Practicum Report #5 (Joel)

A. Time Spent This Week: 4 (Sunday school=1.5; evening service=2.5)

B. My Class This Week:

1. Before Class. This week I didn't get there early enough to play basketball or hang out with any of the kids before class. I was disappointed in myself because this is usually the best time for me to build relationships with the kids. We got off to a good start though and I ended up having a good time leading my gorup.

2. Class Time. Usually at some point during the morning we break up into some form of small groups depending on where we are sitting. This week, Nick, Ben, Hannah, David, Ricky, and Gale were all in the small groups that I led. After one of the adult helpers, Pam, taught about thankfulness and what it means to be thankful, we broke up into our groups to read a Bible passage and answer some questions about what it means to be truly thankful in our lives. David was, and always is, very enthusiastic about answering the questions but he brought his friend Ricky this week - his first time at Sunday school since I've been there - who wasn't very interested in what we were talking about at all. Quite the opposite of David. I'm not sure if it was Ricky's first time ever and I wish I would have asked because we didn't even do anything as a class to welcome him. It really made me angry that none of the leaders took any personal initiative with him. I think there should be some sort of understood intentional investment with any new kid. Overall, though, my group was very responsive and, aside from Ricky, seemed to enjoy the conversation. We had some fun too, which was good. I feel like I'm getting to know the kids better and establishing some more credibility with them and they are opening up to me more.

C. My Questions This Week

1. What are some ways we can welcome new kids better as a Sunday school class?

2. How do you encourage a kid - especially a new kid - like Ricky to be involved/get him involved in the discussion?

Response To Joel’s #4

#1) The thing with going "deep" is the fact that only a few people will understand the deep concepts. Sure, there are students who will understand some of the hard concepts, but there will be plenty who don't. It's kind of hard to decide who will understand more deep stuff. It is possible to go deeper, but you have to be observant to who is picking up on the concepts and who isn't. The best way to do this is to break into small groups. I think we do need to start moving away from the typical "cheesy" prepackaged Sunday school lessons. But the important thing to do is make sure that we have each grade level accustomed to the level of depth. We can do this through research and understanding where the average mind per age is at. I truly believe that because of the improvements in technology, the children and youth of today are able to handle more complex material. We need to stop babying them.

#2) I think Sunday school is currently a very surfacy thing. I have experienced that because my practicum supervisor has not showed up hardly at all. How are we supposed to get deep and not remain surfacy when we have no commitment. So often, we see Sunday school as a once a week thing where we only hang out for a couple of hours. When everyone has that attitude, then no one becomes close and everyone remains shallow. If we want to go deeper relationally, then we need to readjust our attitudes as to what the purpose of Sunday school is. Is it to teach and then leave? Or is it to teach, grow, and learn all together by learning from each other? I think it is the latter.

Response #4 (to Tyler's #4)-Joel

1. RE: What are your opinions about practicums? Personally, having worked in a church in high school and being a pastor's kid, I have begun to have some similar feelings about practicums. But while they don't always seem extremely helpful, they are still as great of a learning experience as you make them. If nothing else this semester I have learned a lot of ways NOT to teach Sunday school. And the other thing too is that we may not see all the fruits of our labor right away. Even though you're only at this church for 4 months, the fact that you sat down and asked little Johnny how things were going at home last week might have meant the whole world to him and allowed for God to prompt something in his life. Sure, 4 months is short-term, but it can still have a lot of impact. I'm with you that they seem pointless at times, or redundant. But I think there's still a lot we can learn about from them.

2. RE: Are attention spans a hopeless cause? Have you guys ever seen a youthgroup where everyone is fully engaged? If so, how did that happen? How did the facilitator actually accomplish that? What sort of materials did they use, or were they just blessed with a group of super bible kids? Help me out here. If I knew the secret, I wouldn't be in college I'd already be on the track for taking over the senior pastor position of Willow Creek once Hybels keels over... Anyway, attention spans are extremely difficult. I'm going to go out on a limb and even say it might be impossible to keep a youth group focused for an entire message. Even more so in youth groups than for adults I think you need to cut to the chase of your teaching. Doing lots of shorter things versus one long 30 minute message followed by a 30 minute worship set satisfies, to some extent, the "ADDness" of their attention spans. I think it's always going to be a struggle though, and you're ALWAYS going to have kids who won't pay attention.

