Effective teachers involve the group
Published: Mon, 03/28/16
|
Contact: josh@joshhhunt.com You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less, now half offYou Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less has been in print with Group nearly twenty-five years. it is the book that created a carrier for me in speaking and writing. I have logged over two million miles on American Airlines alone doing conferences--most of them on this one book. The book has been retired from Group, which means the copyright goes back to me. The good news for you in this is that can offer the book to you much less expensively. It is currently on Amazon for $9.99--half of its former retail. Kindle version is also half off--$4.99.
|
5. InvolvementWas everyone interested? Were they “with you”? Did most of the people participate in the discussion? Did over half of the group talk? Or were people looking at their watches? One way to ensure people are involved is by asking questions to get the group talking. When you are talking, they may or may not be interested. When they are talking, you can be sure that they are interested. That is one of the advantages of asking questions. Later in this book, I will devote a whole chapter to the art of asking good questions. Another way to get people involved is to have them work together to solve a problem or to complete a task. For example, you might give class members case studies or real-life situations to discuss and to resolve. People discussing how to counsel a friend being abused by her husband will be far more involved than those simply listening to a teacher lecture on general family problems and their biblical solutions. You might even have small groups read and discuss a biblical passage and then, in a creative way, teach the rest of the class what they learned. For example, groups might create objects that portray the goodness of God’s creation (Genesis 1), write songs that tell others why God is worthy of praise (Psalm 113), or draw posters that represent the love we are to show to others (1 Corinthians 13). However you choose to do it, you can get people involved by getting them to work together.2 Of course, people can be involved without saying or doing anything. But when they are answering a question or sharing an experience, you can be almost sure they are paying attention. (Only very rarely can people talk and not listen to themselves, and these people are really difficult to teach.) But if people are not involved, they are not learning, you are not teaching, and disciples are not being formed. Think about the last class you taught. If the group was involved and paying attention, give yourself a ten. If it was obvious to you and everyone else that they were bored, give yourself a one.
|
