Let’s do more post-webinar Q & A! I appreciate how so many of you are adding your wisdom in response to the questions.

To access the Q & A, click on the COMMENTS link just below and to the left.  You’ll see a number of comments from Joe, each representing a different question. You can then click on REPLY to add your thoughts. Let’s talk!

As promised, we’ll keep the conversation going from our Catechist Training Webinar by addressing the many questions that we did not get to address while live. I’m going to do so by using the COMMENTS feature below. Click on the word COMMENTS just below and to the left and you’ll see comments from Joe, each representing a different question. You can then click on REPLY to add your thoughts. Let’s talk!

When we gather with our young people for religious education classes, it’s not always easy for them to make the transition from their day into “the sacred.” One strategy is to emply some discussion starters to break the ice: questions that are non-threatening, fun, and substantive. I recommend a product created by my friends Tom McGrath and Bret Nicholaus called The Meal Box. The Meal Box is a set of 52 cards featuring questions designed to “spice up conversations and get parents and kids talking” around the dinner table. I think these would work very well in a catechetical setting as well.

Here are some samples:

If you could build a private bridge or tunnel that would take you directly from your home to any place at all, what would it connect to?

*   *   *

If you could transport yourself back in time and experience first-hand any story in the Bible, which one would it be?

*   *   *

If you asked five people who know you to write down the one word that they think best describes you, what do you think would be the most common answer? (consider the answer carefully from their viewpoint, not yours)

*   *   *

If you could literally jump into the pages of any book you’ve ever read and experience the action along with the characters, which book would you choose?

*   *   *

If you were in charge of planning for and building a brand-new museum, what specific theme would be the focus of the museum and where do you think would be the best place to build it?

These questions could be especially helpful at the start of the year as you attempt to break the ice and get to know your students and help them to get to know one another if they don’t already.

Check it out: The Meal Box

Over the past year, I have picked up a number of handy suggestions from various catechists…little things they do in their classes that I think make a BIG difference. Here are the “top ten” things that you can do on a regular basis to help you become a more effective and engaging catechist right now without adding tons of additional planning time to your preparation for class!

1. Greet your students at the door each week with a task they need to complete (e.g. hand them an index card and have them write down the most significant event/experience of their past week). Keeping them on task from the moment they enter is a form of “preemptive” discipline.
2. If your class is reading a long block of material from the text book, call on the first volunteer to read and then tell him/her to pick the next reader and so on…it adds a little twist that kids find fun.
3. If you’re leading a class discussion, bring in a foam ball and toss it to someone as a prompt for him/her to respond to a question you’ve asked. Invite him/her to toss it (gently) to the next student they wish to have respond.
4. Begin class by asking the young people to mention something good that happened in the past week (use the foam ball mentioned in #2!)
5. Follow that up by asking them to mention someone or some situation that needs our prayers. “Gather” all of these thoughts into your opening prayer.
6. At the end of class, go around and ask each young person to name at least one thing they learned before they leave (wow, you can use the foam ball again!)
7. As the young people leave your class, stand at the doorway with a bowl of holy water and have them bless themselves (or you can bless them) .
8. Create a simple Prayer Box (a shoe box, wrapped in nice paper, and a slit cut on the top) and place it in the room. Invite the young people to write prayers at any time on small slips of paper and to drop them into the box. Designate a time for reading the prayers out loud.
9. Have the young people set up your prayer center at the start of every class (table, cloth, Bible, crucifix, candle, flower, etc). Make a ritual out of it.
10. Invite the young people to bring their own symbols to add to the prayer center as the year goes on.

What other LITTLE ideas would you suggest that catechists can do on a regular basis that can make a BIG difference in their teaching?