Newsworthy Archives - Page 11 of 21

Did I Hear You Ask About ACTIVITIES?

Back on 4/27/10, I received this comment from Michael N. It seems that Catholic religion textbooks (we use one designed for schools) are painfully bad…to the point of being almost unusable. I think I’d do much better if they just gave me a religious-themed coloring book! Any websites you recommend for ideas/content (games, songs, prayers, activities, printable sheets, etc.)?? God bless you! Michael Although I don’t agree with Michael’s assessment of Catholic religion textbooks (what […]

Doing a Parent-Child Bible Presentation

Joe Paprocki

While at NCCL this week, I am doing a poster presentation about how to conduct a parent-child session on introducing Catholics to the Bible. The poster indicates that you can get a pdf of the outline for the session on my blog. That said, here ’tis! Joe P. NCCL Poster Presentation

Student Evaluation Form

Joe Paprocki

Thanks to the folks who sent me some ideas about a student evaluation of the catechist. I’ve designed my own form which is based specifically on what we covered this year and on specific features of my sessions. Still, I’m sure that you can glean some ideas from this form to design one to fit your own needs. Your feedback and/or questions on the design and content of this form are welcome! Student Evaluation of […]

New Edition of Catholic Youth Bible

Joe Paprocki

From time to time, people ask me about Bibles to use with young people. Here’s a review of the new edition of the Catholic Youth Bible from Brigid Wolff, the Coordinator of the Chicago Catholic Scripture School. A new edition of The Catholic Youth Bible has been released and is now available for purchase for $26.95 in paperback. This edition uses the New American Bible (NAB) rather than the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of […]

Congratulations Kevin Cody!

Joe Paprocki

Congratulations to my friend Kevin Cody, DRE at St. Alphonsus in Lemont, IL, on his installation as president of the National Association of Parish Catechetical Directors (NPCD) which is part of the NCEA (National Catholic Education Association). Here’s the story as reported in the current issue of The Sower, the newsletter of the Office for Catechesis and Youth Ministry in the Archdiocese of Chicago. New President of NPCD Kevin Cody – Catechetical Leader at St. […]

Spy Wednesday

Joe Paprocki

On Monday night, I was telling my class about the Triduum and one of the boys asked, “what are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday called?” in light of the fact that we have Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. I told him that those 3 days don’t really have a name other than being part of Holy Week. I forgot that Wednesday of Holy Week is known as Spy Wednesday! As a kid, […]

Before and After

Joe Paprocki

We had a very nice class last night with 8 of 10 students present for their first class session after Confirmation (and the DRE received calls explaining the 2 absences). The kids had a very pleasant attitude about Confirmation…they seemed genuinely proud and there was no resentment about being back in class – the message had been conveyed that Confirmation is not the end! The post-confirmation guided reflection went very nicely! Several of the other […]

What it Means to Pick Up Your Cross

Joe Paprocki

I had the pleasure of attending an evening of reflection at the McDonough Chapel of Saint Xavier University last night to listen to Dr. Barbara Reid, OP, Professor of New Testament Studies, Vice President, and Academic Dean at the Catholic Theological Union at Chicago. Barbara did a wonderful job of helping us to reflect on the meaning of the Cross of Jesus, very appropriate for the Lenten season. She talked about how most people will respond to […]

Last Night's Class, Tonight's Webinar

Joe Paprocki

Last evening, my students took their Confirmation exam. I haven’t had a chance to correct them yet, however, I can tell from a quick glance that there are no disasters awaiting me. In previous years, I had one or two kids who left full pages blank. Not this time. Before the exam, I gave them time to study and to quiz one another. I then told them that the Catholic faith was like a family […]

Not Bad!

Joe Paprocki

Our experience of playing a Jeopardy-like review was not bad at all last night. Of course, games can rile kids up so we were walking a fine line between having fun and laying down the law last night. However, overall, I’d have to say that fifty 8th graders in one room behaved pretty well! The nice thing was that they did a pretty good job of answering the questions. All of us were pleased that […]