First time CCD teacher.... totally out of my depth!

[SleeplessMom]

In a spur of a moment decision (or possibly strong prompting of the Holy Spirit I volunteered to teach CCD for the first time. I was assigned 3-5 graders who have never received 1st Communion or Confession. I’m really excited to teach these kids because it’s a rather unique situation, however it comes with a few extra challenges for me.

I’ve never worked with 9-11 year olds (I’m not sure if I even know any kids that age) and I’m not sure how to work with that age group. The text books we’re using are the second grade level and are way way too young. The first activity is to sing a song about Jesus on the stormy waters to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle. I’m pretty sure that isn’t going to fly. I’m pretty sure some of the kids are going to be pretty far behind in any faith formation simply because they haven’t received the sacraments yet.

Also I have no idea how to actually prepare and teach these things… and of course it starts tommorrow! So any experienced CCD teachers have some last minute advice for me?

 

[jmcrae]

In a spur of a moment decision (or possibly strong prompting of the Holy Spirit I volunteered to teach CCD for the first time. I was assigned 3-5 graders who have never received 1st Communion or Confession. I’m really excited to teach these kids because it’s a rather unique situation, however it comes with a few extra challenges for me.

I’ve never worked with 9-11 year olds (I’m not sure if I even know any kids that age) and I’m not sure how to work with that age group. The text books we’re using are the second grade level and are way way too young. The first activity is to sing a song about Jesus on the stormy waters to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle. I’m pretty sure that isn’t going to fly. I’m pretty sure some of the kids are going to be pretty far behind in any faith formation simply because they haven’t received the sacraments yet.

Also I have no idea how to actually prepare and teach these things… and of course it starts tommorrow! So any experienced CCD teachers have some last minute advice for me?

Yes. Decide ahead of time what you want your class to feel like. Close your eyes and imagine yourself as a ten year old student in your perfect class. (Think back to actually being ten. Don’t rely on stereotypes of what ten year olds are supposed to be like.) Watch the teacher come into the teaching space (room, corner of a gym, corner of the Church, whatever.)

Don’t worry about the subject matter at this point (that comes in the third step). Just have the “sound turned off” but watch this teacher teach this perfect class in your mind’s eye. Take note of what she does first, second, third, fourth, and last. Perhaps it’s a memory of a class you actually took when you were ten. Perhaps it’s completely original. Either is fine.

Then, put together a template that gives you that feel. Get out a blank sheet of paper, fold it in five, and write down your first action, second action, third action, fourth action, and last action. Leave space to write in each of the five sections.

Third, look at your lesson plan. What is the topic of the lesson? What are some of the suggested activities that fit into your five areas? Write them into the sections where they fit on your template.

Finally, look at the gaps. What’s missing? Use whatever other resources you have to fill in the gaps - books you own already, stuff from the Internet that you can download, or whatever. If you were looking for an interactive feel, what games do you know that fit with this topic? If you were looking for a quiet, meditative feel, what stories do you know that you can tell, that fit with this topic?

As you go through your year and get to know your class, you will adapt your template. Fear not - the children will readily tell you what they like and what they don’t like about your classes. You can also feel free to ask them, “Which parts of this lesson helped you the most? Was there anything that you found confusing or unhelpful?” Children will usually be very forthright and honest about these things. Don’t take their criticisms personally - but do take them to heart - the children will really buy into your lessons when they see that you make use of their best suggestions.

Most of all, the other thing to understand is, the kids will never realize that you’ve never done this before unless you tell them - because, neither have they.

With regard to Jesus on the stormy waters and the lame song, what I do in those situations is, I get the kids to write a song or a poem of their own on the same subject. The results are often amazing.

 

[midori]

Be careful to not overestimate their proficiencies or ability to retain information from one year to the next, if they’re not getting reinforcement in their home lives, or once a week at Mass if they’re lucky. I teach junior high, and it can still be a little effort to get them to remember the answers to basic questions, like “Who are the members of the Trinity?” or “Name the four Evangelists.” They’ve all had their First Communions years ago, but need to be reminded that Catholics believe in Transubstantiation, rather than a purely symbolic Eucharist. It can be a little discouraging at times-- especially since I knew I covered all those things with the exact same kids last year, and the year before that…

So, yeah. Patience, and the ability to repeat, repeat, repeat the important stuff in the hopes of it finally sinking in are both important. Be confident, get a feel for where they’re coming from, and be willing to roll with it. Good luck!

