Planning & Preparation
My motto is: If you fail to prepare…you prepare to fail…
These are general ideas for the "getting started" phase of preparing for a lesson.
1) Don’t wait until the last minute. Know what you are going to teach and start preparing well in advance. A good rule is 1-2 weeks before the teaching date.
2) Study, and pray over the scripture passages. Don’t just rely on the lesson material or commentaries. Read, observe, interpret, and apply the scripture for yourself! You cannot teach a lesson until you have learned it!
3) Pray for the people you will be teaching.
4) Decide what the objective of the lesson is –what do you want your students to take from the
lesson? There should be two or three big ideas and ONE concrete application (more on application following…)
5) Plan the lesson and materials needed. Anticipate difficulties, individual student’s needs / abilities – ask yourself what COULD go wrong, so you are ready for anything!!!
6) Read and reread the scripture and your lesson plan so you are familiar with it. Rehearse it so you know how much time each activity / element takes.
Be familiar enough with the story and aapplication that you don’t have to read word for word from the material. Use it as a reference only. Underline KEY ideas that need to be emphasized
7) Plan on using and referring to your Bible during the lesson. Write notes to yourself on post-it notes and put them with the scripture so you can refer to them while looking at the Bible.
These are general ideas for the "getting started" phase of preparing for a lesson.
1) Don’t wait until the last minute. Know what you are going to teach and start preparing well in advance. A good rule is 1-2 weeks before the teaching date.
2) Study, and pray over the scripture passages. Don’t just rely on the lesson material or commentaries. Read, observe, interpret, and apply the scripture for yourself! You cannot teach a lesson until you have learned it!
3) Pray for the people you will be teaching.
4) Decide what the objective of the lesson is –what do you want your students to take from the
lesson? There should be two or three big ideas and ONE concrete application (more on application following…)
5) Plan the lesson and materials needed. Anticipate difficulties, individual student’s needs / abilities – ask yourself what COULD go wrong, so you are ready for anything!!!
6) Read and reread the scripture and your lesson plan so you are familiar with it. Rehearse it so you know how much time each activity / element takes.
Be familiar enough with the story and aapplication that you don’t have to read word for word from the material. Use it as a reference only. Underline KEY ideas that need to be emphasized
7) Plan on using and referring to your Bible during the lesson. Write notes to yourself on post-it notes and put them with the scripture so you can refer to them while looking at the Bible.