I received my class list today and I have 13 eighth graders: 8 boys and 5 girls. Of course I would have hoped for a better gender balance but oh, well! I’ll be planning my lesson this weekend and gearing up to go Monday evening. Have a nice weekend! p.s. a shout-out to all the wonderful catechists I met in Iowa on Wednesday and Thursday!
I’ll be in Iowa doing some catechist formation for Dubuque and Dyersville and maybe get a chance to see the Field of Dreams again like I did last year. I’ll be talking about the Catechist’s Toolbox and God’s Library and meeting about 300 catechists over the couple of days that I’ll be there.
This coming Monday is week one of religious ed classes. Looking ahead, my overall goals are the following: to get there early to look over my classroom to see how I can set it up so that the arrangement will be conducive to faith sharing and good behavior to have name tents ready to place on their seats as they arrive (I will assign seating striving for boy-girl, boy-girl, as much as possible) so that […]
I came across the following – a nice post on a blog in which a woman reflects on her calling as a catechist. Enjoy! http://helloself.blogspot.com/2008/08/sunday-school.html
In anticipation of Catechetical Sunday, I’ve written an article that can be used in diocesan newspapers and newsletters, parish newspapers/bulletins, R.E. newsletters, or posted on parish Web sites. In other words, you have permission to use the following for your local needs. Please include acknowledgment of the author and my byline as I’ve done at the end of the article. Let me know if and how you end up using this. The article is also […]
This past Monday evening was our first catechist meeting of the year and it came off very well. It was nice to see the other catechists on the 8th grade team as well as some of the other catechists from other grade levels that I’ve met over the years. The highlight of the meeting, however, was the pastor’s comments at the very beginning. He issued a challenge to all of us catechists saying that each of […]
Tonight is our first catechist meeting of the year – an opportunity to “report for duty” and to get the scoop on what this year holds in store for us. Yes, we’ll get our class lists tonight so I can see how many kids I have (our DRE is very good at keeping class size no larger than 15) as well as their family information and special needs, if any. I’ll also find out what […]
Albert Einstein once offered the following as a definition for insanity: “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Too often, in catechesis, we fall into this trap. I was recently speaking with a junior high catechist who was lamenting the fact that last year, her kids were so quiet (not shy but recalcitrant) that it was painful to teach them. They refused to speak, save for one student. I was talking to […]
I’ll be meeting tonight with 30-40 catechists in Munster, Indiana, to help them get to know the new textbook series they’ve adopted (Christ Our Life, 2009). Becoming familiar with a new textbook and the catechist manual is a crucial step in your planning and preparation process. If you are using a textbook/catechist manual for the first time this year, here are a few pointers that may be helpful: Read through the children’s book first…get to […]
Many people, including me, see great parallels between athletics and the spiritual life. To me, the greatest parallel is that both require discipline. The biggest difference, however, is that, while in athletics, one needs discipline in order to achieve something, in the spiritual life, one needs discipline in order to receive something! Of course, we do not earn or achieve grace as if striving to earn or achieve a gold medal. On the other hand, […]
Copyright © 2006-2024 Loyola Press. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution, or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of Loyola Press is expressly prohibited.