I love innovative reading strategies. Most religion teachers recognize early on that despite the fact that they are meant to teach theology, they spend a lot of their time teaching reading. Literature has historically been a key source of our faith and it is critical to the well-rounded Catholic religious education program. In Nick Senger’s…
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Building Prayer Habits as a Teacher
Prayer is central to effective catechesis. If a teacher does not pray, how can she or he possibly expect to open students up to the grace of God? But we all know how busy our lives can get as teachers. Finding time to pray is difficult and it can be challenging to set up good…
Rite of Confirmation Lesson Plan
According to the National Directory for Catechesis, there are two approaches to teaching ritual: the inductive method and the deductive method (NDC, 29). I wrote about these two approaches in a general way in a recent article published in the National Catholic Educational Association’s journal, Momemtum (February/March 2011, pp. 22-23). In the lesson plan below,…
7 Practical Ideas for Prayer Before Class
Prayer before class starts is usually a crucial part of every religion teacher’s lesson plan. I included it by default on the lesson planning templates I created to support The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning. Use the tips below to help you remember to pray before every class session and to offer creative opportunities…
Using Inductive Teaching Strategies to Get Students’ Attention
Getting students’ attention and keeping it can be a real challenge for any teacher or catechist. Children are easily distracted and have a hard time sitting in desks and remaining focused. Throughout the school day, most teachers use the same teaching strategies (mostly lecture) again and again. Catechists are faced with the challenge of trying…
Why do I have to confess my sins to a priest in the Catholic Church?
With the recent buzz around the new Confession iPhone App by LittleiApps, I thought it might be a timely discussion about the often asked question, “Why do I need to confess my sins to a priest?” The reasons might surprise you.
Are you making these lesson planning mistakes?
Are you making the following mistakes? I have and sometimes I still do. They are bad habits that all of us need to avoid at all costs.
Student Prayer Partners
Looking for ways to foster meaningful prayer experiences in your religious education classes? Try assembling students as prayer partners for a quarter, semester, year, or month. The more ownership you can give students over their faith and prayer lives, the more they will learn about themselves, God, and others.
How Will Digital Publishing Impact Catholic Religious Education?
I’ve been thinking a lot about the progression of catechetical publishing and the future we might have in store as religious educators.
Catholic Schools Week 2011 Ideas and Activities
Here is another great collection of Catholic schools week ideas and activities by Jennifer Dees and Meghann Robinson, both employees of the Alliance for Catholic Education program at the University of Notre Dame. This year’s Catholic Schools Week theme is A+ for America and I think they have come up with a great list of…
