Junior High Teacher

I enjoy working with children. I like helping them learn, hearing their perspective on life, and of course watching them play and enjoy life. I don't get to this very often, but even short experiences are fun. Usually, I work with kids around age 8-10 when speaking in schools or when I volunteered at CHAMP Camp. Teens are an entirely different dynamic from their younger versions and harder to ascertain what they are thinking and understanding. However, that is the age group I have been working with for the last month.

In 2010, just a few weeks before getting my diaphragm pacemaker, I taught the high school class in my church's Sunday school. It was a short course on geology from a creation viewpoint and was fun to give. I had to bribe the teens with candy to answer questions, but it worked. This school year, I volunteered to be a substitute Sunday school instructor. I knew I couldn't commit to every Sunday through the year, but I thought I could help a few times at least.

Late in 2023, the regular Jr. High instructor had me come and meet the eight students he was teaching. The lesson plan he was using would conclude before the end of the year, so he offered for me to take the final four weeks of the year. I volunteered and quickly made up a lesson plan based on Genesis 1-11, the foundation of the Bible.

Week 2 Worksheet

Since my plan hadn't been approved by the church council, I was initially denied to teach. However, after some adjustments and searching through the approved material, I was allowed to go ahead.

I divided the four weeks into large chunks, creation in Genesis 1, the fall of man in Genesis 3, Noah's flood in Genesis 6-9, and the final lesson on Babel in Genesis 11. For each lesson, I included a question from the Heidelberg Catechism and a few to make the students think. One question was if snow was a result of sin. We thought about Adam & Eve's original clothing (nothing), tasks, and food source. From this, we thought snow, or harsh winter conditions, were a result of the fall.

Overall, I think it went well. As I expected, it was hard to get much feedback from the students, but they seemed to catch on. A few times, our class was cut short due to a long worship service. It made it difficult to cover everything, but also made me mindful of my own preaching and not going too long. Today should have been my final week, but the service went so long that Sunday school was canceled. Therefore, I hope to finish everything next week when the year concludes.

If asked, I would be interested in helping again. I submitted a new curriculum to the council to approve for next year, but I am somewhat guessing it won't go through. God may surprise me though and I'll have a new opportunity to help teach the next generation. This week though, I'm scheduled for my fourth grade school visit with one more to go next month. Hopefully it will go well and students will learn about different abilities.