Local Church Education

Practicum Report #8- Lesson Report #2

2007-12-03T13:32:00.001-08:00

FROM: Adam

TO: Randi and Kelly

DATE: 12-2-07

SUBJECT: Practicum Lesson Report #2

Time Spent: 2½ hours (SS=1; Morning Worship= 1½)

A. My Lesson

I taught Pastor Dales’ class on the doctrine of the Trinity. I had never even attended this class before so I did not know what to expect. They turned out to be a great group, and we really had fun. They lightened the atmosphere by actually participating, making jokes, and taking interest in me before class began. My objectives for the lesson were to show, from the Trinity, how we are to love with other focused love. My objectives were to: 1. Teach them about God’s other-oriented love. 2. Relate the Trinity to community/fellowship.

This is how the class went minute by minute:

Fellowship 9:30-9:40: The class began to file in around 9:30. Most of them said they were running late and that the class does not normally start at 9:40. This made me a little more nervous because I had planned on having a full hour and I knew the lesson would probably require every bit of that time. After fellowshipping over donuts and chocolate milk, Pastor Dale signaled for class to start.

Announcements 9:40-9:45: A man I had never met or seen before in church did the announcements; although, he seemed to know everyone in the class. I overheard that he was doing some kind of probationary work with Pastor Dale. After he read and did announcements, Pastor Dale, along with two others, prayed.

Introduction/Testimony 9:45-9:50: After the prayer, Pastor Dale introduced me and why I was teaching. He explained that one of his goals is to help raise up the next generation and that I am doing a practicum for a class at IWU. After my introduction, I asked the class to say their name around the circle because I had never attended the class before. This turned out to be a fun time; they tried to go faster the second time and the first guy started to introduce the whole class. This lightened the mood, especially in my mind. Next, I shared part of my testimony of the last year. I shared how God had opened my eyes to the selfishness in my life and is progressively purging me of it.

Lesson on Trinity 9:50-10:20: I tied my testimony into the doctrine of the Trinity. I explained that true love is not self-seeking. True love is other-oriented or other-focused. God did not simply create the idea of love; He is love. Love stems from His very nature and being. The Father loves the Son and the Spirit, the Son loves the Spirit and the Father, and the Spirit loves the Son and the Father. To get to the point, I explained how our one God exists in a community of three Persons who share complete and perfect other-oriented love.

Application Chart 10:20-10:30: After also sharing several analogies of the Trinity with the class, I led them through the application chart I had made. The first application was on selfishness. I related how selfishness is the root of all kinds of evil and that we need to be less selfish in our relationships. The second step on the chart was love. I explained that God is love. True love is other-oriented. I made applications to specific relationships. Since it is a family foundations class, I made applications to marriage and family. The next step on the chart was community/fellowship. The truth was that God exists in a community of Persons who share fellowship with each other. One application was that we need to take our church family more seriously. I had to skip the next step on the chart, identity, because we were running out of time. I skipped to the last step on the chart about the two greatest commandments given by Jesus. Also, Romans 13 says that the whole law can be summed up in this one commandment: love your neighbor as yourself. I explained how this does not mean that we must love our self before we can love others. Verses like this operate out of the assumption that we already know how to love our self; therefore, we need to love others that way. Finally, I closed in prayer.

B. Response

For the most part, I felt the class responded very well. There was a time in the middle of my lecture on the Trinity when I noticed I was losing people. I did not lose everyone, but I noticed I lost a little under half. This is exciting to me just to realize that I am now able to recognize when people’s attention is straying. Before, I do not think I would have noticed as quickly. I was able to bring their attention back to me when I switched topics. I was surprised on the amount of response I received from the analogy part of my lesson. I shared two analogies of the Trinity, the family and the mind analogy. They asked questions about the analogies and wondered which Person in the Trinity correlated to which part. They also shared at least five other analogies with the class that I had never heard before. I explained two wrong analogies, and they were able to tell me why they were wrong. After class, at least four people encouraged me and told me it was a great lesson. They said it was very thought-provoking.

