Hebrew Bible and Christian Scriptures

Please don’t judge me if I’m the only one who questions this, but is there any validity to the seeming homosexual intimation in 1 & 2 Samuel between David and Jonathan?  I am certainly not suggesting that men cannot have intimate male friendships without there being homosexual undertones.  However, I consider such verses as “I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women” (2 Sam 1:26), “the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (1 Sam 18:1), “Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life” (1 Sam 20:28), and “He bowed three times, and they kissed each other, and wept with each other; David wept the more” (1 Sam 20:41).

I have always viewed their relationship as one of very close friendship, and ultimately still do.  Prior to my marriage, I had a dear, dear friend who I would have expressed a similar deep love for.  However, after my marriage, that place of friendship and intimacy was filled by my husband, and my relationship with him deepened to a level that I had never before even come close to experiencing with my girlfriend.  And it is this level of intimacy that seems to be described between David and Jonathan.  I love my husband as my own soul; I feel my soul is bound to him.  I never experienced that with even the closest of my girlfriends.

Yet I also realize I must keep in mind the almost unbridgeable difference between marriage in my cultural understanding and marriage according to David’s society.  In fact, ancient Israelites had no words for “marriage,” “wife,” or “husband.”  Rather, the words used could be translated respectively as “taking,” “woman,” and “master” (Drorah O’Donnell Setel, Women’s Bible Commentary, Ed. by Carol A. Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe, p. 39).  These words drip with patriarchal ownership of a man over a woman.  The woman was to help boost or continue her Master’s social status and provide him with sons to continue his lineage.  David had numerous wives, and entered nearly all of his marriages because of what they profited him politically (Bathsheba is a notable exception).  Therefore, a wife for did not necessarily provide David the emotional intimacy and friendship that my one, partner spouse provides for me.  Neither is our ideology of marriages today that of those in Hebraic society.

Therefore, it is understandable that David and Jonathan find in one another a place to meet their emotional needs, as it sounds as if perhaps their attitude toward marriage does not allow them to find this closeness with a wife; thus the deep friendship.  Yet it just makes me curious if that friendship is indeed all that is involved.  My incredibly deep friendship with my husband leads to a yearning for even deeper intimacy in – sorry for the bluntness, hopefully we’re all adults and can handle this – physical ways.

Anyway, I’m not trying to prove anything, nor am I trying to force anything into the text that is simply not there.  Just posing my question…

We have born witness time and again to David’s less than perfect record, considering he is someone who is looked to as the ‘model Israelite king.’  At times I have wondered why ancient Israelite historians even chose to include the tales that cast David in a negative light.  Yet there is comfort in knowing he had his share of shortcomings, made some pretty substantial mistakes along the road, and was still considered a “man after God’s own heart,” venerated as an idyllic leader of his people.

So I grant David grace, acknowledging he was only human after all.  I also do so in humble admittance that I desperately need such grace offered me regularly.  However, I still wonder why he chooses certain actions at one time, seemingly showing great grace, while being almost heartlessly severe at other times.  This came to the forefront of my mind while reading 2 Samuel 16.

In this passage, David is on the run from his son Absalom when he and his men come across Shimei.  Shimei was of the house of Saul.  Upon seeing David and his men, he began throwing rocks at them and cursing David.  One of David’s honored warriors was ready to end this man’s life.  Yet David spared him, suggesting that it may have been the Lord who prompted Shimei to act so.  This was a remarkably humble move on the part of such a mighty, powerful man.  I was astonished, and able to learn a great lesson of grace and humility.  How do I have the authority to judge the thoughts and intentions of another?  Why should I have the right to think that my actions are always correct or above reproach?  I hope I always have an open enough heart and mind to consider the possibility that perhaps I do not see the entire picture of what is going on in every hurtful situation.

Now, that moving lesson aside, I am not finished with David here.  I cannot but wonder why he excuses Shimei, yet was not so kind with Mephibosheth?  Right before this passage, Mephibosheth’s chief servant came to David, offering his allegiance, and claiming that his master chose to stay in Jerusalem to receive back his father’s kingdom.  Granted, this likely cut David to the heart after the kindness he had shown Mephibosheth.  However, the words came from a secondary source – not directly out of M’s lips as in the case of Shimei.  Why did David not jump to giving him the benefit of the doubt?  Further, David never suggested that perhaps God led Mephibosheth to stay behind.  Where is the consistency in David’s understanding of God’s prompting and guiding in people’s lives?  Why is he more willing to show grace to a complete stranger over one he has taken into his own home, his own family?  Or, is there something else going on here culturally of which I am simply not aware?  For instance, perhaps there is some cultural practice and understanding of cursing with which I am unfamiliar.

