Staying on Topic
Effective group discussions have a carefully chosen topic, and the teacher's role is to keep the discussion on target. The “God's Word for Today” feature of your quarterly is designed to suggest topics for your discussion. You as the teacher certainly can add others, or even develop a totally different set of questions. But conversations that are not guided are the ones most likely to get off the lesson topic. You can ask people to share how they feel about the topic; new information about the topic; concerns they have about the topic; or even personal experiences that directly relate to the topic. Again, limit the time, and feel free to ask the members to summarize how what they have said contributes to the topic. If it doesn't, the members will likely be less inclined to give stray thoughts in the future if they know they may be asked how what they have said contributes to the topic.