Teacher Training

Today I conducted teacher training for new teachers for our preschool worship program. After I finished my agenda, I asked if there were any questions. One lady said, “I’m just afraid I won’t be a good enough teacher.”

The vulnerability I showed in my answer surprised me, yet my words were heartfelt, true and echoed by the other veteran teacher in the room. Here’s in part what I said.

Every week, I walk away from teaching, feeling intimidated and like a failure. I wonder if the kids got anything out of what I said. Were they listening? They didn’t seem to be, the way they ran around or wiggled while I was trying to teach.

Two months ago a member of our church brought her grandchildren to preschool worship and stayed with them so they would comfortable. I especially felt nervous with her in the room. One of her grandchildren stared at me the entire time. The other ran around and acted like he was totally out of touch with what was happening. Yet, just last week, the grandmother told me, “I’ve meant to tell you this for some time. That week I stayed with my grandchildren in Wee Worship, I was so impressed with what an excellent teacher you are. You had my grandchildren spellbound. When they came home, they repeated the entire story.” This came from a lady whose husband taught for years, one daughter is now a grade school teacher, and another daughter is an assistant principal. She knew what she was talking about and I was touched by her comment.

Another child has been a problem child for all of us. She always wants to play with the toys. She resists whatever I tell her to do. Yet, early in December, I was working with a community group to sponsor a “Breakfast With Santa” at a local restaurant. This child came in with her mother, spotted me and called in a loud voice, finger pointing in my direction, “There’s my teacher!”

They do listen. They do remember. And more important than the stories, they will remember you. “The best thing you can do for these children,” I told my fledgling recruit, “is to love them.”

Teach To Teach

My daughter is teaching preschool worship this month at our church. I have to admit, she was a last ditch effort recruit. Out of the blue, one of our teachers quit without even letting the other teachers or coordinators know. So, since my daughter is home from college on summer leave and was pining for something to do, she got recruited until we could catch our breath.

She’s taught before. During her junior and senior years of high school, she rotated with two other ladies in the Primary Sunday School class. But preschoolers are a new group for her, one with which she isn’t totally comfortable. However, she’s doing a great job.

This week, her lesson was on Ruth and Naomi, how Ruth was kind to Naomi. With her eyes crinkling into her characteristic smile, she told me, “I still remember when you taught that lesson. It was the first time I had even seen barley.” I had bought barley to show my class the grain Ruth gleaned. Later that week, I used the leftover barley to make barley soup for my family.

“Do I need to stick with barley?” she asked, “And what can I use for a healthy snack this week that would tie to the lesson?” We talked about how preschoolers wouldn’t catch the significance of barley – they wouldn’t care if it was barley or Cheerios. The focus of the lesson was Ruth picked up grain so she and Naomi could stay alive. Katherine decided she would spread a large clean sheet on the ground and sprinkle it with Cheerios, letting the kids pick up the Cheerios and put in their own paper cup for their snack, all the while telling the story of how Ruth picked up grain for Naomi.

Saturday morning, my girls joined me sitting crosslegged on my bed, with the dog in between us for a girl powwow. Katherine said, “I’m still not happy with my lesson.” She got her book, asked me how to handle certain activities considering the age and personalities of certain kids, and how she should organize the lesson. Actually, she did most of the talking, coming to conclusions on her own with just a little input from me on how kids that age would respond. Finally, she said, “I know what I could do! As the kids are picking up Cheerios, I could encourage them to leave some Cheerios for the poor people, just like they did in Bible times.” Now, even as a long time curriculum writer, I had not thought of that one. That is a good idea.

I was about to bust! My mother taught me how to teach; now I had the privilege of teaching my daughter how to teach. We were fulfilling 2 Timothy 2:2 which tells us to teach faithful men who will be able to teach others also. As teachers, we teach not just to enable our students to learn; we want to teach them so well, that some day, they will replace us as teachers.