C. Supervising Teacher’s Evaluation

I talked with Pastor Dale over the phone the following Monday. He had a lot of useful advice. He first encouraged me by what I did well. He said I had a great introduction with my testimony by created curiosity of how my testimony related to the Trinity. He said my use of the overhead as a visual aid was very helpful and that my application handout was also helpful and easy to follow. He also said that I dressed appropriately, but the biggest compliment I received was that Pastor Dale thought that I shared deeper truths, not shallow. I value this more than the others because it does not matter how well one presents the lesson if there is no substance.

After he encouraged me, Pastor Dale gave me some helpful pointers on how to improve the lesson. He said that I made several true statements, but they would have carried more weight and power if I had used Scripture to back them up. Another thing he noticed was that I had a lot more material than the class time could allot, but he also said that it was not my fault because the class started late. He also told me to ask more strategic questions. He pointed out one instance where I asked if there were any questions when I could have asked a more specific and strategic question. Like we had discussed in Local Church Education class, he said that these questions help people to retain information because they actually came up with the answer themselves. The last piece of advice Pastor Dale gave me was to try to help the class follow where I am going. He suggested giving them an outline of the slides I used to help students to visually see the flow of the lesson.

D. Things I did well

1. I did not rely on my notes

2. I made eye contact

3. I used my hands

4. The application chart was easy to follow and helped the class to grasp the information and significance of the lesson.

5. I made use of the overhead projector to use as a visual aid.

6. I stressed the significance and relevance in our lives today.

E. Things I need to work on

1. Come better prepared for the lesson in terms of clearly understanding the flow and where I am going next.

2. I could have been clearer, especially on the flow or my thoughts, explaining the distinguishability of the Persons in the Trinity and how they retain their unity.

3. I could have made more specific and more practical applications

4. I wish I could feel free to act more freely in an acting sort of way

F. Questions

1. What is the best way to draw the class’ attention back? If you lose some, but not all, and believe that what you are teaching at the time is very important, should you change topics to something else or stay on the same topic for the sake of the people who are paying attention?

2. When the class is engaged in the lesson and is actively participating but the lesson is not moving on, when is it a good time to move on and what is the best way to do that?

Practicum Report #7

2007-11-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

From: Adam

To: Randi and Kelly

Subject: Practicum Report #7

A. Time Spent this Week

11/18/07- 2 1/2 hrs. (SS=1 hr; AM Worship= 1 1/2 hrs)

B. My Class this Week

We finished up our lesson on pain this week. We looked at four different passages that dealt with pain the Jesus experienced, and we answered three questions in each passage: what type of pain did Christ experience, how did Christ respond to the painful situation, and why did Christ have to experience this pain? Steve is a psychology professor at Taylor University; so naturally, his lessons frequently have a psychological twist to them. It is really interesting to look at the Bible from a psychological point of view. For example, he explained to us the reason that girls are more emotional than guys. Girls seem to be more emotional because they are wired to express their emotion physically. They actually have more tear ducts than guys do. He also give us options of what is most likely running through the minds of the people in the Bible stories we discuss. This is helpful because it makes the story come alive and helps me to relate to the characters on a personal level.

Since Steve is a college professor and mentors many college-age students, he knows how to relate to us and discuss things that are relevant to us. He is able to take a topic, like the pain of Christ, and show us concrete ways to handle it. For example, he knows that college students do not get enough rest so he proposed one way to deal with pain is to rest and to not be afraid to ask help from others. We respond well to this kind of teaching.

This was the attendance this week: Alyssa, John, Stephanie, Morgan, Kay Ellen, Colt, Lydia, Connie, Dave R., Dave, Krista, Lydia, Lydia, and Benjamin. Two of the regular attendees were not there, Rebecca and Emily.

1. Connie

Connie has a genuine aura about her. She has shared with me some of the things that have happened to her in the past, and she has not had the best record. Despite this, she has an eagerness to learn because she volunteers to answer even though she may be wrong. She has changed, and she is a joy to have in class because she is real. She is not weary of people; she seems to accept everyone just the way they are. I think this is a great quality and is something that most definitely strengthens the class.

