Sharpening Your Teaching Skills: Anticipation & Preparation

Perhaps the least practiced skill in teaching is preparation. It has been said that the average Bible teacher spends about 11 minutes preparing for class, and that varies depending on how many stoplights exist between the teacher ?s home and the church.

When it comes to preparation for teaching a Bible lesson, the key is anticipation. Your best bet for teaching the best lesson is to anticipate every need, every question, every variable that could arise when teaching the lesson. Since that ?s not really likely to ever happen, start with what you know; then you should be well-enough prepared that the unanticipated will have less of an impact on your lesson.

For the next several posts, we will look at some of the areas that you ought to consider as you prepare your lessons. In this post, we will consider the developmental needs of your students.

Anticipating Developmental Needs

The most basic information to consider when anticipating the needs of your students is their developmental characteristics. Every person matures from infancy through adulthood according to fairly uniform stages of physical, intellectual, and spiritual development. While individuals progress at different paces, knowing the common characteristics will help you identify your students ?needs.

Because this is fairly specialized knowledge of which I have only a basic grasp myself, I wouldn’t dare to offer even a basic overview. But you can learn the basics of physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual development by reading up on experts such as Jean Piaget, Benjamin Bloom, Erik Erikson, Lawrence Kohlberg, Bernice McCarthy, Anthony Gregorc, Lawrence Richards, and James Fowler. The downside is that even though this research will get you detailed information, it won ?t guarantee that you will know everything there is to know about your students.

The only way to know what your students truly need is to interact with your students. While it may be difficult to get to know each student well on a personal level, pay attention to their interaction in the class setting. As you work through different teaching strategies and activities, you will begin to discern how your students are different and who reacts to which method in what ways.

Regardless of how you learn about your students, generally or specifically, understanding their developmental differences will help you anticipate their needs and prepare lessons that meet those needs most effectively.