Sister Margaret Rose Adams, IHMMERIT

smgtadams@gmail.comhttp://joyinteaching.wikispaces.com

Fine Tuning Educational PracticesPart 1

Creating a Visual Environment for Learning

For participants to take home one idea from this presentation.

To inspire participants and lead them in prayer

Goals

If St. Veronica walked into your classroom, would she feel comfortable in your Catholic Environment?

Essential Question

We GOT GOD!

Where makes Catholic Schools different?

Importance of teacher’s prayer life. Pray with your religion lesson of the week. Prayer in the classroom: morning, before

lunch, after lunch, at the end of the day. For special needs. Ex. An announcement

that someone’s family member is sick. Before a parent meeting. This is VERY

TOUGH at first, in time, it becomes second nature.

How do you show in your class that we Got God?

Use igoogle to create a reflective home page on your computer.

Go to More – Even More- Igoogle is second selection

Make your computer password a prayer

Gloryb2GodLive4HimGodbthere4me

Simple ways to put God in your life

All items should be fresh and dusted Crucifix Blessed Mother Statue A Religious Bulletin Board – refer to it A Prayer Corner Other items may include: pictures of :

patron saints, Pope, Archbishop. Rosary beads, papal flag

Essential items in your classroom

Be conscious of the Liturgical Year in teaching. School starts in ordinary time followed by

Advent and Christmas. Ordinary time picks up again or actually begins in January. Lent and the Easter Season interrupt ordinary time. After Pentecost Sunday, ordinary time continues again.

In your religion lessons, you need to complement the series in order to teach the Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter at the proper time.

Liturgical Year

White, the color of joy and victory, is used for the seasons of Easter and Christmas. It is also used for the feasts of Our Lord, for feasts of Mary, the angels, and for saints who are not martyrs. Gold may also be used on solemn occasions.Red (the color of blood) is used on days when we celebrate the passion of Jesus on Passion Sunday and Good Friday. It is also used for the birthday feasts of the apostles and evangelists and for the celebrations of martyrs. Red (the color of fire) recalls the Holy Spirit and is used on Pentecost and for the sacrament of Confirmation.Green, seen everywhere in plants and trees, symbolizes life and hope and is used during Ordinary Time.

The colors violet or purple in Advent help us to remember that we are preparing for the coming of Christ. Lent, the season of penance and renewal, also uses the colors violet or purple.Rose may be used on the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, and on the Fourth Sunday of Lent,

Laetare Sunday. It expresses the joy of anticipation for Christmas and Easter.

Take time to teach the rosary. Look in the guidelines for the saints that are

to be taught at your grade level. Teach St. Veronica, St. John Newman, and

St. Katherine Drexel each year. Talk about the church of Philadelphia. Talk about the Pope and the larger church.

Complement Your Religion Lessons

Go over the liturgy for Sunday. The Gospel readings may be found on the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: http://www.usccb.org

Or just Google mass readings for 4-1-12. Check out the following website for a

youtube video of the Gospel www.teacherweb.com/PA/LaSalleAcademya

ndStMartindePorres/MsGallagher

Every Friday

Spend time in prayer with the scriptures. Ask the Holy Spirit to be with you in your

classes. What strikes you as important in the lesson. Model prayer for your students. Share your ideas with your students and

others. Our thoughts are worth sharing.

In planning your lessons . . .

Wordle Go to www.wordle.net

www.Tagxedo.com

Discover the power of Google. Google the title of your religion lesson. Look at religious pictures on Google images.

Many times when you click on the image, it will take you to a useful website.

Resources

Paper plate projects for Eucharist, Confirmation, Lent.

Make chalices from plastic wine glasses from the Dollar Store.

Use tissue paper to create nice designs.

A Few Art Ideas

Go to: www.thereligionteacher.com

Download the free Guide to Lesson Planning

The book is a wonderful tool for lesson planning including 250 Activities and Teaching Strategies.

Resources

http://www.loyolapress.com Go to faith formation, Christ our Life,

Interactive reviews. An online quiz is available for each chapter. May be used in class or for homework.

Multiple resources are available on this page.

Resources

Break Time