Practicum Report #5/Lesson Report #1

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?