High school/College Sunday school HELP!

[Colorado]

Hey, this is Kathi in Colorado and I will be teaching the senior high school and College Sunday school class for the summer. What makes a Sunday school class engaging for you? Would love to hear from you as to likes and dislikes. What would make it an hour in the week that you just wouldn't want to miss. Thanks! Kathi

[Alyssa]

I had a Sunday School class at TMC that was incredible; it was just me and the teacher, which I usually hate (Big classes at camp have always been my favorite and the most productive for me). The thing that made it special was that this teacher really spoke with me, not to me. She had lesson plans and specific things she wanted to impart, but she didn't have specific answers in mind when she asked me questions at all. She was completely non-judgmental and said 'yeah, that's something I'm working through too' a lot. I found that the class related really closely to my life since I trusted this teacher and felt like she understood me. She also had a good understanding of the bible and s&h, was a great role model, and let me talk more (a MUST for SS teachers). All in all, it was a really rewarding experience and I really looked forward to/made an effort to go to class. So that's what I look for in a Sunday School teacher...
A

[Colorado]

Alyssa Thanks for that thoughtful response and great reminders of qualities to express as a teacher. I loved that! It's really helpful.
Another question that I would like to put out there is what about topics covered in Sunday school. Do you feel grounded in the Bible/Scriptures and S&H? Are there things that you feel are important and that you wished were covered, discussed, brought out? (Note Article 20 Sect. 2 and 3 in the Manual which gives direction but unlimited opportunity for instruction within the guidelines) I remember when I first graduated from Sunday school and thought I wished I had asked certain questions when I had the opportunity. We have the wonderful provision for Class Instruction and learning and growing is always on going so there is never a missed opportunity; however, how can the Sunday school experience be better content wise? Would love to hear.

[Inge]

I was really fortunate to have, for the most part, great Sunday School teachers-- they were young, progressive thinking, very accessible (outside of class as well as during) and really challenged me to think about hard questions. One that stands out the most to me was my last Sunday School teacher who had a lot of very candid discussions with my friend and I who were in Sunday School together as we came home from college for the first time, having had to sit down and really think about what we believed and why. He wasn't interested in giving us strict rules of what we should or should not do, but in playing devils advocate so that we could really think through all sides of the coin and make our own decision.

One of the things that I find myself thinking about/reluctant about is a model of Christian Science that is about moral imperatives and regulation-- and succombing to what I call "CS guilt." It was, is, and has always been really important to me to feel like I am making decisions because they are what is right for me-- and not just because I was brought up in a CS family that advocated certain rules, and my teachers helped me to make these decisions my own. (sure, I'm a sociologist, I realize that nothing is entirely my own-- but you know what I mean, I hope. .hard to articulate!) I recently heard someone talk about Christian Science as being about morals and salvation-which was a first for me, salvation always brought a notion of uber-Christian, Bible thumping to mind that I shy away from, but when I mentioned to my dad that I didn't have any recollection of this salvation being a part of what I learned in Sunday School nor moral absolutism he seemed taken aback. Perhaps something for us to think about?


hope that's helpful/I'm not veering too far off course here!
Inge

[SummerMW]

I just red an article in the new Journal - "Staying Aloft", a conversation with Elise L. Moore. She talks about our morals growing stronger and melting into spiritual understanding. For me this is the most important thing. That is actually the question that I like to ask myself over and over and over..."What is the most important thing?" This question, I think, could keep a class busy all summer!

Peace & Love - Summer

P.S. Assuming they have email, you might ask them if they have subjects that they would like to talk about and email them to you, so that YOU bring them up in class. I think that makes it easier to confront tough subjects that need to be brought up, that otherwise someone might not want to bring up in front of others.
Guidance - Truth unfolds, as Mind directs, what Soul inspires, and Love protects

[Golda Orwa]

Hi All,

I remember my 1 hour in Sunday school as one of the most important times of my life so far,and I am truly grateful for it.
However,I remember not knowing much about the other sunday school beauties that I shared sunday school with. You see we had our lessons to do, and we discussed subjects and whatever one got out of it was totally individualized.What I mean is, I feel like we each gave our thoughts to the sunday school teacher and not to each other, and so we failed to recognize our inherent abilities as teachers as well during that one hour. I hope you understand what I mean.

Thank you so much All for your graceful suggestions.

