EXPERIMENT IN TEACHING METHOD

Rhett is taking about teaching, so I thought I'd join in.

Over the past few weeks I've been playing with the teaching method I use in the Tuesday Gathering in an attempt to balance three teaching aims:

• Teaching the passage
• Teaching what the passage teaches
• Teaching how to discern what the passage teaches

Honestly, it's been a bit of a rocky road. There have been moments of engagement, but there have also been moments of boredom and confusion. Finding the right balance is proving difficult. One issue is the mix of students, especially with regard to learning style--we have strong learners in each of the four styles (visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic) and creating appropriate learning activities has been a bear. Another issue is skill assessment and development. I've been bouncing around a little, trying to locate the boundaries. I'm sure this has been frustrating for some; I know it has been for me.

The next "experiment" is a group developed syntactical display (in English). Using a Word and the projector, we will be observing the verbs, subjects, and connectors (conjunctions, demonstrative pronouns, and prepositions); discerning the clauses (by noting the finite verbs); and using indents to show the relationships between the clauses. [For any of my students reading this, fear not... all will be explained.] Since we are studying a letter, this method should work (it's not so good for narrative or poetry).

What comes after the display is still up in the air a bit, but will include interpretation and application--probably via whole group discussion and/or couch groups. We may try to end with a lectio...we'll see.

Our next study is September 12. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Related post(s):
TEACHING WHAT?
EXPERIMENT IN TEACHING PREP

Read Rhett's discussion:
rhettsmith.com: Preaching, teaching, lecturing, dialogue or conversation?