Regardless, David’s actions made me examine my own.  I am probably much more willing to show grace to a stranger who hurts me than a loved one who does so – that cut is much deeper indeed.  Yet who should be given the benefit of the doubt?  As it turns out later in 2 Samuel, we read that Mephibosheth claimed his servant deceived him and left him behind in Jerusalem.  As he was crippled, he was unable to escape on his own to prove his allegiance to David.  Whether this is true or a sly political move on M’s part we do not know; though we are given no reason to doubt him.

As for me, I too must remember to hear out all sides of situations, give to my loved ones (and strangers as well I suppose) what I hope they would offer me, and freely offer grace.  Just as I desperately desire grace in all areas of my life, so must I be consistent to offer it to anyone else.  As with David’s actions with Shimei, in humility I must be willing to neither suppose nor demand my own agenda, purpose or motives to be greater than another’s.  If I indeed believe the message of Scripture to be true, I must believe the Spirit of the living God is just as active – probably even more so! – in the lives of others, and have faith he may be leading them as well.

UPDATE!  I just read 1 Kings.  Apparently David did not have all that much grace for Shimei after all, even though Shimei ultimately pledged allegiance to David when Adonijah tried to abscond the throne (1:8).  Just before David died, he charged his son Solomon, (speaking of Shimei) “you must bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol” on account of Shimei’s cursing David (2:8-9).  Ouch.  It would seem David had a mind toward vengeance after all, holding grudges and letting no personal attack against him go unpunished.

Free voice and video calls using Skype is great for talking with authors, experts, peer classrooms, language classes, and more.

This is why we created the Skype Other Classrooms list — to help educators make connections with other classes interested in having Skype conversations.

And over the past 2 years since the Skype Other Classrooms list was first created in 2008 — it’s been very popular.

But it has needed serious updating.

Like with class blog list I’ve looked at how else can I make it a better resource?

Embedded Google Doc

Firstly, I needed to make it easier to quickly add new contacts to the list.

Embedding a Google Doc into the page means I’m able quickly update the list while making it easier to sort by time zone, country, grade and subject area.

Updated all contacts

Next I’ve checked all contact details on the list and removed any that:

1. Aren’t obvious if they’re still interested in connecting
2. Haven’t supplied enough details for other educators to easily connect

And off course, made sure all new contact details submitted were added to the list.

Please check the updated Skype Other Classrooms list if you had previously left your contact details and let me know if I need to update your details.

Also apologies if your details were removed by mistake – it was hard to work out who is still interested in connecting.

Are you on the list?

I’m now closing off the original Please Share your contact details post so I can make the Skype other classroom submissions manageable.

If you would like your contact details to be added to our Skype Other Classrooms list leave a comment to share with us:

1. Your name
2. Preferred method(s) of contact such as email address, Twitter name, Skype username or blog URL
3. Blog URL or Website URL (optional) – makes easier for others to know more about you and your class plus helps us work out when we update the list if you are still interested in connecting
4. Grade(s) of your students
5. Subject areas you are interested in making connections for
6. Your Country and State (or Province)
7. Your timezone in UTC/GMT (refer to the Skype Other Classrooms list if you are unsure)
8. Whatever information you will like to share with other educators to help them understand the types of Skype connections you are wanting to make (optional)

And don’t forget to check out The Complete Educator’s Guide to Using Skype effectively in the classroom if you are new to using Skype!

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Increasingly, educators globally are transforming their classroom using Skype to create powerful, authentic, motivating learning experiences for their students.

From connecting with classrooms in other locations to learning about each others’ culture to connecting with content experts – educators are extending learning beyond classroom walls.

So how do you use Skype effectively with your class?

Hopefully this will help!

Here’s our educator’s guide on every thing you need to know about Skype from……

1. Setting up Skype
2. Using Skype
3. To using Skype effectively within your classroom

About Skype

Skype is a free application that allows you to call people from all over the world using the Internet.

When you contact another person that uses Skype you talk or chat for free.

Best of all you can tell when another user is online and what their status is so you know if they are available.

