Before you decide what to give up for Lent this year, I want you to consider something very important. Don’t forget Easter. Easter is the end of Lent. Easter gives meaning to Lent, indeed to time itself. Easter celebrates the greatest joy known to man: new life! Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ and…
The Religion Teacher Blog
Web Tools to Help You Stay Organized
What is your method of organization? Have you made the digital jump yet? Growing up and even into college, I carried around a “planner” writing down meetings, assignments, tasks, to-dos, etc. I was lost without it. Today things are different. I recently had to get a new computer and I realized my entire life is…
Saint Thomas Aquinas Prayer Before Study
January 28 is the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, patron saint of students, schools, and learning. In honor of his feast day, share this prayer before study below with your students. Copy and paste it into a word document and distribute copies for them all to use before big tests and exams. Saint Thomas…
Bell Work Activities – They Save Time and Keep Students Engaged
There is nothing like the sound of students working hard on an assignment the minute class has begun. What is that sound? Silence. I loved it. I was able to recover from the class that just ended and prepare for the class that was beginning all while students were learning on their own. In this…
Catholic Schools Week Activities and Ideas for 2010 Theme “Dividends for Life”
Catholic Schools Week Dates: January 31 – February 6, 2010 This is a guest post by Jennifer Dees and Meghann Robinson. Jen and Meghann have planned many Catholic Schools Week events for their schools. Each year they are able to take the special week to a whole new level and this year is no exception!…
Feast of the Epiphany Lesson Plan & Activities
Background to the Feast of the Epiphany The Epiphany is celebrated on the Sunday between January 2nd and 8th while the actual feast day occurs on January 6th (twelve days after Christmas). In many European countries the Epiphany, rather than Christmas (Feast of the Nativity), is the day of gift-giving. The Epiphany is in commemoration…
A New Job, A New Adventure
People often say that your vocation is where your greatest passion meets the world’s greatest need. If this blog isn’t a dead give-away, I love teaching religion. I have an insatiable desire to learn everything I can about the Catholic faith and share that love with others. On one restless night of my junior year…
Teacher’s Reading List Ideas for Christmas Break
Christmas break is a great time to step back away from teaching and enjoy your time off. You may be looking for some good books to read or maybe you are looking to use some gift certificates from your students before you lose them. The following books rocked my socks off in 2009 and if…
Why is the third Sunday of Advent pink? (Why is the third candle in the Advent wreath pink?)
I inevitably got this question from my students during the 3rd week of Advent. So what is the best way to answer it? You could Google it and find a number of reasons: Purple is a penitential color of fasting while pink (rose) is the color of joy. The 3rd Sunday in Advent is Gaudete…
Can We Double the Number of Latinos in Catholic Schools? Notre Dame Says YES
Here are some staggering statistics about Latinos in Catholic schools: Only 53% of Latinos graduate from high school in 4 yearsChildren in Catholic Schools are 42% more likely to graduate high schoolOnly 3% of Latinos send their kids to Catholic schools The University of Notre Dame and the Alliance for Catholic Education says it is…
