Lay Teacher’s Workshop
Developed
by Glen Dawursk, Jr. – www.yuthguy.com
Workshop Schedule
•
•
•
•
•
• 2:00 PM Prayer
& Evaluation
Community Builder: “True Blue You”
·
Write three
facts that are “True Blue” about you.
·
Write also
one thing that is NOT true about you.
· You will then read the facts out loud and we will
try to guess which one is not “True Blue You.”
Fact #1:
_____________________________________________________
Fact #2:
_____________________________________________________
Fact #3:
_____________________________________________________
Fact #4: _____________________________________________________
Workshop
- Part One:
What are your “True Colors?”
In My Eyes:
Read through the sheets
labeled “
1) Most like me: |
Gold |
Blue |
|
Green |
2) Next Closest: |
Gold |
Blue |
|
Green |
3) Next: |
Gold |
Blue |
|
Green |
4) Least like me: |
Gold |
Blue |
|
Green |
In Their Eyes:
Now, complete the simple
word inventory below. Evaluate the list
of words in each row, and then put them in the order of Most like me to
Least. Number them 4 for most, 3 for
next closest, 2 for next and 1 for the list least like you. Continue through each row numbering them
accordingly. When you have finished all
the rows, add the columns at the bottom.
|
ACTIVE VARIETY SPORTS |
|
ORGANIZED PLAN NEAT |
|
NICE HELPFUL FRIENDS |
|
LEARNING SCIENCE PRIVACY |
|
FUN ACTION CONTESTS |
|
CLEAN ON-TIME HONEST |
|
CARING PEOPLE FEELINGS |
|
CURIOUS IDEAS QUESTIONS |
|
PLAYFUL QUICK ADVENTUROUS |
|
HELPFUL TRUSTWORTHY DEPENDABLE |
|
KIND UNDERSTANDING GIVING |
|
INDEPENDENT EXPLORING DOING WELL |
|
BUSY FREE WINNING |
|
FOLLOW RULES USEFUL MONEY |
|
SHARING GETTING ALONG ANIMALS |
|
THINKING SOLVING PROBLEMS CHALLENGE |
|
EXCITING LIVELY HANDS ON |
|
PRIDE TRADITION DO THINGS RIGHT |
|
NATURE EASY GOING HAPPY ENDINGS |
|
BOOKS MATH MAKING SENSE |
Total |
Total |
Total |
Total |
||||
|
|
|
|
1) Primary: |
Gold |
Blue |
|
Green |
2) Secondary: |
Gold |
Blue |
|
Green |
3) Next: |
Gold |
Blue |
|
Green |
4) Least: |
Gold |
Blue |
|
Green |
There are different kinds of
gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different
kinds of service, but the same Lord.
There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them
in all men. Now to each one the
manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the
message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same
Spirit, to
another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one
Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to
another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another
speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation
of tongues.
All these are the work of
one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. The
body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts
are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by
one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were
all given the one Spirit to drink.
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am
not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease
to be part of the body. And if the ear
should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,"
it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would
the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense
of smell be?
But in fact God has arranged
the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the
body be? As it is, there are many parts,
but one body. The eye cannot say to the
hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet,
"I don't need you!"
On the contrary, those parts
of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we
think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our
presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members
of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that
there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern
for each other.
If one part suffers, every
part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now
you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
As
Sunday school teachers and Bible study leaders,
what can we learn from the True Colors testing
and small group activity?
____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Workshop - Part Two: “The
Brains of the Bunch: Concepts in Learning”
The First Step: “Types of Learning”
There are three types of
learning behaviors: Kinesthetic,
Auditory,
Visual or a combination often called multi-sensory.
·
Kinesthetic: learns
better by physically _______________ it
(hands-on)
·
Auditory: learns
better by ____________ or reading it
(hearing in his head)
·
Visual: learns better
by ____________ it or by viewing
displays and presentations.
·
Multi-sensory: learns most effectively by use of a ______________ of kinesthetic, auditory
and visual.
