I’m from Chicago, a BIG sports town (bigger than ever this week with Da Bears in Da Superbowl!). Often, sports can be a thorn in the side for catechists: students miss religious ed. classes because of games, tournaments, and practices and, worse yet, they and their families often miss Mass on Sunday because of games and tournaments. These are serious issues that need to be addressed. On the other hand, I’m a huge sports fan […]
In her comment on my January 29 post, Ali says: “Prayers are much more to be memorized, they should also be written on our hearts. It sounds like a wonderful way for you to gauge both. By having an exchange like you described, I can only imagine it will be as rewarding for you as will be helpful for the children.” You’re right, Ali, it was (is) very rewarding. Yesterday I had the opportunity to […]
This Monday evening, we begin the home stretch to Confirmation…about 6 weeks away. This immediate preparation can be a great opportunity to impress upon the young people an appreciation and awareness of the great grace of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Uppermost in my mind is helping them to see that Confirmation is not the end of their religious formation. Too often, it is seen as “graduation” from the Church. I hope to emphasize […]
I mentioned the other day that for the beginning of Advent, I invited the kids to pray in silence at the start of class. A friend of mine who used to be a 6th grade catechist remarked, “Oh, that’s the way I prayed with them almost all of the time.” I thought that was very refreshing. We sometimes think of prayer as a space that we have to fill up with words, when what we […]
I mentioned recently that I will be checking to see if my students have memorized (taken to heart) certain prayers outlined in the parish curriculum. I grew up at a time when memorization in catechesis had fallen upon hard times. Sure, I learned the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, but not much else. As a result, I grew up deprived of quick access to a major part of our Catholic Tradition. I recall […]
Authentic assessment is exactly what the name implies: it is genuine and real. Authentic assessment is performance-based: learners put into action what they’ve been learning. Beyond being able to speak or write about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, learners must have opportunities to live out the call to discipleship. Service Experiences—Provide suggestions for specific ways that your learners can put their faith into practice serving others, either individually or as a […]
Informal assessment asks the question: What can you do with what you know and how do you do it? Ongoing—Include opportunities to assess your participants’ grasp of concepts by observing their participation in discussions, group work, prayer/reflection, and service to others. Specific Tasks—Include specific opportunities to evaluate verbal (oral and written) and non-verbal (drawn, crafted, etc.) expressions and responses. These need not be quizzes or tests but may simply be activities that invite your participants […]
A formal assessment asks the question: What do you know or understand? This type of assessment, accomplished in either written or oral forms, models Jesus’ attempts to assess his disciples’ understanding of his teaching and actions. When using quizzes or tests, keep the following in mind: Make sure that the items included on your quizzes or tests are consistent with the learning outcomes for your lessons. Provide your learners with opportunities for self-assessment. In other […]
I think that kids have a natural ability to pray and that they especially like reflective prayer. When Patti (my co-catechist) and I lead the young people in a guided reflection, they become very peaceful and seem to relish the time alone with their thoughts and with God. After one of our reflections, I told the young people that another word for reflective prayer is meditation. They were pretty impressed that they were learning how […]
I’m participating in a good discussion about liturgical catechesis at www.catechistconnection.net (site no longer live). Here’s my latest comments on liturgical catechesis in response to someone who defines liturgical catechesis the way I would define lectionary catechesis. “I think most people use the term lectionary catechesis to refer to what you’re talking about (lessons that flow from the Sunday Scripture readings). From my experience, liturgical catechesis is any form of catechesis that prepares one to […]
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