A. Time Spent this week: 4 hours total (S.S.=1 Worship=1.5 Youth Dinner=1.5)
B. My Class this week:
1. The welcoming and fellowship time of Sunday School. This week was my first week observing the high school Sunday school class, so I met the teacher, Mike, introduced myself, and just watched. During the period of time when everyone in the high school class was filtering in he did a simple question answer time to see how everyone was. It was pretty effective because he would just ask about one good thing that happened in the kid’s life, and one bad thing in the past week. For example, Levi’s response was I got to go skiing, and I hurt myself skiing. It was good because everyone could talk freely with who they wanted, but yet there was something going on that people could engage with and laugh at. Because the setup of the Sunday school time at Brookhaven is to start around 9:15, this greeting time is great because you have a chance to interact with students that show up at 9, all the way until 9:15. The fellowship time of Sunday school can’t be underestimated, and this class shows the benefits, because when the lesson started they weren’t as antsy anymore and were ready to participate.
2. The discussion. Mike simply asked this question, and it expanded beyond my expectations. He asked, “are riches ever a sign of God’s favor?” It was a really tough question for the students, because they couldn’t get any explanation of what “riches” meant. They struggled with whether or not it was money or simply other gifts because of the way the question was asked. Mike used the Socratic method of questioning, slowly giving more and more hints away about what he was trying to get at. This method was simply gold. High schoolers love these deep questions that make them thing out of the box, and you could tell. They were intensely engaged, and so many people wanted to comment that Mike couldn’t get to all their questions. The passage he briefly got to gloss over was James 2:5, which was good, but I was disappointed that he didn’t focus more on it. However, we will be going over this topic again next week, so I assume we will go more into depth with the passage then. Great method though, the question simply drove the kids nuts.
C. My Questions for the week:
1. How can I use this questioning method effectively, and where can I get some resources on how to practice it?
2. I need to ease up a bit maybe, but I really wanted to focus more on what the Bible says in James about how the rich are treated. Is it bad for me to have a predisposition towards more scripture? Because I think the class could have continued much the same way with the questions, just with a mix of scripture put in to solidify some of the youth’s comments.
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exactly on target--- need some responses here--be careful you don't miss too many6 opportunities to respond before mid term bites you in the rear by not having TEN combined on time...
ReplyDeleteResponse: 1/28/09
ReplyDeleteRe: Question on how to use this method. I would say after some thought that this method really should only be used in smaller group, but in smaller groups it is very effective, especially in High schoolers. They have a desire to think about more complicated things, and they really like to be challenged intellectually. A good topic for a question like this could be something that would make the youth defend their faith. An apologetic question would be interesting to see them answer, and would aid them later in life when they could then answer someone who is questioning their faith.
Re: Focus on the Bible: This is a tough balance, because the discussion it sounds like was so good, but then again so is the Bible. I think that since the discussion is being extended to the next week it is appropriate to wait to expound the scripture until then. I would have possibly told the youth to study a little bit on their own on the topic so they could contribute the next week. That way when they come back we could bring up the scripture verses we have found. It may have been good to have a short list of verses in which Jesus deals with riches and money for them to reference, because there are a ton of verses on it. Even Jesus talked a ton about money and the rich, so why not give them some resources?
RE: QUESTIONING METHOD
ReplyDeleteThere is a Bible study curriculum called "PLAIN Talk for Teens" which addresses some of the most common questions teens have been asking. On their website: (http://www.psci.net/bibleinschool/TeenCurriculum.htm), they say that teens are looking for straightforward answers to their questions, but they aren't getting them.
I could see this a little in the Sunday school lesson - they were getting a little frustrated that Mike wouldn't give them a straight answer. I think personal experience is the best way to practice this "question method" but I also think it's important to give the kids some type of satisfying answer each Sunday morning.
RE: Scripture
I agree that Scripture should be the primary focus of all questions and answers, but I personally felt that the teens did rather well in relating their responses with biblical support. (Solomon's wisdom was referenced.)
I think they need to be able to wrestle with the question. If they are reminded of Bible stories in the process, great. But I also understand the importance of concluding the lesson with a strong answer with a biblical foundation. As the teacher, try and think about Bible stories that relate to the student's responses. By mentioning them, the youth may realize the answer without you having to tell them.