General Guidelines to Leading a Class Discussion

GENERAL GUIDELINES:

For those of you who are planning to lead a "Yes Lord" Ministries course with a group, these notes are intended to assist you in your lesson plans. Of course, every teacher / leader has his or her own style of leading and teaching. So, these notes are just suggestions which you may use. And, as such, they are merely guidelines.

The main thing for you to know, as a leader, is that you are not to lecture, but rather, are to be an informed leader of a discussion. Since your class will have done their homework, they will have thoughts and ideas which they need and want to discuss. Your purpose, as a leader, is to assist them in this discussion by asking questions about what they have studied and learned while doing their assignments, to keep the discussion on the subject at hand, and to help them to clarify their conclusions. Certainly, there will be times during the discussion when you will want to add some information, but try to keep these times short, as if you were being one of the discussants. So, try to keep your remarks to only 1 or 2 or 3 minutes at a time. These discussion groups are NOT to be lectures but a time of sharing and discussion.

I have personally found that the use of a visual aid, such as making a chart or a list related to the discussion as you discuss is extremely helpful. A whiteboard with colored markers or a chalkboard (preferably using colored chalk) can and should be used in your discussion time to record the information they provide you as you complete the chart or the list based on their answers. You should also encourage them to copy this chart as you write it on the board. In this way, they will have a good summary of each lesson and this will help them to remember what you all discussed and covered in the class.

In the Leader's Notes, I will suggest a possible chart for each lesson, which you may use as the visual aid on the chalkboard or whiteboard to direct your discussion. However, it is just a suggestion. If I, for example, suggest 3 columns and you think 4 or 5 would be better, no problem. And, if you don't like my ‘titles', use your own wording. Remember, these are just suggestions. Do what the Holy Spirit leads you to do.

And, speaking of the Holy Spirit, you, as the leader must let Him lead you as you make your lesson plans and as you lead your group. I would strongly suggest that you begin each lesson plan preparation with a time of prayer and continue in an attitude of prayer as you read the suggestions for each lesson in these notes and as you look over each lesson and decide what should be covered during your discussion and how it should be covered. The needs, interests, situations, etc.of every group vary. Therefore, let the Holy Spirit guide you as you make your lesson plans and as you lead your group.

Also, YOU should always begin and end every lesson discussion session with your group with a prayer. And, preferably, YOU should be the one to pray. You know where you want to take the group and you know the conclusions you want to draw. So, you should be the one leading the prayer. Also, believe it or not, others often do NOT want to pray aloud in public, for whatever the reason. Therefore, don't embarrass them by calling on them. Don't even ask them beforehand, thinking that they would say no if they didn't want to. They won't say no. And they will probably pray. But, they might NOT return to your class again. So, just don't put any pressure like that on anyone. Just do the praying yourself. And, remember, this is to be a short prayer! This is NOT the time to pray for all the missionaries in the world and to catch up on your personal praying. This is NOT the time to pray for all the sick in the church. The focus of this prayer is to ask the Lord's guidance and presence and direction as you all discuss the lesson. So both your opening and closing prayers for each session should be only about 1 or 2 minutes in length. You can do your OTHER praying later at home or in a prayer group at a different time and place.

Also, speaking of asking people, and calling on people, it is also best to NOT call on anyone directly by name for an answer. When you are leading the discussion, just simply throw out the question. Usually someone will answer. Do NOT call on anyone in particular. Even if that person had known the answer, they might be unsure, or afraid, or might get nervous and forget, or they might not have been paying attention (imagine that!), or they just might not want to answer. So, rather than embarrass someone, just ask a question and wait for someone to answer. And, someone will. Just be patient. If you do see someone really looking eager like they really want to answer, you can ask them if they want to say something. But, again, be sure you think they want to answer.

Also, whenever there are assignments in the course for people to memorize something, do NOT call on anyone to quote what they memorized or ask the group to say their memory verse or passage together. Some people may NOT have done the memory assignment for whatever the reason. Remember, we don't want to embarrass them. So, just pretend that assignment wasn't there and pass it by.

The purpose of these group discussions is to learn and not to cause anyone any embarrassment for any reason. So just be sensitive in this way.

