Joey Bocook- Post 9

A. Time commitment


- 2 hours (1 ½ in class, 1 writing this)

B. Class this week

- This was our last week meeting before Christmas break. We met and Pastor Joe brought food and drink so that we could fellowship over food, like the New Testament church did. We spoke about what we could do to prepare ourselves to be called like Matthew. Pastor Joe said that in some way we are all called into ministry, some not specifically into the Church but all are called to be witnesses. Zach and Kara both spoke about their upcoming marriage about how it causes them to seek the Lord and become more ready to follow. I stated that I believe that if we make ourselves available that we will be used by God and not need to worry about what will happen next. The rest of the time that we were there this night, we spent fellowshipping and building relationships.

C. Questions Raised

1. What can we do to get ready for our calling?

2. What is the most effective way to end a particular study? A party-type like this? Or something else?

 

Danny's Practicum Post #10

Hours this week= 4

The last week of ReaLife went by very quickly. Because it was the end of year Christmas Party, the lesson time was cut short. The lesson was on the Christmas Story (who would've guessed!!!!) Ms. Jessica pulled a Wilbur Williams and dressed up as Mary, and she taught the entire lesson in character. It was really great, and the kids all loved it.

The main thing that I noticed during the lesson time this week was how diverse the backgrounds of some of these kids are. Some kids knew the Christmas Story in and out, others were totally confused and were wondering where Santa came in, and then with other kids (like the Spanish Siblings) it was incredibly difficult to gauge their reactions and what they were thinking. 

I decided to ask Michael some questions, since he had probably the weirdest question of all... "Is Jesus Rudolph's brother?" It turns out, he goes to church every Sunday with his mom, dad, and grandma. What's even more crazy is the fact that it's a church I've been to here in Marion, and it certainly seems to be a quality church. Maybe it was Michael being silly, or something... I don't know, but I sure hope that our churches are teaching our kids about the true meaning of Christmas.

1) How in the world does a 6 year old live under the impression that a reindeer can be the sibling of Jesus?

2) How many of the confused kids in the class are regular church attenders? 

Chris' Practicum Post #9-Teaching Report

Hours this week-4 (1-Sunday school, 1.5-Worship, 1.5-Class preparation)

My Lesson

This week I talked about unity and how unity is the only way that we, as Christians, can experience true community. The goal of this lesson was to give biblical examples of what community looks like and the aspect of unity that must be present to create this community.

The points I used were as follows:

Apart from God there is no community

What is Community? What does this community look like? What steps do we need to take in order to achieve this form of community?

Christ is the only way to achieve community and strength

Christ came and took down these walls/barriers between Jews and Gentiles allowing them to become a community of unified believers for the good of the Kingdom. 

Community creates a dwelling place for the power of the Holy Spirit

All people are meant to be together as one unified body of believers in order to fully function for God

B.The Response

There were about ten people in class today. 

C.Supervisor Evaluation

My supervisor was very supportive and thought I did a very nice job. The one big thing that he constructively criticized was that I like to use the words, “like and um” in almost all of my talking. He said it can get rather annoying if people start to pick up on it. He also said that I should have something to help engage the class more at the beginning. He did like the fact that I incorporated prayer into the class as a way of building relationships, which also tied into my lesson. One of the things he said was that I did not make much eye contact with my “audience” and that I looked very stiff. He said I needed to relax and make myself feel comfortable. If I am tense the class can pick up on that and it will in turn make them feel uncomfortable also. The vibe of the room is based off of the comfort of the teacher or leader in the room. 

Did Well

Well prepared. 

Did a good job of incorporating prayer that is common to the class into the lesson. 

Able to relate to those I was teaching. 

Had good biblical points that were backed by the text. 

To Improve

Eye contact

Comfort while teaching

Engaging the class more than just at the beginning

Maybe move around a little bit and not be so stiff.

Questions

Being prepared is a big part of teaching, but being comfortable in front of one’s peers and friends is also big in teaching. What are some ways that I can get past this fear/uncomfortable feeling in front of my friends and peers?

How does a teacher keep the attention of those they are trying to teach for more extended periods of time? How do you keep it from becoming boring and too much like a lecture?

Not relying on notes all of the time will free up a teacher to adapt to how the lesson if flowing and allow them to not be tied to a podium while teaching. Is it feasible for a teacher to memorize their lesson every week? Or maybe at least memorize the main points? 

Why am I afraid to speak or teach in front of my peers? What do I have to lose?

Chris' Practicum Post #8

Hours this week-2.5 (1-Sunday School, 1.5-Worship)

This week was another typical Sunday morning. The class began with prayer, which was very good because we hadn’t really spent a whole lot of time in prayer as a class in a while. We got into groups and shared some requests that we had and spent time praying together. It was refreshing to get reconnected in the lives of the group. Not being in prayer together really makes it hard to understand where one another is at in each others lives. 

