Substitution Assignment: I was unable to do my regular assignment this week due to the fact that I have a commitment to help out in camping ministry on several weekends this semester. This is a ministry that is very important to me as I hope to do it full time in the future. This weekend I was a counselor for 8 girls in 5th and 6th grade, so I was not able to leave and go to my home church for a formal Sunday School Teaching session. I believe that I should get some credit for this experience because I was able to observe an effective teacher/communicator for that age group, as well as personally lead my girls in breakout/discussion time.
Report by: rachael mulder
Subject: Practicum Report #4
Time Spent This Week: 5 hours (teaching sessions=3 & breakout/discussion groups = 2)
Class This Week: During the retreat there were four sessions. Each session began with prayer, worship, skits, and then led into the teaching/message. Louis Ford was the teacher. He was a past counselor who is now a youth pastor. He did an amazing job teaching and communicating with the kids. His main topic was total commitment to Christ, which involved getting rid of distractions so that we can better hear God. The kids loved him. He brought in props to aid in his teaching, and connected with the kids on a personal level. The kids were excited to go to session, which is awesome for that age group. Louis also used visual aids to help the kids grasp the concept of removing distractions. He had the kids bring their Bibles, paper and pen to every session, and encouraged them to copy down what he drew in a personal way. It was so awesome to look around the room and see 150 kids who were attentive to what Louis was saying, and who were writing down ideas and circling key things in their Bibles. What was even cooler was that the kids remembered the things Louis said, and were responsive by answering questions and adding input during the sessions.
Which leads me to the second part of my experience: leading the breakout groups. After the session, I was in charge of leading my girls in a small group session. The first session was a little rough. The girls didn’t know each other very well, and were unwilling to open up. The questions were pretty personal, and involved the girls being willing to admit areas in their lives where there were distractions. So, the first session was pretty surface level. The girls hesitantly opened up a little, but not much. I did most of the talking, and referred to Scripture and the message. I could not get any of them to pray though. The second and third sessions went so much better. The girls began to open up and share more personal things. They were really excited about what Louis had to say, and how they could apply that to their lives. They also began to look at resources in their Bible, and wanted to share them with the group. They got really excited when they found information on Elijah (the main person preached about) or things dealing with distraction. Yet, I still could not get them to pray at the beginning or the end. The last session was much shorter, and we outlined everything we talked about that weekend. They had great ideas for practical ways they could be take what they learned home. They were more comfortable with each other, and I actually had two girls that volunteered to pray!
Questions this Week:
- What are some fun activities you can use to break the ice within a small group?
- How do you effectively deal with students who bring up ideas that have nothing to do with the topic at hand?
- What are some ways to encourage students to be open to praying in public? How can you practice that, or lead students to that point?
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2 comments:
Rachael – it sounds like this camp thing is going well for you. I think it would’ve been amazing to be there with you this past weekend. Keep it up! The ministry you are providing to these students is amazing!
RE: question 1 dealing with fun activities to use to break the ice in a small group: Some activities I think of right away are activities that involve EVERYONE! You could circle up and have one person go to the middle and play either “Have You Ever…” or “If You’re Wearing…” With the first game I mentioned, the person in the middles says something wild, crazy, and fun they have done and everyone that has done that also, gets up and runs to another chair besides their own. The person in the middle must run to get a seat too; the last one without a seat is in the middle. The second game gets you real comfortable with one another. A person would stand in the middle and say “If you are wearing blue, move 2 seats to your left.” The person in the middle however, has to be wearing what they call out. If there is someone in the seat, you just sit on their lap. Sometimes the piles get big and as long as nothing is broke, it is a fun game to break the ice. Also, any games that connect with the lesson that involve speaking and teamwork are great (wheel-barrel races, tag that includes partners or groups, etc.) I hope this helps a bit!
RE: question 2 on how you deal with off topic ideas: I believe this is hard to deal with no matter what. We tend to get off topic a lot, but sometimes it’s good. If it strays away too far, then stop the conversation and bring it back to the topic. If it is worth staying off topic, I encourage you to “go with the flow” and continue to talk in this area. If it is the same student doing it several times a night, let him/her speak and affirm them for trying, or find a way to fit it in and keep moving on.
RE: question 3 on praying in public: A lot of times in small groups I participate in we do “popcorn” prayer. You could do this, and say “I’ll close the prayer, if someone wants to open.” It wouldn’t be a bad idea on discussing prayer. I have come to find that praying for myself is hard and praying is hard to do in public because, especially with teenagers, we watch what we say so we don’t embarrass ourselves. I would never force anyone to pray, but encourage it and always make it an opportunity. It doesn’t hurt to call on certain students to pray either. Once they see others doing it they will realize that it is “cool” to pray.
wow what an awesome experience. I love camps they are so much fun. And I believe they are such aninfluential place to grow spiritually
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