C. My Questions this Week

1. How do we achieve relevancy as teachers. More than simply understanding our students, how can we understand our students better? What are specific things we can do to be able to relate to them better?

2. What can a teacher do to facilitate or cause people to have the same attitude as Connie does, one that accepts everyone, is real, and does not hold any suspicions? How much control does the teacher have over this issue? My class is not even close to this point, but what if the class was so fake that there was an extremely high level of distrust and animosity in the class? How far could a teacher go to break and destroy that problem? How blunt could a teacher be, or should this problem be dealt with elsewhere? (sorry for the long and somewhat complicated question)

Practicum Report #6

2007-11-11T21:10:00.001-08:00

From: Adam

To: Randi and Kelly

Subject: Practicum Report #6

A. Time Spent this Week

11/11/07- 4 hrs. (SS=1 hr; AM Worship= 1 1/2 hrs; SS lunch= 1 1/2 hrs.)

B. My Class this Week

Today, the symbol of the Holy Spirit I presented was dew. The Holy Spirit is like the dew in that God gives us His new blessings each new day. The Holy Spirit also works quietly, softly, and gently just like dew. The application was to thank God each day for His blessings and be grateful for all He has given us. I brought in the theological importance of gratefulness vs. ungratefulness. Satan tempted Eve with the fruit saying that it would make her like God. Eve was not completely grateful for all that God had done for her or she would be satisfied with what she had. Sin stemmed from ungratefulness. I explained that we cannot obviously be completely grateful all the time, but we can make strides to be grateful in all we do so that we will minimize sin in our lives. I snagged everyone’s attention as I talked about the theological importance. I believe this is because people hunger for theology, but we do not receive little, if any at all, in the church.

Steve taught on the pain of Christ and how He dealt with it. We had a full class today and everyone, for the most part, seemed to be really attentive to the message. Everyone really respects Steve and his teachings. Steve’s style of teaching is the same every week. He comes prepared with an outline of the lesson with different scripture or themes on the left hand column and questions on the top row. We fill out the chart throughout the class as he teaches from the scripture. There was frequent participation today. Here are the students who participated the most:

1. Stephanie

Stephanie is very opinionated. She has a heart to learn and actively participates in the discussion. It is nice to have at least one person like this in a class. I do not know if I would go so far to say that everyone should be opinionated, but it does help class discussion.

2. Lydia

I learned today that the younger Lydia was homeschooled, and she prayed one time for us. Her prayers are very formal and said with dramatic words. It is good to have a diverse background in a class. More perspectives are brought to the table.

3. Morgan

Morgan is a very friendly individual. She has the gift of hospitality, and makes people feel at home. This adds to the class dynamics in a very positive way.

4. Krista

Krista is very organized. She organized our class lunch today and she seems to have a lot of confidence in herself. She is very dependable.

5. Jon

Jon shared something personal but not too specific today with us. He shared that he has been struggling in a relationship for about three years, and God has brought him out of it. He was very grateful for what God had done for him.

It is interesting to see the class dynamics and how everyone works together to make the class work. After the worship service, we all went to Steve’s house for lunch and fellowship. I thoroughly enjoyed this time because I got to know some of the new faces. We had a time where we sang and shared what God is doing in our lives. This was very encouraging for me because it was just what I needed. It was encouraging to see how God was uniquely working in everyone’s life. This also brought us closer together.

C. My Questions this Week

1. Is it okay to use the same format or style of teaching every week? The style Steve uses is most definitely effective, but is it beneficial to use more variety?

2. If a class is lacking in a certain area because the dynamics are weak, how can you, as a teacher, change it or bring diversity in order to strengthen the dynamics? Can others step in to fill in the empty spots even if they are not gifted or do not fill that role very well?

