More than English: Forming Thoughtful Communicators
When Spenser Jones enters his English classroom at Faith Christian Academy school in Yulee, Florida, he keeps the big picture in mind.
Anyone who spends time in his classroom will notice that he is doing much more than teaching grammar and literature. He creatively uses the building blocks of language to teach students to think, reason, and engage with the world around them.
One of his favorite classroom strategies is what he calls a “Spitfire Prompt”. He introduces a topic and gives the class a few minutes to write. The prompts vary widely but each one is chosen carefully to require students to think critically and formulate a clear stance on the subject. Often, the topics explore ethical, theological, political, or social themes. At the end of the week, he selects one of the topics for a guided class discussion. He says he particularly loves his approach because it strengthens the whole student. Not only does it put into practice their English skills and comprehension, but also helps them develop confidence in expressing themselves in writing.
He explains, “It gets them used to writing naturally, so they aren’t so averse to it in general, but they are also able to implement their grammar skills immediately.”
Beyond teaching language, this process also serves a deeper purpose.
It helps to develop the whole student by encouraging them to think deeply and critically, and process what they believe.
Most Fridays Mr. Jones does a follow-up exercise that gives students the opportunity to further develop and voice their opinions in a teacher-moderated debate.
“Almost every Friday we play this game. The class disperses to different areas of the room, we bring up one of the prompts we had that week, and they are able to flesh out their opinion with their peers. Each space represents a perspective: agree, disagree, strongly disagree, strongly agree, and neural.”
As students are given the opportunity to state their argument or position, they engage in a guided conversation with Mr. Jones and their classmates. At the end, the students in class are given the opportunity to move to a different spot in the room, indicating a change their opinion based on the new information presented. This process creates an environment that encourages students to engage in respectful and thoughtful conversation even when discussing controversial subjects.
Mr. Jones hopes students will begin to see the connection between articulating their thoughts clearly and understanding complex issues more fully.
Ultimately, his goal is to develop students who can appreciate nuance and seek common ground while remaining grounded in their personal values and convictions.
A high school graduate of Trinity Christian Academy (sister ministry of TCJ), Mr. Jones earned his bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Theology from Trinity College of Jacksonville in 2017. He wasn’t completely sure what direction he wanted to take professionally at that point. He loved grammar and Theology but also had a natural gift for teaching. His current position as an educator happily allows him to blend all three passions in one profession.
Reflecting on his college career, he identifies two courses that had a direct and lasting impact on his skills as a teacher: Greek I and Homiletics.
“I love grammar because when I took Greek with Dr. Cash… my grammar was poor and he wouldn’t let me go. I learned a lot about English through taking Greek… and Homiletics class with Dr Messer helped me how to learn how to talk in front of people. It made a big difference.”
Today, those lessons are making a daily impact in his classroom, where dozens of young people learn how language, faith, and critical thinking can impact their world.
Mr. Jones is married to his wife, Jasmine, and together they are raising their young family in Yulee, Florida.
