A regular teacher may get away with not “walking the talk”, but a teacher who teaches in The Savior's way is living evidence of someone following the Lord’s plan. Being an example not only provides credibility when you teach, but it helps to establish the teacher/student bond needed for teaching mastery. And more than likely, the 40 minutes of class time alone is not sufficient to set that example. Throughout the Sunday block and throughout the week, there needs to be connection points with our students so they can truly see your commitment to living the gospel.
Teaching in Leadership Settings
“One of the most important ways you fulfill your responsibilities as a leader in the Church is through teaching. You teach by setting a righteous example, following Church policies and procedures, and speaking directly to Church members about gospel principles.
You teach the gospel in leadership meetings. Carefully plan any teaching in these meetings because time is limited. Sometimes the teaching may be a brief spiritual thought. Sometimes participants may be asked to lead the group in a discussion of a gospel topic.
You teach others the gospel during interviews. Your own careful study of the scriptures will allow the Spirit to prompt you during interviews to use certain scriptures to teach and comfort others.
As a leader in the Church, one of your responsibilities is to instruct the teachers in your organization in their duties and guide their efforts to improve.”
Improve Quality of Our Teaching – Teach as the Savior Taught – Testimony Building, Not Information Sharing
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In the news:
By President Thomas S. Monson
MAR-2016 Ensign
"I invite all Latter-day Saints to ponder their efforts to teach and to learn and to look to the Savior as our Guide in doing so."
"In the Church, the goal of gospel teaching is not to pour information into the minds of God’s children, whether at home, in the classroom, or in the mission field. It is not to show how much the parent, teacher, or missionary knows. Nor is it merely to increase knowledge about the Savior and His Church."
"The basic goal of teaching is to help the sons and daughters of Heavenly Father return to His presence and enjoy eternal life with Him. To do this, gospel teaching must encourage them along the path of daily discipleship and sacred covenants. The aim is to inspire individuals to think about, feel about, and then do something about living gospel principles. The objective is to develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to become converted to His gospel."
"Teaching which blesses and converts and saves is teaching which emulates the Savior’s example. Teachers who emulate the Savior’s example love and serve those they teach. They inspire their listeners with eternal lessons of divine truth. They live lives worth emulating."
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How to help youth find joy in gospel learning
By Brother Brian K. Ashton, Sunday School general presidency
For LDS Church News
Published: Thursday, March 3 2016
“As teachers of youth, the most important thing that we can do is help the youth learn pure doctrine from the scriptures and words of the living prophets.”
“The youth I met with said that they don’t want to be entertained. Rather, they want to have profound doctrinal discussions about the scriptures. Too often they told me that their in-class scriptural discussions are superficial and rarely result in them learning something they didn’t already know. We took time to analyze several scriptures and discover together the truths contained therein. I didn’t give them answers. I simply asked open-ended questions that helped them uncover the truth for themselves. As we did this, the Holy Ghost taught them and their excitement to learn the gospel grew.
At the same time, the youth need their teachers and leaders to share their own personal experiences in these discussions about how they learned a truth or overcame a challenge when they were young. The youth I met with told me that hearing these experiences help them relate better to their teachers and leaders, give them hope they can overcome their own challenges and help them apply the truths that they are learning in their own lives.
The most effective youth teachers come well prepared to class, but they also help their youth to be prepared. They do this by giving the youth assignments and by involving parents. For example, in preparation for the following week’s lesson, teachers can invite the youth to read the lesson and/or key scriptures, study a general conference talk or ask them to ponder a question. During the week teachers can send reminders to help the youth remember to do these things. Teachers can also let parents know what they will be discussing in class, and ask them to study the topic with their youth. These can be wonderful topics for family home evening, family scripture study or even discussions at the dinner table.
Encourage lots of participation. The best way to do this is ask inspired, open-ended questions (questions that require students to explain rather than give a yes or no answer). These should not be leading questions that look for a specific answer, but rather questions that cause students to think deeply and discover the truth for themselves. Good teachers give the youth time to answer these questions by allowing for silence. This can be uncomfortable for teachers, but letting students think for 60 seconds can allow the Spirit to teach them. I have found that this method often results in youth discovering profound truths.
One of the best ways to encourage participation is to have the youth teach all or part of the class. In fact, as they are ready, the youth need to teach as it helps prepare them to be missionaries, parents and leaders in the Church. It may have been at least in part for this reason that in Doctrine and Covenants 20:46-47 where the Lord reveals the duties of priest, He listed preaching and teaching first. Having the youth teach works best if parents or leaders can work one-on-one with the youth to prepare the lesson.
Teachers can help the youth learn how to use technology appropriately and encourage more participation by having the youth use their mobile devices in lessons. For example, teachers can put the youth in small groups and have them research gospel topics in class, study general conference talks or watch Church-produced videos related to the lesson. I recently saw a teacher put the students in her class in pairs, have them look up and read a talk from general conference, discuss key principles found in the talk and then briefly present what they learned to the class. It was very effective. At a minimum, youth can follow the Come, Follow Me lesson outline on their mobile devices and read the listed scriptures and quotes.
God expects much of our youth. They are often far more spiritually prepared than we assume they are. As the group I met with told me, we can expect more from them. I promise that as we do so the Holy Ghost will be the real teacher, our youth will be strengthened and find joy in learning the gospel and both teachers and youth will be edified together.”