How do you learn best?
How would you
normally teach a Sunday school lesson or Youth Bible class? For example, the
lesson is on forgiveness and the Bible story is about the Prodigal son. Give an example of what you could do for each
learning method.
Kinesthetic:
______________________________________
Auditory:
________________________________________
Visual:
__________________________________________
Multi-sensory:
_____________________________________
The Second Step: “Problems with Learning”
30%
of all children have some sort of learning disability.
One of the most frequently diagnosed is ADD.
Core symptoms for most LD
situations is:
·
Distractibility
·
Restlessness
·
Impulsive
Suggested learning devices for LD children: |
|
___________________ |
· –
Don’t be totally structured - |
___________________ |
· –
Keep all the distractions and tangents leading toward the same goal or topic;
Use distractions to your benefit. |
___________________ |
· –
Provide more opportunities to ask or answer questions. |
___________________ |
· –
Let them choose what they want. |
ALSO:
·
Physical exercise causes the brains glucose to flow faster,
which seems to help the thought process.
·
Encourage verbal processing by pairing youth.
The Third Step: “Understanding Learning”
Everyone has TWO brains (not two sides of one).
Left-Brain: |
Right-Brain:
|
ž Analysis |
ž Creativity |
ž Logic |
ž Imagination |
ž Numbers |
ž Dimension |
ž Math |
ž Images/Forms |
ž Language |
ž Music |
ž Linearity |
ž Rhythm/Rhyme |
ž Sequence |
ž Color |
By the time you were three years old; did your parents
pass out vocabulary lists, rules of syntax and grammar? Yet by five years old, you knew almost the
entire language. Why?
______________________________________________________
Effects of Learning |
Child |
Student |
Environment |
Unstructured |
Structured |
Knowledge
Base |
Low |
High |
Effort
Expended |
Low |
High/Work |
Retention
Rate |
Lifetime |
A
few Years |
Fluency |
High |
Low
to None |
Learning
Style |
Global |
Sequential |
Combining music with learning
seems to improve learning
because it uses both the left and the right-brains.
|
With Music |
Without Music |
Method Used |
Assimilation |
Rote Memorization |
Effort |
Low |
High |
Repetitions |
Few |
Many |
Difficulty |
Low |
High/Work |
Retention |
Long Term |
Short Term |
Does the Left-Brain really slow us down? YES NO
(Check out Glen’s Screen Activities.)
G______________ Learning is like
putting a jigsaw puzzle together without looking at the box.
It is the incremental
accumulation of steps that become more difficult.
S______________ Learning exposes the
whole product as one and the student assimilates as much as possible and fills
in the rest later.
·
Showed no fatigue
·
Had better sentence usage, flow, and syntax
·
More confident
Learner
Paralysis is caused by:
1. The
________________ classroom environment
2. Viewing
learning as a _____________ (carry over from
regular school and typical educational system)
3. Believing some
concepts are more ______________ than others
Offsets:
1. Create a
______________, fun environment
2. Keep structure
________________ (informal sessions, modified classroom setup)
3. Watch your
________________
(Avoid: “difficult,” “advanced,” “review” and don’t imply “steps” or difficulty
problems)
How to Stimulate the Right Brain |
·
View everything at once |
·
Use color freely |
·
Use scent |
·
Play class related games or use
toys |
·
Play and/or sing music |
·
Use rhythm, rhyme or mnemonics |
·
Relax your students |
·
Provide a quick run through (demonstrate everything you
will cover that day) |
·
Possibly use music behind a
lesson (see next
section) |
·
|
·
|
MUSIC
Can Help!
** There are four types
of brain waves:
ž Beta
– full consciousness, highly analytical
ž Alpha
– relaxed, alert, creative, fast facts
ž Theta
– deep meditation
ž Delta
– deep, dreamless sleep
Certain
types of music cause Alpha waves to be more active.
Baroque Music: -Composed
between 1700-1750
-Bach,
Handel, Mozart, Vivaldi, etc.
