This newish curriculum for the youth, Come Follow Me, is awesome. If implemented correctly it's supposed to make my girls more of the teacher where I'm more of the facilitator. I know some teachers might think this gives them a freebie to sit back and not prepare. But here's a few things I've learned and discovered in the past couple of months about becoming a great teacher.
OLD: The teacher was a disseminator of knowledge and information. They put in the effort and time to prepare and study for the lesson and the student's job was to listen, take notes, and give a comment or two.
NEW: The teacher is required to study and study A LOT to be prepared for whichever direction the students choose to take it. That means most of the time you most likely will not share anywhere close to the material you studied. But when you've paid the price for study, the Holy Ghost is able to "bring all things to your remembrance" (John 14:26) in the very hour that you need it. Without study, it simply doesn't work.
OLD: The teacher did the majority of talking.
NEW: The students do the talking. The teacher is there to offer insights and keep the discussion from derailing. A teacher should do no more than 10% of the talking. And a lesson plan? Well, half a sheet of notes is probably sufficient.
OLD: Silence was NOT golden.
NEW: Silence is key to allowing the Holy Ghost to function. Wait for those responses. They will come. And that is where testimonies are strengthened. A testimony is found in the bearing of it not in the hearing someone else testify.
OLD: Sunday school questions will always get Sunday school answers.
NEW: Great questions require thinking and pondering and open up the discussion.
OLD: Note taking was about writing down everything the teacher had to say as quickly as possibly.
NEW: Note taking involves recording more the impressions and thoughts that come to us through the Holy Ghost about the subject we are discussing and invites us to act on those impressions.
OLD: The teacher answered all the questions.
NEW: Help students prepare to learn for a lifetime. You know the old proverbial phrase "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." Teach your students to find answers to their own gospel questions and they will have a valuable tool.
I guess the whole idea with this curriculum is to have the students take responsibility for their own learning and growth. They learn so much more when they've put into practice the doctrines and principles taught. And they learn even more when they've actually taught it to someone else.
What's happening in my yard
Just getting ready for fall. My chocolate flowers are putting on quite the display by our front porch. They also smell quite divine, like you're devouring chocolate at the See's chocolate store.
These are the days of . . .
*College campus tours. Kiersten and I toured UVU on Friday. She's thrown this school into her mix. She can basically go where she'd like with her ACT score and awesome grades.
*Poldark. I read the first book and am loving the second season of the miniseries that is on at the moment.
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