#teaching goal

[girlcanteach]

a goal for this year

I want to teach my students to be learners.  I know, I know.  We say that...life long learners; but I really want to make the learning process a priority with all of my students this year.  I teach in an alternative program where my students see me for 45 minutes a week and then have 3-5 hours of homework associated with that session.  The time they spend away from me is sooooo important.  Every assignment, every single assignment that I give to my students, has to be a learning experience. 

I teach English; but I don't want my students to go away from me as repositories of English.  I'm not writing an encyclopedia.  I am not crafting a monument to MY body of knowledge.  

I want them each to leave a writer and a reader.  We are training scientists and historians and mathematicians and musicians and artists.  They have to work out what that means for them and gain the skills that those roles require.  Struggle is a good thing.  Questions are a good thing.  Research is A VERB.  We conduct research to answer the questions that we don't have answers to.  My students, all of our students, must become tenacious seekers who are invigorated rather than discouraged by a challenge.  They need to grow to see their classmates as colleagues and collaborators on their learning journey.

So my goal this year is to focus on my students more than I focus on my curriculum, to develop their skills and grow their capacities to engage in the learning process, to help them to read more closely and write more effectively.  

Student-centered. 

[tophertheintern]

The reason I have a teaching goal is so that I can get used to having a regular, weekly something that I have to be prepared for, the way a pastor is expected to have a sermon each week.  I do great with preaching, but that's every few months or so.  So I wondered if I'd be up to the task of coming up with something week after week.

This week is a big one!  This Sunday, I need to be prepared with: a Confirmation lesson, a children's time message, a bible study on Leviticus (which is disguised as a game involving pizza), and leading a youth council meeting.  The meeting probably doesn't qualify as teaching, except that I'm trying to do youth council meetings in a more spiritual way, so that involves choosing a bible verse to pray on, so it's a bit more prep.  

Anyhow, I'm wondering how what I'm experiencing now compares to actual, full time pastoral ministry work.  Most of  these things are prepared on Friday or Saturday (depending on which day I'm not at the library).  When I'm doing this full time, will I be able to start earlier in the week?  Or will I still have other things to prepare for?  I'm sure I will!

[tophertheintern]

My teaching goal is changing slightly as I am beginning to teach the Confirmation class.  Instead of offering mini-sermons at youth group, my weekly preparation will go into crafting lessons for the confirmands.  I have a curriculum  but I'm not super impressed with it, so it'll only serve as a jumping off point.

I am really excited as I think Confirmation is one of the most important things the church does.  When and if those kids decide to get confirmed, I want them to have really thought about what it means to be a Christian.

The first class, with the parents, was a little awkward.  But by the second class the kids are already opening up more and asking interesting questions.  Fun stuff!

[tophertheintern]

jesus is reading this post

Last week, the Sr High Youth went to Catholic Community Services to serve dinner to homeless folks.  I wasn't able to come along (Jr High needs more attention these days due to larger numbers), but I was able to send them off with a short devotion.  The thought I gave them is connected to the parable where Jesus addresses humanity at the end of time and says to those who followed him, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in," and so on, the implication being that anyone who was in need that they helped was Jesus himself.

So I challenged the kids to think about that while they're serving:  "I'm putting mashed potatoes on a plate for Jesus," "I'm finding a sandwich without cheese for Jesus," "I'm helping Jesus to his table." A few of the kids chuckled at this, which I saw as a win.  Humor helps people remember things.  The fact that they laughed tells me they'll be thinking about it an hour later, while they're serving Jesus.  

[tophertheintern]

boring devotion!

On December 2nd we had an awesome activity with the Jr Highers where they picked out Christmas presents for a child with disabled parents (through an organization called PJ's Forgotten Children).  It was very cool to see the kids get invested in this kid's Christmas.  The group I accompanied was finding clothes for Christopher, and there was spirited debate over whether both shirts should be "fun" (we knew Christopher liked Ninja Turtles and Lego, and were able to find shirts of both), or whether he needed a "nice" shirt as well (you know, with buttons).

That said, I'm not sure my opening devotion went so well.  At least twenty kids attended, so it was hard to keep their attention.  Also, my lesson was pretty straight forward - no jokes or physical props - just me talking.  Perhaps, especially for the Jr High, I should think of them as a little closer to children's sermons.  Maybe I should figure out what my "hook" is each time to secure their attention.

[tophertheintern]

Topher's a Liar!

Last Sunday and the Sunday before I did an interesting lesson with the Sr High and Jr High (in that order).  I told them that we were to meet with the President for a bible study that night, in the Prince of Peace chapel.  The President's on a tight schedule though, so we need to hurry over there.  But when we leave, I decide we should take the long way, and I lead them all throughout the church - upstairs, downstairs, through the sanctuary, outside, etc., and looking for every opportunity to waste time.  When we finally arrive at the chapel, there's a not from the President saying he had to go, but read the story in Mark 5 - which is about Jesus going to heal the daughter of a very important synagogue official, but on the way he stops to comfort a poor woman who had been healed by simply touching his cloak.  The point being that Jesus took time for "unimportant" things, even when important things had to wait.  Then, I reread the story, asking the kids to try to identify with a character in the story.

Both went well, but in different ways.  At Sr High, we had super low attendance - two boys.  This actually was great because much of the wandering time was spent getting to know them personally - an "unimportant" thing that was given more importance because of the "failure" of only having two kids show!  They seemed to get a kick out of me acting weird, and totally got the point of the craziness.

The Jr High however, branded me a liar at the end!  They all had different reactions to our aimless wandering - some seemed really frustrated, some bemused, some got into the silliness and started finding new ways to waste time with me.  But when it was discovered to be a ruse, nearly everyone told me I was a liar!  I hope they were just teasing me back for essentially teasing them all night.  I hope they DIDN'T actually feel hurt or that I was trying to be cruel to them.  I think I learned something about the two age groups - Jr High are definitely still closer to childhood where you can believe in anything, and perhaps part of them really expected Obama to be waiting in the chapel!

[tophertheintern]

Game Night Teaching

I've been trying to pepper some spirituality here and there in youth group for some time, but my first official attempt to fulfill my teaching goal was on Nov. 3, before we went as a group to a game store to play board games.  What I wanted to convey was that life is not like a game where everyone follows the rules and has fun - people break the rules, those who cheat win, and those who deserve to win don't.  But Jesus told us that “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” and that means that no matter who you are or how poor you feel inside, God's kingdom is made for you. So in the end, we thank God that life is not like a game!

There was definitely a distinct feeling, when I started, of, "Um... what is he doing? Is he gonna give us a whole sermon?" But I only took a few minutes and I got the sense at the end that the kids (and adults) appreciated it.