Do you struggle with any “guilt” of not covering a highlighted principle or large section of scripture block in a given section?

Jenny Smith:

Have you read the Gospel Teaching and Learning handbook? Read Section 4. You should never feel guilty about not covering something. Shake it off, girl.

It's unfortunate that this whole testing thing is giving teachers the idea they *have to* cover certain stuff so kids can pass the test. That's not the intent of Seminary.

www.lds.org/manual/gospel-teaching-and-learning-a-handbook-for-teachers-and-leaders-in-seminaries-and-institutes-of-religion/preparing-to-teach?lang=eng

(3 hours ago)

 3

Jenny Smith:

See also this article: www.jennysmith.net/blog/increasing-student-participation

(3 hours ago)

 3

Kathy Rinehart Arnold:

It's important to keep in mind that years from now (and it may only be 1 year from now), your students will only remember 4 things from their year with you: How they felt about you as their teacher, how the perceived you felt about them, Scripture mastery (if you did it) and a couple (yes just a couple) of stand out lessons that impacted them. Remember that what we as teachers are trying to do is create good habits (read every day), have them feel and recognize the spirit and strengthen testimony. Covering all the principles falls way down on the list. Think back to your own youth and how much of it do you remember and what had the greatest impact.

(3 hours ago)

 9

Violet Dawn Berg:

Yes, yes, yes! This is my second year teaching and I still struggle with "holding fast" to the lessons in the manual!!

(3 hours ago)

 2

Cathy Davis Liggett:

Continue to pray for your students; learn to love them. They will remember that more than any lesson you teach. Having said that, however, i pray for guidance for what my students need with each lesson. Sometimes we only cover one topic; sometimes more; sometimes not the one i started out with either! :) Let the Spirit guide you and "let go" of the guilt . . . I used to be just like that! Best wishes!

(3 hours ago)

 3

Christy Elliott Vogel:

When I read the scripture block first, usually three times, prayerfully looking for the principles my students need to learn; I have found that I am guided to those principles. Then, when I look at the teacher's manual, I am more confident about the things I want to cover and what I can let go.

(3 hours ago)

 5

Kate Shaffer:

Not at all :). I am not good at walking through a lesson manual and remembering everything if says I should teach. Even when I use notes, it rarely works well. I read the scriptures, pray for guidance, take a gander at the manual, and if it helps, I use it, if not, move on. I want my kids to feel that seminary is a place they want to be, where they feel love, the Spirit, and my testimony. If that happens, they will return time and again to the Gospel and scriptures through a lifetime of study and church lessons. The kids are going to retain a fraction of what we teach in these critical years - I concentrate on making sure they know the human stories of church history and the answers those amazing people found through the revelations they received, now in the D&C. That usually involves a variety of teaching methods so they never get bored. I look for ideas all over the place - a good teacher is a good (idea) thief.

(3 hours ago)

 3

Elaine Henson:

I do! In fact, for today's lesson, I felt that I needed to cover most of what was in the manual, so I prepared it that way, only leaving out a few details. But then actually teaching it, my whole lesson plan was abandoned. We got into a really good discussion and I could see my students really engaging, so in the end we only covered about a third of the material - didn't even use the handouts I'd prepared. But at the end of the day I feel that my students got what they needed this morning

Related Posts

• Just Serve Fireside
• 2018 Primary Program, I am a Child of God
• D&C Doctrinal Mastery Printables for 2018 Seminary
• Happy Father’s Day! You Nailed It!