Here’s what I’m planning for this coming Monday’s session: Theme (from textbook) – God is Our Father Big Idea: We can trust God our Father to protect us The session focuses on how Jesus taught us to call God our Father and how we pray for the coming of the Kingdom. A king is someone who leads and protects his people. We can trust God to lead and protect us from sin. God arms us […]
As part of my lesson this past Monday, I wanted to emphasize how human beings are the greatest part of God’s creation and I wanted to incorporate the use of the Internet in my classes for the first time. I located a brief YouTube video that shows images of babies growing in the womb. I made sure that the video did not have any images relating to the act of sexual intercourse or the fertilization […]
As I mentioned in my last post, I taught my first 4th grade RE class on Monday and really loved it. Here are some more details about the ups and downs of that first class: I arrived 45 mins early only to find out that the doors don’t open until 30 mins before class begins. I’m such a dork! 🙂 For the early session, the kids kind of straggle in over a 10 min. period […]
This evening I enjoyed my first 4th grade religious education class and I have to say that I LOVE IT!!! These kids are so darn cute! I have 16 kids (8 boys and 8 girls) and I have to say that they were really good: energetic, fun-filled, smart, and cooperative. Because of the size of the group and being in a different room that has desks instead of tables and chairs, I chose to seat […]
I’m looking forward to my first class tonight (I should say this evening, since I begin at 5:30 pm now!) with my 4th graders! I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide me to be an effective catechist tonight and always! Also, here is the recording of Part Two of my Getting Started as a Catechist Webinar:
So, I’ve been doing some planning for my first class with my 4th graders! Here’s a look at what I hope to accomplish this coming Monday: Theme (from the text book) – God Creates the World My BIG Idea: We Care for God’s Gift of Creation ENGAGE STEP (10-15 min) As the students arrive, I will greet them at the door and hand them a worksheet that invites them to identify the names of some famous beautiful locations […]
I enjoyed our catechist meeting last night, especially getting the chance to meet my aide and my fellow 4th-grade catechists. It was also nice to see the 8th grade catechists with whom I teamed these past several years. They needled me about leaving their team and we had a good laugh about it. My aide is a mom who has served in the program for a few years and I believe one of her children […]
At my recent workshop in Dallas, I asked the crowd of catechists to think of one word that describes how they feel about the upcoming catechetical year. As expected, the responses ran the gamut. Here’s a small sampling: excited privilege challenge anxious called scared opportunity growth curious faith What one word best describes how YOU feel about the upcoming catechetical year?
One of my favorite cartoons shows a professorial-looking catechist or Sunday school teacher in a classroom full of pre-school children and saying to them, “I’m new to teaching your age group. How much do you know about systematic theology?” The truth is, if we’re not familiar with the developmental characteristics (emotional, psychological, spiritual, physical, mental) of the age group we teach, we can find ourselves facing some real challenges. Here are links to some very […]
As catechists, one of the most effective tools we have is asking questions. Jesus was, of course, a master at this skill. Often in the Gospels, we find Jesus utilizing questions to challenge his followers and stimulate their thinking: “But who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29) “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” (Matthew 22:20) “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49) “Which is easier, […]
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