This is a copy of the notes for the teaching seminar I do for the Alabama State Teaching Seminars. It is geared toward teaching children 6-16, but the general princilples are the same for any age group.
Teaching Techniques That Change Lives
What is the purpose of teaching
To lead children and youth to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and to lead them into a process of sanctification, growing in Christ.
The definition
Teaching techniques that change lives. The definition of a technique is a skillful or efficient way of doing or achieving something. We want to skillfully and efficiently teach the word of God to point young people to Christ for the purpose of salvation and sanctification. In other words, we want our teaching to lead them to salvation and then through Christian growth.
We are not just teaching a story. We need to make them understand this is not a fairy tale it’s real. Today we are going to look at ways that we can effectively teach to reach the goals of salvation and sanctification.
So the very first element in effectively teaching is to show genuine love
Show Genuine Love
This is like the first base in the game of baseball, you hit the ball to the fence, you are able to round the bases and reach home before they throw the ball to home plate, however, you didn’t tag first and your efforts to score a run didn’t count. You must genuinely love them if you expect your efforts to produce Christ-likeness in them.
John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another”
When you love someone, you pray for them. John 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine
If God has given you a class, they are those which he has given you! You are accountable for the time and influence you have on their lives
You need to sacrifice for them; time, abilities and yes, even money. Buy a balloon a piece of candy for them. Something to show you care and were thinking about them.
- Get to know your student. Find out about what they like. Go to their home and visit them. When they know you really love them it will go a long way.
- Get to know the child well enough to know their abilities, things they like, how they relate to their family. Find out how well they read. Don’t ask them to read in front of the class until you know how well they read.
- Find out their spiritual awareness! Are they saved, do they have a good understanding, this will also have a lot to do with their age. Look around see where they live, is there a Bible visible, is the TV the center focus of the family. Pay attention to their neighborhood to know what challenges this child may face.
Know the character traits for the age level of your class.
It will help you to know what to expect for the age you teach.
Their physical abilities, Mental and emotional abilities, social skills, Spiritual capacity
Such as a 9-11-year-old child has lots of energy, so you need to be creative in planning your lesson, they like to be involved in singing, role-playing. Engage them in the lesson.
Know the mental/emotional state. They can remember well and concentrate. They have reached the age they are concrete thinkers, they no longer think only in the fantasy, but are not yet able to think abstractly. Concrete thinking thinks in facts. Abstract, thinkers can think in terms of symbolism, the future, the things that can happen.
Socially they place great importance on friends and begin at this age to form close friendships. They are becoming self-aware and are critical of themselves, they start to compare themselves to their peers
Spiritual – easy to lead to Christ at this age, they can easily make application of Bible stories to their own lives. They can participate in worship, and understand basic doctrine.
Study
II Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
This is a command for every Christian. It is not an option and should not be short-changed ever!
Know your material
Know your material. Nothing is worse than to sit in a class where the teacher is not prepared. Even worse is to sit in a class and be read to word for word. If this is the way you teach you will lose your students. They will do one of two things, either they will go to sleep on you or become a discipline problem. This is not teaching!
You don’t have to memorize it, but you need to know it well enough that you can glance at your notes and keep on teaching. Rewrite your lesson from the book putting it in your own words and making the main points bold so you don’t forget the important parts.
This takes Time – start on Monday
Start on Monday by reviewing how the lesson went the day before. Read the passage and meditate on it.f
Tuesday Develop the main point.
Try to pinpoint the main point that you want to gain from the passage and pass on to your students.
Teach yourself! Ask yourself questions, pretend you are a student and try to think of them and what they will say
Impact
Think about the lesson and what change should occur in your students because of this lesson.
If they listen and heed the lesson what attitude or action will it effect in their lives. Will they be obedient? Will it change their speech, their selection of books or their faithfulness to church?
Reward
Ask questions that are from what you just taught. This way, someone will get it right and you can reward. This will cause everyone to pay attention. I throw candy or I place it on the table in front of them and they know they are not to eat it until after class. I do this randomly. Keep candy on hand. Reward students for paying attention, answering questions correctly, or showing kindness to another child. Don’t go overboard with this or you will have students raising their hand all the time. Change up the rewards, when I did Patch the Pirate we were on a point system and One person went to the treasure chest.
Notes
Fill this out as you get ready near the end of the week. It is frustrating to get to church and realize you left what you needed at home.
Theme:________ Bible passage __________ Memory verse ____________
Main Point ______________________
Last Minute Checklist
Pencil, Pen, or Markers
lesson and Materials
Activity material’
Candy or treat (use occausionally)
Preparation checklist
Have you studied your lesson throughly.
Have you worked through your presentation?
Do I know the memory verse?
If an activity, have I prepared it and bought all the necessary items.
Have I prayed for those I will teach?
Have I prayed for myself?
Make the lesson come alive, you want to keep them so interested they are hungry for more
Techniques to make the passage come alive.
- Voice inflection- don’t be monotone, tell the story from a different perspective
- Drama- speak as if you were the character – use lots of expressions you can even tell it from a storytelling format, use dialogue – bring in someone to help and act out your story
- Use media as an aid- whiteboards, maps, power points, mini videos ( don’t use a video to fill your entire lesson time.) You are the teacher, not the DVD. Show a small part and then stop to discuss what has happened and the biblical principles taught.
- Change your stimulus during the lesson- As I said earlier I sometimes throw candy
- Involve the students in the lesson – younger children need this – if you have a lesson with animals let different students make the sounds as you call that animal. This is fun, and it keeps them involved.
