Serving as a Teacher: Preparation

by Miriam Caldwell | More from this Blogger

30 Aug 2007 09:20 PM

One of the most common callings in the church is teacher. Nearly every organization calls someone to teach. Many members of the church view teachings as something that is easy to do or something that everyone can do. As someone who actually studied teaching in school, I realize that there is a lot that goes into teaching, and it is important to take the calling seriously. Over the next few weeks, I am going to write about several aspects that can help you to become a more effective teacher in whatever organization you are serving.

The first key to being a successful teacher is preparation. When you prepare to teach a class in church, you should begin with a prayer. The spirit can guide you to prepare the material that your students need to learn about. It can also open your heart and mind so that you may understand concepts that you have not understood before.

After you have prayed, you should study the material in the lesson and seek to understand it. It is difficult to teach a lesson on something that you do not understand. Depending on who you are teaching you may need to study the material in greater depth. Primary children usually just need the most basic concepts taught, while Gospel Doctrine requires a much broader and deeper understanding of the scriptures. If you have questions on the topic, then you can research the subject at the church's website.

Another aspect of preparation is thinking about how you will capture your student's attention and hold it. If you are teaching younger children, you should use as many pictures and object lessons as possible. You may also want to focus on how the students can apply the things you are discussing to their lives. If it has a practical application, the lesson will more directly affect the students.

Of course true preparation takes more than thirty minutes the day of the lesson. I like to prepare by reading the material, thinking about it, praying about it and then beginning to plan the lesson. It is important to follow the lessons outlined in the manual, because they are the topics that have been carefully selected for us to learn about. In many instances there is not enough time to thoroughly cover everything in the lesson and so it is important to pray about what topics you should really focus on.

Related Articles:

Resources for Your Calling

Five Helps for Sunday School Teachers

The Blessings of Callings

Learn more about Miriam Caldwell

Miriam is a SAHM mom of three children. She has a daughter who is seven, and two sons, four and two. She loves being a parent and spending time with her children.

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