The Digital Technology Divide: What Does it Mean for Catechists?

There’s been an article buzzing around on Facebook that deals with the “digital technology divide” in education. The article presents the fact that, since this generation (digital “natives”) is the first to grow up completely surrounded by digital technology, they think and process information differently than us digital “immigrants” do. In particular, the article states that “Educators must relinquish the idea of being all-knowing and replace that concept with an attitude of being a facilitator, knowing that […]

Closing the Year

I believe I’ve been paid the ultimate compliment from an 8th grade student who wrote those words on his evaluation: “flippin’ sweet class, Dude!” That’s a first for me! 🙂 I’d like to borrow his language to describe how things went last night: it was “flippin sweet!” It was one of those times when everything went according to plan and, in fact, exceeded my expectations. This was the last class that I will be teaching them (I’m […]

Inviting Students to Evaluate

One of the things I plan on doing this Monday evening is having the kids complete an evaluation of their experience with me this past year. I often did this when I was a high school religion teacher and I found the feedback very helpful. I’ll have to formulate some kind of an evaluation form for them to use…that is, unless someone out there already has one!!! If so, I’d love to see it if […]

The Story of the Cross

Recently, I was asked by the folks at Loyola Press to share a “staff favorite” with regards to LP resources for families with young children. I chose to recommend The Story of the Cross. Here’s my little blurb about this excellent resource. Speaking of the Cross, last evening, the 8th graders put on the Living Stations and did a nice job. Three of my students had roles: the narrator, a Roman centurion, and crowd member. […]

Walk Away

Anti-Catholic signs like these are of the type that could be found outside of the L.A. Congress last week – the efforts of a small group of anti-Catholic protesters who show up every year looking for a fight. Unfortunately, too many Catholics obliged. As I sat nearby, waiting for my shuttle to the airport, I watched with curiosity, frustration, amusement, and anger at the unfolding scene. It always begins with a Catholic deciding he or […]

A Case of the Sixth Commandment Giggles

On Monday evening, I had a cozy little group of 7 students, since 3 were rehearsing for the Living Stations. I used this opportunity to continue our exploration of the Ten Commandments, looking at real-life examples of how to live out the spirit of each of the Commandments. It turned out to be a very nice evening except for one thing: the boys (3 of 4) developed a severe case of the Sixth Commandment giggles. […]

Not Sure What I Did Wrong

One of the Two-Minute Drills that I organized for my class on Monday evening involved a demonstration using water, food coloring, and bleach. You fill a clear glass with water (about half full), add a drop or two of food color to represent sin, stir, and then add bleach to make the color disappear, representing the effect of God’s grace. Many catechists and Sunday school teachers use this demonstration to show how grace dispels sin. […]

A Mixed Bag

So last evening’s class was kind of a mixed bag. The main focus was on the “Ten Commandments Two-Minute Drills” that I wrote about yesterday. Here’s the scoop: All ten students were present and in good spirits. During opening prayer, one of the boys prayed for Brian Campbell, Blackhawks’ defenseman, who suffered a broken collar bone and cracked ribs as a result of a vicious hit by Alex Ovechkin on Sunday. I thought that was […]

Ten Commandments – Two-Minute Drills

I’m pretty excited about this one! I want to do something to reinforce the Ten Commandments as we move in to this last unit on Morality. I also want to place more responsibility on the kids now that they are confirmed, so that they sense a difference between how I taught them before Confirmation and how they are learning now. As a result, I’ve come up with something I call The Ten Commandments Two-Minute Drills! […]

Before and After

We had a very nice class last night with 8 of 10 students present for their first class session after Confirmation (and the DRE received calls explaining the 2 absences). The kids had a very pleasant attitude about Confirmation…they seemed genuinely proud and there was no resentment about being back in class – the message had been conveyed that Confirmation is not the end! The post-confirmation guided reflection went very nicely! Several of the other […]

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