Practicum Report #5/Lesson Report #1

2007-11-01T18:40:00.000-07:00

FROM: Adam

TO: Randi and Kelly

DATE: 10-28-07

SUBJECT: Practicum Lesson Report #1

Time Spent: 2½ hours (SS=1; Morning Worship= 1½)

A. My Lesson

I taught on the book of Jonah. My objectives were to: 1. Teach that the book of Jonah is not about a fish, but about a loving God who cares for a lost people. 2. To teach about God’s mercy, God’s discipline, our repentance, our obedience, and our thanksgiving.

This is how the class went minute by minute:

Fellowship 9:20-9:30: Class is always scheduled to start at 9:20, but people usually begin to arrive at this time. We have a short time of conversation and eat some donuts.

Worship Songs 9:30-9:40: We sang three songs of praise, which were led by Colt.

Mini-Lesson on Holy Spirit 9:40-9:45: Steve presented the lesson on the symbols of the Holy Spirit this week. The symbol for this week was the seal. Steve used the passage from 2 Corinthians 1 and talked about how the Holy Sprit seals us. He also brought in eternal security. I do not agree with this position, but I respect him for teaching on a theological issue and submit to this teaching because it is the belief of Twin City church. After that, he then introduced me and my lesson.

Introduction and Background 9:45-10:00: I gave an introduction to the book and asked questions to draw their attention and get them interested. I asked them what the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the story of Jonah. Everyone said Jonah and the whale. I went on to explain that Jonah is not about a big fish, that it is about much more than that. I related the story of Jonah to Al-Qaida and the terrorist attacks.

Next, I gave a little background to the Assyrians and Nineveh. I told them how the Assyrians would take their captured enemies and drive them onto stakes in the ground where they would suffer for up to three days before they died. They also skinned them alive, cut open pregnant women’s wombs to take the babies out, worshipped idols, and practiced prostitution and witchcraft. I also explained that Israel’s mission was to be a light and example to all nations, but they were not fulfilling that role. This is the reason God sent Jonah to fulfill this duty.

Next, I introduced the five themes I wanted them to look for in the book of Jonah: mercy/wrath, discipline/punishment, repentance/forgiveness, obedience/disobedience, and thanksgiving/complaining. I introduced these themes by giving short scripture references to each one.

Group Discussion 10:00-10:20: Steve helped me to split the class up into groups and I gave them instructions on what to look for in each of their chapters. I asked them to identify how their chapter is divided into paragraphs or sections by verses, summarize the chapter, and then to fill out the chart I gave them on the five themes. I planned on giving 15 minutes for this time, but some groups needed more time. Throughout this time, I walked around to every group to make sure they understood what to do.

Themes and Application 10:20-10:35: I brought everyone back together and we discussed their findings. First, I had everyone give a summary of their chapter so that all the groups would get a feel of the whole chapter. Next, we went through each theme, except we did not get time to finish the last two themes. I asked each group what they found on, for example, the theme of mercy. After each group had shared, I shared a few applications for each theme. After we ran out of time, I skipped to the last application I wanted to share. One of the main points I wanted to get across is that Jonah is not about a fish; it is about a loving God who cares about a lost people. Even though the Assyrians were so evil, God wanted to forgive them. I applied this to our lives by sharing a personal story about a guy who bullied me. Oftentimes, I would try to get him back and I did not want him to receive anything good. I ended with Jesus’ statement that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

B. Response

I felt that the students learned something and were challenged also. For the most part, everyone was attentive, and I think they really enjoyed the group work because it changed things up. We not used to doing any group work, and I feel it helped to bring the class together because many of the students have not talked with everyone in the class. This forced them to work together. Group two was finished first because they had the easiest chapter considering it was Jonah’s prayer. They worked more individually and quietly and socialized after they had finished. Group one and three did things somewhat similar. They read the chapter and discussed the themes together. Group four, the last group, did something different. Steve, the teacher, was in this group, and he assigned each person to a different theme to find. They also discussed things together.

This week was fall break for Taylor so we were missing a few, but for some reason we had as many or more than we usually do. There were 25 people in attendance.

