Teaching Tools

Introduction

In an address to CES educators, Elder Henry B. Eyring emphasized the impact that good teaching can have on students, even when the teaching opportunity may be brief: “...I can promise you this: more than one of them will in that future day love whatever you love and be loyal to what you are loyal. And that could come from just one class on one day (emphasis added)... You are doing more good than you know.” (Love and Loyalty, CES Satellite Broadcast, February 5, 1999).

Yours is an opportunity to bless many lives, including your own, but the manner in which you teach will make a tremendous difference as to whether that will happen. These teaching tools will guide you as you continually strive to improve your teaching. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of training resources, it is more a tool to point you to what the church has already said on the topic of teaching. We hope you will take the time to read and implement these principles in your teaching.

We ask every teacher, if they haven’t already done so, to read “The Charted Course of the Church in Education” by President J. Reuben Clark.

Online Resources

The few resources below will be most beneficial to you browse through. Please look at these first.

• Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting: Teaching and Learning
• Teaching, No Greater Call
• Church Website (lds.org)
  • Teaching the Gospel section
  • Teaching in the Church

Recommended Talks

Here is a list of recent talks by the brethren on teaching. We highly recommend these to aid in your preparation to teach EFY.

Teaching by the Spirit

“In religious education the Spirit must be present. The Lord stated it simply: ‘If ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach’ (D&C 42:14). President David O. McKay said, ‘After all, the technical learning is secondary, if we keep in mind the ultimate aim of the work. We must never lose sight of that. It is the Spirit which teaches the spirit’ (Gospel Ideals, p. 219)” (Teaching the Gospel: A Handbook for CES Teachers and Leaders, p. 2).

Scripture Study

Questions and Class Discussion

“People are more likely to be edified when they participate in learning under the influence of the Spirit. Asking good questions and directing effective discussions are primary ways to encourage that participation.” (Teaching the Gospel: A Handbook for CES Teachers and Leaders [1994], 37). Good questions help students to search, analyze and apply doctrines of the gospel. Such a discussion should be planned and carefully thought out. Here are some types of questions you might want to consider.

Search: These questions usually do not require much thought and can easily be answered by reading the scripture passage. These may be factual questions or “look for” questions.

Examples (1 Nephi 8:10-12):

1. What made this tree different from other trees?
2. How does Lehi describe the fruit’s effect on him?
3. What was Lehi’s first desire after partaking of the fruit?

Analyze: These questions allow students to apply the principles found in the scriptures into their own lives. These may start with “In your life, how have you seen...?” or “Why should...?” or “What did you learn from...?” or “What difference would it make if...?”

Examples (1 Nephi 8:10-12):

1. What can these verses teach you about your relationship with the Lord?
2. When have you felt like your soul was filled “with exceedingly great joy”?
3. What difference would it make if you treated the sacrament the way Lehi treated the fruit?

Recommended Reading:

1. “16: Teaching with Questions,” Teaching, No Greater Call: A Resource Guide for Gospel Teaching, 68
2. “14: Conducting Discussions,” Teaching, No Greater Call: A Resource Guide for Gospel Teaching, 63
3. Walter F. González, “Teaching as the Savior Taught,” Ensign, Sep 2004, 28–31

Using Stories and Personal Experiences

Use stories and personal experiences to help the learner apply principles to their lives. “Perhaps the perfect pattern in presenting faith-promoting stories is to teach what is found in the scriptures and then to put a seal of living reality upon it by telling a similar and equivalent thing that has happened in our dispensation and to our people and—most ideally—to us as individuals” (”The How and Why of Faith-promoting Stories,” New Era, July 1978, pp. 4-5).

Two cautions should be noted about the use of stories. Sometimes the use of stories, particularly stories from the teacher's own personal experiences, becomes the dominant method or technique of teaching. Stories are, like all other methods, not an end in and of themselves. They should be used to help teach gospel principles, to enlighten and enliven scripture teaching, and to help students feel the power of the Spirit. They should not be used for personal aggrandizement or emotional manipulation. Also, true stories usually carry the most powerful content. Teachers should be careful not to embellish the facts of a true story to make it more dramatic or impactful (Teaching the Gospel, p. 36).