As a Sunday School teacher, you have the exciting opportunity of designing a learning environment! You have the best curriculum in the world—the Word of God! Now it’s time to finetune your teaching so your students learn even more of the Word. Help your juniors to expand their thinking, improve their concentration, absorb more information, and increase their participation by implementing the following suggestions. Small adjustments in your teaching can reap big dividends in student learning!
Expand Thinking
Stimulate students to expand their thinking by . . .
- posing questions that have more than one answer; e.g., How could Isaac and Rebekah have made their home happy?
- asking questions that have more than one-word replies; e.g., How did Jacob learn what it was like to be deceived?
- prodding students to expand their answers; e.g., How would you have felt if you had been Esau and Jacob offered you gifts? Why?
- prompting students to consider other possibilities when they answer questions poorly; e.g., Can you think of another reason? rather than, No; that’s wrong.
- giving students choices that require thinking; e.g., What can you do when people treat you unfairly?
- encouraging students to express their opinions; e.g., Can good come out of had things that happen to us? Why or why not?
- removing distractions. Seat your daydreamers with their backs to the windows. Be careful not to overly decorate the room. Limit outside noise. Students’ hands should be free of objects during class time.
- teaching listening skills. Prompt students to look at the person talking, think about what he or she is saying, show they understand, and ask questions. Review these steps for active listening and practice them often with your students.
- using charts and visual aids. Students are more likely to focus when they can look at information as well as hear it. Students will learn even more if they assist in recording information on the charts.
- developing discipline. Teach a few basic rules and reinforce them. One disruptive student can divert the entire group’s attention.
- holding students accountable for information. Draw into discussions those students who appear to be distracted. Seek students’ opinions, and ask them to give real-life examples. Use review activities that require students to recall lesson content.
- giving clear directions. Ask students to stop their activity and look at you before you begin to speak. Use concise wording. Ask students to repeat directions.
- using a variety of teaching methods. Students learn in different ways; i.e., by seeing, hearing, touching, or moving. Plan to use diverse learning activities. When students interact with content by using their five senses, they remember the concepts longer.
- creating a “safe” environment in the classroom. When students feel incompetent or “on the spot,” their fear will inhibit their learning. Protect your students from embarrassing situations. Emphasize and model respect for each person. Use humor; students will relax and learn more!
- arranging for students to work in pairs. (You choose the pairs!) Peers can often better explain content and directions to each other in understandable terms.
- emphasizing one theme. Choose one main idea for the students to learn during the Sunday School session. Students learn better when they have one central thought on which to hang other details of the lesson.
- establishing a routine. When order exists, students’ minds are free to think. They need not worry about what is coming next.
- choosing words carefully. Use appropriate vocabulary for your students’ age level. Limit your words. Students will tune you out if you talk too much.
- arranging the chairs in a circle or around a table. This seating arrangement encourages participation and discussion.
- offering an enjoyable, nonthreatening activity for students to do as soon as they enter the classroom. Each lesson in your teacher’s guide offers suggestions for activities. Engage students in conversation. Show students you are interested in their lives.
- planning for student participation in making bulletin board displays. Enlist students’ help in displaying their work on the walls. They will begin to take ownership of “their” room.
- lessening competition and increasing cooperation. Emphasize teamwork and helping one another. Don’t let any student feel left out because of his or her lack of Bible knowledge or other skills.
- using students to help teach the Bible lesson. Ask students to arrange wordstrips, write on charts, make up skits, playact characters, assist in object lessons, record information on whiteboards, place flannelgraph figures, or build models. Avoid using lecture and question and answer to the exclusion of other teaching methods.
- providing fun supplies. Supply your room with a variety of brightly colored paper, gel pens, scented markers, stencils, and craft items. Offer students choices in materials.
Improve Concentration
Prompt students to improve their concentration by . .
Absorb More Information
Help students absorb more information by . . .
Increase Participation
Encourage students to increase their participation by . . .
You are probably doing some of these teaching practices already. Why not add a few more? Good teachers are constantly learning how to become even better teachers!
Think about Your Classroom
- Developing questions that expand students’ thinking takes planning. Look at next week’s lesson. Using teaching suggestions 1–6, compose three thought-provoking questions for the Bible lesson.
- Do you have some unruly students? Reteach the classroom rules to your students. Role-play students obeying those rules. Enlist juniors’ ideas on what to do if a student disobeys the rules. Establish a course of action with your students. Write down the plan and post it in your classroom. Follow your plan!
- At the end of the Sunday School session, can your students tell you what they learned (the lesson theme) in just a few words? If not, then work on stating your theme in a short, easy-to-remember phrase. During Sunday School, state the theme repeatedly. Choose learning activities and songs that emphasize your theme.