Golda

[Hogster]

I haven't had the greatest set of Sunday School teachers and in fact I used to dread coming to Sunday School because it didn't seem to have a point ... at the worst of it one of our teachers didn't talk about CS, the Bible, or how faith could be used in our daily lives at all! It was quite a long time ago but I remember it was a real put-off ...

And then a few years ago I moved up to the top class in Sunday School and started with a new teacher .... boy, what that teacher has done for my love of CS simply cannot be expressed in words. The classes *feel* boundless, and no matter what topics people introduce, the conversation is always lovingly and gently steered in the direction of a metaphysical solution or an approach to the problem/question. Sometimes she will refer back to parts of the lesson which are particularly relevant to the things we're discussing, other times she won't. The key thing for me is when she asks right at the beginning of the lesson if any of the students have any topics they would like to talk about ... If we just went there and were talked at for 45 minutes it wouldn't be nearly as effective as allowing the students to pose any questions of their own.

Having a really bubbly and enthusiastic teacher is important too - it really relaxes the students and makes them more likely to engage with the teacher and the discussions (essential in my opinion). If things are taken too seriously or without that flame of divine Love burning brightly inside the teacher, the classes can end up being confession sessions and I imagine that would be a real put-off too.

On the topic of engaging the students, it's important to get the balance of questions-to-the-students right ... too few and the students all sit there like lemons just soaking up information like sponges (and we all know what happens when you pour water onto a sponge - it all leaks out and soaks away!), but too many and it can start to be uncomfortable - students don't like being under the spotlight of complex questions! I know I don't!

If it comes up conveniently in the conversation it might also be good to ask the students what they feel they want from Sunday School ... although for those new to SS they probably won't know :) In that case you can tell them all the sorts of things that can be dicussed and how ANY topic (it's important the students know that CS is applicable to EVERY part of their lives, not just some, not just when things aren't going right) can be discussed, as confidentially as they want it to be ....

Just some ideas that came to me when I saw your thread :)


David

[Alyssa]

Yes, David!

There's a big difference between asking if anyone had any healings this week (no) or if anyone has any questions or things they're thinking about (definitely). Also, if no one *does* say they have anything to talk about, keep asking as the lesson goes on. I often find with myself and campers that once we're relaxed and thinking, we are comfortable posing our questions, even if they have nothing to do with the current topic.

I'm not sure a teacher needs to be *bubbly,* exactly - they can just be themselves - their joyful, loving selves that is.

[babyofblack]

My teacher I have right now is a truck driver- so he's only in town every 3 weeks or so. But, when he IS there, class is amazing. I'm usually the only student. We spend the first 5-15 minutes of class talking about our last few weeks. From what states he's been in, to what movies I've seen, to my friends, or my boyfriend. And then we sit for a few minutes quietly while he takes it all in. Then he'll usually flipp open the concordence to find some passage or another, and we'll work the ENTIRE time on that one passage. We'll cross refrence with other passages, and we'll look up stories, but it revolves around that one single passage. He'll ask questions about words and termonology. And he teaches me about bible history that he knows. We read the passage (if its from the bible) from different commentaries, demalows (spelling??), JB phillips, and whatever else he brought. He never lets me say I don't know, or give a "sunday school answer". All my answers have to be thought out before I say them, and eventually, by the end of the hour, I've made the connection as to WHY this single passage has just fit every little thing that happend in the last 3 weeks sence our last meeting.

The fact that he listens so well to me AND to God, helps our hour become a very very usefull hour.

OH! and the fact that we actually DON'T touch on the lesson makes me want to study the lesson more during the week- because I know that I have to have all my questions prepared for those first few minutes of class

[danr415]

My Sunday School experiences have all been good, and I attribute this mostly to the fact that all of my Sunday School teachers listened carefully to my query and then went to the books (Bible and Science and Health or Prose Works). They would use concordances, and sometimes New English Bibles to convey the point that I needed to hear at the time. What was so great about this method of "book-based" learning was that I could refer back to these passages in future, and that I would then have a stronger understanding of this powerful way of thinking.

I have noticed that there are some teachers who prefer to speak openly about their own concept of what Christian Science is. While this may be effective, I would strongly caution against this method, since the Christian Science Sunday School is really, in my opinion, a place where students learn about Christian Science as discovered by Mrs. Eddy, not the Sunday School Teacher.

So my advice would be to go to the books; you can't go wrong!