! He didn't deserve it!  Punish someone else!

Joshua could have whined.  He could have complained.  He could have lashed out, "Why was I chosen to wait and wait and wait?!?!  It's not FAIR!  I was the one who did everything right!!!"

What could have been viewed as an incredibly wasteful and unnecessary time, Joshua spent learning from God.  He didn't squander the years complaining or reminding God how unfair all of this is.

And oh how God used a painful, unwarranted transition time in Joshua's life!!!

Joshua the great Jericho-defeater, sun stand still commander, warrior leader of God's Army wasn't forged in times of fun and easy.  Oh no.  God's leaders are always forged out of those lonely, forgotten, stuck in the wilderness times that strengthen their faith and develop unrelenting, unwavering character.

Joshua wouldn't have been half the leader he was without his wilderness.  So the next time you think to yourself, "Why doesn't she get a wilderness?  Why is it always me?  Why am I always the forgotten one?",  remember that no true leader of God has ever been without a time of wilderness.  It's in the depths of the wilderness that mere followers fall and true leaders cling to their only Hope and thrive.

Let's be a Joshua.
Let's be a Joshua for our students.
Even if this school year seems like a vast wilderness to you, Be A Joshua.

Hey, you never know what assignment God has for you on the other side of your wilderness. Maybe you are being prepared for your own Jericho-defeater, sun stand still commander assignment too.



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Oh the Joys (or is it Woes?) of Large Digit Multiplication!

Large Digit Multiplication can either be a joy to teach or a pain to teach.  And if they don't know those all-important multiplication facts, they can be quite impossible to teach!

How do you teach Large Digit Multiplication?

I like to explain Traditional Multiplication and Lattice Multiplication.  I have the students to work with both, and they can later choose the one that works for them to apply to multiplication problems.

For Traditional Multiplication, I color code my problem.  As you can see, the ones place is purple and so is the first row, the tens place is red and so is the second row, and the hundreds place is black and so is the third row.  This helps students see where the answers came from.

Also---PLEASE tell your students WHY we start the second row with a zero.  I am always amazed at students who have no clue why we do this, they just know "to do it or it is wrong."  Explain the math to them so they can see the beautiful pattern of math!

Do you teach lattice to your students?  I only teach lattice once they conceptually understand the traditional way.  They need to understand how each place value position works in the traditional before they draw the lattice board. 

Since some students have never seen lattice before, I set up a "Scaffolding Paper" where the students solve the problems in order.  For problem 1, I have already done most of the work.  In problem 2, a step is taken away, and by problem 4, they are on their own.  I use scaffolding papers a lot in my math class so that students are slowly becoming independent on solving math problems.

Hopefully these tips will help as you teach large digit multiplication.  Sorry that I can't help with 5th graders who still don't know their multiplication facts!  I struggle with that too---so if you have any tips for me on that, let me know! :)