Kindergarten in 2013

This brilliant little boy is my grandson Jack. In three short years he will be entering kindergarten. What changes in today's educational system await him in 2013?

Anya Kamentez, staff writer at Fast Company magazine and author of the new book "DIY U", weaves a fascinating story of how technology could unleash childhood creativity while transforming the role of the teacher.

Devices

• TeacherMate - a $100 handheld computer designed for use in schools; it helps children begin reading, writing, and math lessons.
• Intel Classmate PC - at $499 each, a pricey upgrade packing an adult-sized processor.
• XO - at $199, One Laptop Per Child's unit was designed primarily for use in developing countries. It has a "neighborhood" based network setup that connects all the XOs in a class. Coming in 2012: a next generation XO - a tablet PC with a touch screen

Web Sites

• Sesamestreet.org - one of the best educational websites for children 6 and under - and it's free. Today's parents (and younger grandparents!) grew up on TV's Sesame Street - will their kids make the move over to the web version?
• Discoveryeducation.com/science - a classroom targeted site that costs $1,700 per school building per year. Oregon's board of Education recently approved this site as a K-5 science "textbook."

Mobile Apps

• First Words - a series of pre-K apps designed for the iPhone. Different versions, costing $1.99, focus on animals, vehicles, and household items.
• KidCalc Math Fun - designed for kids ages 2 - 8, and focusing basic arithmetic, counting, sorting, and number tracing.
• Clifford's Be Big With Words - who wouldn't love the big red dog teaching kids aged 2 - 6 spelling, word building, phonetics, and vocabulary.

For the full story, be sure to read Kamenetz's full story here, or check out her book here.

As for me, well, I guess I'll be saving up for Jack's first iPad!

Coming: the Digital Classroom

My father was born in the late 1920s - just think how much has changed in his lifetime. Travel by air, only a couple of decades old at his birth, is now commonplace. We have even traveled off this planet to the moon.

Radio was new, and families gathered around a single radio set, providing entertainment for the whole neighborhood. Now we communicate individually, instantaneously, and around the world with each other - and don't think a thing about it.

The complex calculations provided by computers were years away when my father first entered school. Education for him was rows of seats, with a teacher giving instruction the same way for everyone, paper and pencil for writing, getting information from books.

Do you see anything wrong with this picture?

Despite all the amazing technological innovations in our society over the past century, primary education remains largely the same. For the most part, my father's school, my school, my son's school, and soon, my grandson's school - will look and function remarkably the same.

Until now.

Anya Kamenetz, staff writer at Fast Company magazine and author of the new book "DIY U" raises the prospect of a new, technology-driven educational system.

• Handheld devices that aid teachers and excite kids
• Mobile apps that may replace traditional schooling in less-developed countries
• How the iPhone, low-cost laptops, and netbooks are enabling a new wave of self-learning for kids as young as three
• Can you say iPad?

Is it possible that this movement holds the beginnings of a more sophisticated, more effective, and more modern way of teaching?

Here's one GrandBob that can't wait!

Staying in the Game

For the final inning of our "spring training", the topic is staying in the game. Previous innings have included first impressions, connection cards, and follow up with guests. To close out the game, it's time to look at what Nelson Searcy calls "The Three Rs of Retention".

When first time guests walked through your front door, your initial goal was to earn return visits from them. When they did return, your goal evolved. you wanted to introduce them to environments and situations that would encourage them to build relationships. As they moved from first-timers to second-timers and new regular attenders, your thinking began to shift from Return to Relationships.

Now that they have made some friends and become true regular attenders, your thinking must once again shift - this time from Relationships to Responsibility. Responsibility will be the catalyst that moves them from regular attendance to membership.

How to you achieve responsibility? Searcy suggests that there are three effective ways to encourage your attenders toward membership:

1. Through multiplying service opportunities
2. Through teaching
3. Through regular sign-ups

It doesn't matter how well the sermon is or how passionate your worship team is - if your newcomers do not find relationships and take on responsibility within the church, they will not stay for long.

