Books of The New Testament

I'll get straight to the big news. I am now an early morning Seminary Teacher!!!! It is a clear example of being careful what you pray for. When we made the decision to move across town to a new Ward and Stake, I prayed that I would be prepared to serve in any manner the Lord needed. After years of being very busy and involved in my Church callings, the past few years, I have not had callings that require a lot of time or preparation. At some points this was a blessing because I was able to be heavily involved as a leader in School, Civic, Community, and Charity events. 

The Seminary Teacher who started the year with this class needs to step back and may not be able to complete the year. Before I even knew that, the spirit told me I would be teaching Seminary. I quickly responded to the spirit that there was already a Seminary teacher in place for the year and I dismissed the thoughts promptings as perhaps something down the road...like next year!

Minutes after those promptings came, I was met by the current Seminary teacher who asked me to substitute for a day, week, month, or longer. 

Well, it is for longer. The Stake President met with Ron and me and made it official. I am the new early morning Seminary Teacher for 24 INCREDIBLE teenagers. They will teach me more than I teach them.

I have taught them for the past 2 weeks at 6am every school day.

I am considering starting a separate blog to keep track of the things that work (and maybe don't work so well). This way I will have a "go to" place when my ideas run short.

I want to use Friday as a change of pace day. Perhaps games, activities, etc. to reinforce what we have covered during the week. Today, I had them leave the classroom and as they entered the Cultural Hall, I taped the name of one of the books of the New Testament on their backs. There was no talking allowed and no one was to ask or tell anyone what was taped on their backs.

Without talking, they had to line up in the order they are found in The New Testament. It was great to see the dynamics of the group work together. Once they were in order, I had another student (who missed getting a name on his back) confirm they were correct. Then they placed the names on the front of their shirts and we sang "The Books in The New Testament" from The Primary Children's Songbook. 

Very effective and fun way to reinforce what we are learning.  After this we played another game (see next post). Games are an effective fun way to bond as a group and reinforce principles and information we are learning.