Response to Tyler's #5 (Joel)

1. RE: How do we deal with someone who just doesn't show up to class? Should I have taken charge on this one and made up a lesson? It wouldn't have been very good, but it probably would be better than nothing. I think a lesson wouldn't have necessarily hurt but you shouldn't have to feel the weight of someone else dropping the ball. I think you probably need to confront this person and tell them, "Hey, I show up every week to serve for the high school class and you've either been late or absent several times already." I think by just hanging out with the kids you were okay. Who knows, that might have had an even deeper impact than a lesson would have that morning.

2. RE: Is there any possible way for the different "social divisions" to actually get together and hang out? How? Group activities? Ski trips? I'm not sure if there is anything that involves everyone. Let me know! This is probably one of the hardest tasks as a pastor--especially working with youth. I think any activity that forces them to hang out isn't going to work. Every youth group trip we took ended up leaving people in the same cliques as usual. Maybe taking a smaller group of people from different groups would help build some bridges. Hand pick a few kids you think could handle being with each other and enjoy themselves and take them on a trip together. Those are my thoughts on that.

Reponse to Mike's #4 (Joel)

1. RE: Where do you guys stand on the integration between application and information? My home church is generally very practical-application driven so I tend to lean more towards information, at least at this period in my life because of how much application I feel I already heal. But I think you hit the nail on the head saying there needs to be a balance. One cannot work without the other because the information is only useless trivia without application but without the information you have nothing worth applying.

2. RE: Is application left up to the individual or is it a group effort? For this one, I think it can be a both/and thing. Ideally, I think we should teach application and work on it as a group. Application without accountability isn't always easy to follow through with. Application is also an individual effort. Ultimately you are the one who chooses whether or not to actually apply what you learn. Especially in your case, application has to be an individual effort. Sometimes the opportunity isn't provide it and so you need to make it for yourself.

Practicum Report #4 (Joel)

A. Time Spent This Week: 6 (Sunday school=1.5; band rehearsal=2; evening service=2.5)

B. My Class This Week:

1. Before Class. As usual, I started off the morning playing basketball with some students. At first it was just a high schooler and I shooting hoops but as 9am approached, most of the middle schoolers came into the gym too. The high schooler I was shooting with wasn't the same one as last week - I didn't see him this time. Grant was the first middle schooler to show up and the three of up shot hoops for 10-15 minutes before anyone else showed up. The teacher for the class-my supervisor-and the other adult helpers are always there but never early and rarely on time. It's unfortunate, I think, that they don't show up early to spend some time just hanging out with the kids. The best teachers/mentors I have had were the ones who spent time with me.

2. Class Time. In my group, this week, we looked at the beginning verses of Mark 5 when Jesus casts out a demon. We've been looking at passages from the Gospels every week since I've been there. I think we're following a teaching book with some kind of theme. My supervisor mentioned something about it but hasn't been very clear on what the theme for these next few months is. Class began with us splitting up into three small groups. Each of us were given straws and marshmallows and told to make a structure at least 4 inches off of the ground in order to be able to hold a Bible. My supervisor didn't bring a lightweight Bible and so every group's structure broke under the weight of it. To be honest, I'm not even sure what the point of the activity was. We never came back to it after all of them failed and I'm not sure if that's because (1) it was supposed to work and since it didn't he didn't want to go back to it or (2) it had no relevance to begin with. Either way I was confused as I'm sure the students were too.

David, Grant, Megan, and Meagan were the students in my group this week. Each week we pass around a paper for prayer requests and one of them specifically caught my eye. Meagan's request for her dad. He works for UPS and plows roads on the side and isn't getting much sleep at all. It made me think about this community of Marion and how many parents are struggling just to put food on the table.

C. My Questions This Week

1. How can we begin to move away from the "typical" Sunday school questions and topics and try to get more in depth even at a young age? Can we go further in depth at this age?

2. Is the fact that everything we do seems typical and redundant just my being older and remembering going through these same questions at that age? Or is Sunday school a very surfacy thing?

Practicum Report #3 (Joel) - Snow Make-Up

Interview with Pete Yoshonis on Spiritual Formation in the Church

Joel Yoshonis: What is spiritual formation to you? / Define spiritual formation.