Opening and closing with prayer is always a good thing. Yet, how much better could our classes be and the relationships be if there was a lot prayer being implemented into the classes? Prayer should be a central point of the class and worship both. Often prayer is used as “filler” or can also be seen by some as expendable. Often churches will cut prayers from their services or classes for the sake of time. However, I believe that prayer can be a great tool for use in the setting of Sunday school. 

The lesson was an okay lesson. It was very informative and very little interaction was necessary for the class. It was like hearing a lecture in college. I was bored! Oh my goodness was I ever so bored. Not to mention the subject was somewhat elementary and dry. It was like he had forgotten about the lesson until the night before and then decided to try and throw something together. It was somewhat disorganized and very unlike him. It was probably the worst class we have had all semester. But, we had class and got something out of the prayer time so it was not a complete loss. 

Questions for this week:

Why do we only use prayer to open and close classes and services? Why can’t we use prayer in more creative ways? What creative ways? 

Obviously a teacher should not wait until the last night to get the lesson organized, but what if they are bad teachers? Should one be confronted about their teaching style and be asked to change?

Chris' Practicum Post #7

Hours this week-2.5 (1-Sunday School, 1.5-worship)

This week we had a pretty short lesson. Our class was meeting like usual but the teacher never showed up. It was nearly 9:50 when he finally showed up and our class started at 9:15. He was pretty late and you could tell he felt bad. 

In light of this event, we pulled one of the minister’s in to teach an impromptu lesson. It was interesting to see him scrambling around to get something together while sitting in front of the class. If there was one thing that I could say that this made me learn, it is that a teacher should always have a lesson that they can go back to without any preparation and teach it to just about any age group. If this had been the case with this replacement, who was asked at the last second, he would not have had to scramble to get a lesson together for us. 

Once he finally got going, it was interesting to see how nervous he was. It was like he had never taught a class in his life. He stumbled over a lot of words and seemed to be unsure of what he wanted to talk about. It made me think of someone in a dark room, who is just reaching out and grabbing whatever they can and giving it to someone else. It was probably very intimidating for the poor guy because he was not used to working with college age students and wasn’t really sure how a “typical” class would go. 

There was one good thing about this, it was a change of pace. It was nice to have someone different and someone who did things a little differently in comparison with our regular teacher. He did a decent job of making it interesting and keeping us all attentive to what was going on. Not an easy thing to do sometimes with a bunch of tired college students. Overall, it was a decent class for a pretty messed up morning in which a poor, unprepared teacher got thrown to the wolves. However, he succeeded and managed to pull off a decent lesson. 

Questions for this week:

If you are teaching a class and oversleep, should you rush around and try to get there a little late or should you accept that idea that someone else is probably already teaching your class? Changing teachers can keep things fresh. How often should a class have a different teacher?

How can a teacher always be prepared? Should one memorize a few of their lessons in order to be ready at a moments’ notice? 

Chris' Practicum Post #6

Hours this week-2.5 (1-Sunday School, 1.5-worship)

This week we had a pretty short lesson. Our class was meeting like usual but the teacher never showed up. It was nearly 9:50 when he finally showed up and our class started at 9:15. He was pretty late and you could tell he felt bad. 

In light of this event, we pulled one of the minister’s in to teach an impromptu lesson. It was interesting to see him scrambling around to get something together while sitting in front of the class. If there was one thing that I could say that this made me learn, it is that a teacher should always have a lesson that they can go back to without any preparation and teach it to just about any age group. If this had been the case with this replacement, who was asked at the last second, he would not have had to scramble to get a lesson together for us. 

Once he finally got going, it was interesting to see how nervous he was. It was like he had never taught a class in his life. He stumbled over a lot of words and seemed to be unsure of what he wanted to talk about. It made me think of someone in a dark room, who is just reaching out and grabbing whatever they can and giving it to someone else. It was probably very intimidating for the poor guy because he was not used to working with college age students and wasn’t really sure how a “typical” class would go. 

There was one good thing about this, it was a change of pace. It was nice to have someone different and someone who did things a little differently in comparison with our regular teacher. He did a decent job of making it interesting and keeping us all attentive to what was going on. Not an easy thing to do sometimes with a bunch of tired college students. Overall, it was a decent class for a pretty messed up morning in which a poor, unprepared teacher got thrown to the wolves. However, he succeeded and managed to pull off a decent lesson. 

Questions for this week:

If you are teaching a class and oversleep, should you rush around and try to get there a little late or should you accept that idea that someone else is probably already teaching your class? Changing teachers can keep things fresh. How often should a class have a different teacher?

How can a teacher always be prepared? Should one memorize a few of their lessons in order to be ready at a moments’ notice? 

