Tonight’s the night! I begin teaching 6th graders (Old Testament)! I’ve put together a little video that shows you some of my catechist preparations not only for tonight but for the year…I hope you find it helpful.
In the video, I mention or show a number of resources. Here are links to all of them:
- My Session Outline – Session One 9/10/12
- My Schedule for the Year
- PROCLAIMING THE WORD Bookmark in Word
- Prayer Intentions Template in Word
- Homework Notification Sheet
- Template for Creating Labels
- New American Bibles
- Dry Erase Board
- Pyrex bowl with lid
- meditation chime
- Finding God 2013
- Chart for Praying the Nicene Creed Leading to Memorization
- wood cross and candle (not the one I showed but just to give you an idea of cost)
I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide and inspire all of us catechists throughout this Year of Faith!
I like that bell.
it’s cool, eh?
Such good information, in particular having a seating chart. I’m definitively going to implement that in my classroom! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for going into step by step detail how you run your class. It gives all of us great ways to enrich our own classrooms. I was wondering what the “secret code” sheet was that you had the students do?
Hi Tracy. For the secret code, each slip of paper had the letters Xnt fds sn fn sn gdzudm. The code can be cracked by simply finding the letter in the alphabet that comes after the letter in the code. When you do so, the secret revealed are the words “you get to go to heaven!” I offered them NO help so that they would get frustrated. Only 2 kids solved it. I said, “wouldn’t it be frustrating if the key to an eternity with God was a secret? Luckily, we have a God who does the opposite: he doesn’t keep secrets, he reveals!” That was my lead in to the Bible. Make sense?
Thanks, Joe. I am starting my second year as a 5th grade catechist and I enjoy reading your posts. I am curious as to how you use the students’ written intentions. My students often have so many intentions that it takes over our prayer service. Do you read them or have the students read them? I would love to know how you organize the prayer service.
Hi Yolanda. I have them write down one intention and they share that as we pass the candle. They are very brief: “I pray for my Mom.” “I pray that I pass the history test.” etc. Keep it simple!
Thank you!
Joe, We are doing a year on the Bible with our Family/adult Catechesis Montly program. I really appreciate all the great ideas. Where did you get the maps/charts that you show being attached to the back of the poster board? I have looked and looked for wall charts or ones like yours to buy for our program. I cant find any from Loyala in your online catalog . Are they from a different publisher?
Barb Gerdes DRE
St. John the Baptist
Dayton, MN 55327
Hi Barb. The posters come with the Finding God program. You can contact customer service and find out if they can be purchased separately. 800-621-1008