-Promotes
alpha waves
-Promotes
both brain learning
-Beats
at the same rate as the human heart when at rest (50-70bpm)
The Fourth Step: “Applying Learning Concepts”
With
an understanding on how people think, we can see that using the global method
with it’s multi-sensory approach is more effective for
the both LD and non-LD students. This is
the goal of any Sunday school teacher or Youth Bible study leader: to reach as
many students as possible!
Now… Can we think of activities or approaches that encourage
global learning in our classroom?
1.
Write the memory verse on the board and like a
game, erase words from the verse until it is totally memorized.
2.
________________________________________________________________
3.
________________________________________________________________
4.
________________________________________________________________
5.
________________________________________________________________
6.
________________________________________________________________
7.
________________________________________________________________
8.
________________________________________________________________
9.
________________________________________________________________
10. ________________________________________________________________
Workshop - Part Three: Small
Group Activity
The
Sunday School Scenarios
The
following are scenarios for your small group discussion. While the situations may not have happened to you, the potential for
them or a similar situation is possible.
The purpose of this exercise
is to find a solution, offer a direction, or to simply develop your problem solving skills. Use the learning concepts we have studied
whenever possible. There may not be a
perfect answer for the scenario and additional
information may be required in a real-life situation. Throughout your discussion, remember, a Christian is like a tea bag - it doesn't come
to full strength until it is put into
a little hot water.' Plus, God says He will never give you more than you can
handle.
Trust Him, and all things are possible, even in a Sunday school
classroom or Bible study class. PTL!
ž
For the past six months, Julie has been a quiet girl who listened to
directions and participated when asked to in class. However, for the past two weeks, Julie has
been disruptive, obnoxious and at times disrespectful. It has become difficult to teach the Sunday
school class. What would you do
first? If the problem persists, then
what? Why?
ž
You want to teach memory work, but the youth don't want it and the
parents don't seem to encourage their children to learn it? What would you do? Why?
ž
Johnny always comes to Sunday school class 25 minutes late. He misses the Bible story time and always seem a little confused the rest of the class. However, he attends faithfully every
week. What would you do? Why?
ž
There is an argument between two children in the hallway outside your
room. There is pushing and shoving, and
the potential for someone to get hurt is high.
You are the only one in your classroom at the time. What would you do? Why?
ž
One of your students decides to question you in front of the rest of
class about baptism. He says that his
Mom doesn't believe that baptism is important and that he and his 2-month-old
sister don’t have to be baptized until they are older. What would you do? What would you say? Why?
What about Lutheran doctrine?
ž
You have had a really bad morning and frankly, you don't feel like
teaching this morning. You didn't get
much sleep last night, your clock wasn't set, so you got up 15 minutes late,
your children have been disrespectful, your spouse hasn't been very supportive,
the car hasn’t been cooperative, and when you walk into class, you realize you
prepared the wrong material. What do you
do? Why?
ž
You are a new teacher and are preparing your first lesson ... well, you are
trying to, but you are not sure where to start.
You've opened the book a few times, read the Bible story part of the way
in your KJV Bible; BUT you aren't sure you understand either. What should you do? How should a teacher prepare? How could the teacher better understand the
story or lesson? What should a teacher
include in the teaching of the lesson so that the children will understand it?
ž
The class seems bored. They seldom
say anything, they just listen and leave.
I follow the lesson plan exactly and even sing the song they suggest
(usually by myself).
I'm not even sure if they really are listening or simply sleeping with
their eyes open. How could I find out if
they are really listening? How could I
get them to participate? What can I do
to "liven-up" the class?
Last Thoughts
It is never easy, but effective teaching is
doing
E_____________ P_______________ to get your students to
L_____________ and A ____________
the Gospel to their lives.
·
Sometimes you will think you have failed, but remember
God’s word never goes unblessed. After
all, it is always His work.
· Continue to seek
out new ways to help your class learn and pray that God will present new
opportunities and methods to teach them everyday.
Prayer Requests: