Nathanael D. Schanie, box 616
Advanced Peaching and Teaching
3/5/19
Teaching To Change Lives Report
“A Passion to Communicate”
A rough upbringing does not limit one’s possibilities for the future.
Its often not the words one says, but the actions they do that has the greatest impact on
others lives.
There are seven key laws involved with becoming an effective teacher: The laws of:
Teaching, Education, Activity, Communication, Heart, Encouragement, and Readiness.
When narrowed down, these seven laws can be summarized in one- a passion to
communicate.
Chapter 1
Effective teaching comes from an “overflow of a full life (27).”
The law of the teacher is that the minute that one stops seeking personal growth is the
moment that they begin to become ineffective in their teaching.
You cannot teach what you do not know.
Though the Word of God does not change an individual’s perception of it does and from
that new perception comes new insights from which to teach.
A person who desires to be an effective teacher should always be asking how can I
improve?
“Human personality is the vehicle of effective teaching (29).”
It is important to be faithful, available, and teachable if one desires to engage in a fruitful
ministry.
“If you want to become an agent of change you also must change (32).”
A constant looking to the future enables the ability to change and not remain stagnant.
Spiritual growth should not be separated as a unique area to grow but should be
incorporated into every aspect of one’s growth.
It is important for teachers to constantly be reading and engaging in the world around
them.
Enrolling in continued education classes is another way in which one might seek to
further their academic/learning progress.
One must be intentional about getting to know their students and forming the type of
relationship with them that gives you permission to speak into their lives.
Making sure that one is physically healthy and in control of one’s life is also important
for growing and teaching.
Understanding one’s social life can also help to break out of the confined groups that one
may discover themselves to be a part of and allow them to engage in other groups.
It is important to constantly be reflecting on one’s own life,
Reflecting on one’s own life serves as a way in which one can measure growth and
identify areas that improvements may be made.
Set your mind to having Christ as the goal to which you are striving all the more to be
like.
Chapter 2
“The way people learn affects the way you teach (55).”
This law may also be identified with the process in which one engages the task of
communicating the material to be taught, whether through verbal or nonverbal
communications.
The focus should not be on what one does, but what one expects that one shall do as a
result of one’s teaching.
The teacher, in light of this rule, is more of an individual who serves to stimulate and
motivate his audience.
The audience, in comparison, are the investigators looking to discover the reason for the
teacher’s proding.
“Good teachers cannot be focused on what they do but on what their students are doing
(56).”
Education is not limited to the walls of a school building or college but is taking place
everywhere.
There are four levels of learning according to Abraham Maslow: the Basic level, one of
unconscious incompetence, the Conscious Incompetence, understanding that one does not
know everything, Conscious Competence, the moment in which one can acknowledge
that something has been learned, and, lastly, Unconscious Competence, learning
something even when one has become unaware of their learning.
“There is no learning without Tension (58).”
With that being acknowledged, it is important that one not create so much that it
frustrates them, nor to little that it does not prompt them to learn.
One must be able to identify why it is they are teaching in order for them to communicate
effectively to their audience just that.
Students may enter into a classroom unready to learn, but through different circumstances
they might open up and enter into a teachable moment.
It is the job of the teacher to learn how to identify when those moments occur and how to
capitalize on them.
A teacher must teach his students how to learn.
Lastly, a teacher must be able to instruct his students on how to work with this new
information.
Information learned and not applied so then quickly forgotten is useless.
Failure is as much a part of learning as any other.
Chapter 3
It is not the job of the educator to impress their audience but rather to impact them.
One should not seek to convince them but rather to change them and their way of
approaching that topic.
There is a major problem with Christianity and the way it is being taught today as it is
being taught analytically, devoid of emphasis on change in the recipients’ lives.
“Maximum learning is always the result of maximum involvement (78).”
That being said, the activities which one applies is never the end itself but rather the
means to an end.
Its important that one never forgets their purpose in teaching; a purpose driven teaching
leads to a quality one.
Hearing and seeing are not as effective nor as essential as the practical teaching method
where students get hands on with the material.
When activities are involved in learning it increases one’s retention to 90%.
Activities are only as effective as their meaning are well grounded in them.
Activities and teachings led by the teacher should look to what the learner wants not what
the teacher does.
“Activities provide direction without dictatorship (85).”
Activities should stress application and the function of what is being done; the purpose of
the activity should be apparent to the audience by the end of it.
Keeping in mind the purpose as one is planning is vitally important for making sure that
purpose isn’t lost or miscommunicated in the activity.
Activities should be focused on the process rather than just the outcome.
One’s planned activities ought to be realistic, there is no use in an activity that presents a
scenario that would not take place because it loses its meaning to the audience.
Chapter 4
“Communication is the reason for our existence as teachers (98).”
To be able to communicate with others one must be able to build connections with other
individuals that they understand and can relate to and therein make the connection to the
new idea as it relates to the connection formed in that communication.