C. Supervising Teacher’s Evaluation

Steve and I set up a time to discuss my lesson on the following Wednesday. I called him on the phone after one of his classes, and he had many good pointers. He said that the historical context I gave was excellent and helped the class to interpret Jonah. He also liked how I was able to cover all four chapters and get a feel of the whole book at once. He said that the structure was well formulated. He liked how I gave a verse to each theme I introduced before the discussion. He told me the content was especially good, and that I had many valuable points.

He also gave me very useful pointers. He recommended that I be bolder in asking people to read because it is more efficient. Instead of asking if anyone would read, specifically call on one person to read. He also had something to say on my presentation. He said that I should use more focusing moves. By this, he meant that there are things that speakers can do to make sure the listener understands the important points. He told me certain things that will help with this. He said to change your voice volume at key points because you do not want to scream or be quiet the entire time. Repeat the key points, notice what the students say by repeating their answers or instructing class to write them down. Use expressions when you want to highlight a concept such as, “Now, here’s a very important point.” Hesitate or pause before an important point. When people respond, pull something from what that person said that was excellent.

I also did not have enough time to finish my lesson so Steve gave me some advice on how to make it fit. He said to think about things you did that took more time than was needed. He said that I could cut the groups down to only two people. This way, the groups could focus on a specific aspect of the lesson, and we would not have to spend so much time in the groups. He said I was expecting too much for the groups in too short period of time. During the class reflection, he suggested to provide a big poster and have them fill it out as they finish in their groups. Steve said that he makes a short and a long plan in case discussion takes too long.

D. Things I did well

1. I think I grabbed their attention in the beginning.

2. I gave good historical context for the book.

3. Most of the time, I expressed myself clearly.

4. I think I did a good job of driving the main points and applications home.

5. I am improving on being in front of people. I was not nervous (as I have been in the past).

E. Things I need to work on

1. I did not explain the group instructions clearly at first. I had to be reminded.

2. I need to better judge the amount of time different parts of the lesson take.

3. I need to be able to express myself with more enthusiasm.

4. I need to learn to improvise better, especially when we ran out of time to finish.

F. Questions

1. What is the best way to deal with a group that does not follow directions but did it in a different way that was less effective (like group 2)?

2. What is the best way to express your passion for the lesson, and how do you express your enthusiasm better? I feel like I had more passion than I was able to express. I love speakers and teachers that can cause people to become excited also. I did this to an extent, but I feel like there could have been more. I also do not want to be like one of those people who try to make everyone excited about everything all the time. Are there certain ways that work best to express passion, or does it just come from experience?

Practicum Report #4

2007-10-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

From: Adam

To: Randi and Kelly

Subject: Practicum Report #4

A. Time Spent this Week
10/14/07- 2 1/2 hrs. (SS=1 hr; AM Worship= 1 1/2 hrs)

B. My Class this Week
This week’s symbol of the Holy Spirit was circumcision. That’s right; I had the honor of explaining this one. Normally, there is a picture of the symbol on the handout page, but as you could guess there was no picture for this one. I taught on how the Holy Spirit gives us an inward desire to love and obey God. It is the Holy Spirit, not us, that cuts out sinful desires of the flesh and places in us a humble dependence on God. It is the Holy Spirit’s work, not ours.
Steve taught once again on the compassion of Christ. His format is a clear and systematic way of looking at the Scripture passages he has picked out. He has a handout printed out every week in a table form. For example, this time he had the Scripture verses on the left column of the table and three questions on the top row of the table. The three questions are: “Who was shown compassion?”, “How did Christ show compassion?”, and “What Response was given to Christ’s Compassion?” As we answer the question, Steve asks more questions and fills in details about the passage. He knows a lot about the culture of the people at the time, which is very helpful to understanding the passage.
I am finally beginning to get people’s names. These are some of the new names I have learned that participated this Sunday:
1. Lydia
Lydia was very involved this class period.
2. Lydia
No, I did not make a mistake. There are two Lydias. One is a freshman, and the other is a senior.
3. Diana
4. Jess
5. Kristen, Aaron, and Michelle
These three are friends from IWU who are all three nursing majors. They said they had a huge workload this week. For the most part they were quiet during class, but Steve called on each one of them to either answer and question or read scripture. Even though they did not voluntarily participate, they did so willingly when asked and were able to contribute meaningful answers.
8. Morgan

9. Alyssa
Alyssa prayed to begin class. She remained attentive the whole time.
10. Connie
I met Connie the first week this year, and she is very faithful and is good at contributes to the team.
11. Guy at the end of the row
I really need to learn his name, but he finally participated today! He answered one of the questions toward the beginning of the class. I did notice later that he drifted off.