- An activity sheet to fill out as you go. Caution, if you do this with younger children do at the end of class. Either write the answers on the board to avoid having to spell them several times.
- Use object lessons. The are plenty of these on websites, just google.
Develop your lesson from the ground up
Foundation, frame, and roof.
Foundation = Facts
The who, what, when, and where of the Bible story.
This is your foundation for your lesson.
It is important to remind your students, especially young children, that everything the Bible says is true and it happened.
Frame = truths or spiritual lessons
- The Bible is far more than a historical record of events. It is God’s word to us. Everything in the Bible has been included for a reason.
- II Timothy 3:16, 17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
- We learn about God’s character, our nature, our past, our present, and our future. Spiritual truths can be taught as early as preschool years.
Application, the Roof is the Application
- The application of the truth makes the lesson practical by drawing attention to the purpose of the story.
- From age 7 or 8, children develop a spiritual awareness and a growing consciousness of right and wrong. This stage is the perfect time to start linking spiritual truths from the Bible to their everyday lives.
- Weave the application throughout your lesson, not just a tag at the end. Such as; Joseph was a young man that had it very hard, he was lied about, put in prison and still trusted God. He didn’t understand at all, but he still obeyed, and God honored him for it. Ask, have there been times you have obeyed but you didn’t understand why?
Now you can take any passage and develop a lesson
- Facts- David would fight Goliath
- Truth- God gave David the victory
- Application-obey and trust God and he will fight for you
Application of Written Word Makes It the Living Word
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Application Changes Lives
Application truly changes lives. It is the putting into action the truths we know.
Control in the Classroom
It doesn’t matter how much knowledge you are ready to pour into your students, or how much time you have spent studying and praying, it will not do the job if you don’t have control of your classroom.
Have You ever gone into a classroom like this? I have but thankfully I had it under control in just a few short minutes. (This was a picture of students totally out of control.)
There are lots of different things you can do to avoid this.
The arrangement of seats. This is best when a u shape is formed. It allows you access to all students quickly.
Use tables with chairs instead of just chairs
- All students are facing the teacher not each other
- This helps to keep their attention on you
- Prevents them from kicking or using the chair in front of them as a footstool
- Allows students a work surface
- Alleviates a modesty issue. Young ladies don’t know how to sit with a dress on and this can be a really bad distraction.
- I like to have them in front of me but with nothing in between us. The closer you are to the student the more accountable they are. I walk a lot when teaching and if a student isn’t paying attention I may go stand beside them, in front of them or even put my hand on their shoulder.
This is a picture of a square set up with the teacher in the seating. I used this in Knoxville. I could see the teens eye to eye. I could watch their facial expressions as I talked, and it was great for getting them to be involved. If I needed to use a podium I would put it at the top and make sure there was enough room to not be on top of a student
Next, we have a u-shaped seating. It’s perfect for being able to keep everyone accountable. You are no more than 5 feet from each student as you move in the U and teach.
Begin the year with some type of response
Begin the year with some type of response to let the kids know it’s time to pay attention. Such as clap 3 x and they repeat, or 1,2, 3, and they would say eyes on me. I used to use 1,2,3, zip the lip and they would follow with zipping and act as if throwing away the key. Whatever you use the point is to get their attention. None of the mentioned responses can be done while talking to their friend. In less than 10 seconds you have control
Make eye contact
As you talk to the group make eye contact with each child.
When reading from the Bible look up at them regularly.
Stop, look, and ask questions.
When A Child loses focus
Drop their names as you teach. Especially if you see a student that is not paying attention
Never miss a beat, but such as “Ron” then move to your next point. You may want to include them in the story, such as Tim, do you remember when we studied Creation how Adam named the animals. Wouldn’t that have been cool!
If they are trying to talk about things that aren’t relevant “say, let’s get back on track.” We’ll talk about that some other time.
When a student is disruptive
- If a student is a disruption use your helper. If you don’t have one get one! You should always be training another to take over or start a new class. They should prepare each week just in case you are out sick. You need to work out with your helper what you will do before an incident happens. They should know if you give the motion they are to sit with the student that is disruptive. If they persist the helper can remove them from the group
- Involve the parents. Let them know how their kids are doing. Let me warn you. You don’t want them to think you are complaining or you don’t like their kids. Most parents don’t blame their children but the teacher. Make sure you never discuss a child with other people. Only the parent
- Don’t ever embarrass a student on purpose in public
No Control, No learning
- When you are not in control no one learns.
- Follow through on the discipline of the student. This not only helps the student that’s disruptive, but it will help to eliminate future problems with other kids
- Don’t allow kids to go to the restroom during class. Make sure you train them to go before and if they are to go tell them they will have to wait. Know your students well enough to know if they really need to or just want out of class. One bathroom turns yields another.
- Don’t allow students to ask questions while you are speaking. Tell them there will be time at the end of class. This is a big disruption for a class. Sometimes the questions are totally irrelevant and while the kids are holding their hand up they are not listening but thinking of what they want to say.
Sum It Up
- Love Like Christ
- Pray for yourself and your students
- Study
- Start on Monday
- Make a plan and outline your plan
- Make a checklist and check it off
- Be at least 15 to 20 minutes for Sunday school. This will allow you to get to know parents and students as they arrive early. When you are late you hold up the classes the parents are in also
- Live as if every child were patterning their life after you!
There is a power point presentation that goes with this. I did not put this on my website but would be happy to share it with your church.
