Teaching is Challenging

The Message paraphrases James 3:1, "Don’t be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified." Teaching is rewarding work, even as it is draining physically, mentally, and spiritually. Teaching can have powerful impact on lives, even while we may feel a failure.
Considering the importance of teaching, the various methods one should employ, the purpose of life change, etc. could cause us to give up due to intimidation. But we must not cower to fear; God has called you to a great ministry. Therefore, as Apostle Paul challenges us in Romans 12:6-8, let's be faithful to perform it to the best of our ability. We will never be perfect, but God will use even our imperfections to His glory.
Thank you, teachers, for your labor of love and faithfulness in service!

2016-05-24T09:00:00+00:00May 24th, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: |0 Comments

Teaching is Preparing

Our lessons are designed with a wealth of material for the teacher. At the beginning of the lesson, we have a section devoted to a key word from the scripture. On the left side, you will find the scripture text and solid commentary that illuminates the Word. On the right is a discussion-oriented lesson plan that begins with the contemporary need to which this scripture speaks, the story of the text, exploration of the scripture, and application to our lives. At the end you will find a section devoted to key doctrines found in this lesson. Illustrations and quotes are also included.
With all these helps, it may be tempting not to spend time in preparation. However, it takes skill and preparation to know how to weave these elements together. Furthermore, while questions (and suggested answers) are provided, you should ask if these questions are the best, or if the answers need further development. In other words, be diligent in preparing to teach!

2016-05-11T10:30:00+00:00May 11th, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: |0 Comments

Teaching is Connecting

Putting a puzzle together can be an extremely enjoyable activity. It can also be very frustrating. Have you ever tried to put together a puzzle only to declare that some of the pieces must be missing? One puzzle strategy is to gather all the pieces with straight edges and attempt to construct the frame of the puzzle before filling the inside.
In a similar way, teaching is like putting a puzzle together. Your students come to you with a variety of backgrounds, issues, concerns, and cultural ways of understanding life. Scripture was written to and about people with very different issues, concerns, and culture. Yet throughout scripture we find biblical principles that transcend time and culture. The challenge we face is how to interpret and apply those biblical principles to contemporary life. And so we are putting a puzzle together. Help your students discover the joy of putting together the puzzle of biblical application this week!

2016-05-03T09:00:00+00:00May 3rd, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: |0 Comments

Teaching is Questioning

An essential aspect of good teaching is well-placed questions. Teaching necessarily involves giving out information, but questions help students to internalize truth and apply it to their lives. Criticalthinking.org notes that every textbook basically contains answers to questions but this does not mean answers are more important than questions. Instead, this source asserts:
"Thinking is not driven by answers but by questions. ... To think through or rethink anything, one must ask questions that stimulate our thought. Questions define tasks, express problems and delineate issues. Answers on the other hand, often signal a full stop in thought. Only when an answer generates a further question does thought continue its life as such. This is why it is true that only students who have questions are really thinking and learning." (http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/the-role-of-questions-in-teaching-thinking-and-learning/524)
Does your teaching style assume students will learn if you give them the right answers, or are you attempting to help them ask the right questions?

2016-04-30T09:00:00+00:00April 30th, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: |0 Comments

Teaching is Leading

In a real sense, the teacher is like a shepherd. The shepherd does not hand feed his sheep. He does not open the sheep's mouth and force grass down it. Rather, the shepherd leads the flock to lush, green pastures that make the sheep drool with hunger. He guides them to quiet pools of water where they feel safe in drinking long and deep.
Our world is filled with spiritual junk food. The type of junk food that interests your students will vary from person to person: ball games, romance novels, TV programs, computers, knitting - the one common trait in such junk food is that it suggests it can satisfy our soul's hunger for God, apart from God.
Teacher, your job is to uncover the delicious, life-giving spiritual meal God has prepared in His Word, let them smell the savor of its eternal flavor, and invite them to ... chow down!