Tips for setting up your Skype account:

Teaching someone how to use Skype is perhaps one of the most empowering

#1 Installing Skype and creating your Skype username

Before you can use Skype you must install it on your computer and set up a Skype account.

Here’s how you do it:

1.  Download and install Skype from the Skype website
2.  Once installed open Skype and you’ll see a start-up screen
3.  Click on Don’t have a Skype Name?

4. Follow the directions to create a new Skype account and username then click Sign In

• Remember first impressions count!  Choose your username carefully
• Choose a username that makes it easier for others to find you and conveys the right impression of who you are

# 2 Setting up your Skype Profile

Before adding contacts to your Skype account it is important to set up your Profile.

The more relevant the information you include in your Profile the easier it will be for others to ensure they’re connecting with the right person.

To change your Profile you need to:

1.  Click on the Profile tab

• or select Skype > Profile > Edit Your Profile from the menu bar

2.  Change Your Picture by clicking on Choose picture from file

• or select Skype > Profile > Change Your Picture from the menu bar
• It’s harder to located the correct contact without a profile picture and you’re less likely to added as contact if you’re using the default avatar.

3.  Add your Country/Region, State/Province, City, Time, website (if applicable), gender and language by clicking on each field or using the drop down menu.

4.  Complete your About Me information.

5.  You can check how others will see your profile information by clicking on the Public profile and Contacts only buttons at the top of your Profile page.

• Public Profile is what people see when they search for your Skype contact details.
• Contacts Only are what people who have been added to your Skype account can see.

#3 Updating your Privacy Options

Your privacy settings control who can contact you via Skype, how long your IM history is kept and is used to manage blocked users.  It’s worth adjusting these before getting started using Skype.

By default, only the people on your Contact list are able to:

1. See your profile picture
2. Application share their screen
3. Video talk with you
4. Send IM’s

While anyone on Skype who searches for you can add you as a contact or call you.

To change your privacy settings select Skype > Privacy in the menu bar.

What privacy options you choose is entirely up to you!

However,  if you want to minimise unwanted calls from anyone you might want to change it to “Allow calls from …. people in my Contact list only”

#4 Configuring your Audio and Video settings

It’s best to make sure your audio and video is set up properly before using Skype to make calls.

There’s nothing more annoying frustrating than the other person not being able to hear your voice and/or you not being able to hear theirs.

To make calls you’ll need to have either:

1. Headset with microphone
2. Microphone with speakers

Equipment for personal Skype calls:

• In built microphone and speakers on laptops work fine but you may need to adjust the sound setting to prevent the other person hearing their own voice feedback by your computer
• Comfortable headset with microphone is recommended if you’re planning to use a lot and for extended periods
• Headset choice is very personal however I use Logitech Laptop Headset H555.  Cheap headsets work just as well
• Alternatively, use a cheap desktop microphone with speakers
• Web camera (optional) – dependent on whether you like to video talk

Equipment for Skype calls in classrooms:

• Desktop microphone
• Speakers
• Web camera
• Interactive white board for display or a data projector if video conferencing with another class

Once your Skype equipment is connected to your computer all you need to do is configure your Audio settings by going to Call > Audio Settings in the menu bar.

Now just select your Microphone and Speakers from the drop down options.

Repeat the same process to set up your web cam using the Video Settings options.

Testing your Audio, Sound and Video quality is as simple as:

1.  Click on Echo / Sound Test Service

2.  Click on Call

3.  Now follow the instructions to test your set up using Skype’s automatic sound test service

• If you don’t hear any sound you’ll need to check your set up

4.  Alternatively, you can click Check Settings to the right of Call.

#5 Adding People To Your Skype Account

To contact people you will need to add their username to your Skype account.

The easiest way of finding someone’s Skype username is to contact them to ask:

1. If  you could add them to your Skype account
2. For their username

However, you can easily search for  friends’ Skype account using their email address or name.

You add people to your account by:

1.  Select Contacts > Add a Contact in the menu bar or click on Add Contact.

2.  Enter their full name, email address or Skype name.

3.  If the Skype account of the person you wish to add is displayed, click Add below the contact.

• Clicking on their Avatar displays all their profile information
• If more than one Skype account matches your search, click on view to check out all matches found.

4.  Before the contact can be added, you must send a contact request to that person. Enter some text to introduce yourself and click Send request.

