This Summer at The Religion Teacher

I don’t share personal updates at The Religion Teacher very often, but there is a lot going on right now and I want to explain why you’ve seen so few new resources, activities, lesson plans, and videos.

For almost a year and a half now I’ve been waking up at 5:00am to get work done. Most of the time is spent creating resources for religion teachers and catechists to use in their classroom. Up to this point, most of this work finds its way directly on The Religion Teacher in some form, but lately I’ve been working on some other projects.

And I’m excited to share the good news. . .

In mid-2013 my first book will be published by Ave Maria Press titled 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator!

I won’t go into the details about the book just yet, but the title may speak for itself. If everything stays on time, you may be able to pick it up by the end of the 2012-2013 school year, but you can plan on a big push from me in the Summer and Fall of 2013.

I’m so excited about this book and I can’t wait to share it with you along with some new supportive resources here on this website. For now, I have a lot of writing ahead of me to meet my deadline in August. It is exciting, but daunting at the same time.

I also just finished working on another booklet that will be published by Liturgical Training Press for the 2013-2014 school year. It is a weekly prayer book for Catholic School teachers (like this one). But more on that later as well.

Adding More Letters After My Name

I’m also excited (and stressed!) about finishing a Masters in Theology program at the University of Notre Dame this summer. After five years of work, I’ll be taking my comprehensive exams in July.

Needless to say, I am going to have a very, very busy June, July, and August ahead of me and I’m sorry to say that The Religion Teacher is going to suffer a little bit because of this.

I hope I will have time to add more resources. I have so many ideas in the works, especially for the upcoming Year of Faith (though Joe and Jonathan are already posting some excellent resources!), but most of it will have to be on hold until after the exams and after the book is completed. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy your summers.

And If that Wasn’t Enough. . .

. . . our third child will be arriving at the end of August!

Yep, it seems like just yesterday that our family grew to four. We’ll be five-strong by September and switching to zone defense (2 parents vs. 3 kids). We are excited about the new arrival and anxiously await meeting him (or her).

Thanks to you all for the support over these last few years on The Religion Teacher. It continues to be a great adventure.

I apologize if I am slow to respond to emails in the next couple of months, but don’t be afraid to reach and and send me questions or comments.

God’s blessings on your ministries!

Jared

(Image credit)