Developing a method for teaching

1
Developing a method for teaching

• Creating the best environment for prayer and
  learning

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What are your hopes for teaching?

• Name one hope.
• Name one way of being with children.
• Name one thing you would like to share with
  another teacher.

3
Creating The Environment

• What is the purpose of the Sunday Morning Church
  School experience? Each class? For the end of the
  year?
• 1._________________
• 2._________________
• 3._________________
• 4._________________
• 5__________________
• What are your hopes for each child to learn or
  experience if the child begins in your pre-school
  program and continues through the program until
  graduation from high school?

4
Our Own Faith Development

• What do you recall as your earliest memory about
  God?
• Share a time when you remember having a deep
  sense of justice.
• Who are your mentors, those who have helped you
  to deepen your faith? What did they do?
• Describe the times when you have had critical
  reflection, questions and doubts about faith.
• Describe a time when you had concern for all
  creation.
• Have you experienced a sense that God is all in
  all and out of that sense are you willing to
  sacrifice?

5
Learning from John Amos Comenius,an educator for
whom the training of youth became his life

• Model of Prayer is the Lords Prayer
• Rule of Life is the Ten Commandments
• Bible is Central
• Confession of Faith is the Apostles Creed
• Whole life is a Journey in Christ
• Taken from one of his last writings, Unum
  Necessarium

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Our Lamb has conquered let us follow him

• Consider for a moment as you prepare your
  classroom each Sunday, how does it draw children
  closer to God?
• How is your classroom Christ Centered?
• How does your classroom reflect the
• Anglican ideal?
• Scripture?
• Tradition?
• Reason?
• Experience?

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ROLE OF THE TEACHER FAITH DEVELOPMENT

• Thomas Groome ( 1991)
• Faith is never produced by human doing, it is
  Gods gift (Ephesians 28)
• Religious educators are commissioned (Romans
  1015) with primary responsibility in faith
  development and tradition.
• Three-fold dynamic of faith
• 1. Believing I Believe
• Gods self disclosure in Christ and the Holy
  Spirit is leading us into all truth.
• Scripture, Creed and Doctrine
• Role of the educator is guiding and testing.
• 2. Trusting Loving Trust
• Relational, loving trust in God who brings
  salvation in Jesus Christ
• Role of educator is to help others fall more
  deeply in love with God and with others.
• 3. Doing Praxis of Faith
• Role of the educator is discernment of gifts of
  faith expression, and how to proclaim the Gospel.

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A look at the curriculum used in relationship to
the environment the teacher creates

• How do you prepare for your lesson? What is the
  experience of your soul?
• Step 1
• Step 2
• Step 3
• Step 4

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Preparing the classroomHow your environment
supports optimal use of your curriculum

• How do you prepare the classroom each Sunday
• To welcome?
• To create a learning community?
• To be in prayer?
• To provide the essentials for your presentation?
• To send out?

10
What about discipline?Changes and Transitions

• If we are to love one another, if we are to
  respect the dignity of each child, what happens
  when negative behavior seems to overtake the
  classroom?
• 1. Place for reconciliation/ Time Out
• 2. Teaching in teams
• 3. Positive response to good behavior
• 4. Focus in prayer
• 5. Speaking with parents

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Preparing the environment for learning and prayer

• How do the children know that this is a special
  time to talk about God?
• How do you listen to the children?
• How do the children experience the Sunday lesson
  outline?
• How are the childrens gifts shared? How are
  they leaders?
• Your five year olds?
• Your seven year olds?
• Your ten year olds?

12
Preparing the environment for learning and prayer

• How do the children pray in your classroom?
• How do you present Scripture?
• Read
• Sing
• Drama
• Story Telling
• Experiential
• Art

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Preparing the Environment with the Curriculum

• Working with your lesson plan
• 1. How do you gather the children?
• Where do they sit?
• 2. How is community created? Is there an
  opportunity for children to share?
• How are new children welcomed?
• 3. If a song is part of the lesson, what do you
  do to teach the song?
• Teaching methods
• 4. How is the Scripture presented?
• 5. How are the children invited deeper into the
  Scripture?

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Preparing the Environment with the Curriculum

• Closure and sending out
• Helping them to
• Relate the lesson to home.
• Relate the lesson to daily life, even if that
  means the young child attends day care.
• Relate the lesson to TV programs, entertainment,
  games.

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Questions?

• I wonder?

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Whom would I call?

• Provincial Leadership
• Diocesan Contact
• National Staff
• Resource Centers
• NAECED
• Theological Education For All