[Teachldsseminary] CHAT/HELP - Where did I go wrong?

[Linda Harper]

You will find certain things work for one class that will not work for 
another. Even with the same teacher with different years. I have found this 
to be the case in my 8 years of teaching.  Some years we can act things out, 
some years we can't.  Some game ideas work some times and others it doesn't.

Getting them to think on their own is a challenge I think all of us have. 
Try it for a short part of your lesson and gradually increase.  You will 
soon find something that works for you.

One personal thing for my students:  I have always had some kids that don't 
read well or at all and then those who are very intelligent.  It's hard to 
make it work for all.  I have always had a hard time dividing the class into 
small groups and have them read and then share with the class. Girls start 
putting on make up (or trying), some put their heads down thinking it's 
break time and those that don't read feel left out.  I usually do things as 
a class and try to get different attention to share.    Having them write in 
a journal or even write their feelings also bombs most of the time.  My 
youth in our area just do not write much.  Another problem is trying to get 
them to teach each other, one of the new objectives.  Right now I'm having 
them try to each teach a different SM to the class and take about 5 minutes. 
Most of the time, they do what someone else or I have done even though I've 
given them many ideas to get them thinking on what to do.  Last year  we 
took time answering questions you get asked by nonmembers to try to help 
them on how to answer.  Some did great and others really bombed.

The point to this is that we all have different things that will work and 
will not.  I keep trying them out and working on teaching moments and 
exploring moments.  Maybe take it a little time for one class to see how it 
goes over and then put it to rest, try another teaching technique and come 
back to it later.

I hope this helps you see we are all in this together even after many years 
of it!

Linda Harper
Duncan, SC


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dana Burgess" <d_k_burgess at hotmail.com>
To: <teachldsseminary at latter-dayvillage.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 10:48 AM
Subject: [Teachldsseminary] CHAT/HELP - Where did I go wrong?


Oh wise and wonderful vetran teachers - help me!? I decided to try to
incorporate more teaching emphasis/power questions into my lessons. With
many butterflies I headed to class today and it was not good. I had gone
through section 29 block by block and put the verses and a question on a
small piece of paper. Then I baked the paper into fortune cookies. When I
got to class I wrote on the board 'I think this scripture is teaching us
...' I let the kids pick a cookie and gave them 10 minutes to eat and read
the scripture. I told them to think about the question in their cookie and
the statement on the board as they read. Then I had each of them read their
scripture to the class and either answer the power question or the cookie
question or give us other impressions they might have. It was such a dud.
The kids just basically reread the scripture to answer the question. I tried
asking more indepth questions based on their answers (how do you feel about
that?, Why do you think...?, etc) and also tried to get the rest of the
class involved in some discussion but it really didn't work. I don't think
I'm getting how to use these teaching tools. Can someone tell me where I
went wrong and maybe how to improve with these tools. I think they are
great, I just don't know how to use them. Don't worry about hurting my
feelings - be brutal! I want to learn. By the way, I teach early morning
grade 12.
Dana

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