Pete Yoshonis: Spiritual formation is 2 Pet. 3:18—growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in his likeness and who he is. It’s becoming like the rabbi.

JY: What are a few good methods you use or are familiar with for spiritual formation?

PY: The personal disciplines are a piece of that because they are part of cultivating that relationship [with Jesus]; growing in the knowledge and grace of Christ. If it’s true that we’re transformed as we renew our minds then we have to do things to cultivate our thinking and our knowledge of him. So, I think there are the personal disciplines—praying, fasting, etc.—that are a part of spiritual formation but I also think that has to play out in a community. Communal formation challenges our thinking about Christ and encourages action. I may draw a conclusion about Jesus but if you and I talk about it you’ll help refine that thought. If I say “I’m learning these things” but not living it you’re here to say “you’re not living it out.” Works are an outgrowth of faith so, if we have faith, there should be an outcome of works. If I’m growing in Christ and being spiritually formed it should be seen in my behavior and character.

JY: Do you think we see true spiritual formation/outgrowth of works in the Church today?

PY: I do see it in places. Just this week I had a guy call me who wouldn’t normally share his faith or be openly bold about it. In the past week he had been in the hospital and while he was walking through, heard a woman crying. He stopped by and asked her what was wrong and found that her mom had just died. After hearing this, he took the time to sit and listen to her and pray with her. That is spiritual formation.

One of the reasons we don’t catch it more is because we’re not aware of what it looks like. I think we equate spiritual formation with knowing your Bible, not drinking, not smoking, things like that. We equate spiritual life with the absence of bad things rather than the presence of good things. I don’t know we know what we’re looking for.

Another reason is that we equate spirituality with things that help with the organized church. For example, if you serve in children’s ministry regularly I may think you’re spiritually formed. Just because you serve a lot doesn’t mean you’re spiritually formed. I think probably we’re looking at the wrong benchmarks for spiritual formation.

JY: What are some of the barriers to seeing spiritual formation occur? If we were truly being spiritually formed we ought to look different than the world. Why isn’t the church different from the world?

PY: In a church on any given Sunday we have a huge cross section of people. Spiritual formation, getting people on the journey, may look different [for different people]. There’s such a diversity of where people are and their level of interest in spirituality. They go to church one hour a week and that is their “spiritual formation.” It may be for a social reason, but nothing a part of their week. We think Sunday morning is what makes the growth but it needs to be a part of their week, a part of their lives. We bank on that hour as if they watch a TV show and have it change their lives. Most people will spend more time this week watching a two-hour TV program than being spiritually formed.

JY: What can we do to fix this/change this?

PY: The first thing is that we need to build the foundation of prayer for it. I don’t build myself up and think that I can “change the world” on my own from something I do. I need to look at the closest relationships around me and see that it’s changing there first rather than jump the gun and make a big assumption that I’m going to have a huge impact on the church to do it. Look at our plan that that promotes personal responsibility with community involvement. It needs to be individual and communal – whatever plan we have. It needs to be a bigger commitment in the Church. Churches don’t make enough of an overall plan. They focus on “what can we do in the next six months” not “what can I do in the next five years.” I think we’re too shortsighted. We live in a culture that believes if you pass on information it will change you and they don’t understand transformation. It’s becoming like your teacher not just learning from them.

the fourth practicum report by Monastic Mike

Hours: (1.5 in Sunday school, 1.5 in Worship service, 2 hours in church serving)

We went over the book of Philemon in Sunday school. As I have mentioned before we go through it in an exegetic nature and discuss things from it. I really enjoy it, if you didn't already know this. This time was different though. We did pretty much the same scheme of things, but it seemed like that data was all we went over. I watched as the teacher went over Background, people, word plays, and how the letter was written. It almost scared me that I wasn't getting anything applicable out of it. I Usually can find something. Then it occurred to me that data was all I was looking for. It was a data bible study, in which case data was served. I gasped for applicable thoughts, but all I could think about was Onesimus's name and his "usefulness." That is a play on words if you didn't know. So I sat thinking why could I not see what I had to learn. Maybe it was because of the letter? Maybe I was not in a right state? So I had to change what was inside of me. I went from my normal logical self and took up the spiritual application part of me hidden some where.

