Danny's Practicum Post #3

This is a substitute practicum. I spent the weekend doing RAM Camp and led one of the small breakout groups. I decided to use this as a substitute practicum in order to catch up to where I should be.

Total Time= 3 hours breakout time, 4+ hours preparation time

This past weekend was RAM Camp, an IWU Hosted event that is geared towards leadership development for High Schoolers. For the entire semester leading up to this weekend, we have been preparing for it in my Youth Evangelism and Discipleship class. Now that it's here, all of our hard work is going to be put into practice. All in all, I led three breakout sessions focusing on three things "Foundational Values" "Unique Design" and "Personal Mission."

The sessions were mainly discussion based with small excerpts that I prepared beforehand from Scripture as well as the Sermon preached during the Rally Session.

The first session was spent mostly getting acquainted with each other. We played some icebreaker games, and when we finished that, we began our discussion time. I asked my group of 9 High Schoolers what they were expecting out of their RAM Camp experience. My biggest discussion participators were Jillian, Jacob, Caleb, and David. Overall, the discussion went really well, and every single one of my group members participated and shared what they were hoping to experience this weekend as well as what they think defines someone as a leader.

The second session was cut short due to the extended Rally and altar call afterwards. The third session went incredibly well. Jacob shared how he felt called to ministry, and each one of my kids were excited to get back to their home church and start pouring out what they had experienced into the lives of their friends. At the end, I handed out a devotional that the Team Ops Leaders had prepared and had printed out. This Devotional takes them through 10 days after their RAM Camp experience. It encourages them, and challenges them to keep the fire burning.

Overall, this experience was incredible, and the teaching experience I had was unforgettable. My kids were attentive, they actively participated in discussion, and they kept the flow of the breakout sessions moving smoothly.

After this weekend, I have several questions:

1. What would be the best way to keep in touch with the students I built relationships with this past weekend?

2. How will we be able to measure the effectiveness of our teaching this past weekend?

3. How can we measure the effectiveness of the devotional that we handed out?

4. Though unconventional, is this an effective way to develop and build leaders?