IT'S SUMMER OF 2008!
I can't believe I finished teaching one year of seminary. That's the whole reason why I hadn't had the chance nor inclination to blog. My days consisted mostly of studying the Old Testament and other scriptures, researching ancient Jewish history and later, just general ancient world history. It was almost painful to close the year of studying the OT but now I have to prepare to teach the New Testament. I am SO excited to learn more...but really, not so much about teaching seminary. There are things I discovered about myself during this past school year of teaching daily for the first time: I have a hard time relating to mediocre people, I am a poor administrator, I am a disorganized and poor record keeper, I have no classroom protocol and logistics that are worth beans and I can be a pushover/doormat if I don't watch myself.
The new "teaching emphasis" protocol of teaching seminary is challenging because it forces you to actually employ techniques that require creativity of thought and careful study of the material. Traditionally, seminary teachers LECTURED. That's no longer de rigeur nor was it ever effective...unless you are an entertainer and have a need to be fawned over. The idea is to help the students DISCOVER the lessons by themselves. A seminary teacher is not a lecturer. I am a facilitator. And while I do enjoy employing activities to make the lessons interesting and interactive, the hardest part of this emphasis is ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS that will spark discovery and meaningful "Ah ha!" moments in class. I am intrigued by these challenges and next year, I intend to get better.
The real challenge though is simply relating to my students.
American teenagers are a totally different animal than the ones I am used to. Yeah. They do not have any sense of respect or decorum towards their elders like Asians do. They are rude. They are spoiled rotten and in my small experience, do not have any motivation to learn. Their study habits range from virtually none to mediocre. My 7am class was a huge challenge. The whole year, there was absolutely zero feedback. And then towards the end, they wanted credit for doing NOTHING. And they get upset if I don't give them them make-up work or credit as if they are entitled to everything when they didn't put in any effort at all. In the end, I thought that it really doesn't matter if I give them an A or pass them because seminary didn't really matter to them for the most part.
The afternoon classes that I taught as a substitute teacher was, on the other hand, amazing. They were motivated. Still sometimes rude but I would rather say they were more exuberant. They knew their material. They participated. They looked interested and I got a lot of feedback. I relished those days when I could teach them because I needed their feedback so that I didn't feel like I am the worst seminary teacher in the world. I could prepare for hours and hours the same lesson and it would be totally different taught in the afternoon as compared to my morning class. Lessons taught in the afternoon classes were more robust, meaningful and interesting. And I felt inspired by the students' participation and enthusiasm. Morning classes made me feel inadequate and my lessons meaningless. I fought these feelings for the whole year and hid them as much as I could. By the 3rd quarter, I just decided to teach and pretend that my students were interested. It knocked the winds out of me nearly every morning.
I sometimes wonder if the reason is because the afternoon classes were mostly kids who were honor students, orchestra, choir and band kids or all of the above---motivated students who kept the bar high. With the exception of possibly 2 students in my morning class, most of my students merely wanted to get by.
I really can't relate well with most of my morning students because I didn't grow up with kids like them. I went to an elite high school where every student was handpicked via rigorous screening exams so every single one was brilliant. And growing up, for the most part, my circle of friends were hungry for knowledge and experience as they were the early converts to the LDS church in Manila. We didn't even have seminary but we were so excited to attend and participate in any class or meeting.
Anyway, next year, I asked to teach the 6am class. Yeah. Crazy. But I am thinking that most of the students who go to 6am actually choose to be in that class. And most of them are band, choir, orchestra, sports or honors students. I did have the opportunity to sub for this class for a week. They are NOT like the afternoon class but still a huge improvement from my 7am class. So I am looking forward to this new experience---if I get to do it again.
The new "teaching emphasis" protocol of teaching seminary is challenging because it forces you to actually employ techniques that require creativity of thought and careful study of the material. Traditionally, seminary teachers LECTURED. That's no longer de rigeur nor was it ever effective...unless you are an entertainer and have a need to be fawned over. The idea is to help the students DISCOVER the lessons by themselves. A seminary teacher is not a lecturer. I am a facilitator. And while I do enjoy employing activities to make the lessons interesting and interactive, the hardest part of this emphasis is ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS that will spark discovery and meaningful "Ah ha!" moments in class. I am intrigued by these challenges and next year, I intend to get better.
The real challenge though is simply relating to my students.
American teenagers are a totally different animal than the ones I am used to. Yeah. They do not have any sense of respect or decorum towards their elders like Asians do. They are rude. They are spoiled rotten and in my small experience, do not have any motivation to learn. Their study habits range from virtually none to mediocre. My 7am class was a huge challenge. The whole year, there was absolutely zero feedback. And then towards the end, they wanted credit for doing NOTHING. And they get upset if I don't give them them make-up work or credit as if they are entitled to everything when they didn't put in any effort at all. In the end, I thought that it really doesn't matter if I give them an A or pass them because seminary didn't really matter to them for the most part.
The afternoon classes that I taught as a substitute teacher was, on the other hand, amazing. They were motivated. Still sometimes rude but I would rather say they were more exuberant. They knew their material. They participated. They looked interested and I got a lot of feedback. I relished those days when I could teach them because I needed their feedback so that I didn't feel like I am the worst seminary teacher in the world. I could prepare for hours and hours the same lesson and it would be totally different taught in the afternoon as compared to my morning class. Lessons taught in the afternoon classes were more robust, meaningful and interesting. And I felt inspired by the students' participation and enthusiasm. Morning classes made me feel inadequate and my lessons meaningless. I fought these feelings for the whole year and hid them as much as I could. By the 3rd quarter, I just decided to teach and pretend that my students were interested. It knocked the winds out of me nearly every morning.
I sometimes wonder if the reason is because the afternoon classes were mostly kids who were honor students, orchestra, choir and band kids or all of the above---motivated students who kept the bar high. With the exception of possibly 2 students in my morning class, most of my students merely wanted to get by.
I really can't relate well with most of my morning students because I didn't grow up with kids like them. I went to an elite high school where every student was handpicked via rigorous screening exams so every single one was brilliant. And growing up, for the most part, my circle of friends were hungry for knowledge and experience as they were the early converts to the LDS church in Manila. We didn't even have seminary but we were so excited to attend and participate in any class or meeting.
Anyway, next year, I asked to teach the 6am class. Yeah. Crazy. But I am thinking that most of the students who go to 6am actually choose to be in that class. And most of them are band, choir, orchestra, sports or honors students. I did have the opportunity to sub for this class for a week. They are NOT like the afternoon class but still a huge improvement from my 7am class. So I am looking forward to this new experience---if I get to do it again.