2016-04-19T09:00:00+00:00April 19th, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: , |0 Comments

The Purpose of Teaching

Teaching is not... . The tips for teachers in this quarter has thus far focused on the negative, explaining what teaching is by what it is not. The following weeks' tips will focus on the positive, defining several characteristics of teaching. At this mid-way point, then, let us seek a simple definition of teaching.
Consider this summary of one teacher's philosophy of teaching: the teacher is one who has Faith in the future, knows and understands students, who understands motivation and the effects on learning interacting with other students has, who knows the subject and how to help students learn the subject, who is a continual learner, who sees herself or himself as a role model, who teaches students how to think and asks questions, and who lives to serve. (http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/my-philosophy-of-teaching/)
What is your purpose in teaching? Why do you do what you do?

2016-04-15T08:00:00+00:00April 15th, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: |0 Comments

Teaching is Not Listening

Another extreme teachers may veer into, in their desire to encourage discussion and thought, is simply to allow their students to drive the lesson's conversation. Admittedly, this extreme may also be the result of the teacher's lack of preparation. They don't know what to say, so they just ask their students to say what's on their mind.
Regardless, this point might sound contradictory to what has been suggested in this quarter's previous tips. If teaching is not about lecturing and we need to encourage discussion, doesn't that mean listening? Furthermore, isn't it true that the teacher often feels like they learn more from the lesson than are able to teach their students?
The problem comes in the extreme; the teacher should guide the discussion at the least. Ideally, the teacher should have good understanding of the biblical principles in question and be able to help students replace worldly concepts, faulty reasoning, or uninformed thinking with God's truth.

2016-04-06T09:00:00+00:00April 6th, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: |0 Comments

Teaching is Not Grandstanding

Everybody likes a good show, right? Another temptation we face as teachers is to put on a show to entertain our students. No, we might not call it such. But the intention is the same. How does this happen?
Sometimes, the teacher is trying to engage the curiosity of their students. So they launch off into a highly animated one-person skit. The class is entertained, but other than telling their friends what an enjoyable class they had this Sunday, are not prepared to live any differently. At other times, the teacher may be so animated by a certain topic that they put on a show, even unintentionally, expressing their frustration, disgust, etc. with the issue at hand. Again, the students may applaud the teacher for voicing their own irritation. But the end effect is a rant.
Passion in teaching is important; how can you use passion to reinforce the lesson, instead of replacing the lesson?

2016-03-31T08:00:00+00:00March 31st, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: |0 Comments

Teaching is Not Rambling

When I was a young boy, the church we attended had a vibrant men's class. It was a good group of men, and they had enjoyable class sessions, but the discussion was often on anything besides the lesson. The teacher would start the class off with scripture, but the culture of this group was such that one topic would dissolve into another, and that one into yet another. These men might "solve" the problems of the world, but never seriously consider the assigned scripture.
It might be too much to ask for a class never to get off on a tangent. In fact, tangents might be helpful at times. But if this happens too much, the integrity of the teaching moment can be lost. Our lessons are designed with a specific spiritual truth and objective. At the end of your lesson, do your students know both the truth and how to apply it in their lives?

2016-03-24T08:00:00+00:00March 24th, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: |0 Comments

03: Teaching is Not Dominating

If you have taught much at all, and especially if you have invited students to dialogue with you or each other during the lesson, you most likely have discovered that certain people like to dominate the discussion. What you may have overlooked, however, is your own potential to be overbearing. Sometimes we want to avoid certain people from hijacking the conversation. Sometimes, we are intent on making a certain point. Sometimes, we just want everyone else to listen to us. The end effect, though, is a stifled discussion and lack of reflective thought.
There will be certain points that you need to press home to the students. There will be those who will take over the conversation if you are not careful. This requires extra preparation. Who can you plan to call on to give an extra voice, so one or a few don't take over? How can you teach that essential point by asking questions, rather than just giving the answer?

2016-03-16T07:00:00+00:00March 16th, 2016|Categories: Teacher Helps|Tags: |0 Comments

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