So I am sure you can see where I might be going with this. Balance, is the key. I love the Bible study for it's knowledge, but it needed the story, love application part as well. Bible studies should be an integration. Oh to balance and the believer. If I had to write a Hymn about people, it would be about balance and letting God tip you wherever he wants you.

We did have an application part at the end. It went well, but it seemed the two parts of the study were separated. Integrate and relate. I Love learning new things and gaining understanding. Who knew Practicums could be so practical?

Questions:
1. Where do you guys stand on the integration between application and information?
2. Is application left up to the individual or is it a group effort?
3. What can a teacher do to weave personal lessons and the the truth together?

Practicum Report #5 (Tyler)

1. Time Spent This Week: 4 (Sunday School, Worship)
   
2. My Class This Week:
   

   
    

   1. Not heard or seen: Once again, I left my practicum feeling disappointed in the system of Sunday school. For two hours, we waited for the practicum supervisor. He never showed up. This is the second time he has done this in the semester I had been there. I am overly disappointed. He is a paid pastor of high school ministry, and he doesn't show up to his own Sunday school? Disappointing. Now, I don't know the reason behind his absence, but all I know is the fact that this isn't the first time this has happened. I know that he has little children, but that should stop him from being able to get to Sunday school and teach people. I know that he is not supposed to be the teacher necessarily, but he is the "interm" teacher, and he needs to be prepared. If he would have called me and let me know that he couldn't be there, I would have been happy to teach. But instead, he seemed to have called no one. The adult "helper" that was there was clueless and seemed not to care anyway that the highschoolers were just hanging out. It gave me a good opportunity to hang out with students, but it also gave me time to think.
      

      
       

   2. Observations: I made some observations that are actually pretty obvious when I think about them. But, the divisions between teenager groups are so apparent. It's so weird to be outside of that and "observing" it because I never really noticed how prominent it was in highschool. But you have the "nerds" and the "good looking Abercrombie models" and the "sk8er dudes". I don't know if there is anything wrong with these groups, because everyone seems to be happy while in them, but I don't know if that legitimizes them. It seems to be one of those things that just happens. Maybe its Darwinism, or maybe it's just social structures. Whatever it is, it is very interesting to observe. Now that I think about it, we still have those same divisions among college students today. In fact, just the other day I was talking to a friend about a group of people that I would classify as "shy". But, when they are together, they are alive (and sometimes annoying). It's just very interesting to observe social structures and society by just "stepping back"
      

   
    

3. Questions?
   
   1. How do we deal with someone who just doesn't show up to class? Should I have taken charge on this one and made up a lesson? It wouldn't have been very good, but it probably would be better than nothing.
      
   2. Is there any possible way for the different "social divisions" to actually get together and hang out? How? Group activities? Ski trips? I'm not sure if there is anything that involves everyone. Let me know!

reponse to tylers practicum report #4

1. I know that I am dedicated to one Church. I have seen many students file in and out of my church. I watch the people put so much love and greetings into these students, all for them to leave at the end of the semester. They have special dinners, give cookies and hugs to them all the time, but all for a short time. I wonder if it hurts them as it hurts me to watch it happen. The past few Sundays First Baptist has been changing songs to more modern day songs for the very fact that there are new practicum students. They gave up the beauty of hymns and psalms all to impress students? this cannot simply be. I know when i picked out a church to start practicums at, i knew it would be one for almost all the years i am here. Not only have I built a different relationship with them, i have also built trust and understanding with them. You cannot get that out of a one semester practicum.

2. I don't know if you can get everyones attention. The person I ever heard doing so was Jonathon Edwards. I don't necessarily want to scream hell at people, but He had some intriguing points. I know that people are going to be naturally inclined not to listen, unless the Holy Spirit is guiding them. So that is my advice. Pray Pray Pray.

Response To Monastic Micky’s Teaching Report

#1 – In a discussion type study how much time do you give people to think thoroughly enough not to give petty answers, but still not stretch out the thinking time? - I think with discussion type study groups, time is a really hard thing to measure. I think regardless of the "time limit" that you set; you are going to get petty answers. But the wonderful thing about that is the fact that people may be annoyed by the fact that people are giving petty answers. Some of the situations like this, I have seen turn to good discussions. People start to get annoyed with the stupid answers and they end up giving good ones in replace of the bad ones. Now, this hasn't happened every time. But I think it is important just to "wait it out". If you wait long enough, someone is going to at least attempt an intelligent response. If they don't, then you need to start prodding for answers by asking stimulating questions. Questions like, "what does this mean to you?" or "When I asked this question, what was the first thing that came into mind?" I guess you could also just flat out say, "these answers are petty and not meaningful, why not try to give me some better ones?"

