I thought it would be fun to go back over the archives of my blog here at Catechist’s Journey and select my “Top Ten Favorite Lessons” from all of the lessons I have taught over the years! In case you were not aware of this, all of my lesson plans (including follow-up summaries) are archived here on the blog. Go to the tab titled “Being a Catechist” just under the Catechist’s Journey header banner. When you hover over that, you will find sub-categories including one titled “Stories from the Field,” which will then send you to another drop-down list. My lessons are found under Intermediate Grades and Junior High. There you will find lessons from my experiences of teaching fourth, sixth, and eighth grades. I have chosen several of each grade for my Top Ten Favorite Lessons list.
For my first favorite lesson, we go back to my days of teaching fourth grade to look at a lesson titled “God Asks Us to Obey,” which focused on how we are called to form our consciences so that we can know right from wrong and be faithful followers of Jesus. I like to talk about this lesson to demonstrate how to engage young people at the start of a lesson in the way St. Ignatius of Loyola encouraged his followers to “enter through their door but be sure to leave through your door.” In this particular lesson, I engaged the children with an activity involving Play-Doh (their door) to help them understand how our consciences can be shaped and formed (my door). Several weeks later, when the Associate Pastor came to ask the kids what they had learned so far that year, the kids offered a few thoughts and then went blank. I said, “Someone tell Father about Play-Doh.” After a moment, a girl raised her hand and said, “Oh yeah, God can shape our conscience!” The connection had been made!
So, without further adieu, here is “God Asks Us to Obey.”
Leave a Reply