Seminary and Scripture Mastery Teaching – A Year in Review

Now that my seminary school year is finished (yours still may be going), it is time to review several items so that I can analyze my teaching and any areas of focus needing help for next year.

Here is a link to the Teaching Emphasis that CES needs us to use as we work with our students. To be able to read it, simply click here.

It is a wonderfully concise document which summarizes several important concepts. The more I’ve utilized these concepts, it seems the more my students retain and are able to process on a deeper level, rather than what might have happened otherwise.

My CES director is an amazing man and has modeled these concepts so clearly and well in our training meetings. Here they are (I’ve included my musings in parentheses):

• To learn and teach by the Spirit (for both student AND teacher).
• To emphasize the actual scriptures as teaching text (for both classroom teaching AND private study for student and teacher).
• To help students understand and apply the principles/doctrines of the scriptures (all for the purpose of personal conversion).
• To help students learn to share these principles in class AND outside of class (they need activities to actually practice this).
• To emphasize scripture mastery passages and the principles contained therein.
• To follow the Compentency sheet for The Book of Mormon (so students will understand the unique position of the Church and its clear view of doctrinal principles).

Personally I will be working toward doing a better job with not just teaching the scripture mastery passages for memorization, but also for studying more deeply the truths therein. The students deserve not to only know these for Scripture Mastery Day at the stake at the end of the year, but also to truly make the teachings contained therein a part of their lives.

Sigh. So the school year is past. I will be working on some reading charts that I will be mailing to the students to work on over the summer and to bring to the first day of seminary next fall. Scripture study is essential for daily closeness to the Lord. I don’t want my students to distance themselves from the scriptures simply because they think, “I don’t have to go to seminary this week!’

As I have the charts and other goodies ready, I’ll post them to the Seminary Class Notes group so that you can download them for free! I especially am going to be mailing out an incentive chart to get the students ready for scripture mastery memorization. One of the scripture mastery verses for next year is a doozy – Joseph Smith History 1:15-20! Just imagine, though, your students being able to show up the first day of seminary, already having memorized it! That’s what I’m going to be helping them work toward during the summer! :0)

Until next time,

just another-early-morning-seminary-teacher mom

***
For free PDFs and teaching tips, feel free to visit the Seminary Class Notes group.Free resources for the LDS seminary teacher.