Communication has three specific parts: thoughts, feelings, and actions.
This means that as one communicates one must think about what they know, what they
feel, and what they are doing.
Communication starts when one has a firm understanding of these three both from their
own perspective but also the perspective of the recipient of said communication.
Society today often shies away from addressing the emotional aspect of communication,
especially the male populace, however, it is one, if not the, most important aspect of
communication.
When one is passionate about a topic it should show in the way that they teach, yet
despite this it is easily observed how many preachers teach out of the Biblical text as
though what they are teaching is not all that invigorating.
One teaches from a deep well of experiences and personal realities, if what one is
teaching does not come from this then it is not being taught but rather said at the audience
in such a way that convinces no one.
When one has identified something they feel deeply important and want to share with
another, they must then wrestle with translating that feeling into words so as to
communicate it to their audience.
“Teaching therefore involves a delicate balance and relationship between content and
communication, between facts and form, between what you teach and how you teach it
(107).”
When seeking to communicate there are two key features that must be achieved:
preparation and presentation.
In preparation, one must begin to think of how to translate what it is they feel into words
and then must identify the way in which they hope to present those words.
In presentation, one must become conscious of their audience and how the way they are
speaking/acting either makes the reception or rejection that much easier.
Distractions can be detrimental to the cause of communication, thus it is important to
understand what it is that causes them.
Distractions are both internal as a result of a wandering mind, and external as a result of
external factors such as a bird on the window.
It is the job of the teacher to do everything that they can to minimize those distractions as
best they can so that the communication will be more readily received.
A final step in communication is to get feedback on what one has said: how well was it
received? Did they engage with the speaker? Did they relate well? Etc.
Chapter 5
“Teaching that impacts is not head to head but heart to heart (120).”
Teaching from heart to heart does not mean just communicating emotions it means
addressing the whole of that person from mind to heart to even their will.
Examples of this method of teaching is found in ancient philosophers’ understanding of
persuasion through the means of pathos, logos, and ethos.
“A teacher’s character is what produces the learners’ confidence (121).”
A teacher’s compassion for their students produces their motivation to learn and listen.
One’s content produces the learner’s perception of what is being taught.
The greatest communicators are often not those seen on stage or in front of a classroom
but those with the biggest heart.
One teaches so that the other may learn, this implies that it is in fact the role of the learner
to do the learning not the teacher.
Learning is changing.
When learning takes place one can no longer sit in their ignorance but are forced into a
new reality affected by this knowledge.
“No one cares what you know until they know you care (125).”
All learning takes root at the feeling level.
It is important that one establishes a solid relational foundation on which they can speak
into their lives.
One can believe and behave correctly however no one can behave and not believe
correctly.
To be a person of impact one must: know their audience, have earned the right to be
heard, and be willing to be vulnerable with their audience.
Chapter 6
Items are effective ways to communicate verbal ideas through physical engagement.
Ensuring one’s motivation continues to grow is almost as important as teaching them just
the knowledge.
Teaching is most effective when the learner is well motivated to lean in and understand
(139).
“Good things do not ensure good results. Its all determined by the reasons for motivation
(140).”
We should not attempt to motivate others into learning more about the faith through
empty promises, or worse yet, promises that aren’t offered in scripture.
There are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation is that which comes from within the individual.
Extrinsic motivation stems from an outwardly force.
One should never motivate with guilt, it is a quick way to prompt someone into
believing/learning something they did not want to to begin with.
It is the goal of all teachers to seek to help each learner develop a sense of self-seeking
where they are motivated from within to learn without said teacher’s presence or external
motivation.
To help people be train themselves to be self motivated learners there are four steps one
can take.
o The first stage is the telling stage where information is brought to the forefront of
their attention.
oThe next, is the showing phase where information is physically presented.
oAfter this, is the doing stage where learners are prompted to engage the text in a
hands on way.
Chapter 7
In order for the teacher and learner to gain the most from this experience, both the teacher
and student must be adequately prepared to do so.
Assignments help prepare one’s audience for the information that will be given to them
the next time you gather.
Assignments are valuable in three different ways:
oThey prompt a thoughtful outlook on the material to be presented.
oIt provides the background for the knowledge to be presented on.
oLastly, it further develops the motivation and habit of independent study.
A good assignment is creative.
A good assignment is thought provoking.
Any assignment given to one’s students must be doable within relation to their ability and
limitations.
Assignments do not have to be take home, they can be done in class as well.
Relatable assignments more readily engage the participants.
It is the goal of the teacher to transfer the confidence they have on a given subject to their
audience so as to help them process the information.
If people are afraid to participate in the assignment then the teacher much encourage
them and affirm them as they succeed.
When caught unprepared by a question given by a student it is not wrong to admit to not
knowing, this is better than trying to come up with an answer on the spot and being wrong.
Knowing how to handle the classroom environment is important in developing a climate of
learning.
Being aware of one’s class’s particular needs is important to helping them be able to learn
most effectively.
