Saturday, September 26, 2009

Teaching Seminar

Today at church, we had a teacher training seminar with Kerby Richmon as the speaker. He is the director of Master Ministries (Master Clubs). The sessions were very challenging. I have lots of new ideas and improvements to make in my Children's Church class. I received plenty of information to keep me busy for awhile. If you are interested in getting the sessions on cd, you can email me and I will see about ordering them for you.

I thought I would share a few challenging quotes, but will try to share more in detail over the next several weeks.

"We must teach more than facts, it must be applied to the life of the student."

"As a teacher, you are to shepherd your class."

"Your lesson is only as good as they understand."

"Never underestimate the potential of a child."

"As a teacher, when you have stopped learning, you are done."

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

"The teacher's personality is the most important piece of instructional equipment in the classroom."

10 Commands for Effective Communication

1. Thou shalt simplify.

2. Thou shalt listen.

3. Thou shalt remember.

4. Thou shalt speak unto others as thou wouldst have others speak unto thee.

5. Thou shalt clarify hard-to-understand Bible terminology.

6. Thou shalt use stories and illustrations.

7. Thou shalt keep a sense of humor.

8. Thou shalt practice what thou preachest.

9. Thou shalt be creative.

10. Thou shalt have patience.

Taken from Accent Bible Curriculum, Spring 2009

I think everyone should be constantly striving to become a better communicator. Those who fail to communicate effectively are those who fail to evaluate themselves and seek improvement. Some of the best teachers I have had were those who were always looking for ways to improve.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The Eternal Impact

One key, I believe, to effective teaching is realizing the eternal impact that you are making. When you are doing the same thing week after week, you don't always see the immediate effects. If you are a teacher, one thing is certain, you are making an eternal impact for better or for worse.

Even more important than what a person teaches or says, is the example she is setting for her students. One does not often realize how she is influencing those under her. There are many people in my life who have influenced me, as I am sure the same is with you. Most of those people probably have little or no idea of the impact of their influence. The Bible calls us sheep. We look up to those we admire and often follow their example. Right or wrong, I have often found myself saying, "well this person does it, so it must be ok."

While students should be looking to Christ, the ultimate example, you cannot escape the fact that they are looking at you, their teacher. God will hold you responsible for the example that you set. It is easy to say, "well, I'll just give in to this sin one time. It won't matter." The truth is that one wrong choice does matter. Just consider the wrong choice that Abraham made thousands of years ago. Who would have known the impact on the entire world by just one wrong act?

Just remember that you are influencing eternal souls. You are influencing the choices that will be made by your students for the rest of their lives. God will hold you responsible and you will be called in to account for the example you have set. The choice is yours - what example will you be?

Saturday, September 19, 2009

The Purpose of this Blog

Being a teacher, it is often easy to stuck in a rut. Whether a school teacher, music teacher, or Sunday School teacher it is easy to just keep doing the same old things week after week.

I have set up this blog with the purpose of hopefully inspiring others, as well as gaining new ideas myself. I intend this to be a reader written blog. I hope that many of my readers will get involved in sharing ideas, writing articles, helpful quotes, book reviews and the list goes on. You can email all submissions to teachingforeternity@hotmail.com. All submissions will be subject to review and editing before being posted. As editor, I reserve the right not to publish any submissions that I think will not benefit readers.

I hope that this blog will be a blessing and encouragement to you!

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