On my train ride this morning, I saw a marquee for a church that announced, “It’s All About Jesus!” I realized right then and there that this is the theme of my class this upcoming Monday evening! We’re beginning the unit on Jesus and, in essence, focusing on the notion that, for us Christians, it’s all about Jesus. By the way, in my last class, one of my students asked, “what’s the difference between Catholics […]
Greetings to all the good folks up in Rice Lake, Wisconsin! I was up there Tuesday and Wednesday for the Diocese of Superior Fall Conference, doing a couple of workshops on “Teaching to Generation Me.” Some of you may recall that a few months back, I did a series of posts on a book titled “Generation Me” by Jean Twenge, M.D. and offered some thoughts on how catechists can respond to the unique challenges this […]
Let’s not forget that October is the Month of the Holy Rosary. I’ve spent some time on previous posts talking about reflective prayer, aka, meditation. The Rosary is a unique form of meditation for Catholics. By focusing on the mysteries – events in the lives of Jesus and Mary – we encounter the Lord in a special way, through the intercession of Mary. It occurs to me now that praying the Rosary with my 8th […]
Please permit me a day off from being a catechist (we have no class tonight…Columbus Day) so that I can share my reflections on the demise of the 2007 Cubs. Alas, Lucy has pulled the football away from Charlie Brown once again, just when we thought that maybe, just maybe, this will be the time that he’ll finally get to kick that ball! Don’t we know any better? Like Jeremiah, we Cubs’ fans are lamenting (and […]
I think that one of the most effective ways to grow as a catechist is to be able to observe another catechist in action. I learn a lot by watching the techniques that other catechists use as well as observing the rapport that they develop with their students. Of course, arranging peer observation is not easy. For many of us, the only time that other catechists are teaching is when WE are teaching. That doesn’t […]
For last Monday’s session, as we were focusing on the nearness of God, I began by showing a 5-minute clip of the movie E.T. (The Extra Terrestrial). The clip is the very beginning of the movie that shows how E.T. gets left behind on earth. Most of the kids had seen the movie before so, after a little trip back to their early childhood, I asked them to summarize the plot of the movie. Simply […]
Last night saw great improvement in the kids’ behavior and ability to participate more maturely in reflective prayer (meditation). By the way, one of the boys asked at the outset of class, “Are we gonna pray again like last week?” I got a kick out of that because he was one of the kids who had trouble being still the previous week, although he was not a problem per se. I think he enjoys the […]
I like to do science experiments in religion class from time to time! They make for good attention-grabbers. Tonight, our focus is going to be on the nearness of God and our textbook emphasizes the fact that, since the Enlightenment, advances in science have led many people to conclude that God is not actively involved in creation. The textbook goes on to show that science helps us to understand how God’s creation works while Scripture […]
I received the following e-mail from a DRE in Iowa who is dealing with a question that often comes up. (The book she is referring to is God’s Library: A Catholic Introduction to the World’s Greatest Book). Following the e-mail is my reply: We have so many issues with children and adults interpreting the Bible literally! I am often unsure how to answer them because I don’t want to think that the Bible is just […]
Monday evening, I led my 8th graders in their first guided reflection. We were focusing on the Holy Spirit and how the Spirit helps us to pray. I invited the young people to make themselves comfortable…most chose to sit or lay on the floor. The guided reflection I used is from the Finding God program and is on a CD. After getting the young people to shift gears, I turned down the lights and put […]
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