During the Week:
1. Read through the entire lesson. If there is anything you are unsure about anything contact the DRE with your questions.
2. Prepare the lesson. Practice reading the story, leading the game or craft, and think about questions that might come up and how you might answer them.
3. Take time to think about how the lesson relates to your own faith practice.
Sunday Morning Tasks:
1. Arrive by 9:45 AM. Check in with the DRE to let them know you are on site.
2. Check out your classroom. Are all the supplies you need out? Is everything where you need it to be?
3. Walk with the children from the sanctuary to the classroom. Ensure that all children make it to the correct classroom.
4. Begin class with a brief check-in and introduction of new students.
5. When you have finished class, ask students to help clean up. Every able student must help clean up. Make sure all regular supplies are returned to their proper location.
6. Tell students about upcoming events and family-friendly activities at the church.
7. Have fun!
After Class:
1. Talk with your team about how the lesson went.
2. Make sure classroom is clean and supplies have been returned to the cabinet.
3. Check in with the DRE about how class went. Please be sure to mention any behavioral issues or difficulties with curriculum.
4. Feel great about guiding our religious community’s children in their spiritual journey and helping to grow lifelong Unitarian Universalists who love our faith as much as you do!
Please contact the DRE regarding any concerns with the class.
The teaching assistant aids the lead teacher as needed. Options include reading the story, helping with the art project, greeting parents, and other activities.
1. Arrive at 9:45 am or earlier to go over the lesson plans and check the classroom set up is complete.
2. Help ensure all children make it from the sanctuary to their classroom.
3. Assist in “crowd control” keeping the distractions from the children low while the lead teacher is teaching.
5. Help in cleaning the classroom.
Take into consideration: When choosing which class to assist decide if your child’s attitude and behavior would be better or worse if you are one of the teachers. Consider teaching a different age group if your child might be too comfortable with you in class.
While we strive to make our classrooms more communal and less school like, we do intend to provide some form of educational space for nourishment and growth. In order to do that we have to some ground rules. Below is our general covenant for participation in religious education at Mission Peak UU. This covenant has been sent out to parents/guardians as well. Each of our covenants is connected to the seven principles which we strive to live out. Please use this as a reference for redirecting behavior in the classroom.
WE BELIEVE
Our Covenant to Mission Peak UU Religious Education
1. We believe that each person is important.
- Safety is our first concern!
- Children and youth must remain in rooms or supervised areas until picked up parents or released by the RE Guide.
- Only gentle play is appropriate on church grounds.
- Treat everyone with respect.
- Use caring language and behavior.
2. We believe that all people should be treated fairly and kindly.
- Listen and follow directions.
- Be polite.
- Take turns.
- Care about one another.
- Say thank you, excuse me and I am sorry.
- SHARE.
3. We believe that we should accept one another and keep on learning together.
- Make a commitment to regular attendance. Your friends and RE staff/volunteers depend on you.
- Include everyone in activities and planning.
- Friends are always welcome, but please let them know our covenant first.
- Participate with ENTHUSIASM!
4. We believe that each person must be free to search for what is true and right in life.
- Share your ideas.
- Respect the ideas of others.
5. We believe that all persons should have the right to speak out and have a vote about what concerns them.
- Express your opinions constructively.
- Respect the decision of the group.
6. We believe in working for a peaceful, fair and free world.
- Ask for help when you need it.
- Do your best to get along with others and to be helpful.
- Be willing to listen to reminders about your behavior.
- Participate in church social justice projects.
7. We believe in caring for our planet earth, the home we share with all living things.
- Take good care of our church.
- Help clean up.
- Be careful with our space, furniture, and materials.
- Use only what you need and only what belongs to our congregation.
- Recycle.
- Be gentle with the plants and any animals you may encounter.
- DO NOT climb the trees or play with the broken palm tree branches.
- Do not go in the garden without an adult.
- Know the boundaries of our church property, and stay there. (Please do not go behind Cole Hall or outside the view of adults. Please stay away from the math school bus.)
While we have a great group of children and youth at Mission Peak sometimes we do have some behavioral issues happen in the classroom. Sometimes if a lesson isn’t as engaging as we thought it would be or there are other factors at play that we aren’t aware of a child can become disruptive to the rest of the class. We want to handle this in a way that isn’t damaging to child or teacher, but still allows for the problem to be dealt with. Here are the steps I frequently use to deal with this.
1. Give a verbal warning that what the child is doing is not in line with our classroom covenants.
2. Give a second warning and move the child next to the teacher.
3. Give a final warning and ask the child if they need to step outside of the classroom with the assistant and take a minute.
4. Send the assistant teacher to get the DRE and he will take over from there.
If this is not a process you are comfortable with or there is another set of steps you would like to use please contact the DRE so that we can discuss what would be best for you and the children. I walk around the campus very often during service to check-in on what is happening so feel free to grab me when you need me.
Making your class run smoothly by managing the behavior of the children and youth is essential. Here are some tips for making it work.
At our church, we are blessed with children who are bright, curious, thoughtful, and kind. However, none of us is perfect, and sometimes kids need to be reminded of appropriate behavior. Here are some ways to prevent and intervene.
Approach each child/youth with the same respect and dignity you would accord an adult. We are all people, but we are different sizes and have varying degrees of life experience.
Do not to shame the kids/youth. If you must speak to a kid about a misbehavior, please pull him/her aside and not address the behavior in front of others, if at all possible.
We strive for reinforcing positive behavior rather than punishing negative behavior.
If misbehavior becomes an issue, please flag down the acting DRE.
If there is a misbehavior, discuss with the DRE who (she or you) will talk to the parent(s). If you do the communication, speak calmly and factually to a parent about the difficult behavior. Avoid judgments an emotional reactions. If there is frequent misbehavior, a good idea is to involve the parent by asking, "What works for you at home?"
If, in the unlikely scenario that there is persistent difficulty with one class or with one child, please let DRE know sooner rather than later so we can get a tighter behavior plan in place.
Here are some specific things to say when things get rough:
If a kid is doubting another child's story or trying to correct another child's thoughts/opinions: "We need to trust that that's his/her experience."
If a kid says that a particular activity is dumb/boring, etc.: "To you this is ________. To me, it's important to do."
If kids are touching each other, remind them to get consent first by saying, "Is it ok with ______ that you're touching (hugging, etc.) with them?
On the other hand, if kids are being violent, you can simply say, "We don't allow violence at our church." This can carry through with younger children as, "We don't pretend guns/fighting/hurting others at our church."
If things simply get out of hand, give the child/youth a choice: "I need you to ______________ now or else I will have to go get your parent from the service." (Or "call your parent to pick you up" from a social activity.)
Most importantly, stay calm, cool, and collected and get help if you need it!
You should not have to buy any materials for class, but please do be respectful of what supplies we do have. The materials in our cabinets are for use in the RE program only. Please put the supplies you use for class back in your classroom bin after the class session is over. If you notice something is getting low please notify the DRE