Thanks for your help with this request. I begin teaching Spring quarter classes on Monday, March 30, and one my classes is EDUC 368/568: Teaching K-12 Bible. Your responses will help a lot as the class embarks on this journey. Remember to check the box below your response that says “Notify me of new comments via email,” as that way you will know when one of my students makes a reply.
A bulletin in our Education Department at PUC with pictures of the teaching credential candidates in our program.
The Better Plan . . 
Very near the top of my list in terms of meaningful experiences for me as a Bible teacher, and I believe for the students, was a good part of one school year we spent writing our personal stories together in connection with Bible passages we were studying in the New Testament. When we reached Matthew 5 & 6, before we entered into class discussion of what turned out to be serious and heartfelt conversations about how to forgive those who had harmed us, I asked the students to write a true story from their own experience. To help them begin I offered this first line of their story as a starting place: “One of the hardest times I ever had forgiving someone was………..”
Many of the stories were the usual teenage trials and tribulations – some were heart breaking. I kept each story confidential unless they chose to talk about it openly – simply writing personal messages back to each student as it related to their experience. Our class time was spent talking about the principle of forgiveness and the challenges involved.
In terms of learning lessons about choice – talking together, struggling with, and sharing our experiences of trying to forgive someone who hurt us, but remained unrepentant, was every bit as meaningful as you might imagine it to be.
I still have some of those stories in a file some 20 + years later.
Thanks for sharing this, Bob. It is such a powerful example of the kinds of moments students and teachers can experience in a Bible classroom. I hope others will follow your example and share their anecdotes, too.
The most meaningful moments in Bible class each year occur when all of my 5th-8th grade students share their testimonies during our “Student Week of Prayer.” Two weeks before SWOP, I prepare the students by first emphasizing the fact that each of them does have a testimony of what they have seen God do in their life or in the lives of family/friends around them, and all they have to do is report that. Then we walk through different Bible verses that emphasize how important it is to remember what God has done by sharing it with others. We also study testimonies in the Bible, such as Paul’s in Acts. Then as they come up with an outline and draft, they are given time to practice sharing their testimony with a partner or two. On the day they share I video tape them (with their parent’s permission) and then put it in a privately shared google drive folder where they (and their parents) can download and watch it.
One of my 8th grade girls shared her testimony this year about how her dad died from cancer two years ago. It was an emotional talk that left us all in shock at what she had gone through. Afterwards we laid hands on her (and her family who was there to hear here talk) and multiple students prayed for her. It was a rich, bonding experience that helped us better understand, love, and sympathize with her experience and her behavior in general. I will never forget that moment, and treasure each testimony of God’s involvement in my students’ lives.
I am so thankful you took the time to include us in this experience. The way you have described the steps you take to set up the testimony sharing is really helpful. Powerful stuff!
As a student my favorite Bible class moment was in high school and the annual Bible Bowl that the student association always put on. This was one of my favorite moments, because all throughout our Bible class we would get practice questions and make teams to go against one another and answer them. Through this the winning team would get extra bonus points on their final exam, something that we all needed when it came to the higher upper divisions. Another thing that I remember was at the beginning of the year we would write questions we had about God and the Bible on a slip of paper that we would later put into a huge fish bowl. Our teach would then pick a couple of questions a day and we would discuss them and if it was a question that we would have to tackle more we would pick up on it the next day. Through this I actually got a lot of my wonders about the Bible and the scripture answered and it was interesting to see how many other people had the same wonders as I did.
I have very fond memories of Bible class in elementary school. I remember some of my favorite activities were the games my teachers would set up involving scripture. Whether it was Bible trivia, a race to find a certain text, team games, or independent activities, they always worked to make developing Biblical knowledge fun. Being that I was young, I only understood all of the different Bible stories and texts to a certain extent, but when I look back on it I am so thankful that I was provided with the opportunity to become familiar with and build a positive regard for scripture then, as it has stayed with me and laid the foundation for the deeper understanding that I am continuing to develop today.
I like the phrase you use – “building a positive regard for Scripture.”
I really like the “fish bowl” idea. Excellent!
There was this little girl, 5 or 6 years old, who with a little encouragement from me volunteered to pray but said she did not know how. I helped her out a little bit and then she continued on her own. It felt good to see the sense of accomplishment she had experienced because she did not know that she too could pray. After that she would volunteer on a regular basis and many more children wanted to participate in having prayer.