#2 – What do you say to someone answering a question, or describing something, when you know they are blatantly wrong? - That is a tough one. You are kind of faced with two options: you can approach them in private after the gathering or in public so that everyone can know that what the person was saying is wrong. I would prefer to do a combination of the two: After the person has said something blatenty wrong, I would say something like, "Well that's an interesting perspective, why do you think that?" Then we can discuss it briefly and then move on. Afterwords I would go up and approach them and discuss it more so to make sure that what they said was not quite right. It is important for you and the person that you do that. You are doing each other a favor. You aren't making yourself look like a pompous jerk who knows everything, and at the same time, you are letting him know he is wrong. It's really win/win.

monastic Michael's first teaching report

Teaching Report 1

Time Spent:
1 hour-prayer and review for class, 1.5 hours Sunday school, 1.5 hours- worship service, 1.5 hour potluck after church= total= 5.5 hours this week

A. My Lesson
The college age Sunday School class goes through a exegetical type study over certain books of the Bible. This week just so happened to be over Colossians chapter four. this was the assignment i created for myself; I took Paul's back ground and context and laid it out next to the chapter. Then I looked up the verses that correlated with what I knew about Paul in chapter 4. Who knew that there would be verses that applied directly to his situation. Oh wait, That is why he wrote the letter in the first place. I found a part in verses 3 and 4 that I really wanted to emphasize. These verses described how Paul did not grumble about his chains and would rather have prayer for the Gospel to be furthered.

I started the lesson out by asking for the Holy Spirit's ears and eyes. Then I went right into the history of Paul's jailing and where he was when he wrote the letter. Did I mention this class is more of a discussion class? After every verse or point or so I gave room for discussion and insights. I tried to leave room for silence and thinking during some points of the discussion. the timer was ticking and i had quite a bit of the passage to go through yet, so I sped through the people's names and greetings Paul gave to them. I didn't mean to leave them out, I just really wanted to emphasize those first few verses.


B. Response

Overall, I think it went pretty well. isn't that what every one says though? Well I take the word "well" from watching people's expressions and interactions with the content. i feel like they reacted in the best of their abilities during an early Sunday school class. it also seemed like people were understanding the content matter and taking to their own lives.

The next three things are taken verbatim from the teacher's evaluation sheet

C. Supervising Teacher’s Evaluation

"Michael had obviously done some thoughtful preparation on the passage. He set a tone that encouraged class members to freely contribute to the discussion. In the end, he got to the meaning of the passage and made some effective applications."


D. Things I did well

"He did a good job setting up the context, as we had a number of people present who had not been there the previous wee. Colossians 4:2 mention thankfulness and Michael listed many good reasons we have to be so. after a deeper question which was follow by thoughtful silence, Michael did not jump in to supply answers, but allowed people time to reflect for themselves. Discussing verse three, we got off subject somehow. Michael gently but decisively brought us back on track. He also made a good application of Paul's prayer, application being an essential part of any study."

E. Things I need to improve

" There were a few times after a simpler question when the silence seemed too long. Perhaps rephrasing the question might help if there is no response after a while. I thought the pace was a little slow overall."

F. Questions

1. In a discussion type study how much time do you give people to think thoroughly enough not to give petty answers, but still not stretch out the thinking time?

2. What do you say to someone answering a question, or describing something, when you know they are blatantly wrong?

Practicum Report #4

A. Time Spent This Week: 4 (Sunday School, Worship)

B. My Class This Week:



1. Switched Up: Well, I have still yet to meet my true practicum supervisor. He is still down in Mexico or Florida (I think). So instead, I met a new practicum supervisor, because the guy I have been under for the past few weeks is on a ski trip. So, my advisor has been switched up, and when I came to Sunday school this morning, my classroom had been switched up as well. This has kind of been an unorganized experience. Instead of meeting in the building we normally meet in, we met in the main church of College Wesleyan. It's really been kind of crazy not being able to settle down. I haven't gotten to get to know many students as well as I would have liked to. I haven't been able to receive much advice or suggestions relating to my teaching or relational skills as I would have liked. It's really just kind of been a melancholy practicum. This is actually an experience I have felt before. And I'm sorry, but this is kind of turning into a practicum rant than a response. But I really am starting to doubt the usefulness of practicums. Anyway, I will move on to something else.



