Pat yourself on the back, you’ve made it through week one! Now we are moving on to our second section titled, “Become a Better Servant.” In order to be a better teacher, we need to be a better disciple. And in order to be a better leader, we need to be a better servant.
Being a servant, in the context of religious education, means focusing on the needs of our students and doing what we can to help them regardless of how hard it is for us to do.
Teaching is not about our presentation and us, it is about the students and their participation. The more we focus on what our students need to learn rather than what we want to teach, the more success we will have in the classroom.
31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator, 39
Differentiated Instruction
Download the Differentiated Instruction Survey.
(Titled for the student, “The ‘I Learn Best’ Survey”)
Try using this survey to get an idea of what ways your students think they learn best. Keep in mind, however, that their responses may not be completely accurate. The only way to truly know what types of learning students are drawn to the most is to experiment with a variety of activities in the classroom.
You may also want to use some of these multiple intelligences tests and surveys:
- Literacy Works Assessment
- Walter McKenzie’s Multiple Intelligences Inventory
- What is Your Learning Style? Edutopia
Experimenting with a Variety of Activities
In the free eBook, The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning, I describe 250 activities and teaching strategies that are categorized into different ways of learning. These categories are based on Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence. Sign up for a free copy of that eBook and try incorporating some activities that connect with types of learning you don’t typically use in class. See how your students respond to these new activities.
