Teacher Training
What are the most important
things you’ve learned as a
teacher?
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5 Most Important Lessons Learned
1. Pray specifically by name for each class
2.
3.
4.
5.
member.
Prepare all week – Read the lesson’s
scriptures every day.
Teach one or two main points – you can’t
teach everything in 45 minutes.
Personalize the lesson: Apply it – what
does this mean to me?
Be open and vulnerable!
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Ten Keys
To
Great Teaching
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Introduction
 An unexamined life is not worth
living. Unexamined teaching is not
all that great either. If you would
improve your teaching, begin by
evaluating.
1. -What do you do well?
2. -What comes naturally for you?
3. -What do you struggle with?
 Evaluation is the beginning point of
any improvement process.
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Passion
 Did you present the truth with
some fire?
 If the truth does not matter to you,
it will not matter to them.
 Howard Hendricks is fond of saying,
“if you are going to bore people,
don’t bore them with the Gospel.
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Practicality
 Imagine yourself teaching your group
this weekend. Now, in your imagination,
write a sign in red paint on each of their
foreheads that asks, “So what?”
 “What difference does this truth make to
my Monday morning?”
 Did you give specific application that can
be applied to life this week? Did you
teach for a life-change?
 People are not interested in accumulating
information that does not relate to their
life.
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Humor
 Were there points when the group laughed
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together? Were there time when the group
grabbed their sides. slapped their knees, threw
back their heads and laughed?
Laughter is one of the best indicators of health
in a group.
I am not talking about telling jokes. I am talking
about the spontaneous, unrehearsed laughter
that bubbles up from healthy relationships.
It ought to be fun to come to class.
Rate yourself on a scale of one to ten. How well
do you use humor in your class?
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Personal
 If you want to make your teaching
interesting and effective, make it
personal.
 Teaching that does not apply itself
personally to people does not apply
at all.
 God is personal, and the process of
Christian discipleship is personal.
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 Ask yourself:
-Did you touch them where they live?
-Were you open about yourself?
 You need to make the application
personal to your group, and you need to
be open enough to show how the truth
works in your life.
 I am talking about being as open, as
transparent, and as honest as you can
be within the bounds of good sense and
discretion.
 Put yourself on a scale of one to ten. Do
you teach in a way that is personal and
touches people where they live?
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Involvement
 Was everyone interested?
 Were they “with you”?
 Did most of the group participate in the
discussion?
 Did over half the group talk? Or were
they looking at their watches?
 One way to insure that people are
involved is by asking questions and
getting the group talking.
 Examine yourself. Was the group
involved and paying attention?
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Preparation
 Did you prepare well enough to present
the lesson with confidence?
 You will never master every detail of even
a short passage.
 But we do need to have a basic grasp of
what is in the text.
 Do not be afraid to tell people that you do
not know.
 Preparation shows itself both in content
and in confidence.
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 Preparation that yields confidence
cannot be gained in the final hours. You
cannot look at a text for the first time on
Saturday night and teach well on
Sunday morning.
 Preparation that yields confidence is
built slowly.
 Enjoy the passage. Learn from the
passage. Let the Holy Spirit be your
teacher before you are your group’s
teacher.
 Evaluate yourself on a scale of one to
ten. Was your preparation strong
enough to give you a sense of
confidence in teaching the passage?
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Background
 Did you reveal some interesting
background not evident from a casual
reading of the text?
 You need to know the text, but also you
need to know what lies behind the text.
 You need to be able to answer the
questions the text asks.
 Sunday school needs to be more than a
“pooling of ignorance”.
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 The teacher needs to bring that extra
level of depth that makes the group
feel it was worth coming because they
learned something they did not know
before.
 One of the joys of studying the Bible is
the accumulation of knowledge over
years of study.
 But, be careful! We need to make sure
there is a constant input of fresh
information. Howard Hendricks Story
 Did I understand the background well
enough to dice the conversation with
some fresh information that is not
obvious from a casual reading of the
text?
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Introduction
 Did you seize their attention the moment
you began?
