{"id":26747,"date":"2013-06-06T08:38:01","date_gmt":"2013-06-06T13:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=26747"},"modified":"2013-06-06T08:38:01","modified_gmt":"2013-06-06T13:38:01","slug":"advice-on-teaching-preliminaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2013\/06\/advice-on-teaching-preliminaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Advice on Teaching – Preliminaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"jesus<\/a>I’ve recently been involved in teacher training in my ward and have prepared some materials that I’m going to share across a few posts. I would love for others to chime in with their feedback, criticism, or additional thoughts.<\/p>\n

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  1. You feel inadequate. Or you should. <\/b>Almost all of us do, and this is true even when we love teaching and aren\u2019t struggling with a false or pseudo-sense of self-deprecation. The reality is, the gospel is difficult, we\u2019re not professionals, and we have moral, spiritual and social obligations to our class. We ought to have a healthy sense of our own inadequacy \u2013 but it ought to be a healthy and not a debilitating sense. Here are some things to keep in mind.\n
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    1. Gain a testimony of your calling.<\/b> Or, on a related note, gain a testimony of what\u2019s going on in our church organization as the Lord uses the weak and the simple (i.e., us) to build the kingdom. I find Eugene England<\/a> extremely helpful on this one. I also draw inspiration from D&C 88:118, 122<\/a>. We\u2019re all appointed to teach; it\u2019s a privilege; it\u2019s part of the obligation of Zion; and it\u2019s how Zion get\u2019s built. We shouldn\u2019t be arrogant, but nor should we allow feelings of inadequacy to undermine our commitment to the organizational model of the Restoration.<\/li>\n
    2. You don\u2019t need to be smarter or more eloquent than your students <\/b>to help them connect to the Spirit. Being the best teacher they\u2019ve ever had is not the goal. Helping your class collectively learn and commune with the spirit is. But remember, this isn’t an excuse. Feelings of inadequacy should yield a healthy motivation to prepare and improve.<\/li>\n
    3. Effort<\/b>: if ye are prepared ye shall not fear<\/a> \u2013 well, maybe you will, but nonetheless you will also be confident in your message.<\/li>\n
    4. Know your biases and use your strengths.<\/b> The reality is, you\u2019re going to have students who don\u2019t like you or your style or your gospel emphases. You will. Just think about the teachers you\u2019ve sat through. It\u2019s a given, but don\u2019t dismiss them because of that. Learn more about why, about how to improve. But also reflect honestly on your strengths. If you can\u2019t ask as penetrating questions as a Julie Smith or an Adam Miller, what can you do? Spend time thinking about what you can give to even those who don\u2019t particularly appreciate your teaching.<\/li>\n
    5. Practice a little Joseph Smith style humility.<\/b> He said, \u201cI . . . know more than all the world put together. The Holy Ghost does anyhow . . . [and] I will associate myself with it\u201d (King Follet Discourse).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
    6. You\u2019re not reviewing. You\u2019re teaching.<\/b> Sometimes we\u2019re tempted to try and coast through a lesson by merely reviewing the material or the principles or platitudes that we think the lesson is meant to highlight. We do this for a number of reasons: we\u2019re intimidated by the material or the students in the class, we\u2019ve had a hugely busy week and just didn\u2019t have time to prepare, we falsely believe that correlation has already written the lesson, we\u2019re scared about roughly the feathers of our local gatekeepers, etc. Sometimes, we simply misunderstand the nature of our calling or assignment. But the Master Teacher has called us to teach, and so we\u2019ve got to do just that. Despite popular opinion on the matter, we\u2019re not standing at the front of the class just to \u201clead discussion.\u201d <\/i>If that were the case, we\u2019d be a called as Sunday School Moderators not teachers, and we\u2019d have Sunday Chats instead of Sunday School. So each week your goal is to teach <\/i>something. Here are some suggestions for how to do that:\n
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      1. Have something specific in mind that you want to teach<\/b>: a (set of) gospel principle(s) or spiritual truth(s) or insight(s) or a (series of) key question(s) that, after studying and praying over that week\u2019s material, you feel will be beneficial for the class. Let this specific principle (or question, etc.) guide your lesson, and make sure that no one gets out of the class wondering what the take home message for them is. For example, you might feel that what will be most beneficial to the class will be getting them to seriously ponder the question, \u201cWhat does the gathering of Israel really mean for my family today?\u201d<\/li>\n
      2. Sometimes, this will mean sharing something new with your class.<\/b> Since you\u2019re a teacher, sometimes it\u2019s your job to teach them something new. Since none of us have or ever will have PhDs in church doctrine and teaching methodology, that means you\u2019ve got to do work. You\u2019ve got to learn things yourself. One of the lies we sometimes believe is that we\u2019re incapable of coming up with new insights. That\u2019s simply not true. (See 1.5 above)<\/li>\n
      3. Sometimes, this will mean sharing something your class already knows, maybe something that\u2019s \u201cobvious,\u201d but sharing it in a new way or helping them see and feel the profundity of that thing again, or helping the class remember why they believe in it.<\/b> Sometimes this means helping them to re-experience something with the people in the scriptures. For example, while we all know that Zion can be a literal place, the D&C makes clear that saints living in Jackson County Missouri thought about Zion in very different ways than we normally talk about it today. Help your students to let the scriptures challenge them.<\/li>\n
      4. Sometimes this will mean helping your students commit to something practical. <\/b>For example, we all believe in keeping the Sabbath day holy. The point of your lesson might be helping each of your students to reflect honestly on their Sabbath observance and figure out what concrete changes they can implement in order to make the Sabbath more of a delight.[1]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
      5. Do you know your class? <\/b>I believe that what you do in the classroom is always and unavoidably contextualized by what you do outside of the classroom, by the kind of community that exists in your ward, and how you contribute to that community. We\u2019ve all heard our Mom\u2019s telling us, \u201cNo one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.\u201d They\u2019re right. It\u2019s a platitude because it\u2019s true. Again, think about someone you love dearly but who is simply not a talented teacher. Your experience in that individuals classroom will always be better than a stranger\u2019s \u2013 you give yourself more to that teacher and to the lessons, and consequently gain more out of it. You\u2019ve got to work hard to build the community rapport and spirit in your ward so as to build the spirit in your classroom.\n
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        1. Sometimes you have a large class <\/b>(e.g., Gospel Doctrine) and don\u2019t know half the people in there. Change that. I\u2019ve got a terrible brain for remember names, but an ok short-term, cram-it-in memory. Both at work and at church I always take the time to learn and repeat to the students\u2019 names. It helps everyone get to know everyone better and to be more comfortable with one another, without anyone having to do the work themselves. It\u2019s probably the single most effective thing I do.<\/li>\n
        2. Sometimes you have a small class <\/b>(e.g., a small primary). Take the time to interact with them regularly outside of class. I like to bake bread for my students. Whatever you do, do something to connect with them.<\/li>\n
        3. Either case<\/b>: get to know them better and love them particularly. Make it your goal to empirically disprove Ivan Karamazov\u2019s belief about loving one\u2019s neighbor<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          <\/p>\n
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          [1]<\/a> As we\u2019ll see in the \u201cPreparation\u201d post, however, Elder Oaks warns us<\/a> from getting too specific in creating application lists or rules.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          I’ve recently been involved in teacher training in my ward and have prepared some materials that I’m going to share across a few posts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":26748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corn","category-lessons-all"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/jesus-teacher.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26747"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26752,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26747\/revisions\/26752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}