Every teacher is creative! Teaching, by nature, is a creative activity. Lessons are created. Teaching methods are created. Answers to learners’ questions and solutions to learners’ problems are created. (more…)

A doctor and his stethoscope; a carpenter and his hammer; a writer and his computer; an artist and his brushes. An adult Sunday School teacher and his . . .

How would you complete the sentence? (more…)

If you want to learn what’s involved in adding a room to your home, who would you want to teach you—a professional builder or your handyman neighbor next door? If you have been assigned to convert your company’s current accounting software system to a new one, who would you want to teach you—a trained computer systems expert or your Uncle Henry who dabbles in computers?

The point is, if we want to learn how to do something well, we have to learn from an expert, not a novice—from a master, not a beginner. (more…)

Memorizing my Sunday School verses became a weekly habit for me while I was growing up. I had great teachers who motivated me to do my memory work. My Primary Department teacher gave me a reward for each verse I memorized. My favorite reward was a piece of grape Bubble Yum bubble gum. While I wasn’t allowed to chew the gum during the morning worship service, I would impatiently sneak little bits of the gum while my dad was preaching. I rarely missed an opportunity to earn that delicious grape gum. (more…)

Good questions require learners to think. Consequently, a learner’s best answer is going to come after a bit of contemplation. Give your learners more time to think about key questions in your lessons by giving them the questions ahead of time. (more…)

When most people go swimming, they don’t just run to the side of the pool and jump in—although some do. I personally question the sanity of those who jump right in. I, like most people, want to take time to acclimate to pool water before I get all the way into it. In fact, I sometimes take as long as ten minutes to fully submerge myself in particularly cold pools. Of course the insane people who jumped right in are thrashing around and splashing the “freezing” water all over me. But, hey, they’re insane. They can’t help it!

The next time you teach a lesson, imagine that all of your learners are standing on the edge of a swimming pool. Your job is to get them all in the pool and acclimated to the water. You could reach up and grab their hands and pull them all into the pool. That’s fun to imagine! Or you could direct them to go to the shallow end of the pool and slowly wade into the water until they are acclimated enough to submerge themselves. (more…)

Will you help with a dilemma? These Sunday School and Bible study materials are desperately needed in partnering ministries around the world, but they will be recycled. Why? Read more.

While in seminary, I took a job as a painter. For the most part, I painted apartments. My first day on the job wasn’t too encouraging. It took me what seemed like forever to finish the job. I spent a lot of time that day cleaning the things I painted that weren’t supposed to be painted—the carpet, for example! (more…)

Help your learners practice what they are learning by conducting class projects. (more…)

Despite the incredible benefits of memorizing Scripture, most believers do not memorize Scripture without being challenged to do so. Emphasize Scripture memory in your class sessions. (more…)