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 […]
The other day, I wrote about leading children in reflective prayer or meditation. People often ask just what this “looks like.” I thought it would be helpful to share an example. The following guided reflection is from Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gifts, Grade 5 (Loyola Press): Called to Holiness Time: approximately 10 minutes We all have imagination. Imagination allows us to go places and to do things that might otherwise be impossible. Today […]
A DRE in the northern suburbs of Chicago, Matt Furjanic, published a nice article in his parish bulletin titled “Top 10 Ways to Help Your Child Get the Most of His/Her Religious Education Sessions.” Nice job, Matt! Take an active interest in your child’s work – review lessons together, look in your child’s folder each week when he/she brings it home. Help your child complete any homework assignments. Post papers/artwork on the refrigerator or bulletin […]
I’m beginning my Theology on Tap talks this week with the following story. At the time of 9/11, I was working for the Archdiocese of Chicago, Office for Catechesis, as a Vicariate Catechetical Coordinator. The DREs I was working with felt that it would be good to engage in Muslim-Catholic dialogue and I agreed. I visited a mosque and invited the Imam there to meet with a group of DREs and he cordially accepted. A few […]
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