5.  The contact will be added to your contact list, but will appear offline until they accept your request.

6.  Once the person agrees to your request, they will be added to your Contact list. You can then make free calls and video calls to that person, and send instant messages and files to each other.

• Occasionally they won’t receive your notification to add to their contact list – in this situation just ask them to also add your username to their account.

Tips for using your Skype account:

#1 Skype Status

Best part of Skype is you can tell when another user is online and what their status is so you know if they are available.

Some one’s Skype status is showing Available or Away from keyboard are normally near their computer.

However, it good etiquette to send a person a short Instant message and waiting to see if they reply rather than calling them as it might not be convenient, you might be interrupting their work flow or they may not have their audio configured.

Once you’ve engaged in a IM conversation then you can nicely ask them if they mind or if it is convenient to use voice.

Changing your Status is as simple as:

1.  Click on drop down menu next to your status
2.  Select your new Status

#2 Sending or Receiving an Instant Message

Sending an Instant message is as easy as:

1. Find the person or group you want to message from your contact list.
2. Their username will load in the main window and you just click inside the conversation box.
3.  Now type your short message and click the blue Send message button, or press Enter on your keyboard.

If someone IMs you, your Recent tab will turn orange and will show a number to to indicate how many new IM you have received.

You’ll also see an orange dot against the person’s name in your contact list who has sent the IM.

To check newly received IM:

1. Click the Recent tab. You’ll see a list of contacts who have recently contacted you using IM.
2. Unread messages are indicated by the person’s name shown in bold with a number next to their name.
3. Click on the person’s name to open up the main window and view the conversation.

4. Type your reply inside the conversation box and click the blue Send message button, or just press Enter on your keyboard.

Other useful things you can do in an instant message include:

1.  Add more people to the conversation to create a group IM

• Click on Add People
• Choose their names from the Contact list and click Select
• Now click Add

2.  Use emoticons or add small pictures to show how you are feeling

3.  Send documents, photos or videos

4.  Use Extra features like play games and personalise your Skype.  Read more about Extras here.

#3 Calling someone who’s on Skype

Remember it good etiquette to send a person a short Instant message and waiting to see if they reply before calling them as it might not be convenient, you might be interrupting their work flow or they may not have their audio configured.

Once you’ve engaged in a IM conversation then you can nicely ask them if they mind or if it is convenient to use voice.

Calling someone who’s on Skype is as easily as:

1. Find the person you want to call by looking in your contact list.
2.  Check their Skype status and if they are available click their name. You will see their details in the main window.
3.  Click the green Call button . You should hear ringing. If you don’t hear the other person or they can’t hear you, click the call quality icon in the call bar .
4.  Hovering your mouse over the main window during a call brings up the Skype menu items which you use to access different Skype features.

5.  To hang up, click the End call button .

Tips for using Skype in your Classroom

Using Skype with your students does require new skill sets to developed.

For good video quality students need to think more about impact of:

1. Their own movement
2. Their movement of objects
3. Where they place objects to display to the other class.

For good audio quality students needs to:

1. Be confident
2. Think about what they want to say
3. Speak clearly and loudly enough
4. Slow down their speech and avoid use of language specific to their country unless they explain what the term(s) means

The keys to an effective skype classroom session include take the time to:

• Practise all skills before the Skype session
• Decide what outcomes you want to achieve and plan the Skype session including the questions, what you want to discuss and show before you start
• Allocate students different job roles for during the Skype session such as webcam operator, microphone manager, speaker, photographer, film session, IM writers, live bloggers, data recorders

It’s also worth keeping parents and families informed of why and how you’re using Skype in the classroom so they feel comfortable with the process.  Check out Keith Ferrell’s Rationale for using Skype in the classroom and parent permission slip — which he uses to explain the process to his families.

