I have had an amazing few weeks! I was asked to substitute teach at a local junior high seminary. The secretary over seven junior highs called me early in April to get me scheduled. I was nervous and scared, but excited. The night before the teacher called me, and asked me to meet with him for a few minutes before class. We discussed a few things, and I was left on my own.
I learned some amazing things. First off, I am horrible with names. I'm also horrible with faces. Like I struggle recognizing a character in a movie when they've changed their clothes/hair, etc., so I was really concerned. I knew that knowing their names would help things progress, since I had a couple of weeks with them. Heavenly Father knew how important it was to them, and I had almost all of their names memorized within two days. That's 108 names! There were a bazillion Carters and Keatons! It's something that's completely impossible for me on my own.
I learned more about how the Holy Ghost directs us for people to receive personal answers through their lessons. I prepared one lesson a day, and taught it five times. Other than a day that I was feeling sick from the fumes of the weed control that wafted in through the ventilation system, each lesson was completely different. I had the same basic power point, for the backbone of the lesson, plus the same chapters in the scriptures, but each lesson played out differently. I was able to see how I was only the voice for the spirit to teach. I was bewildered with how talks and scriptures just came to mind at the right time in any lesson.
I learned how to love these people and to see them as the Lord sees them. There were some rough kids that I know are going through some big things in their lives. The thing was seeing all of these different kids, I knew that all of them were going through big things in their lives, but each one reacted differently to their issues. I loved that they became comfortable with me really quickly. Their openness was amazing. There was the girl struggling with making friends, but could see that because of seminary her life was better, and she was able to make friends easier. There was the girl, that appeared to be the "mean girl", that wasn't too sure about herself, but everyone looked up to her. There was the boy that talked about drugs and "weed brownies" constantly, but then would say amazing prayers. There was a girl struggling with anxiety, depression, and other things brought on by her family, that had a breakdown at the beginning of my stay, but overcame that, and came every day, but the last. At first, she just stared at me, then would make some comments that didn't have anything to do with what we were talking about. By the end, she was showing off her piano skills and giving great comments. There was a boy that seemed to not like being in seminary, but got excited seeing me on the temple grounds, when his sister got married, and then coming and participating the rest of the week.
I had two boys that have down syndrome in one of my classes. We were blessed to have them there. I was able to see how hearts were softened, just with the presence of these two boys. My heart was softened, because of them. One day, one of them came in pretty upset. I asked him if he was okay, and he said, "No, look!" and showed me this teeny little scratch on his arm. I asked him if he needed a band-aid, and got him one. As soon as I put it on his arm, he was all better. Seeing how quickly his day was fixed and how innocent he was, I thought of how he was such a great example of how to bounce back. I loved getting to know these kids!
I've always known it's okay to not teach an entire lesson when we teach in church. We should let the spirit guide. In seminary, there are so many principles that we want the kids to be able to see and learn, that I stuck pretty close to the schedule the teacher gave me. However, I loved getting to see when they had questions, that we could just stop and talk about it. We had a great discussion on the law of tithing, and the uses for tithes and offerings that had nothing to do with our lesson. They had this cool thing they did, that's called a Sixty Second Sermon. Each day one student takes notes in the class's notebook, and then the next day takes sixty seconds to explain what was taught the day before. This was something new to me, and I absolutely loved it. I learned that they may not always be willing to ask questions, but that as they taught the SSS, I could see where there may have been miscommunications between us. It was wonderful to see that they really understood the things we talked about.
I feel so blessed to be able to teach seminary. Some day soon, I hope to have a regular job teaching seminary. I am so thankful for the many different experiences I get to have! Looking back, I would never have planned to be a seminary teacher, and being in front of people like I am now.
I learned some amazing things. First off, I am horrible with names. I'm also horrible with faces. Like I struggle recognizing a character in a movie when they've changed their clothes/hair, etc., so I was really concerned. I knew that knowing their names would help things progress, since I had a couple of weeks with them. Heavenly Father knew how important it was to them, and I had almost all of their names memorized within two days. That's 108 names! There were a bazillion Carters and Keatons! It's something that's completely impossible for me on my own.
I learned more about how the Holy Ghost directs us for people to receive personal answers through their lessons. I prepared one lesson a day, and taught it five times. Other than a day that I was feeling sick from the fumes of the weed control that wafted in through the ventilation system, each lesson was completely different. I had the same basic power point, for the backbone of the lesson, plus the same chapters in the scriptures, but each lesson played out differently. I was able to see how I was only the voice for the spirit to teach. I was bewildered with how talks and scriptures just came to mind at the right time in any lesson.
I learned how to love these people and to see them as the Lord sees them. There were some rough kids that I know are going through some big things in their lives. The thing was seeing all of these different kids, I knew that all of them were going through big things in their lives, but each one reacted differently to their issues. I loved that they became comfortable with me really quickly. Their openness was amazing. There was the girl struggling with making friends, but could see that because of seminary her life was better, and she was able to make friends easier. There was the girl, that appeared to be the "mean girl", that wasn't too sure about herself, but everyone looked up to her. There was the boy that talked about drugs and "weed brownies" constantly, but then would say amazing prayers. There was a girl struggling with anxiety, depression, and other things brought on by her family, that had a breakdown at the beginning of my stay, but overcame that, and came every day, but the last. At first, she just stared at me, then would make some comments that didn't have anything to do with what we were talking about. By the end, she was showing off her piano skills and giving great comments. There was a boy that seemed to not like being in seminary, but got excited seeing me on the temple grounds, when his sister got married, and then coming and participating the rest of the week.
I had two boys that have down syndrome in one of my classes. We were blessed to have them there. I was able to see how hearts were softened, just with the presence of these two boys. My heart was softened, because of them. One day, one of them came in pretty upset. I asked him if he was okay, and he said, "No, look!" and showed me this teeny little scratch on his arm. I asked him if he needed a band-aid, and got him one. As soon as I put it on his arm, he was all better. Seeing how quickly his day was fixed and how innocent he was, I thought of how he was such a great example of how to bounce back. I loved getting to know these kids!
I've always known it's okay to not teach an entire lesson when we teach in church. We should let the spirit guide. In seminary, there are so many principles that we want the kids to be able to see and learn, that I stuck pretty close to the schedule the teacher gave me. However, I loved getting to see when they had questions, that we could just stop and talk about it. We had a great discussion on the law of tithing, and the uses for tithes and offerings that had nothing to do with our lesson. They had this cool thing they did, that's called a Sixty Second Sermon. Each day one student takes notes in the class's notebook, and then the next day takes sixty seconds to explain what was taught the day before. This was something new to me, and I absolutely loved it. I learned that they may not always be willing to ask questions, but that as they taught the SSS, I could see where there may have been miscommunications between us. It was wonderful to see that they really understood the things we talked about.
I feel so blessed to be able to teach seminary. Some day soon, I hope to have a regular job teaching seminary. I am so thankful for the many different experiences I get to have! Looking back, I would never have planned to be a seminary teacher, and being in front of people like I am now.
"And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth; and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture" (1 Nephi 22:25, Book of Mormon, 53).
Out of all of the topics we covered, I hope that they were able to feel the love of our Savior. We talked about His love for us and the importance to help others feel that love. We need to be unified, be kind, and always be a friend to those that need one.
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