2. Class Time. My supervisor for this week was named Pastor Dave I believe. He was dressed in a suit and tie, and it looked like some of the students knew him. He began with a game of hangman that had nothing to do with the lesson, and then sat down. If there is one thing I have noticed during this practicum is the fact that high school students (and myself) are hard to keep their attention. We can develop cool looking PowerPoint slides or use awesome videos, but regardless of what we do, there are still going to be students that don't care. I noticed this today when I was observing. There were a few students that really got into the conversation, and that was exciting to see. But the majority of the students just sat and did nothing. I was included in that group of people, but mostly because I just wanted to sit back and watch. I could not figure out how I could encourage students to answer. It just kind of seems like one of life's greatest mysteries.

C. My Questions This Week



1. I know that this really doesn't have too much to do about local church education, but what are your opinions about practicums? There are days where I can see the benefit of them, but there are also days where I just can't understand how staying in a church for 4 months to get credit is helping anyone. It doesn't help the students, and it doesn't really help you. If it does help someone, it is usually for selfish reasons (i.e. I get a credit hour for ditching you at the end of the semester). What do you guys think?

2. Are attention spans a hopeless cause? Have you guys ever seen a youthgroup where everyone is fully engaged? If so, how did that happen? How did the facilitator actually accomplish that? What sort of materials did they use, or were they just blessed with a group of super bible kids? Help me out here.

response to Joel #2

1. You could make it practical and have a guided discussion about application. Then you could quite possibly have them memorize something and then when you know it applies have them recite it and then show how the event and scripture correlate

2.I really am afraid to tamper with Child like faith in Children. I miss it very much and which i hadn't become so cynical. I am not sure how to get them to start asking critical questions without throwing off everything else in their lives. Children ask enough questions and thus begins the critical thinking. the problem is to get them to ask questions when they are 30 and 40 years old. By then they think they know everything. These are the people who need the remedy. Maybe we could pair up children with adults and have them learn form each other in Sunday school. I saw it on a movie once where a director brought children into his theater to create child like wonder. It was beautiful.

3. Joel let's face it you are just going to have to practice practice, and practice. You may always stink at basketball, it is part of life. I think the most common base you have with this guy is either going to be that you are men, or Jesus. Seeing that Jesus is a better man than you or I you should talk about Him.

Practicum Report #2 (Joel)

A. Time Spent This Week: 8 (Sunday school/church=3; church Super Bowl party=5)

B. My Class This Week:

1. Basketball Pt. II. I still have not improved any more at basketball. I wasn't there quite early enough this week to get a game going with some of the junior high boys but I felt much more relaxed and comfortable around them having met them once. This time most of the kids knew me by name, the ones who had been there two weeks prior, at least. Although I am working with middle schoolers, there is a particular high schooler who comes into the gym before his class every morning and shoots hoops with us. I'm pretty sure he plays for one of the local high schools and is a lot taller and better than me and makes me feel stupid when he makes every basket and can dunk. Anyway, I'm not really sure how to get through to him or relate to him yet - I don't see much in common.

2. Class Time. My supervisor was there again this week but another adult taught the Sunday school class. He taught on Luke 5:1-11 where Jesus tells Peter to throw his nets out of his fishing boat and into the water one last time. Peter had just finished a lot day of fishing with no catch. He was probably tired, frustrated, and just ready to go home. The kids picked up on the correlation quickly as to how there are some things the Holy Spirit prompts us to do in faith that seem to make completely no sense at all and it could be very easy to just act frustrated about it and ignore Him. However, it has been hard to tell if they are really understanding these things or if they are just spitting back the answers they know they are supposed to say. I remember being that age and thinking it was hard to imagine myself as one of Jesus' disciples - IT WAS 2000 YEARS AGO!!! Despite the fact that it's hard to tell how authentic they are with their answers, these lessons are being imprinted on their hearts and some of these stories may mean nothing to them now, but as they hear them over and over again, God will eventually open up their hearts and allow His Word to go inside and fill their hearts. Also, Grant refrained from any drug paraphernalia this week which I thought was good for him, although it made it a less interesting morning for me...

