Teaching That Makes a Difference : How to Teach for Holistic Impact

by Dan Lambert, ED. D.

• ISBN13: 9780310252474
• ISBN10: 0310252474
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-08-01
• Publisher: Zondervan

Summary

This comprehensive, research-informed textbook reviews all aspects of traditional and contemporary theories and experience in youth ministry, but also points to the future by analyzing youth culture and charting innovative paradigms in the art and craft of teaching. The book is fueled by the urgent need in youth ministry to better reach students, to inform them about God's will for their lives, and to encourage change in their lives beyond the youth group setting. Features include: - Website dedicated to the book, including chats hosted by the author - Scriptural instruction on reaching the minds, hearts, and souls of students - Cultural analysis of adolescents in ministry contexts and in the larger community - Explanation of learning styles: auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic - Explanation of multiple intelligences: imaginative, analytic, common sense, dynamic - Tips on creativity: where to find ideas, list of teaching methods

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	6	(2)
A Note about the Web site	8	(1)
Read This First!	9	(2)
What Is Holistic Teaching?	11	(26)
The Current Climate of Religious and Biblical Understanding in Youth Culture	12	(5)
The Biblical Basis for Holistic Teaching	17	(4)
How Holistic Teaching Prepares the Way for Lifelong Spiritual Growth	21	(1)
The Role of Teachers in the Teaching-Learning Process	22	(10)
The Characteristics of Teachers	23	(1)
The Tasks of Teachers	24	(3)
Other Tidbits from Scripture	27	(1)
Warnings to Teachers	28	(4)
The Role of the Holy Spirit in Teaching	32	(3)
For Discussion	35	(1)
Activities	36	(1)
Who are Adolescents Anyway?	37	(22)
A Brief History of Adolescence	38	(2)
Physical Development	40	(2)
Intellectual Development	42	(1)
Emotional Development	43	(1)
Social Development	44	(1)
Brain Development	45	(2)
Identity Development	47	(2)
Vocational Development	49	(1)
Moral Development	50	(1)
Spiritual Development	51	(2)
Teaching Implications	53	(3)
For Discussion	56	(1)
Activities	57	(2)
Who are the Kids You Teach?	59	(16)
Defining ``Cultural Exegesis''	60	(1)
Why Doing a Cultural Exegesis is Essential	61	(1)
Getting Started	61	(6)
Doing Some Homework	67	(3)
Analyzing What You've Found	70	(2)
Applying the Conclusions to Your Teaching	72	(1)
For Discussion	73	(1)
Activities	74	(1)
How Do Kids Learn?	75	(21)
Our Senses and Learning	76	(1)
A Variety of Theories	77	(14)
The Sensory Model	77	(3)
Bi-polar Models	80	(7)
The 4MAT ® System	87	(2)
Multiple Intelligences	89	(2)
Information Overload	91	(1)
For Discussion	92	(1)
Activities	93	(3)
What Should You Use to Teach?	96	(23)
Curriculum Defined	96	(4)
Curriculum Theories	100	(9)
Commercial Curriculum	109	(2)
Choosing Curriculum	111	(4)
Scope and Sequence	115	(2)
For Discussion	117	(1)
Activities	118	(1)
How Can You Prepare to Teach?	119	(19)
A Step-by-Step Guide	120	(1)
The Details	121	(15)
For Discussion	136	(1)
Activities	136	(2)
What Teaching Methods Should You Use?	138	(29)
What is a Teaching Method?	139	(1)
How to Choose a Good Method	139	(1)
The Discussion Monster	140	(9)
Advantages of Discussion	140	(1)
Potential Problems with Discussion	141	(1)
Types of Questions	142	(1)
Bloom's Taxonomy and Discussion Questions	143	(4)
Tips for Leading Great Discussions	147	(2)
The World's Longest List of Teaching Methods	149	(16)
For Discussion	165	(1)
Activities	165	(2)
How Can You Know If You're Making a Difference?	167	(14)
Why Evaluate?	168	(2)
What to Evaluate	170	(1)
How to Evaluate	171	(3)
Formal Evaluations	172	(2)
Informal Evaluations	174	(1)
What to Do with Evaluations	174	(1)
Making Changes	175	(2)
Continuing to Improve	177	(2)
For Discussion	179	(1)
Activities	179	(2)
How Might Jesus Teach Teens Today?	181	(24)
Some Observations about Jesus' Teaching	182	(11)
Whom Jesus Taught	183	(1)
What Jesus Taught	184	(5)
How Jesus Taught	189	(3)
Where Jesus Taught	192	(1)
When Jesus Taught	192	(1)
How People Responded	193	(1)
Some Mistakes to Avoid When Trying to Teach like Jesus	193	(3)
So How Might Jesus Teach Today's Teenagers?	196	(6)
The Ultimate Reward	202	(1)
For Discussion	203	(1)
Activities	203	(2)
What Other Teaching Tips Should You Know?	205	(12)
Read This Last!	217	(1)
Glossary	218	(9)
References	227

