47/365 On my own feet

During my second year of college, I began teaching my own Sunday school class (even though it met on Saturday nights). If you'll remember, my first year I assisted and was mentored by a wonderful woman who had been teaching children for decades. 

Well, after a year with her and another round of summer camps, I was declared ready to lead on my own! I was given some assistants (who I quickly promoted to co-teachers) and set free. 

I worked with older elementary kids (who are now in college!!!!) and we had a blast. I only knew what I was doing half the time and I royally sucked at planning ahead, but we always had a good time. One of the things that was really important to me was getting to know each kid individually. I'd rather forget the lesson entirely if it meant getting to know a kid in an authentic manner. Because that enabled me to craft a new lesson that was relevant to that kid. 

Who cared if that week we were supposed to be memorizing the 10 commandments if there was a kid in my group who was broken hearted because his parents were divorcing? Let that lesson wait and lets talk about God's love and never-ending promise to be a part of our lives. 

I learned a lot that year. I learned that my better lessons were always the ones that I took time to plan ahead. I learned that I was more stressed when I just showed up an hour early and tried to figure out what to do. I learned that if you called a kid when they were absent, they'd be back the next week with a BIG old smile on their face. I learned that if you sent a birthday card to a kid - they'd be beaming about it the next weekend. 

I also learned that parents are important. A big difference from summer camps - where parents drop off and for a week you are it. When you teach weekly - the parents are an essential part. Give them something to talk about. Tell them about the lesson we studied, give them a question to ask their kid. The truth is, every 4th and 5th grader will answer the question "What did you learn about tonight?" with a "I dunno" - even 5 seconds after they left class! But if you meet the parent at the door and tell them - "Ask Bobby about what happened when David made a choice to follow his own plans instead of trusting God when he saw Bathsheba?" and you've got a kid who will talk! Give them the extra question "Have you ever been faced with a time when you felt you had to choose between following God or following your own ideas?" and you have a conversation!!!!!!