Believe it or not, we had an early out due to the heat! Thankfully I have air conditioning in my room here at St. Paul but I do empathize with my students who are in very hot and stuffy classrooms expected to "think" on a Monday. Speaking of thinking, I have very high expectations for my students. I expect them to "think" in my classroom. I want them to make connections, analyze scripture passages, etc. and be able to communicate ideas with their classmates and myself. We do not have a textbook therefore they can't "find the answer" clearly stated in a book.
Today, we started to talk about the definition of a sacrament is, played a round of hangman to guess the words "efficacious sign." You should have seen the looks on their faces when they finally got it! I know they are at least learning terminology in this class. Anyway, we then moved on to talk about how sacraments, outward signs of an inward reality, really do cause God's grace to come and that it's not just merely an idea.
I had them get into groups (2-3) and each were given a sign that Jesus used (water, bread, oil, and touch) and had them read a few passages that included the use of that sign. Based on reading their assigned passages with their group, they had to come up with what they think Jesus is telling us about God's love through the sign. That was the instruction. They, however, wrote/spoke about the function of the signs instead of that deeper question of what was the message about God's love. I told them that their answers are not "wrong" and that they are great at analyzing and understanding the passages, but then prompted them and had them give me what I was looking for. I think they were shocked that they weren't being told "what they need to know." Critical thinking is a skill that needs to be practiced in all disciplines. Religion class is NO exception. God gave them an intellect and they will use it to its highest potential here! :)
Below is from my 3rd hour class. We did the first one together and the other signs were done in groups.
As I mentioned, we officially started talking about the sacraments today! Tomorrow we will begin with the first sacrament of initiation: Baptism!
Oh, this might make you giggle...it sure made me! I had my students come in and start class with a journal prompt. Their prompt was "What was the best part of your weekend? Write a prayer thanking God for it." Most had more in-depth responses, but hey, there is MUCH to be thankful for, and this should not be excluded!
With that, Happy Monday!
No comments:
Post a Comment