Also, do not go around the room and ask people to read the answers to the questions in the lesson one by one! It is your responsibility, as the leader, to know what is in the lesson and then to discuss what is there by using the visual aid. The various colums on your chart should somehow convey the big idea of what is in the lesson. Then, you will ask questions based on what they learned, but not necessarily in the order that it was done in the homework. As they answer your questions (which are NOT the questions that were in the lesson but which are questions based on what they learned from doing their assignments), you will write their answers (in a brief form, of course), in the appropriate place on the visual aid on the board.

Also, if someone gives a ...gasp.... incorrect answer....there are several ways to handle this. But the one way to NOT handle it is to tell them they are WRONG! Instead, consider one of these approaches. If the answer was not very loud and probably only a few people heard it.... just IGNORE it. Pretend you are hard of hearing and never heard it. But, if it was loud enough that you can't avoid it, then, you can reword your question and ask it again, saying something like, "perhaps my question wasn't clear".... or, you can ask another related question which will bring out a point that the answerer was probably not considering when they answered. And, of course there are other things you can do. But, the main thing is to NOT embarrass a person while you discuss and teach the truths in the Lesson.

You will want to have a class roll and a class assistant or helper. Beginning with the Orientation lesson, I (or my assistant) usually hand out a sheet of paper with the following headings:

..............Name....................... Address (include zip code).................... Phone number.................. Email address

After 2 or 3 weeks, when the group has finally assembled and seems to be the one you will have for the rest of the course, then, you (or your assistant) can make a permanent roll to pass around (instead of the list with the addresses and etc.) for the students to use to check their attendance. The permanent roll (that is passed around) should not have the address, Email, and other information. That was for you, so you can contact absentees (and you should, either by Email or snail mail), send out special announcements, etc. The permanent roll which you pass around the class should, instead, consist of the names and columns for each week. If it is a 14 week course, there will be 14 columns, each headed with the date or the lesson number or both.

You should have, if possible, someone designated as an assistant to be sure that the roll does go around the room, is gathered up at the end of the lesson, and is returned to you. Also this assistant should be alert to any latecomers and see to it that their names are checked or included on the roll as they arrive. For this reason, if the assistant can sit near the entrance door, it would be helpful and less distracting. Your assistant should assist you not only at the Orientation class, but throughout the entire course, assisting with the taking of the roll each week as well as in other ways. A good assistant is worth his or her weight in gold. They can help you set up the room, get water when you have that famous coughing fit, and in many other ways. So, do try to enlist a helper, if you can. It will certainly make things go more smoothly.

And, speaking of your helper helping you in setting up the room -- if at all possible, these discussion groups should NOT be in a setting with rows of people in chairs. Rather, if at all possible, try to have a semicircle of 1 or 2 or 3+ rows AND have TABLES and comfortable chairs so that each student has a place to spread out their workbook and Bible and pens and pencils and papers. If you can have a ‘mini-classroom' like this with tables, you will have a much better discussion group. Otherwise they will be having to balance all these things on their knees, which is not nearly as conducive to a discussion.

With each course, I like to begin, if at all possible with a short orientation Lesson the week BEFORE the course begins. At that lesson, you give the guidelines for the course, a brief introduction, hand out the books, and get them excited about the course. You will also help them know HOW to do the assignments so that they will know how to do the homework and will be ready and prepared to discuss when they return for lesson One the next week.

Concerning the rest of the classes, after the orientation lesson, I have found that it takes about an hour to an hour and a half to do the discussion for each lesson. Do NOT take longer than that! Try to fit your discussion into that time slot. Of course, if you are doing this in Sunday School, or a retreat or whatever, the times will be ordered by those requirements. But, if you are doing the study in a home or somewhere where you can set the schedule, try to have an hour for the discussion, but no more than an hour and a half. Also, be sure to start on time and to end on time. People often have tight schedules or a distance to drive or have baby sitters or for some other reason, their time is precious. So, let the people know when you will start and end and then do it! Also, we usually do NOT have any party or fellowship either before or after the class, because most of the people attending are working and just don't have the time. If your situation is different, that is fine. But, this is what we do. (However, at the end of the course, on the last lesson, we usually meet about an hour and a half before class for a potluck and fellowship.)

Well, there you have it. And, these basic General guidelines apply to EVERY discussion group you lead. So now you know the method we use to lead the various studies that "Yes Lord" Ministries has made available on the web page.

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