C. My Questions this Week
1. I will be teaching the Sunday after next. Should I follow Steve’s way of teaching with the table, or should I bring in more class discussion? I guess I am a little nervous doing it Steve’s way because he is so knowledgeable and can also lecture on a subject. Should I do it this way to get practice with more a lecture type class, or should I do it the way I feel more comfortable with more discussion and interaction?
2. What kind of structure should I provide for the class? I am afraid that the class will expect me to teach exactly like Steve does, which is impossible. How do I present my unique teaching in a way that the class will understand and be able to learn from?

Practicum Report #3

2007-10-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

From: Adam

To: Randi and Kelly

Subject: Practicum Report #3

A. Time Spent this Week
10/7/07- 2 1/2 hrs. (SS=1 hr; AM Worship= 1 1/2 hrs)

B. My Class this Week
Today, I had the opportunity to present the Holy Spirit symbol of wind. The lesson this Sunday was on the Compassion of Christ. We looked at several Scripture passages: Matthew 20: 29-34, Mark 1: 40-45, and Luke 7: 11-19. Steve is a good teacher. He is very energetic and animated, and he uses gestures and hand motions. He presents it in a very clear way, but most of all, he really cares about us. He makes a point to learn everyone’s name and ask personal questions to get to know us. He is a really great mentor and teacher. He brings the passage that we are looking at to life. For example, we were discussing the passage where Jesus heals the two lepers, and he brought it to life by explaining that people with leprosy were shunned in those days. They had to carry around bells to warn people that they were coming. Steve pointed out that Jesus actually physically touched them to heal them. He related touch to compassion. He described what that would have looked like by describing that leprosy turns skin black. In this way, he brings the story to life. He also asks good probing questions to get us thinking.
We also took a Sunday school outing today at the Cunningham’s (members of the church). This was a good time of fellowship and worship. We ate, sang, and shared what God was doing in our lives and what we are thankful for.
1. Dave
Dave is Krista’s husband, and he goes to Taylor. He does not talk much, but when he does I can tell that he is still engaged in the lesson or conversation.
2. Dave #2
Dave does not go to college, but he faithfully attends every week. He is probably the most faithful attendee.
3. Krista
Krista is Dave’s wife. Krista is the organizer. She organized our Sunday school outing this Sunday at the Cunningham’s property. She delegated jobs and made sure we had enough food for everyone.
4. John
John was engaged in asking questions today. He asked some good questions about the lesson.
5. Alyssa
Alyssa is from Taylor, and she was called on to pray for us today.
6. Rebecca
She always tries to see the other side to things, and is very good at presenting it critically without being annoying.
7. Guy on the end of the row
He found his usual spot at the end of the row, and it did not seem like he was engaged this Sunday either. I did get an opportunity to talk to him last Sunday, and he does seem like a nice guy. He was open to talking to me and I felt a genuine sense of warmth toward me, but he does not participate much in class.

C. My Questions this Week
We had a class outing today after service around a camp fire, and it was a very worth-while time of fellowship. Is it necessary for Sunday school classes to do something like this? If so, how often?
Do you feel Sunday school class should be primarily a discussion between students or primarily a lecture with purposeful questions?

