Category: teaching

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motivation teaching

Teaching to Learn

 

Photo of mountain landscape with the following quote, "When one teaches, two learn." Robert Half

I love this quote from Robert Half because that is essentially why I wanted to make blogging a regular practice. I have learned several lessons as I have taught over the years.

  • The preparation to teach is almost as important as the lesson.
  • If I can’t adequately explain it to someone (especially a nine-year-old), I probably don’t adequately understand it myself.
  • It is okay to veer from a lesson plan. It isn’t the Gospel.
  • All learning needs a little entertainment. If I am boring, I am not really teaching.
  • I can learn much more from teaching elementary than adults.
    • Grown-ups will hide if they are not engaged.
    • I child will have no problem telling me if I am boring
  • No matter how much I know about the subject, there is always something more to learn.
    • New discoveries make learning fun for the teacher and the student.

I am taking a hiatus from teaching elementary kids and I am already missing it. I get so much from teaching and engaging with others. If you have never tried to teach another, I would encourage you to give it a try.

Categories
books motivation teaching

Reinforce a Lesson by Teaching Someone

Cartoon of a teacher and a circle-shaped character

The other day, a coworker was asking me how I keep my notes organized. I responded that I have got a lot out of a web site and book about the Bullet Journal Method.

It reminded me of how valuable it is to reinforce a lesson by telling or teaching someone the same lesson. I have been using a variation of the method for some time and bought the book in the spring. I was reminded of how effective the method was when I told him how it helped me.

If you are a lifelong learner, I suggest you find a way to teach what you’ve learned to others. You don’t have to be an official, formal teacher. You can just share what you’ve learned to your friends or people at work.

If you have found a piece of knowledge to be useful for you, chances are another person can benefit from it. In turn, that helps you remember the lesson and reinforce it in your own mind.

Categories
teaching

Waiting for Patience

This morning, I get to talk to kids about patience. Everybody loves that topic, right? I mean, who doesn’t love to wait for things that they would like right now? But patience allows us to put off the good for the better.

The lesson is based on the story of Simeon in Luke 2:22–35. This quote sums it up:

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

Saint Augustine on Goodreads.com

Patience teaches us to mind our temper. It allows us to make better choices and to invest in the future. Patience is a virtue that pays off in spades.

The kids I will teach on this Sunday morning may have a hard time getting this morning’s lesson. Heaven knows I wasn’t a patient kid. but my prayer for them this morning is if they don’t get it now, this lesson will come to them when they really need it. May it keep them from making a dumb, urgent decision at the expense of a better future.

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Business teaching

Teaching in Order to Learn

It amazes me whenever it happens. Whenever I teach, I learn just as much as the students. I have seen it when I lead kids in large group on a Sunday morning. And I have seen it in the workplace as well. 

For the last two weeks at work, I’ve had the opportunity to teach a person my duties. I’ve been in my role for under ten months and there are many things about my job that are still new to me. The person who taught me retired in late June. Since then, I have been applying what she taught me. Now I have the chance to do the same for another person.

As I have shown her the systems, the exceptions and the why behind the way we do things, I have been energized. Sure, I am not using the same words, and every experience is different. In fact, that is part of the teaching/learning process that thrills me. I can paraphrase what I was taught and see the results in a whole new way.

We have this tendency to believe once we are done with our formal schooling, we are done with education. This fallacy keeps us from growing. I have found it is much better to keep learning. And one of the best ways to learn is to teach others what we do.

Blogging is one way we can do that. And that is why I am going continue writing about my experiences and the lessons I’ve learned through being a writer, illustrator, and a graphics manager.

Categories
children's ministry teaching

Why drawing a story can make a big difference in children’s ministry

Yesterday, I got to do something that has scared me and gives me a bit of a thrill every time I do it. I told the story of David, Nabal and Abigail as I drew it. Now if you ask me to draw a cartoon, I can oblige with a quick doodle. And if you ask me to tell a story, I can be rather quick with some details and a few exaggerations for effect. But I discovered a few years ago, telling a story while I talk can make for some drama within my head.

When I draw as I tell a story, I have to make my left side of my brain and the right side play well together. As I’m drawing, I have to remind myself to say a few words about that mean Nabal, and David’s angry soldiers. It’s a bit of a stretch.

And that’s why I do it. I want the kids to engage both sides of their mind when they hear the story.  I want the logical, left brain kids to get the facts. I want the creative, right brain kids to see the story come to life with a marker and paper. It’s a little low-tech, but not quite flannel graph. It’s a sweet spot for me.

I do it because I remember when an artist came to my church when I was a teen. He drew these beautiful scenes in chalk and had lighting effects that made the water appear to be moving. He made a sunset come to life. It lit up my imagination and made me see creative through the church in a different way.

My doodles aren’t anywhere near the work of art of that guy, but if I can help a child remember the story and maybe inspire him or her to tell it in their creative way, then I’ve done my job.

Besides, It’s fun flying without a net. It brings a little adventure to one’s day!

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