The R.A.C.E. is On!

Follow-up from last week: I didn't get on groovshark to listen to music at all this week. I did get on facebook a couple of times, but I made sure that it was after I have done my homework. I think I'll keep on doing it this way.


R.A.C.E. is an acronym for research, action plan, carry out, and evaluation. I feel like this is vital to my leadership role as a Gospel Doctrine teacher. I go through each step every time I give the lesson. Research includes printing out the lesson, reading and studying the assigned scriptures, and reading and studying the lesson material.


Next I make an action plan. There is always way too much material in the lesson than we can possibly have meaningful discussions about in class so I have to decide what will be most relevant to the class members. Also part of action plan is knowing what direction I see the lesson going, what I'll say and point out about certain verses of scripture, what questions I will ask, and what activities or object lessons I will use. The action plan also consists of prayer and the Spirit because both of these are needed to teach the Gospel.


One thing I want to mention-I've noticed that Saturday is the hardest day for me to study the scriptures. Perhaps it's because there is not structure to the day. I also think it's because Satan doesn't want to me prepare spiritually for the next day-Sunday. Part of being an effective Gospel Doctrine teacher is regularly doing personal scripture study-not the scriptures that will be taught in class. I am making a goal to read scriptures that first thing I do Saturday morning.


The next part of R.A.C.E is carry out-do it! For me this part comes on Sunday at about 1:30pm. I give the lesson, we have discussions, and if I have prepared adequately and have gained a personal testimony of the doctrine that I am teaching then the lesson usually goes well. It never goes the way I exactly plan it, but that is expected. In sum, I give the lesson the best way I know how-of course trying to implement the public speaking skills I learned a couple of weeks ago.


Lastly, I evaluate. How do I evaluate how well the lesson went? There are a couple of things that I look at. First, I can feel it. I can feel when the Spirit is there. Next, usually I can tell that class members are learning and having a good experience when they participate by making comments, and answering/asking questions. Thirdly, I know that it is going well when I feel comfortable being myself as I teach. Fourthly, I can talk to Matt about the lesson and we can collaborate on how to better meet the needs of the class members.


R.A.C.E is a great tool and I want to make a goal to take more time to evaluate after the lesson is over.

Yesterday's Lesson

I taught a lesson yesterday and really tried to implement the public speaking skills that we learned. I started the lesson with an attention grabber. I began, "Who here owns a backpack?" Everyone raised their hands because every student has a backpack. I made remarked on how heavy our backpacks can sometimes be and in fact that a backpack is a physical burden. Then we did an activity with a backpack and rocks. Our lesson was about how the Lord invites us to come unto him and take his yoke upon us because His burden is light and easy. I asked someone to help be the scribe and we listed some things on the board. There was a lot of participation and I felt the Spirit. The last ten or so minutes we read the story of Mary anointing Christ's feet. I felt strongly about what I was teaching and I could see people's eyes start to water. My eyes swelled with tears. I concluded with my testimony. We had all been spiritually fed.

As far as time management goes, I did okay last week except that I forgot to do this blog before midnight on Saturday, but at least I could tell you about how the lesson went on Sunday. I learned what I basically knew before. I use my time well when I study at school and I don't when I am at my apartment or are on facebook. I use my planner every more fervently and have set some important goals for this week. One of my goals for this week is to work and study for the important, but not urgent things-like my Book of Mormon and Pearl of Great Price tests next week. I also I have a goal to do the big things first before getting on facebook or listening to grooveshark. The analogy about the rocks and sand in a jar really made sense to me. 

Follow Up and Public Speaking

My goal was to set up a time to meet with Matt, the other Gospel Doctrine teacher in my ward, to talk about our class, goals, and how we can be more effective. Matt and I are meeting Sunday morning before church to go over a class theme that we want to present to the class this Sunday.

I learned some good stuff about public speaking from Diona M. Wilson. First off-what a spunky, fun lady! I loved her enthusiasm and cheerful attitude! I really enjoyed the then tips for public speakers that she taught. She said that we need to know our audience by doing some audience analysis. My class is full of BYU students who live at Wyview. Most of them, if not all, are in a low income situation. Their lives are mostly comprised of class, homework, friends, roommates, BYU activities, and callings. They live busy lives and sometimes get little sleep. Relationships with the Lord and friends, having fun, and doing well in school are among some of their priorities. Some current events in their community: Jimmer and the BYU Basketball team, Midterms, but mostly Jimmer. Each of them are talented in their own way, have a desire to excel, have fun, and be accepted.  

Something else that I learned was to never start a talk or lesson with "Today, I'm going to talk to you about...." There should always be a great grab-a story, an impressive fact, a current event, an activity, etc. I need to think more creatively about a grab for starting the lesson in Sunday School. Usually the lesson gives an "Attention Activity," but I can come up with something more attention grabbing for college students.

Public speaking is a huge part of my leadership role and this was very helpful.