Practicum Report #2

2007-09-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

From: Adam

To: Randi and Kelly

Subject: Practicum Report #2

A. Time Spent this Week
9/23/07- 3 hrs. (SS=1 hr; AM Worship= 2 hrs)

B. My Class this Week
This Sunday Steve gave me the opportunity to share a short devotional at the beginning of class. He gave me an outline to follow, and every week I will be doing a short devotional on a symbol of the Holy Spirit before we sing and have the lesson. This week’s symbol for the Holy Spirit was the dove. I shared the story of Jesus’ baptism when the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove. My class is large and there are new faces so I am having a hard time learning everyone’s names.
1. Krista
Krista is very friendly. She just recently got married, and she teaches geography. She graduated from IWU last year, but she is still faithful to the church and our class. She paid close attention the whole time, and she is always ready to participate when called on.
2. Kay Ellen
Kay Ellen is another senior from IWU. She is a very genuine and humble person. She is not outspoken, but she is willing to participate.
3. Colt
Colt leads the worship songs on the guitar for our class every week. He is a sophomore also at Taylor likes to make jokes (some better than others…) throughout the lesson, which always helps to lighten the mood.
4. Rebecca
Rebecca always critiques and challenges what she is taught. She does this in a good way. It is not like she questions everything just to be annoying. She came up with a good question today. We were talking about how we should give our time and attention students who want to learn instead of wasting our emotional energy on people who have a critical spirit. She made the point that we should not dismiss people very quickly and write them off. Jesus knew the hearts of the people that had critical hearts toward Him.
6. John
John pays close attention the entire time. He is a good note taker, which is always encouraging for Steve.
7. Steve’s daughter, Stephanie.
Stephanie is probably the most vocal person in the class, and she always has something insightful to say. Who would’ve guessed this would be true with Steve for a father. She had several good things to share today on the topic of anger. Specifically, she commented on Rebecca’s comment that we should give people a fair chance, but not to keep on wasting valuable energy on them if they keep on draining us.
8. Guy on the end of the row.
I have seen him there a few times before, but he did not pay attention at all. Every time I looked at him, he was staring off into space or sleeping. He is really the only one that does not pay attention.

C. My Questions this Week
1. What should be done if there is one person in the class who does not pay attention or participate? Should the teacher try to get him/her involved? If so, how should you do that without taking away the focus and learning of the other students?
2. Is it better to have a series of lessons about one topic, or is it better to give more variety in lessons?

Practicum Report #1

2007-09-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

Practicum Report #1

From: Adam

To: Randi and Kelly

Subject: Practicum Report #1

A. Time Spent this Week
9/9/07- 3 hrs. (SS=1 hr; AM Worship= 2 hrs)
9/16/07- 3 hrs. (SS=1 hr; AM Worship= 2 hrs)

B. My Class this Week
I will be observing the college Sunday School class at Twin City Bible Baptist taught by Steve Snyder this semester. This class averages about 15-20 students a week.
I attended this class last year, so I am pretty familiar with the students and teacher. I love Steve and his teaching; he is definitely a master teacher. We were talking after class, and he all ready to get me started next Sunday doing a mini-lesson at the beginning of class. I will teach on a different symbol of the Holy Spirit each Sunday before the main lesson. He also told me he would bring some teacher evaluation papers to help me observe him.
1. Steve Snyder
a. Steve is a psychology professor at Taylor University. He has all his lesson topics planned out for the next four years, which makes me laugh. He is a very good teacher, and I know I can learn much from him.
2. Kay Ellen
a. Kay Ellen is one of the leaders in our class. She is a senior at IWU, and she as a heart for God. She is very approachable. She puts in her two sense every once in a while.
3. John
a. Steve asked John to pray to begin class. John is a very friendly guy; he always says hello.
4. The girl in red.
a. She was called on to answer a question. She was shy, and I had not met her before.
5. Emily
a. I met her and Rebecca last year, and I guess you could say we are church buddies. We drive together every Sunday. Emily was called on to read a passage of Scripture from Matthew. She was excited because she doesn’t feel like she gets called on very much.
6. Rebecca
a. Rebecca was called on to read another Scripture in John. She is comfortable is front of people and leads worship a few times a semester.
C. My Questions this Week
1. What is a good way to get everyone involved besides calling on people to read or pray? How do you get the quiet people in the class to feel comfortable to ask or answer questions?
2. There is no one person that dominates the class in discussion. Could this ever be a bad thing?