From Mack Stirling’s Institute Class, 1995

Alma 8-16 (Lessons 23 and 24)

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Open any Church teaching manual and you’ll find instructions on how to ask students good questions. Unfortunately, following these instructions causes some teachers to ask lots of “good” questions that are actually really bad. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are notes from Mack Stirling’s Institute class on these chapters.

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It’s been a while since I posted my lessons - sorry! Here is Lesson #21.

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Benjamin gave a powerful sermon that left his people “with no more disposition to do evil.” I’m sure that we’ve all had similar experiences—that we have felt at some time that we would never sin again for as long as we lived. I’m not sure whether this conviction endured with the Zarahemla Nephites, but several chapters later they still seem strong in the faith.*

Which makes the problems highlighted in Mosiah 26:1-3 so surprising:

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Yesterday, one of my Gospel Doctrine teachers was released unexpectedly, and as I sat in Sacrament Meeting pondering who might best replace her, I wondered if instead of calling a new teacher, I might take D&C 50 to heart and, considering everyone a potential teacher, ask ward members to take turns leading the weekly Gospel Doctrine discussion. Read the rest of this entry »

Because I am behind, I combined #12 and 13 into one lesson (not easy!) These notes are based on the work of Mack Sterling and Ben McGuire, mostly.

Jacob
Note: the BOM dates Jacob from 544-421 B.C. This date cannot possibly be accurate on the near end. 421 BC (assuming that Lehi leaves Jerusalem about 600 BC) would make Jacob at least 171 years old (born between 600-593 B.C.).

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I am behind in posting, but will post the last 3 lessons anyway. I hope to be caught up and with everyone else in about two-three weeks.  This outline is mostly from Mack Sterling’s class of a decade or so ago. The addition of commentary on righteousness is mine.

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The Gospel Doctrine lesson this week features, as usual, an embarrassment of riches. There is more text here than can be covered in one class, and more than enough commentary available online to supply any teacher looking for topics to cover. So why add more here now? Read on and see! Read the rest of this entry »

Over at teachyediligently, Jeff Batt and I have just posted what seems to me to be the most fruitful discussion of teaching I have ever been a part of (or heard, for that matter, if I can get away with saying something so modest about a discussion I was a part of!). The podcast can be downloaded here easiest (or listened to right on that page, for those who do not use ipods or itunes, by the way).

But I’d like this post to be quite a bit more than a bit of self-promotion: I’d really like to see a discussion of what Jeff and I talk about in that podcast happen here on the blog, especially because I really think we raise some of the most important questions about teaching, and they are questions we’ve not really yet engaged in the short life of the blog. I will try to begin the discussion here with a few comments of my own. Read the rest of this entry »