For detailed information on planning and running a Skype session refer to Silvia Tolisano’s:

1. Skype jobs for Students
2. Assessment of learning via Skype – excellent explanation of pre-activities, during skype call activities and post activities
3. A few tips for student filming in the classroom

Equipment for Skype calls in classrooms:

• Desktop microphone
• Speakers
• Web camera
• Interactive white board for display or a data projector if video conferencing with another class

Below are tips adapted with permission from:

1. Sue Wyatt’s Improving our Skype Calls
2. Ann Mirtchin’s Using Skype in the classroom

#1 Setting up the equipment

• If using a webcam where the videoconference is projected onto an interactive white board for display or via a data projector locate the webcam beside the board, so the speaker can see both the webcam and class they are speaking to.
• Have a chair near the microphone for speakers to sit on.
• Have the webcam on eye-level with the speaker so they don’t have to look up or down at the webcam as this will distort the view of the class watching.
• Set up the desks for students not at the microphone, so they can still be seen by the class you are speaking to.
• Ensure everything is set up from the start including any objects you want to share.
• Do a test Skype call with the other teacher before the day so you can both trouble shoot any video and sound issues.
• Test the equipment before starting class.
• If you experience issues with the call during the session try switching off the video to see if that helps.
• Have a management plan for discipline problems before commencing — so you can intervene quickly if needed.

#2 Using the microphone and video

• Speak clearly and try to slow down your normal speech.  It takes time to adjust to some accents — talking slower helps.
• Speak fluently with no small talk or swearing.
• Avoid language that is only from your country unless you explain the meaning to your viewers.
• When it is your turn to talk, make sure you know what you are going to talk about. Try to explain rather than give a one or two word answer.
• Show confidence when speaking – this might mean a few rehearsals for some students.
• If using a desk microphone, hold it straight and speak straight into it, not swinging it side to side
• Minimise too much movement of objects or people as this can cause blurring
• Left mouse click on the corner of the main window and drag to increase the window size to enlarge the video and then click on the Show IM icon so you can send IM and watch the video.
• If not using IM, then just click on Full screen to enlarge the video stream.

#3 Being part of the audience

• Be quiet when someone is speaking on the microphone.
• Listen attentively when you are not the speaker, as you might know the answer to the question being asked by the other class.
• Ideally only one person should speak at a time
• Don’t sit friends near each other as they will tend to distract each other when not the speaker.
• Sit where you can see and hear the conversation but where it is also easy to get up and go to the microphone.

#4 Using the Chat window

IM is excellent for feedback and questions.

It’s especially ideal when connecting with classes that English isn’t their first language, or when sound quality isn’t good — it’s a great way of  typing in key phrases to ensure information is being understood.

• Use IM to send a quick message to check the other class is ready before calling.
• Allocate students to be in charge of the IM conversation during the video conference and provide them clear guidelines of their role.

#5 Finding classes and content experts to connect with

Here’s where you’ll find some connections to get you started:

• Skype other Classrooms!
• Around the World with Skype – scroll down page
• Skype in the Classroom website

Final thoughts

Would love to hear about your experiences!

What advice have we missed?   What other advice would you give educators using Skype in their classrooms?

And we’d love to hear what you’ve gained from using Skype in the classroom — please leave a comment to let us know.

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During a time when most of the US and much of the world is facing funding shortfalls in education, sadly technology budgets are often one of the first to be slashed. Is this a good place to start? While I never thought so, I didn’t until now have any good hard evidence to back that up.

Being a bit numbers obsessed (I was a math teacher in my former days), I enjoy spending my time looking over the site visitor statistics for Edublogs. This morning I found myself taking a look at the number of visitors from each state in the US.

I wanted to know if the number of visitors we get from each state is proportional to the number of students in each state.

I was expecting to find that our visitors would be randomly and equitably distributed around the country.

But I was wrong. There were a few states that seemed to have much higher traffic than what their population would suggest. There were also a handful of states that were severely underrepresented.

There are many factors that could account for this – such as access to computers in the classroom or the existence of local or statewide blogging platforms other than Edublogs. Or perhaps blogging just isn’t that states thing and we haven’t done a good enough job letting them know about it.

However, then I visited this site here for the most recent and comprehensive rankings on state achievement that I could find.

What you see in the table below may shock you. I went through and identified the states that are 8 or more away in “Edublogs Ranking” either direction than you would expect based on their population.

Three out of five of the lowest performing states also are underrepresented in their use of Edublogs. And all of the underrepresented states are in the bottom third on achievement.

Even more interesting (er, exciting) is that three out of the top five performing states visit Edublogs more than you would expect based on their population! And all overrepresented states are in the top half of performance.

I’m not suggesting at all that Edublogs is responsible for the achievement (though that would be nice), but clearly, states that make technology use available to students do appear to have a significant advantage here.