The Opposite of Dysfunction in Class

This week in the combined lab we learned about the dysfunctions of a team (in my case a Gospel Doctrine class). The dysfunctions:

1. Absence of Trust
2. Fear of Conflict
3. Lack of Commitment
4. Avoidance of Accountability
5. Inattention to Results

The opposite of the dysfunctions:

1. Trust
2. Positive Conflict
3. Commitment
4. Accountability
5. Attention to Results

I am not the only Gospel Doctrine teacher. Matt and I switch off teaching every other week. We are a team. For Matt and I trust is one of the more important characteristics of our teamwork. At the beginning of the semester we got together and talked about a theme for the class and talked about our strengths and weaknesses in teaching and handling the class, and offered each other some feedback. On a handout that we received from lab this week identifies some of the characteristics of a trusting team as "asking for help, asking questions and accepting input, give each other the benefit of the doubt, taking risks in offering feedback, appreciating and taping into another's skills or experiences, and look forward to meetings/groups work." I'm making a goal to do these things with Matt at least twice a month. It'll be good to talk with Matt more about what we can do to reach specific class members and bring the Spirit more into our class. We can also help each other as we talk about certain teaching techniques that worked for us and others that didn't. Also, I'm grateful that I trust Matt in that if it's his week to prepare the lesson, then I know that it will get done and I don't have to worry about it. I know he feels the same with me. We also support and trust each other by making comments when each other is teaching. 

Goal for this week: talk with Matt about having a regular time to talk about the class and what we can do to be more effective.

Follow up and Accomodating

A follow up from last week: My goals last were (1) to pray and gain a personal testimony of the lesson, (2) to prepare so well that I wouldn't have to look at a paper when I taught, and (3) to have a sincere and happy attitude about teaching.  I did pray about our lesson about some of the miracles that Christ performed and I felt the Spirit strongly. I gained this testimony-If Christ can (fill in blank with certain miracle), then He can change, heal, and love me too. I felt strongly that I should share that message. Then, before church on Sunday I found out that I would have twenty minutes less to give my lesson and then I only actually taught 12 minutes in the end, but I did my best with the time that I had. Because of the time shortage I really just put down the papers and shared a couple of the miracle stories. I felt like I was sincere and that the Spirit was there, even if it was only for 12 minutes.

This week in lecture and lab we learned about conflict resolution. In lab we were asked to identify some conflicts in our leadership role. I thought of a few. Firstly, the conflict of how much of the lesson I prepare and how much time I actually have to give the lesson. Secondly, the conflict of preparing the lesson during the week and doing everything else there is to do. Thirdly, the conflict of how many people I want to participate and how much they actually do. When I took the quiz in lab that identifies how I generally deal with conflict avoiding and competing were my highest too.  I think that the best way to deal with the first conflict is accommodation. I need to be flexible and accommodate the lesson to how much time I have. I think that they best way to deal with the second conflict is compromise. I shouldn't focus all of my time doing homework, but neither should I neglect homework because I'm preparing my lesson. I need to do both and so the time needs to be compromised. The third conflict can be dealt with accommodation. I can't force people to participate, but I can change the way I am asking questions. I can use various teaching styles. I can move forward. I've learned a lot this week!

Focus on Strengths

This week in lecture Christi Lively spoke to us about focusing on improving our strengths rather than on correcting weaknesses and how it will help our weaknesses not seem so weak. I've thought about some of my strengths as a Gospel Doctrine teacher and have chosen one to focus on for next week. One of my strengths is that I sincerely love to read the scriptures. Because I love to read the scriptures, I have an enthusiastic attitude about teaching them. This week I would like to focus on having more enthusiasm when I teach. How can I do this? First, I will pray before I start preparing the lesson and ask Heavenly Father for the Spirit as I prepare. As I pray I will ask Heavenly Father to help me gain my own personal testimony about what I will be teaching. Secondly, I will prepare so that I feel comfortable teaching the lesson without having to read it off of a paper. This will be better because I will know the material better and be able to look people in the eye as I teach. This is more personal. Thirdly, I will smile and have a happy attitude when I teach. If I love the Gospel, then it will shine through. In the last General Conference, Elder McConkie, speaking specifically to teachers, said that "Attitude is not taught, it is caught." I think that as I do these three things, pray for a personal testimony, know the material so well that I can teach it from my heart, and smile during the lesson then I can help the class members catch enthusiasm for the Gospel. I'll let you know how it goes!    

Servant Leadership

This week in the leadership lecture Brother Neil Cox taught a great lesson on servant leadership accompanied by examples from the Church and business leaders. He quoted Stephen Covey's quote and it's stayed with me since: "You'll find that as you care less about what others think of you, you will care more about what others think of themselves." In other words, focus on the feelings, needs, and desires of others and less on your own. It's funny because I think that many times I don't say hi or start a conversation or make a comment because I'm scared about what others will think of me. It's like this barrier that we build between people and it's built on this self-interested motive about wanting others to like us. I want others to be happy and so I can focus my attention on making others happy. In teaching the Gospel Doctrine lessons I find that it is easy to worry and get nervous about what others are thinking of me as I teach. Do they like my teaching style? Do they think that I'm too serious or that I should be more like (fill in name)? But all that does is make me an insecure teacher and it reflects in my teaching. Instead my focus should be how the students feel about the Gospel and about their desire to live the Gospel. My job is not to make them love me, but to make them love the Savior and the scriptures. The miracle is that in doing this, I mean coming unto Christ through studying His word, we come to love each other as well. So the next time I teach, I am going to try to stop worrying about what the class is thinking of me and start focusing on how the class feels about the aspect of the Gospel that we are learning that day. Ultimately, I need to focus on the Spirit and whether or not He is present. Whether or not I'm the most effective teacher, if the Spirit is there it was an effective lesson. Upward and onward!