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SilentDawning wrote:DarkJedi wrote:
That said, the problem is bigger than just this guy. Almost everybody in my quorum would teach the TFOT lesson the same way – read the talk. And it’s not just my ward, I encounter it when traveling as well (as in last fourth Sunday in a different ward). In the end it’s really just a pet peeve but it does affect my church experience. I suppose that’s my problem.I addressed this on our last teachers council. We practiced reading passages and then coming up with questions that bore on the passage. I suggested the teacher gets everyone’s responses, and at the end, does a big REVEAL where they punctuate the discussion with the GA’s comment. Also, how to ask good follow up questions that extend a passage from the GA’s comment from the TFOT conference talk into a new area. To teach those parts that really excite you, and if there aren’t any, pull in exterior materials that bear on the main idea of the lesson. Use panel discussions, bring in guest speakers on the topic. Use personal experiences, or draw on the experiences of other people who you know in the class.
Our ward, perhaps our stake, could really use a lesson/discussion like that. Your ward is blessed by you.
Thanks DJ… Note — there is one HP Group Assistant in our Ward. His lessons were absolutely terrible a couple months ago. He came to two of our teacher council meetings and didn’t come back. When that happens I wonder if they just thought what I did wasn’t of value…oh well.
Anyway, apparently he took it to heart. His questions were nearly perfect. They were engaging, and they got ME engaged the whole time. I spoke more than I normally do. The class ended up talking more than he did.
His opening question last week:
“What is the difference between Joy and Happiness?”.
And another.
“To what extent does money make us happy?”
That got some varied responses.
I am finding the Teachers Council we did on how to ask good questions has had the biggest impact on the quality of teaching so far. Questions drive the whole teaching and learning experience….
I gave a few patterns for how to ask good questions, which a few people took pictures of, on the board.
a) Ask for the difference between two concepts that seem similar.
b) Look for conflicting principles and ask questions that invite reconciliation.
“How do you live the law of tithing, and self-reliance simultaneously when in paying your tithing, you don’t have enough money to pay your bills?”
c) Ask How To or “Why do we….” questions:
How To Example..
“There are two kinds of happiness, says the scholars — natural happiness, and synthetic happiness. Natural happiness comes from events that, by their very nature, make you happy. Synthetic happiness is happiness you create within, and it is truly happiness. It is independent of circumstances. How do you create synthetic happiness when you are in challenging circumstances which do not naturally make you happy?”
d) Ask questions that are at or slightly above the level of the class.
e) Avoid leading questions; opt for open-ended questions where possible.
That is wonderful SD. A few questions like that may be enough to pull me out of my electronic device. SD: I wish the classes in my ward were thought-provoking like that! Wow! SD, how do you get teachers in your ward to actually use the scriptures? I am finding our classes are all about GC quotes and manual quotes. There actually isn’t much about the scriptures in our lessons, it seems. I think that makes the lessons lacking.
Heber13 wrote:SD, how do you get teachers in your ward to actually use the scriptures?
I am finding our classes are all about GC quotes and manual quotes. There actually isn’t much about the scriptures in our lessons, it seems. I think that makes the lessons lacking.
I am not sure if we are being successful in that regard yet. But I do have a lesson coming up with this topic in it. I hope it will encourage effective use of the scriptures in future lessons.
Thanks. Let me know how you think it goes. Our committee meetings plan to discuss this topic this month some. I don’t have any good ideas. Heber13 wrote:Thanks. Let me know how you think it goes. Our committee meetings plan to discuss this topic this month some. I don’t have any good ideas.
Well, I plan to give them a few tips —
1. Keep the scriptures short.
2. Summarize plots in the pages verbally, and read only the key ideas.
3. There is a closed-ended questioning strategy I will share. It is very basic and meant to check understanding, where you ask them to regurgitate a simple concept with the question setting up a correct answer. Used in basic situatiosn like younger youth, primary, and maybe gospel essentials.
4. Put people in groups with several short passages, and have them answer printed questions about each passage. Share their findings with the group.
5. Display the scripture on a screen, and have someone in the class read it.
6. Call on good readers to read passages, not people who are going to stammer and lose the group.
7. Ask a question about a particularly foggy scripture, and when there is no agreement as to what it means, use the footnotes to read another scripture that nails it down, or puts it in better context of meaning. Or use a conference talk.
8. Do distribute strips of paper with scripture references on them for people to read, or write the scripture on the board. Don’t just say the book, chapter and verse verbally.
9. Have follow up questions to scriptures that extend their ideas.
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