Wednesday, September 5, 2012

The Journey Begins…

Last night I attended the last session of the training required to become a catechist for the upcoming school year. The religious education director, Bob, led the training on how to develop lessons, dealing with behavior problems, creating classroom rules and other important information. We discussed ways to set up an environment conducive to learning and also to making the children feel comfortable with praying to the Lord during the class. He suggested having some time each class to have the children focus on prayer and this can be done by having a Bible out on a table and a candle lit. There were some really great ideas that I hope I can incorporate into my lessons this year.

We also received a schedule of the lessons for our grade and at first I was a little overwhelmed with planning out the lessons each week, but I know I will just need to take it one week at a time. Right now there are only six students signed up for my class which I think is a good number because with a smaller class size, I will get to know each student.

There are also other events for catechists to attend throughout the year, which I am very excited about! I think it is great for the other catechists to get to know each other and talk about any concerns they have in the classroom. I am hoping to learn a lot from the other experienced catechists!

There has been a lot of training and paperwork going into becoming a catechist, but to me it has been worth it! It is essential to have the training and work on the skills necessary to be an effective teacher. I am sure I will learn more through experience, so I am glad to get the year started and see what God has in store for me and my class. My goals for the year are to help my students develop a closer relationship with God and know how much they are loved. I also hope to pass on the values and morals that I have been taught through the years in my religious education classes as a student, from my parents and other role models throughout my 28 years.

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