Catechist's Journey

We’ve had a good conversation here about sacramental readiness over the last few days thanks to a plea for help from “Monica.” Thank you to all who have so generously shared their wisdom. Our discussion got me thinking about the notion of readiness and the fact that all of our catechesis takes its cue from [...]

I have long been an advocate of assessment in catechesis. At the same time, I have always made it clear that assessment in catechesis is to be used as a tool to address needs (both individual and corporate) and to address deficiencies in the catechetical program. I don’t advocate using assessments to assign report card [...]

So last evening, I conducted a Jeopardy-like review with my 6th graders and then followed it up with a final assessment. Here’s a summary: As part of our opening prayer, we included prayers for all those affected by the bombings in Boston. It is lamentable that, in the course of several months, we catechists have [...]

This coming Monday, I will do a formal assessment to see to what extent my 6th graders have grasped the BIG ideas I attempted to teach them this year in religious education! First, we will do a Jeopardy-like review using a Powerpoint version of the game that I found online a couple of years ago. [...]

Tonight, I’ll be giving my 4th graders their “end of the year” assessment, as I mentioned last week. Before I do so, I’ll spend some time reviewing some of the major categories of learning from this year: the 7 Sacraments, Parts of the Mass, and the Ten Commandments. I plan to do so using lots [...]

It’s hard to believe that I only have 2 more classes left (plus a closing session with a prayer service) this year! With that in mind, it’s time for a review and a final formal assessment. With my DRE’s approval, I’ve put together the following assessment which covers the major ideas that we focused on [...]