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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
I received an e-mail from a catechist named Betty who mentions a discipline problem she faces in her sessions. Here’s her e-mail, followed by my response. I am a volunteer religious education teacher in a small parish. I teach the 9th and 10th grades as one class of 13 students. They are a great group of teens. I find it quite challenging but very rewarding. Challenging may be somewhat of an understatement at times. As we are trying to have discussions […]
Week 2 of religious education went very well. I remembered most of the kids’ names (next week…no name tags!) and they continued to be very well-behaved. We went to church for an opening prayer service and the pastor did a nice job of speaking to the kids about the upcoming year and talking about Jesus as the key to our salvation. Next week, I will be getting a new student with special needs (hearing impairment). […]
Tonight is week 2 for religious education and a big chunk of the time will be devoted to an opening prayer service in the Church. Of course, this provides an opportunity to teach the young people about reverence. In many ways, reverence is a lost art in our society. Simply put, reverence means recognition of the sacred. In the church, we gather in a sacred space, aware of the presence of the Living God. One […]
Here’s a copy of the e-mail I sent to my catechist aide, Kris, outlining the “game plan” for our first session which takes place this evening: Hi Kris, Fasten your seatbelt..opening day is here! Here’s the plan for tomorrow: We’re in room 24 I’ll be there by 6:40 itching to get into our room First one there (you or me) should pick up our bin and bring it to the room I’ll also pick up […]
This coming Monday is my first session (I don’t like to use the word “class”) with my 8th graders this year. I have 7 boys and 7 girls! How nice! Of course, this means that I’ll be spending a few hours this weekend planning my session. There’s always so much to do on the first day. My goal will be to be welcoming and engaging, to focus on getting to know their names, to lay […]
Yesterday, I received a letter from my DRE reminding us about our first catechist meeting on August 27. In the letter, she included the following which I thought I’d share with you. Gifts for you to give to your students: CARE – Before beginning your planned lesson, ask your students about their week and how they’re doing. Listen carefully and caringly. HOPE – Tell your students about the good things that are going on in […]
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