Being the math nerd that I am, I will admit that I haven’t applied any tests of statistical significance to the data here nor do I share this as if I have done formal research on the matter. However, even cursory data such as this shows that technology in the classroom can be powerful!

What do you think?

I used this site here for the state demographic information. The “Edublogs Ranking” was taken from Google Analytics based on several million visitors over the past 30 days.

The human race is finding itself increasingly guilty of matricide- that is, of the systematic destruction of not only the habitats of other species, but habitat in general. For all previously recorded human history the earth has sustained around two hundred and fifty million inhabitants. Today we find the world lifting up seven billion industrialized [...]

I have been trying to sort through the stories in 1 Samuel in order to construct their understanding of the Lord, and their view of his actions/working in the world.  Yet in striving to find some cohesive explanation or attempt at a theological portrait of God, I find myself coming up terribly short, as I wade through inconsistencies, contradictions, and understandings that differ greatly from my own.  Is there a consistent picture of God in 1 Samuel?  If so, what is it?  Here are some of the examples out of this one book alone that leave my mind twirling.

In chapter 14, Jonathan and his armor bearer sneak up on some Philistines.  Jonathan tells the young man that if the Philistines offer to come to them, they will know not to go against them.  However if the Philistines call Jonathan and his armor bearer over to themselves, then that will be a sign to Jonathan and the young man that God has given the Philistines over to them.  Jonathan never beseeches of the Lord first, he simply decides on a plan then decides if and how God will be a part of it.  Nevertheless, it should not go unnoticed that Jonathan does indeed give credit to God for handing the Philistines over to them.  Was God the planner and initiator or was Jonathan?

In chapter 9, God tells Samuel he has chosen Saul to be the king of the Israelites.  In chapter 15, God “regrets” (vs. 11) having made this decision, symbolically tears the kingdom from Saul, and says he has given the kingdom to a neighbor of Saul’s.  Right after this however (still in chapter 15), Samuel says that God “will not recant or change his mind; for he is not a mortal, that he should change his mind” (vs. 29).  Was God not changing his mind about making Saul king?

Further, 1 Samuel paints a picture of God who is all-powerful (he destroys any army that opposes the Israelites when he chooses to fight for them, a statue of Dagon falls down before the ark, tumors infect the citizens of any town that tries to capture the ark, etc.).  The Lord also knows what will happen before it actually occurs (for example, Samuel foretells Saul’s and Jonathan’s deaths, 28:17-19).  Yet he made Saul king.  In Israelite understanding, did God know or did he not know how Saul would disobey?  If he knew, why did he make him king knowing he would eventually take the title away?

At times in 1 Sam we read that the spirit of the Lord comes upon Saul (10:10), then we read that it departed him (16:14) and moved to David (16:13), making it sound like the spirit of the Lord was with Saul during his kingship.  Yet, how was it then that he was able to sin so greatly by performing a ritualistic sacrifice himself?  What was meant by the spirit of God being ‘upon’ someone?  When the spirit first comes on Saul, he enters a prophetic frenzy it seems he is unable to control.  How much freewill would that person have and/or how much of their actions were determined by God?

All of these things lead me to question the Israelites’ understanding of God at the composition of 1 Samuel.  Was the Lord omniscient?  Omnipotent?  Is every detail of the history of God’s people orchestrated and planned by God himself, or is there room for human intervention?  God can and obviously does intervene in ancient Hebrew understanding, so is every human action ultimately governed by some spiritual power, be it good or evil?  Just some ponderings…

The idea was simple!

Create a class blog list for educators to use as a resource to get ideas for their own class blog and make connections with classes in other countries.

Now over 2 years later since the class blog list was first created in 2008:

1. It’s still growing
2. It’s the most visited page on this blog

But like all good ideas it does take work

So it’s now been updated to ensure that it does remain current and contain resources that are helpful.

This update I’ve looked at how else can I make it a better resource?

Improved Categories

Firstly, I wanted to make it easier for you to find the class blogs for the grades and/or subjects you teach.

So I’ve improved the categories to better separate:

1. Primary / Elementary into each Grade level
2. Secondary / High into subject areas.

Updated All Blogs

Next, I’ve checked every blog on the list and removed any that have been:

1. Deleted
2. No longer exist
3. Are no longer active (haven’t updated within 6 months)
4. Have changed their privacy from public to private.

And off course, made sure all new blogs submitted were added to the list.

Class Blogging Since ?

