A Prayer for Catechists - text next to icons indicating forms of prayer
Being a Catechist

A Prayer for Catechists: Challenging Situations

This prayer originally appeared in my book, The Catechist’s Toolbox: How to Thrive as a Religious Education Teacher. Download a PDF version of the prayer here. When have you faced a challenging situation in teaching? How did you handle it?

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Intermediate Grades

Ask for What You Need

Every new year presents its own challenges. Not only have I switched grades this year, but I also haven’t been assigned an aide, and I’ve been asked to move my class from a classroom into the open worship space to teach. My parish only has four actual classrooms. The remaining faith formation classes meet spread out in the open worship space. While I’ve taught in this space before, it’s not an ideal teaching environment. Until […]

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Joys and Frustrations

Not Every Year Will Be Like This One

Another catechetical year has ended, and I have to admit that I am glad this one is over. I had a challenging class this year, and many of my tried-and-true methods didn’t reach this group. There were good moments, but there were more frustrating ones. So today I am writing especially to the first-year catechists: Your year might have been a resounding success or not, but not every year will be like this one. Reflect […]

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Growing as a Catechist

What Challenge(s) Are YOU Facing This Year?

 One of the things that I take pride in about my blog is the fact that I always try to give an honest account of how my sessions go: the good, the bad, and the ugly! So, it’s no accident that my post yesterday included an honest self-assessment of my Monday evening session with a focus on a couple of the challenges that I face (trying to do too much; dealing with a child exhibiting […]