[Teachldsseminary] TEACH - Cold Weather Strategies

[Tim Holder]

Below is a text only portion of my last newsletter to LDV seminary
subscribers.  I thought it perhaps worthwhile to share with the list.
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COLD WEATHER STRATEGIES

Are you struggling with colder weather, morning darkness, and lack of
student attention?  It's the wintertime blahs.  Warmer weather and sunlight
always help to solve these problems, but what co you do in the mean time. We
present just a few teaching strategies here that can shake things up enough
in your class to re-stimulate those young minds you are nurturing, and help
both you and your students have meaningful teaching moments. 

Remember, telling is not teaching. Teaching is 'presiding' over learning.
You preside and are charged with orchestrating learning classroom
situations.  Here a few suggestions to change up your normal teaching
routine; in essence shed to bright light on what can be learned and taught
at such an early hour.

SEMINARY HIGH SCHOOL

Seminary High School is a method of presenting your lesson concepts using a
rotating class schedule, based on 'subjects' that you students might be
studying during their regular school coursework. E.g., teach a mini class in
History, going over the historical settings and happenings in your lesson
block.  Then teach another mini class in English, reviewing the writing
techniques employed by the author in several verses.  Get into the meaning
of words, any similes, metaphors, etc. Give a vocabulary quiz.  Teach
another mini class - PE. Go to the gym for a short session of Sm Messy
Basketball or SM Broom Hockey.

Well maybe you get the idea. Yes, this takes lots of prep time, but spring
it on a Monday and your students will be engaged differently for the rest of
the week.  Follow up with mini-high school class sessions for the remainder
of the years.

Here are several example outlines to help you plan your Seminary High
School:
1. Isaiah 36-47 Seminary High School
2. Seminary High School - Sections 129 and 130
3. Isaiah 48 - 52 Seminary High School

SILENT LESSON

Can you teach an entire lesson without uttering a word? Silence is golden,
especially as a change up from the sometimes normal boisterous seminary
classroom.  Key to this type of lesson; you NEVER utter a word, but give
directions to your students through overheads, flashcards, or a PowerPoint
presentation. But NEVER SAY A WORD. E.g., create flashcards with pre-printed
questions and answers, such as "Read Verse :12 and tell me what Joseph was
instructed to do."  The silent lesson is most effective if you maintain the
silence throughout the class period.  Here are a couple of examples:
1. PowerPoint: Gethsemane Silent Lesson
2. Silent Lesson

Be sure and close with your written testimony, perhaps in a handout or card
that they students can take with them. 

I can tell you from personal experience that this technique can also work
with a group of stodgy old High Priests.  After I once taught a silent
lesson to our HP group, several came up afterwards and thanked me for the
most spiritual lesson in years.  This can really work!

OUTSIDE TEACHER

Students tire of the same droning voice day after day (did I really write
that? You don't drone on do you?  Remember, telling isn't teaching, in many
cases it is droning). Well change the voice at the head of the class.  If
you have a special topic and there is a spiritual giant or giantess in your
midst, get them to each your lesson for one day. You could use your Bishop
or a bishopric member, a member of the Stake Presidency, a Relief Society
president, a Ward Mission leader, or even full time missionaries. The most
important points are to

* Select the topic well in advance.
* Provide lesson materials, even photocopy the manual pages if necessary,
* Announce for several days prior that a special teacher is coming on
(insert day).
* Make sure you are there to introduce the guest teacher and to help with
class discipline (chances are there will no problems out of respect to the
new teacher).
* Follow up in the days following the lesson with quizzes and quotes from
the presentation.

STUDENTS TEACH THE LESSON

Assigning a student to teach a particular lesson has multiple benefits. Your
students will pay different attention to a peer who is teaching, you can get
a small break, and the student assigned will gain more from preparation and
teaching than will ever get from just being a student.  It is a proven fact
that teaching a subject dramatically increases retention.  If you have a
student who might be struggling with a topic, assigning them to teach is a
perfect opportunity to gain special knowledge.

Lots of advance preparation is required; you must provide a full set of
lesson materials and lots of follow up as the student prepares to teach.
You must also be there to provide classroom help and reinforcement.  Any
student who acts up during the presentation is a perfect candidate for the
next student presentation, which is something you might announce to a more
rambunctious class.

Lots of praise in front of the other students is very positive, as well as a
private 'atta boy or atta girl.' 

Here's how I solved a problem using this strategy. I had a particular female
in one of my classes who was so bright, articulate, and dynamic, that she
could frequently hijack an entire class period. She reveled in asking
obscure questions that lead the class into off-subject discussions. She was
a handful. I asked her to teach a lesson. She accepted the challenge with
the look on her face of "this will be a piece of cake."  It was, until I
asked her patented kind of obscure, off-topic question from the back of the
room.  In an instant I could tell from the look on her face that she got it.
Her actions were causing chaos in the classroom and disrupting my efforts to
lead her class though teaching moments. She now felt it. In the simple turn
of the tables, and without a word being spoken between us, she changed
completely and never again did lead us off the path.  She turned out to be a
wonderful contributor from that point forward and her lesson was pretty
great too!

Examples:
Outline: Helping Students Teach Lessons
Students Teach Prophets
Student Taught Object Lesson

You can use this method to bring out some of your shy students as well as
give your prospective missionaries a taste of teaching the gospel.  It
works!

MARCH MADNESS

If you have not started already, March Madness is a scripture mastery
activity from Linda Harper, a master teacher in South Carolina.  I will not
take the time here to explain all of the rules, but here is a link to the
Old Testament version: OT SM March Madness Scripture Chase.  I will say that
the March Madness theme plays on the NCAA (and high school to some point)
basketball tournament and the way that some Cinderella teams can make it
through the bracket. 

Classes that I used March Madness on got  so caught up in learning the
scripture masteries and their subject in general, that is was like a shot of
nitrous oxide into our classroom (that's NOS in student language).  NOS
supercharges are engine for a short powerful burst: March Madness can do the
same for scripture mastery in your classroom.

The most important things I have learned in using March Madness:
* Make it a reward.  It is so fun and chaotic that I used it as an end of
day activity when the class was engaged and cooperative.  If they weren't,
no MM.
* The more Madness the better; nothing causes more fun and confusion than
outrageous consequences. If you class is super competitive, MM is ideal,
teams are so much in flux that strong students are always paired with weaker
students.  Make them participate together.
* Use a nerf basketball and something to shoot into. It has to be real, the
basketball portion. I had a basketball team starter that could NOT get that
nerf ball into the waste basket from three feet.  He could hit three
pointers on the court all day long, but was completely inept with the nerf
ball. That just added to the madness and thrilled non-athletic kids who
could outshoot the star, in a good natured way.  It is all in how you handle
the class.
* Have a good reward for the winning team.  I usually hosted the wining team
for breakfast at my house, with mini-candy bars for everyone else. Of course
that winning team and it's members was not decided until the very last shot
and question, so everyone stayed in engaged.

Well, that's it enough for now.  I hope these ideas will give you something
to try with your classes and that you will have some special experiences in
the coming months!

Best Regards, 
 
Tim Holder, Webmaster
http://latter-dayvillage.com
webmaster at latter-dayvillage.com