C. My Questions This Week

1. How can we better equip middle schoolers - or people/students in general - to understand concepts, process, and apply rather than just spit out the information they're "supposed" to?

2. What are some ways to get the students to start being more honest with their answers? I think it would be cool if students of the Bible were taught from a young age to question things, not simply to take them at face value. Given the younger you are the more innocent and faith-driven you are (which is truly a gift) - but how can be begin to cultivate an atmosphere of critical thinking even at such a young age?

3. Any ideas for relating to the high school basketball player and establishing a relationship?

the second post

time spent this week: 5 hours (s.s, w.s., outreach via the church)

To start out the Sunday, I sat waiting for a good portion of the already tired college students to file in. I gave a nice sarcastic head nod thinking about the few weeks before when there heads were nodding, but it wasn't out of sarcasm. I thought to myself, owww, this will be another one of those weeks.

The next couple of moments was like a slap in the face to my sarcastic smile. In fact I may have gotten slapped, I am not even sure anymore. Not only was everyone wide awake, but they were chatting about everything. Everything but the lesson that is. It seemed that my positive wishing for people to wake up back fired because now everyone was randomly talking throughout the lesson. There was this one girl, i will call chatty girl, who just loved the idea of telling these crazy stories about her car right after we got done with anything.

well to get away from my critics of the group, I would like to say that I loved how the lesson was ran this Sunday. We took the whole book of Colossians and read, by oursleves, through it, underlining interesting things as we went. Then we came back together and shared some of those things we saw. As a group we came up with chapter titles and finally the whole book title. It was really interesting to see that most people came up with pretty close to the same idea. I just imagined how the Holy Spirit was jumping around in all of our minds saying, "say this."

I just really enjoy reading straight from the Bible and taking true contextual application for it. I almost crave it like a watermelon jolly rancher. If you know what I mean.

questions for yous guys:
1. How do I say, very nicely, to a chatty type girl, you have wonderful stories, but they aren't pertinent to the discussion at hand? Should I just let her go in her creativity? or is it even an issue?
2. Can you completely use the bible and not use stories or anything else in lessons? Will the lessons start to become dry? Do you need to jazz up the bible?

Practicum Report #3 (Tyler)

A. Time Spent This Week: 5 Hours



B. My Class This Week:



1. Football. This post may seem like a stretch because I didn't really go to a Sunday school this weekend. I woke up and was about to get into the shower, and I felt so sick that I couldn't even move or talk. I figured that would not be the best condition to be in while hanging out with students in a Sunday school class. So I opted to get a little more rest. After waking up, I got drugged up on vitamin C and other helpful sick items, and felt better towards the evening. I decided to still go to 747 (the college ministry). Well, they were having a Superbowl party, so I went to that. If this post doesn't count towards my practicum, that is ok, but I did note a couple of noteworthy things relating to Sunday school/teacher relationships.

2. Fellowship. I had asked in my previous question, "what is one was that I can connect with students". Well, I discovered one of those ways tonight at the Superbowl party. Be real with them and show them how you live. The part was being hosted and put on by the pastor of 747. I have been to Superbowl parties put on by youth groups before, but they have always been at the church. When we were invited to the pastor's house, it really showed something about his love and compassion for students. He was willing to open his house to the students and risk having things destroyed, all for the sake of fellowship. This was a great example for me of how to help students get to know and respect you. It will definitely be something I will plan on implementing some time in the future when I am a pastor.



C. My Questions This Week



1. I was obviously too sick to go to Sunday school this morning. There is a good chance something like that could happen while I am doing this full time. My practicum leader now is actually unable to attend because of an unforeseen circumstance. How do we handle last minute decisions on not to come? How do we weigh our priorities and decide which is more important?



2. Where is the line that we draw between pastor and friend? Is there a line? When I saw the pastor of 747 and a couple of other people there, I kind of noticed a difference in how they acted at church and how they acted at home. Neither one was necessarily bad or good, it was just different. Where is that line? Is there a line? Should there be a line?