• Return
• Relationships
• Responsibility

If you want to stay in the game, these three words have to be drilled into your head, worked out in your own church situation, and practiced on a weekly basis.

For complete details, be sure to check out Searcy's book "Fusion" and look at the accompanying website.

Follow Up

I don't play golf, and my last game of softball was years ago, but there is a principle in these games that both you and I are probably familiar with: follow-through. The physics is pretty simple - you are swinging a club or bat with force, and when you make contact with the ball, the force is applied to the ball. If you stopped your swing on contact, the ball wouldn't be going very far. But the inertia and momentum of your swing cause you to continue your swing, and the ball travels further as a result.

In terms of Guest Services, think of this as follow-up. You have worked hard to make a great first impression. Your guests have made contact with you by completing a connection card during worship. Momentum is moving - are you ready for follow up?

Nelson Searcy at The Journey Church of NYC sums up the follow-up process pretty well in a set of three words:

• Fast - don't underestimate the power of a quick follow-up
• Friendly - reach out to your guests in a warm, personal way
• Functional - meet your guests where they are and provide them with a relevant surprise

You've gotten them this far - don't stop now!

If you want to get a hit...

...you've got to make contact.

Having the best team on the field means little if you can't make contact with the ball.

In terms of Guest Services, you have been successful in welcoming a guest to your services. They have been enthusiastically greeted and made to feel at home. As the service begins, you have a wonderful opportunity to get something from your guests: their contact information.

If you want to have any chance of an ongoing relationship, you cannot let them leave without knowing how to connect with them.

What's the best way to get your guests' information? How can you find out what you need to know without coming across as intrusive and pushy?

Nelson Searcy, pastor of Journey Church in NYC and author of "Fusion", has used one method that continues to prove successful time and time again: the Communication Card.

Well-organized use of Communication (or Connection) Cards will allow you to gather the pertinent information on roughly eighty percent of your first-time guests. What a great return, but especially when you consider it is coming from getting personal information from unchurched people.

Want to know how to use a successful Communication Card system? Check out Searcy's website here or get a copy of Fusion.

Swing batter!

Elevation Prayer Walk

One of our prayer groups outside Time Warner Arena as we prayed for our Easter service.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Winning Teams...

... start with winning players!

A winning Guest Services team begins with making sure the right people are on the team. As Jim Collins said:

The old adage "People are you most important asset" turns out to be wrong. People are not your most important asset. The right people are.

Guest Services team members are the first face of your church - and as such, need to be chosen with care. They need to know how to connect with people, and they need to enjoy doing so. They need to be wow-makers.

Mark Waltz, Connections Pastor at Granger Community Church, uses the acronym SHAPE (developed by Saddleback Church) to discover and deploy Guest Services team members:

Spiritual Gifts - Spiritual gifts are divine enablements given by the Holy Spirit to equip each believer for significance and purpose and to be a witness of God's grace to the world. The gifts of hospitality, encouragement, administration, and leadership can be invaluable assets on your Guest Services team.

Heart - The H in the acronym is for heart, or passion. Every member of your Guest Services team should be passionate about relating to and connecting with people.

Abilities - There are literally dozens of skills that contribute to a successful Guest Services team: listening, communicating, question asking, counting, guiding, directing, and perceiving are all helpful abilities.

Personality - While an extrovert may seem to be a natural choice for a Guest Services team, that might not always be the case. Your team probably has a wide range of tasks, and the team member's personality needs to match the task.

Experience - Work experiences, former church ministry experiences - even painful experiences - all are helpful when encouraging people to serve on a Guest Services team.

When you help each person find the right place in which to serve, everyone wins.

Want to know more about the Guest Services team at Granger? Check out these resources by Mark Waltz: First Impressions and Lasting Impressions.