Welcome to Joe Hecksel's Webpage
  Teaching Sunday School is a tough job. You are competing with cable TV. Perhaps not directly, but many students will be tired from staying up late the night before. Likewise, their attention spans will be limited. You have two advantages. One is that you have better writers working for you (and I don't mean me). The other advantage is that you can be interactive.

A great source on ideas for classroom management of 9th graders
 
 
I like using a flip chart. I planned on four pages per lesson. The first page was an outline for the day with three main points. Each of the remaining three pages emphasized a point.
 
 
 
***************************************************************************
 
Outline (for first day):
 
*Goal for the year: To develop "Well-formed" consciences
*Ground rules
*A little bit about ourselves

****************************************************************************

Goals for the year: (These were my goals for 9th graders. You will have your own)

*To develop "Well-formed" consciences
*Know our strengths and weaknesses
*...lead us not into temptation.
*Get a firm grasp of what is a "sin"
*Get beyond a "list" or "Thou shall not..." based morality

********************************************************************************

Ground rules:

*Class starts at 10:10. Class ends at 11:25. I like to play music while waiting for class to start. You are invited to bring music to share with the class as long as it is not trashy.
*I like to take a 10 minute donut and coffee break about mid-way. We will take it if we are running ahead of schedule. We will not take it if we are running behind or if people have been goofing-off or if there has been poor participation. (Note to teacher: There is one of you. There might be as many as 35 of them. Give them a reason to become "invested" in using peer pressure toward a positive end. 6th-through-10th graders are very vulnerable to peer pressure.)
 
*The first person who reads (a volunteer) gets to choose the radio station or CD we listen to at break. Each person who reads gets to "vounteer" the next reader. I reserve the right to maintain "balance" in who reads. (Note to teacher: The power of "assigning" the task of reading the next passage is the reward they get for reading. Do not let them pick on students with reading difficulties or with who cannot speak due to massive amounts of orthodontia.)
*At the end of the class I will ask the class to tell me three things that you learned. You are not dismissed until I get three good answers.

******************************************************************************************

A little bit about ourselves:

*Name.
*School attended.
*Activities engaged in. (Note to teacher: Make notes on your attendance sheet for memory jogs. Examples, Megan plays basketball, Ryan is in band, Susie rides horses. That will help you remember their names. Also, call roll. You will be surprised at how quickly you learn the names. I passed a sign-in sheet the first year I taught. Bad move on my part. I did not learn their names very quickly)
 
 
 
 
 
Joe Hecksel - -7980 Bentley Hwy- -Eaton Rapids, Michigan - - 48827 - - JHecksel@voyager.net

...head home now!