Finally. with over 200 class blogs on the list, I wanted to make a way for you to be able to quickly scan the list while learning more about the age of specific blogs.

So I’ve added an icon next to the older class blogs to show how long that blog has been used as a class blog for.

For example, means the blog has been used for class blogging since 2004 whereas a blog with  has been used as a class blog since 2009.

I’m sure others, like myself, will be amazed at how long some of these blogs have been used for class blogging!

Is your Class blog on the List?

You can check out the more information about each class blog in these post:

• Calling All CLASS blogs…Please Share Your Blog URL With Us! (2008) over 250 comments.
• Our Class Blog List Has Been Updated — Is Your Class Blog on The List? (2010) over 190 comments

I’ve now had to close off comments on both those posts so I can make the class blog submissions manageable again.

If you want to add your class blog to this list (or update your class blog details) leave a comment on this post to share with us:

1. Your Class Blog name(s) and URL(s).
2. Approximate age of students
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While reading 1 Samuel, I began to notice a possible theme emerging.  ‘Theme’ may actually be too strong of a descriptor.  Rather, I noticed a repeated commonality, and am wondering whether it is intentional or mere happenstance.  A person’s or persons’ eyes play a role that the author felt was worth mentioning on at least three occasions.

In chapter 10, we read a story of seeming grotesque cruelty.  Nahash, the Ammonite king, was a brutal oppressor of the Hebrew people who stayed east of the Jordan.  Nahash “gouged out the right eye” of every Gadite and Reubenite man (10:27-11:2), except for 7,000 who escaped to Jabesh-Gilead.  When the Ammonites went up against the escapees and their new region, Jabesh-Gilead begged for a treaty.  Nahash would only agree to this on the condition that he gouge out every one of their right eyes.  I suppose the king’s cruelty is somewhat understandable, considering the day and age.  Lack of an eye would certainly be a constant reminder to the individual as well as everyone in the community just who it was that held the power.  It also handicapped the men in battle if they were to ever consider rising up against the Ammonites by affecting their depth perception and range of vision.  And finally, losing an eye was not like cutting off a hand or foot – though they were maimed, the men could still be slaves to the Ammonites, their physical work capability not hindered.

In the next mention of an eye, we read that Jonathan’s “eyes brightened” upon eating some honey after a wearying day in battle (14:27-29).  Again, this may not necessarily be thematic, but simply a description for the reader to imagine a sense of life and energy being infused back into Jonathan.  The appearance of the eyes told the witnesses nearby what was going on inside a person.

Finally, when Samuel was sent to Jesse’s house to find Israel’s next anointed king, the narrator sees it worth mentioning that David had “beautiful eyes” (16:12).  In the former two instances, I see the possible purpose in use of or inclusion of the eye.  Here, I do not understand at all why it was necessary to mention David’s lovely eyes.

Therefore, I naturally wonder what is going on here with the multiple mentioning of eyes, and whether it is significant.  Would a better understanding of ancient Israelite culture, customs or worldview show a deeper meaning?  Many cultures have sayings about eyes.  For us, eyes are the “window to the soul.”  In ancient Greek thought, a person could see based on the light within them that came out through their eyes.  Such light from within granted physical, literal sight; but it also stood as a metaphor for spiritual insight or wisdom.  These are the only two that came to my mind right away, though I am sure there are countless more examples.  Perhaps every culture in the world has their own interpretation of the eyes that differs from the scientific understanding of their purpose and function.  How did Ancient Israelites view eyes?

From reading the book of Judges, we see that the people of today, are not much different from the people who inhabited ancient Israel.  At least in terms of the cycle of sin we go through.  In judges, it begins with the people sinning/disobeying God, then God is displeased and rains down judgement upon them, then the people beg and cry out for mercy, the people repent; turn back to the Lord and all is well; or is it?   After a while, the people seem to forget about the promises they’ve made to return to the Lord and thus the slip back into the vicious cycle of sin.  It’s a circle a cycle that keeps on going.  It never ends never stops.  The reason it never stops, is because the people always end up doing what is right in their own eyes and not Gods.  That is why he is constantly pronouncing judgement on them.  As I sit here writing this posting, I thought to myself, what would be a modern equivalent to a judge.  I though perhaps our church pastors or deacons, or all our fellow Christian believers.  These people can and do act as our judges today.  They help us understand out sinful ways and help point us back to the right path.