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.
I learned today that the younger
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?
2 comments:
1. Is it okay to use the same format or style of teaching every week?
I think it is okay. There is nothing wrong about it unless the repetitiveness is hindering from people’s learning. From reading about your class, it appears that they enjoy (as well you) Steve’s style of teaching. From what it appears, people are responding well to the teachings and are being changed by them (all credit to the Holy Spirit of course). Yet, I do think that the same style over and over and over and over and over and over again become very monotonous. People will eventually want something more than the same old same old. Keeping things always the same will produce boredom and an overall feeling of apathy towards the class. However, people do find comfort in consistency. Yet, do we really want comfort? More so trust than comfort. So, back to answering your question. Yes, it is okay to have the same format every week. However it will eventually produce an apathetic class. Thus, there must be some variances within the format every now and then.
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?
I feel that dynamics is a rather vague term. However, I hope to answer this question correctly based off of my understanding of it. What I believe you are asking is, ‘How can the livelihood of the class, if lacking, become lively again?’ As a teacher, do some research. Research the class first. What is overall appeal? What gets them excited? What bores them to death? What will bring them out of their comfort zones? What can you do to kick it up a notch? Research their age group. That will give you some answers.
In regards to others filling in, start affirming those you feel are fit for the ‘empty spots.’ Help them hone in on their gifts, their abilities, and their diversity that they bring to the class overall.
1. RE: Can you have the same style of teaching every week? It sounds like Steve is a very well organized and effective teacher from your reports. I do not see a problem in using the same teaching style every week as long as the members of the class are not getting bored. If people are not responding to a certain style, I definitely think you need to change it up. What I have observed though is that Steve does not like any change within the class at all. He seems to get frustrated if he does not have authority over the class. Naturally, all leaders are like this because they have the talent to direct people, but I believe it is important to allow the class to take control too. The teacher should not be upset or angry if change needs to occur within the class.
2. RE: Lacking Dynamics? I am not sure what you mean exactly by this question. If there are areas in a class that are weak, I guess it could be lacking certain dynamics. Diversity can play a huge role in the dynamics. God has created each human with different abilities and gifts to contribute to the Body of Christ. When we allow each person to bring their talent to a class or church service it makes the experience more effective. Leaders need to encourage very individual to use their gifts to serve the Lord. If they do not seem to recognize their gifts, I think it is fine for the leader to allow them to try different things. People can still be successful in areas that are not their best. If they continue to fail, maybe they need to be directed to something different.
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