Joey Bocook-- Post 8

A. Time Commitment this Week


 2.5 hours (1.5 hours in class, .5 hours reflection)

B. Class This week

 What does Jesus mean when He says, “Follow me.” Does it mean the same today as it did 2,000 years ago? If Christ came into this room today, would it mean what it meant to Matthew? These are the questions that Pastor Joe opened up with this week. In essence these are the same questions that we have been asked all semester. I answered like this, “No, it does not mean the same. We have been given the Bible. We can look into history. We have more responsibility.” Pastor Joe continued my train of thought in saying, “To whom much is given, much is required.” Amber, however, stated that she believed that it was the same. We have been given the Bible, yes, but God does not change his plan. Pastor Joe let her know that he believed that both could be right. But he did state that not even the disciples knew what “Follow me” meant in their time. We have been given the opportunity to become greater than they.

C. Questions Raised

 What is the best way to disagree and somewhat shoot someone’s answer down? Is it to say yes, but? Or just simply say they are wrong?

 And I ask you, what does Jesus mean when he says “Follow me,” and does it mean the same today?

Joey Bocook--Post 7

A. Time Spent this week


 2.5 hours (1.5 hours in group, .5 hours writing this)

B. Class this week

 Education. Matthew seems to write as if he is an educated man, at least in the ways of Jewish customs. Pastor Joe posed the question to us, were the disciples educated men? Zach answered that they were somewhat educated but did not know much more than the average man. I agreed, stating that they were all trained in some fashion but were not good enough to continue in the ways of studying. Matthew obviously was very familiar with the Jewish customs and the Law. His many, many references to the Torah are proof enough for that. Though, the question is also geared toward the other disciples. It seems, in Matthew’s account, that John the Baptists disciples were in the same feeling of the Pharisees on wondering why Jesus called who he called. Bethany was quiet, but piped up to make this comment, “Maybe Jesus didn’t need the educated?” I thought to myself, and later agreed. Jesus’ radical ministry was contrary to popular belief. How much easier is it to teach a new crowd new things, than an old crowd? Pastor Joe was very impressed with the depth of thought, from a normally quiet girl.

C. Questions Raised

 What is it, as a leader that we can take away from how Pastor Joe approached the situation of having a rather quiet girl in the class?

 Is it a victory in and of itself if she speaks up, or simply if she is right?

Joey Bocook- Teaching Report

Teaching Report


Time required: 3 hours (2 preparing, 1 teaching)

A. My Lesson

- I prepared a lesson about why Jesus would call ‘sinners’ instead of righteous men. The reason I chose this was because it was the next topic that we were to discuss in studying the calling of Matthew. I wanted to convince the class that the reason he called sinners was because they needed to be saved.

- Order of Questions and findings

o Short Answer

 The sinners are the ones in need of help (vs. 12)

 They can realize and vocalize their need for a Savior

 True, the Pharisees were looking for the Messiah…however, they did not need someone to teach them

 The disciples were teachable

o Longer Answer

 I believe that Christ was showing us an evangelistic strategy

 He was developing the leaders of His church

 Each man with a different story/background/heritage

 All knew of the coming Messiah

 He had a heart for the lost

• He was seeking out the lost

- Pastor Joe’s Response:

o He told me that I did well. However, I prodded him to tell me more about what I did well. He told me that it was apparent that I read around so that I knew what I was speaking of. He said that I was very assertive and seemed able to fit the role of Master/Teacher.

o When I asked where I needed to improve, he was a little quicker than I would have liked him to be with a response. He said that I didn’t do what he really asked. He wanted me to inductively dissect the text. That I needed to be more prepared.

B. Questions

- Is the study, inductively, more important than any other? Or are there studies that can be done that are just as relevant?

- Can I, as a master-teacher, be more assertive in asking questions? How much is too much, when pressing for an answer?

Danny's Practicum Post #9

Hours this week= 3

The second to last week of Tuesday Church was probably the best one of all of them. Today, Ms. Jessica shared the salvation message with the class. God had His hand over the classroom time, the loud kids were respectful, the eager learners were full of questions, and in the end, 13 kids accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Granted, this is probably (and hopefully) the first of many Salvation Prayers that these kids will say in their lives, but it's exciting nonetheless. I was nearly brought to tears when I saw their little hands raise, and the excitement they had about the angels partying in heaven. When I first came into this practicum, I felt it was a bit out of my comfort zone as far as teaching goes. I'm comfortable working with kids, but teaching-wise, I prefer to go deeper than cover the surface level type stuff. But seeing the impact that the Tuesday Church Ministry has on their lives every week is incredible.

As I was making my observations, I noticed that Shawnaia was back again, and so was Corey. He was being his usual self, but nothing extreme. On the Corey scale, he was probably at a 4 (which translates to a 11 or 12 on a normal person's scale, but I'll take it) Dora asked to pray again, and Talia, one of the meaner girls, said that Jesus was telling her to be nicer to her friends (I made sure to let her know that He wants us to be nicer to everyone) Overall, it was an incredible night, and as always, Ms. Jessica taught right at the kids' levels. She's wonderful.

Some of the questions that I had after this week were:

1) What's the next step? Now that they've accepted Christ, how do we follow up?

2) How can we get these kids and their parents to start regularly attending a local church?