 Did you begin the lesson with something
that pulled them to the edge of their
chairs and made them take notice?
 Or, did anyone secretly say to
themselves, “Oh, gee whiz, another
Sunday school lesson. Yawn.”
 Two parts of the lesson ought to be
especially well-prepared, the beginning
and the end.
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 Here are some tools you can employ to
wake the group up and get everyone
paying attention:
– A thought-provoking question.
– A heartwarming story
– A shocking, or controversial statement.
 The easiest time to get the group’s
attention is at the beginning. If they do
not lend you their attention then, they
probably never will.
 Evaluate yourself on a scale of one to
ten. Did you come off the starting
blocks with zest? Did you begin the
lesson with an attention-getting
opening?
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Inspiration
 Did you attempt to inspire them to do
what you wanted them to do?
 Teaching is more than telling them what
happened or what ought to happen.
 It is inspiring people to do what they
ought to do.
 People need, want, and crave inspiration.
 Motivation is 90% of almost everything.
 Challenge them to the worthy cause of
living fully devoted lives for Christ.
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 Most of know far more than we actually
do.
 In most cases, the problem is not
knowledge, it is motivation.
 You must provide both how-to and wantto.
 There are two ways to motivate: with a
carrot and with a stick.
 You motivate by teaching the benefits of
obedience (carrot) and the bad things
that happen when we are not obedient
(stick).
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 It is not very motivating to be told we
simply ought to do something because it
is right.
 Hebrews 11:6 teaches that faith has its
rewards: “And without faith it is
impossible to please God, because
anyone who comes to him must believe
that he exists and that he rewards those
who earnestly seek him.”
 Teachers need to show what these
rewards are.
 Giving has its rewards. Fidelity has its
rewards. Honesty has its rewards. Paint
these rewards in large, colorful letters.
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 The Bible is not squeamish about
punishments and neither should
teachers.
 Warn them as a prophet that bad things
will happen if they are unfaithful.
 Paint compelling word pictures about
the pain of disobedience.
 Inspiration also has a lot to do with
enthusiasm. People are not going to get
any more excited about living the
Christian life than you are about
teaching your lesson.
 Motivate with enthusiasm. Remember,
enthusiasm means, “God in me.”
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 Did you go beyond telling the group
what they ought to do?
 Did you inspire them to do what
they ought to do?
 Do you use an appropriate balance
of carrot and stick?
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Focus
 Did you have one “big idea” that you
attempted to drive home throughout the
lesson?
 Did you hunt with a rifle or a shotgun? The
great danger for many teachers is not that
they say too little but that they say too
much.
 Your lesson needs to have a central focus, a
big idea.
 If someone stopped you before you walk into
your class and asked, “What are you
teaching today?” You ought to be able to
respond in one sentence, “Today, I will be
teaching my class . . .”
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 If you think this is an unrealistic goal, I
challenge you to ask your pastor
sometime, “What is the big idea of
today’s sermon?”
 Effective pastors will not stutter in their
reply, “Today, I will be preaching on . . .”
One pastor told me he asks his kids at
Sunday lunch, “Ok, kids, what was the
big idea in today’s sermon?” If they can
give it to him, he feels he has done pretty
well. It is ok to chase a few rabbits, but
drive to a central, focused verdict.
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SELF-EVALUATION
 Passion
– Did you present the truth with some
conviction?
 Practicality
– Did you teach this week with a specific
application in mind?
 Humor
– Were there points when the group laughed
together?
 Personal
– Did you touch them where they live? Were
you open about where you are at?
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 Involvement
– Was the group involved and paying
attention?
 Preparation
– Was your preparation adequate this week
to give you a sense of confidence in
teaching the passage?
 Background
– Did I understand the background well
enough to give the class some fresh
information that was not in a casual
reading of the passage?
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 Introduction
– Did you grab their attention at the
first?
 Inspiration
– Did you attempt to inspire them to
do what you wanted them to do?
 Focus
– Could you have answered the
question, “What are you teaching
today?” in a concise manner prior
to the lesson?
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