 

[puzzleannie]

In a spur of a moment decision (or possibly strong prompting of the Holy Spirit I volunteered to teach CCD for the first time. I was assigned 3-5 graders who have never received 1st Communion or Confession. I’m really excited to teach these kids because it’s a rather unique situation, however it comes with a few extra challenges for me.

I’ve never worked with 9-11 year olds (I’m not sure if I even know any kids that age) and I’m not sure how to work with that age group. The text books we’re using are the second grade level and are way way too young. The first activity is to sing a song about Jesus on the stormy waters to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle. I’m pretty sure that isn’t going to fly. I’m pretty sure some of the kids are going to be pretty far behind in any faith formation simply because they haven’t received the sacraments yet.

Also I have no idea how to actually prepare and teach these things… and of course it starts tommorrow! So any experienced CCD teachers have some last minute advice for me?

first, if you are stuck with the books, use them as a guide, not as the main text, in other words you know what to teach, and the order in which to teach it, and you can use what they can relate to–the order for confession, order for Mass, prayers, commandments etc–and ignore the little stories that are too young.

The songs and other activities are just suggestions, no need to use them if they don’t work for you.

Several publishers have good “catch-up” books for older children in this situation, we use Sadlier’s Our Catholic Faith/Nuestra Fe because it comes in both English and Bilingual, which meets our needs. The price is right and it comes with a free prayerbook they can keep that has also Mass (new translation) and confession in it. If it is too late to order them, because the other books have already been paid for, use those 2nd year books, as I say, when you need them to read the basics, otherwise teach by other means.

see of the parish or diocese has videos you can use on Mass, communion, sacraments, commandments etc.

Start each session with the readings, or at least the gospel for the coming Sunday. If your DRE has a copy of a children’s lectionary you can use, borrow it, or ask for a Sunday missallette. This way they can take turns learning to proclaim (read out loud properly) and how to use the missalette. Ask a couple of discussion questions–very easy, like this week “why does Jesus tell us it is necessary to forgive those who hurt us?”
“Why did Jesus tell a story to his disciples about the king and the unjust servant?”
“In this story who acted the way Jesus told us, the king or the servant?”

give about 15 minutes to this activity but this initial evangelization is essential

 

[puzzleannie]

just want to say to you and all new catechists, thank you for responding to the call of the Holy Spirit (who often looks and sounds like an old fat grey-haired lady with sensible shoes). You are not out of your depth at all, in fact, with Christ as your guide you can walk on water. If you have been confirmed you have been given the gifts of the Holy Spirit needed for this apostolate. You can do this. Spend a couple of weeks getting to know the children and them getting to know each other. Get them to come up with simple classroom rules and put them on a poster. Teach the prayers by praying, concentrating on a different prayer each month. Don’t waste time listening them to recite from rote individually. If you need to test knowledge do it doing games or relays, not always written tests, which make some kids nervous.

You are sharing your knowledge of the faith and experience of Jesus Christ working in your life. The Holy Spirit is preparing them for sacraments, so don’t get in His way and you will do just fine.

 

[mariacamille]

I assistant taught 5th grade a few years ago, and it was a joy. The kids were great…the only problem is that they’re at the age where they like to press buttons and see how far they can get away with not doing as they’re asked.

God bless you for responding to the call! I also received that call and after mass when they announced it I felt myself being literally pulled to go sign up.

Keep things interesting for them…and ALWAYS be excited. That’s one thing I learned…they’ll feed off your excitement and they’ll get excited themselves.

I got a lot of pretty deep questions from my 10 year olds, so be expecting them from yours! Keep a Catholic Encyclopedia with you and the catechism, too. Have them look up stuff and read it aloud. Maybe make a game of looking up bible verses.