This is a substitute practicum because of RAM Camp. I was involved with that and could not make it to my church for this weeks class.
Time Spent this week: 1.5 hours
For my practicum this week, I went to the small group bible study at the lodges here on campus. One of my good friends was leading this week and our topic was loving God. We talked about how we are always coming up short in loving God the way that we should.
It was interesting to watch as people sat there for the “lesson.” One of my friends is always there and is always very quiet. He usually doesn’t say much during these bible studies. Yet, when we get to a point of discussion or have been discussing things for a time, he always asks a deep question. If you were to sit there and watch him throughout the time, he looks as if he is very disconnected and not engaged in the topic or the discussion. However, he is and always has some good question to ask. People like this are hard to get a read on sometimes. You cannot tell whether they are listening or if they could care less. I wonder sometimes if we should not try to engage these people into our conversations more or if we should leave them to learn and understand as they do best? This is something that I have seen more than just once.
In our high school class back in my hometown, there is one kid who always was very quiet and never really said much. Yet, when he did speak, it was usually way beyond the depth of thought of the rest of the class. Some people seem to learn best by just soaking it all in, like a sponge. While others have to be constantly asking questions and fidgeting around. There is always a very active participation when dealing with younger kids and youth, but there seems to be a distinctive difference when maturity starts to set in.
So, with that said, it brings me to my questions for this week.
1. Should we, as teachers/small group leaders, try to change how people learn? Or should we adapt our teaching styles to best accommodate these learning styles?
2. Should we even worry about making sure that people learn when they are there because they have the ultimate choice in what and when they learn?
3. How would we adapt our teaching if so needed? What could we do to make it more engaging?
I likied htis post--now let's get some thoughtful response going guys.
ReplyDelete1. I don't think we should ever try to alter how people learn... rather, I think we as teachers need to understand all the different learning styles, and work with them. That's not to say we need to change our teaching style either. There should be a balance between the student and teacher, and compromises ought to be made in the classroom setting.
ReplyDelete2. One thing I find to be evident is that when given the option to be somewhere, barring any outside influences, the people present are the ones who WANT to be there. This rings true in the classroom setting as well as the small group church setting. While I was interning in my church this past summer, I helped start a couple different small group ministries. While we encouraged people to join up with either of them, we never forced it down their throats. This was evident in the participation in these groups. The people who showed up were the ones who showed up with thoughts, ideas, passions, and insight. They WANTED to be there.
3. We need to just have a better understanding of the different learning styles. Some people learn kinetically, some verbally... neither is better than the other. We ought to try to incorporate elements of all learning styles into our teaching style.
Danny <><