Response To Monk Michael’s #1 (Tyler)

1. Should college kids have Sunday school that early knowing their crazy lives?
   
   1. I'm a firm believer in the fact that I don't think church needs to be on Sunday mornings. Mostly, people go on Sunday mornings because that is just what we have always done. I don't know if that is the best way of doing things. I don't think there is anything wrong with meeting at a later time. This is where I think College Wesleyan's College Ministry (747) has really hit the nail on the head. They have a church service at night for college students. They know that most college students aren't attentive or even awake at the early times of Sunday School and worship. So they provide an alternative. They have church at night?! Heresy! No….not heresy….intelligent. Students are more attentive, participatory, and awake. They can sleep in on a Sunday morning and still go to church! And God still works in them! Amazing!
      
2. What is actually the true problem? Is there even one?
   
   1. I guess if we really wanted to point out a true problem in this whole situation, we could say it is lack of responsibility on the part of college students. We do stay up too late. We don't get enough sleep. We overwork ourselves and tend to just be lazy on the weekends. But, I don't think that is something we can fix. It really is just a part of college life. So I think the problem switches to the flexibility of the church. As I talked about above, the church seems pretty stuck in their ways when it comes to scheduling. Instead of yelling at college students to get more sleep, we should be yelling at the churches to be more flexible with those students who don't get enough sleep. By providing alternatives, everyone wins. More students show up, and the church gets more participation. It's win/win + SLEEP!

Response to tyler's teaching report #1

This is the response of Michael Berens and his reflections on Tyler Murphy's questions.

1. well High schoolers are motivated by odd things. They can be motivated by others doing things, or the fact that no one else is doing something. they can be motivated by food or they can be disgusted by food. what i am trying to say is there should be a balance of whatever you are doing.if you bring a video to show and have them interact with, maybe you could have them read something together in groups and give a response to it. I know it seems like you are giving homework, but who says Church was for laziness (harsher word than i intended to use). Sure church can be a relaxing restful place, but that doesn't mean people should think for themselves and work for an answer.

2. It is almost sad to think that we have to make the Bible fun. I almost wish there was this higher guiding power that indwell people and create change in them, so that they would have a desire to learn more. Oh wait, come to think of it, there is just that. My best advice would be to ask God for desire in the students. You can always add a great relevant poem or song. I usually like to throw a tune on after I give a message. It creates time for people to think and give application in song form.

the first one

Practicum report #1 by Michael Berens

time spent this week- 1.5hr s.s, 1.5hr W.S., 1hr driving kids to youth group part of youth group- total hours- 4 hours

Our church is composed of about 40-60 elderly individuals. The youngest people that attend are some grandkids, but other wise it is a gap from a two year old to a sixty five year old. This was true until practicum students flooded the premises.
As of this semester there are three whole pews filled with college age students. You may not think that this would be a big deal, but when the closest thing to middle age in the church is nothing, then you notice something. What do you do when you have about fifteen students sitting around at 9:15? You stick them in a bible study. that is exactly what happened. It is actually ran by a professor of piano from Taylor. He does a great job integrating discussion into the topic of the week.

He started out the discussion by asking about break. I found this interesting because usually I frown upon small talk. I personally like to go straight for the throat and ask intentional questions. I say interesting because it worked like a rabbit's foot charm. You should have seen the room change. It went from these uptight, cold, eye averting, youngsters to just a bunch of casual college students sitting in a kitchen/ Sunday school room. Did i mention we were put in the kitchen? It is great though. On potluck days you can see the foods wafting their flavors at all the unsuspecting church members.

As we went through the discussion people's eyes started to droop and I would say that their eye lids may have gained weight because the started to close. I don't think it was the discussion that was tiering. I think it was college life taking its revenge on an early Sunday morning. What I really wanted to do was have everyone get up and take a jog in the snow. Maybe they could give each other white washes or something?

Now this leaves me with questions for you, my fantastic readers. (I thought I would encourage you in your responses by making you feel better about yourself)

1. Should college kids have Sunday school that early knowing there crazy lives?
2. Should we help students by asking about there sleep schedule and adding encouraging thoughts about getting to bed earlier?
3. What is actually the true problem? Is there even one?