31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator

Coming May 2013! 

Creator of the popular website The Religion Teacher, Jared Dees shares practical, easy-to-use teaching strategies and exercises for spiritual growth in his book 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator. These components are designed to improve the effectiveness of any busy religious educator.

Volunteer catechists and professional religion teachers are responsible for two unique and challenging tasks: sharing (and assessing) information and the spiritual formation of their students. This succinct, practical resource helps busy catechists and religion teachers with both tasks and is designed for use either over consecutive days in one month, or by specific themes that encourage personal improvement in areas of discipleship, service, leadership, and overall teaching. Each of the thirty-one days includes a clear title that gives the lesson theme, a quotation from Scripture, an introduction to the exercise, step-by-step actions to take for the day, and spiritual enrichment ideas for the educator.

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31 Exercises for the 31 Days

I. Become a Better Disciple

Day 1. Recall Your Calling as a Religious Educator
Day 2. Recognize Your Relationship with Christ
Day 3. Imitate One of the Best Teachers in Your Life
Day 4. Spend Time Reading the Scriptures
Day 5. Spend Time Reading the Writings of a Saint
Day 6. Learn Something from Your Student
Day 7. Improve One Prayer Habit

II. Become a Better Servant

Day 8. Identify Your Students’ Top Needs
Day 9. Identify Your Students’ Biggest Strengths
Day 10. Get to Know a Student Before or After Class
Day 11. Write a Note of Praise to a Student Who Struggles
Day 12. Compliment a Parent about Their Child
Day 13. Pray for Your Student

III. Become a Better Leader

Day 14. Eliminate the Time-Wasters
Day 15. Update Your Classroom Procedure
Day 16. Update Your Classroom Rule
Day 17. Articulate the Vision for Your Classroom
Day 18. Practice Giving Positive, Constructive Feedback
Day 19. Give Students Ownership over Certain Tasks

IV. Become a Better Teacher

Day 20. Write Out Why the Lesson Is Important
Day 21. Draft or Edit Student Learning Objectives
Day 22. Assess Without a Test
Day 23. Simplify Your Lesson
Day 24. Tell a Story in Class
Day 25. Change the Way Your Students Read Their Textbook
Day 26. Plan and Assign a Project
Day 27. Incorporate Music into Your Day
Day 28. Liberate Students from Their Chairs
Day 29. Review a Lesson from the Past
Day 30. Visualize a Lesson in Action
Day 31. Become a Witness