Grace Prioritizes Teacher Development

This past November, the faculty and staff at Grace School gathered for an in-service day where Dr. Jordan Morton, Dean and Associate Professor at the Master's University, led them through important topics relevant to teachers and the classroom of today. Of  highest priority for Christian schools is being able to define what it means to have a Biblical worldview and then how it is specifically implemented in each and every subject. We discussed other current topics such as AI and Social Media and the best practices concerning both. It was also interesting to learn that in the top three contributing factor to student success was direct instruction. This was affirming as our aim at Grace is to have highly qualified instructors at every level of a child's educational life who also view classroom and one on one instruction as a priority and who seek to better their skills in this area. Worksheets and homework are excellent tools for practice and to support what is being taught in the classrooms, but as our head of school, Matt Cooper says, "there is no substitute for gifted and highly qualified teachers providing direct instruction to our students. That is why we strive to hire the best of the best and want to support our teachers any way we can." It was a full day of encouraging instruction and of gaining knowledge for the development of teaching skills and methods.

Jordan Morton, Dean, Pearl C. Schaffer School of Education; Associate Professor

Dr. Morton teaches courses and supervises student teachers. She holds a California Clear Teaching Credential in English, a Cross-Cultural Language and Academic Development Certificate, and an Administrative Services Credential. Dr. Morton has over 20 years of experience as a teacher and school administrator in K-12 education. Prior to joining the faculty at the Master’s College, she held faculty and staff positions at Point Loma Nazarene University, the University of Phoenix, and Pacific Oaks College. Dr. Morton is an active member of her church, serving in worship ministry. She and her husband have one son, who does his part to keep everyone busy.