Excerpts

Teaching That Makes a Difference: How To Teach for Holistic Impace Copyright © 2004 by Youth Specialties
Youth Specialties Books, 300 South Pierce Street, El Cajon, CA 92020, are published by Zondervan, 5300 Patterson Avenue SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lambert, Dan, 1962- Teaching that makes a difference : how to teach for holistic impact / by Dan Lambert. p. cm. ISBN 0-310-25247-4 (hardcover) 1. Church work with youth. 2. Christian education of young people. I. Title. BV4447 .L332 268'.433--dc22 2004008613
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version (North American Edition). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan.
Some of the anecdotal illustrations in this book are true to life and are included with the permission of the persons involved. All other illustrations are composites of real situations, and any resemblance to people living or dead is coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Web site addresses listed in this book were current at the time of publication. Please contact Youth Specialties via e-mail ([e-mail]) to report URLs that are no longer operational and replacement URLs if available.
Editorial and art direction by Rick Marschall Editing by Doug Davidson Proofreading by Joanne Heim Cover and interior design by Mark Arnold Printed in the United States of America
04 05 06 07 08 09 / DC / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
C H A P T E R 1
WHAT IS HOLISTIC TEACHING? (And Why Teaching Well Matters)
“[My Christian friends would] say they’re Christians because they say they believe in God, and they go to church usually. And I say, ‘That doesn’t make you a Christian. What makes you a Christian is believing all that and living it out.’ They don’t live it out. They do far worse things than I do and that makes them hypocrites.” —CLAIRE, A COLLEGE FRESHMAN
“I think a lot of people are losing their religion. Definitely. Even me, I know that when I grew up I used to go to church every Sunday, and now it’s become holidays. But I think as long as you have your own thing, whether it’s meditation—anything that centers you in life is good. Do I pray? Yeah, I do.” —ACTRESS KIRSTEN DUNST
* * * * *
The future of the church is in trouble, and those of us who teach youth need to step up and accept our share of the blame. God has entrusted us with a high and holy calling, but we’ve treated it like it’s just another chore in life. We rarely take the time to do it well, and often would prefer not to do it at all. We wait until the last minute to get ready (if we take the time at all), and only put in the effort to do it right when we know something special is happening, like visitors or evaluation.
The Current Climate of Religious and Biblical Understanding in Youth Culture
Our sloppiness in teaching God’s Word haunts us with the maturing of the young people we typically call Generation X. Witness the incredibly high number of public figures between ages 20 and 35 who either grew up in the church or call themselves Christian, but use that term very differently than most of us might. Here are a few quotations from or about some well-known performers:
JESSICA SIMPSON is “a minister’s daughter, a poor kid who moved seven times before she was eight as her father, Joe, sought work as a youth minister and therapist for abused kids in Baptist parishes around Dallas.”
“The Bible. That’s my favorite book. I was an usher in church; my grandmother played the piano. And my father’s a deacon now.”
—SKINNY DEVILLE (real name William Hughes) of the gangsta rap group NAPPY ROOTS
“I have an intense history with Christianity.”
—BEN MOODY, whose band, EVANESCENCE, had their albums pulled from Christian bookstores when it was discovered that band members drank and swore.
“I love the teachings of Christ, but I don’t think of myself as a Christian by anyone’s conventional understanding.”
—MOBY6
“I’m a believer in Jesus Christ.”
—TOM DELONGE OF BLINK-182
“I pray before we go on stage and I pray at night.” (Explaining that he absolutely believes in God, but hopes that god is not judgmental about his behavior.)
—MARK HOPPUS OF BLINK-182, known for their profanity-laced lyrics, concerts in the nude, and videos featuring porn stars
NO DOUBT lead singer GWEN STEFANI “was raised in a Christian family, which is what she blames for her worst faults—namely that she is too judgmental and not open enough.”
“I was angry. I was battling myself in my brain. I was kind of tormented by it because I was dealing with guilt issues about all the Ten Commandments and all the other things the Bible says I wasn’t living in my life…[But now] I’m at peace with it. There’s no guilt anymore.”
—CREED’S SCOTT STAPP
“I mean, all three of us have faith, and I think we all believe there is a God…but it’s not a Christian God or a Buddhist God or a Muslim God. It’s the God I see when I look at my little boy. It’s the God I see in nature…It’s the God that is revealed to me through the world around me.”
—CREED’S SCOTT STAPP
“We continuously surround ourselves with spiritual people, and give God our praise…It’s a great thing that we speak up for our Christianity, and nobody’s gonna tell us to stop.”
—BEYONCE KNOWLES OF DESTINY’S CHILD
“I’m a Christian. I go to church.”
—BRITNEY SPEARS
“I can honestly say that I’m a Christian, but my spirituality has been developed on the road and is based on my experiences with God.”
—JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, who grew up in a Baptist church with what he calls frowning, judgmental elders.
“Sure,” you might be thinking, “but these are famous people. We shouldn’t expect them to reflect the experiences and attitudes of the typical kids in our churches.” Yet all of these now-famous people once were youth in our churches and have since formed less-than-biblical, or at least radically nontraditional, views of God, Christianity, and personal faith. These are some of the gifted, talented, and driven kids that God created to be singing his praises and serving his kingdom. They’re no different from the “regular” teens we see every week at school, in our neighborhoods, and in our ministries.
Still not convinced? Then take a look at what some other, non-famous young people say about their experience growing up in church.
Amazing Conversions is a terrific book by Bob Altemeyer and Bruce Hunsberger (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1997) that chronicles the stories of forty-six college freshmen they called “Amazing Apostates.” That is, these students were identified in a survey of more than 2,000 college freshmen as being among those who were raised in church-going, Christian families but had abandoned their faith by the time they reached college. Consider the following excerpts:

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Excerpted from Teaching That Makes a Difference: How to Teach for Holistic Impact by Dan Lambert
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.