Our church has an ongoing training for Sunday School Teachers and Assistant, this is being held every Saturday from 1:00 to 6:00 in the afternoon. Most of the attendees are young people from 14 to 20 plus years old. I praise God for these young people who have heart to teach kids about God.
I was assigned to teach last Saturday and my topic is “Basic Classroom Management” I compiled tips from my own experience when I was still in the Academe and from the tips I got over the internet . I surfed endlessly last week hoping i could find one ready material (well I happen to search for liftmaster garage door opener parts too) anyways, here’s what I come up to :
1. Arrive Early - I told them if you’re going to be a teacher, you need to be at your classroom at least 15 minutes before the kids arrive.
2. Class Schedule - Just like teaching kids at a regular school, I follow a schedule.
3. Set rules (i.e, no littering, no talking, etc..) - One kid in my class wrestle with other kids most of the time, so I made a "No Wrestling" rule. You can always make rules that best fit with your class.
4. Be consistent - if you have rules then make sure you are consistent in disciplining them
5. Don’t talk too much (activity) - younger kids have a very short span of attention and you can't keep talking an talking, they'll get bored. They need to do something that's why activities are important, (crafts,coloring,drawing)
6. Seating arrangement - If you would like to be more organized you can have seat plan, like what I did with my class I put the older kids at the back because the younger ones needed more attention.
7. Look in the eye - It makes them feel that you are confident with what you are teaching and you connect with them.
8. Lesson plan (read/pray the whole week) - Never go in front of your class without lesson plan and ready. This one is very important, everyone needs to get ready and you can't get your teaching materials ready in one night.
9. Visual Aids -They remember lessons when you use visual aids and it keep them entertained while listening.
10. Do not chat with your assistant teacher (personal)- I said "do not talk about personal stuff in your life with your assistant where the kids can hear you (I observed this from new and young teachers that's why I put this one up)
11. Never leave a classroom full of kids - you'll never know what's gonna happen when you go back to your room.
12. Rewards and Appreciate - Because kids love prizes and it motivates them, a pat in the back, a "very good" mark in their paper work makes them happy and makes them want to go bak the next Sunday :)
I hope this would somehow help Sunday School ministers out there and I hope I was able to impart something to our future teachers.
