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Engaging Faith

Practical Lesson Ideas and Activities for Catholic Educators
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Thankful to Partner with You!

It's been a whirlwind the past couple of weeks meeting with teachers at events from the East to the West Coast and points in between. We are thankful to be able to meet with you, share ideas, and look for new ways to evangelize and catechize today's teenagers. Here are some of the places we have been: November 17-19: Indianapolis, IN for the National Catholic Youth Conference gathering with over 20,00 teens! Also in Indy, a great night of fellowship with Archdiocese of Indianapolis Catholic High School teachers from Roncalli, Scenia, Chatard, and Providence. On Tuesday, November 15, we met with teachers from Damien, St. Lucy's Priory, Paraclete, St. Monica's, Mary Star, St. Matthias, and Alemany in a friendly dialoguing session on the beautiful campus of Bishop Conaty High School in Los Angeles. We were happy to attend our own diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend catechetical formation day on Saturday, November 5 near Syracuse, Indiana. Only one day earlier we enjoyed meeting with teachers at Salesian High School in New York, NY who were making decisions on the implementation of the USCCB Framework. Before we returned to LaGuardia, we were able to stop by for some "squares" at the Spumoni's Italian restaurant in Brooklyn! We are indeed thankful to be your partners in catechetics. Next stop, the couch for some football and the dinner table for turkey, both spent with family. Wishing you all a restful mini-break!

Introduction to Using Tumblr in the Classroom

I know what you are thinking: "Tumblr?! We're just figuring out Facebook for the classroom and now we have to figure out another social network? No way!" I know, I know...it is a lot to ask. It is so tough to stay on top of the ever changing and new technologies. But the fact is as more and more adults get on Facebook, less and less teenagers will spend their time on there. Facebook becomes less cool with every mom posting her latest Farmville update. So many teens have headed over to other social networks and blogging platforms like Tumblr. In fact, I was shocked by these numbers from a recent Nielsen report. Based on the amount of time people spend on each social network or blogging platform, Tumblr ranks #3: The Growth of Tumblr: Teens and Tumblr How does Tumblr stack up against the other social media sites for younger ages? The percentage may seem small compared to the other groups, but when you consider 2-17 actually only includes around 13-17 year olds or a span of five years, the percentage is striking. Teens love Tumblr because of the amount of customization they can create. Their Facebook profiles look like everyone else's profile, but their Tumblr pages uniquely suit them. Consider what venture capitalist, Fred Wilson, said (source Socialistic.com): “My daughter came home from college on Thursday night and showed me all of her friend’s Tumblrs. All the cool kids have them at her school now. Had nothing to do with me. I can assure you of that. They use Facebook as a utility. They check Facebook when they wake up and check it before they go to bed. But their profile on Facebook looks just like everyone’s profile. A Tumblr is self expression.” Using Tumblr in the Classroom I am pretty active on social media sites. I love Twitter (@jareddees) and I'm now all about Google+ (+Jared Dees), but I haven't quite figured out Tumblr. I joined the service about a year ago and didn't touch it until preparing for this article. I did some experimentation and research to offer some tips below for using the service for educational purposes. You can see what I have posted recently on my Tumblog: jareddees.tumblr.com. Consider incorporating Tumblr into the classroom in the following ways: Questions and Answers In Tumblr, you can ask a question that anyone can answer. Students can go on and answer your questions to give you a quick idea of how well they learned material or to assess prior knowledge. Reblogging One of the most unique features of Tumbrl is reblogging. Reblogging is a simple way to share great ideas from other people's Tumblr blogs. If you like the content and want to reshare it, just click the reblog button. Using Tags Like Twitter, Google+, and blogs you can add tags to your posts. Create a unique tag (#mrdoeassignment1) and have students post information related to that topic or question. Gather and discuss the various links, quotes, videos, etc. in class and discuss the most meaningful and helpful information. Share Music Students can share music about a certain topic. Have them search for or upload songs related to a topic you are discussing. Other students in the class can experience and comment on the music themselves. You can also have them upload Christian music for meditation or praise and worship during class. Create a Class Blog Although I haven't done this yet, you can create a group blog using Tumblr. Mashable gives a good tutorial on this. I can see multiple classes or sections of a course you teach sharing content between one another. You could turn this into a fun group project as well. Getting Started with Tumblr It is easy and free to sign-up, but it takes a little while to "get it." Get to know the tools by: Sign up Go to your Dashboard. Click "Explore Tumblr" Click on the Education tag and scroll through and start following and reblogging people's content. Click on a tag like #edtech or #teachers to see what people are sharing. Or go for a religious theme like #Catholic. At the very least you are bound to find some new kinds of content and teaching advice from the educational community on Tumblr. Warning: Like any social network, sexual content can be an issue. There are unfortunate posts with inappropriate images on Tumblr that can be found while exploring the various Tumblogs.

Picture Meditation

To "meditate" means to "think deeply and continuously." A person can meditate about anything: how many points she'll score in the next game, who he will take to the prom, what kind of career he will have, or who she will marry. As a prayer form, meditation involves using your thoughts, imaginations, emotions, and desires to turn to God. One goal of meditation is to see how God is revealed in everyday life, from the biggest events and experiences right down to the smallest details. Such revelations lead you to discover that God is love. A second goal of meditation is to know God better so that God might be better loved and served. In a picture meditation, have you students select copy of a famous religious art, natural scene or photos of a place, person, or time in their lives of special importance and place it on their desk. Quiet the room and prepare for a brief guided meditation by taking them through the following steps. Guided Meditation Preliminaries Assume a comfortable position. Quiet yourself through slow breathing. Be aware of the sounds around you. Be aware of God's love for you and the fact that God created out of nothing what has been captured in your picture. Turn to your meditation. 1. Observation Spend the next three to five minutes concentrating on your picture. * What is in it? What is happening or has happened? What are the people doing? What season is it? Where is the action taking place? When? Who is in it? Why are certain actions taking place? What sounds do you hear? What odors do you smell? Write a few sentences describing what you observed. 2. Reflecting Spend three to five minutes discovering what the picture might be telling you about itself. Are there any symbols in it? What do they mean? What message(s) is (are) being communicated? If the picture could talk, what would it say? Write a few sentences describing what your imagination discovered about the meaning of this picture. 3. Listening Imagine that God has a message for you in this picture. Spend some time hearing what God has to say to you? Resolution Now that you have listened to God, write a short prayer to the Father with a resolution that will help you to grow.

Three Different Feasts

This post from 2007 is being reissued in 2011. It is among several entries linked in the "Saints" label at the right. Halloween, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day are often linked together as would make sense since they fall on consecutive days. However, their connections are not as strong as you might imagine. Halloween The name Halloween means "All Hallows (Holy) Eve." Recall the name is a misnomer: Years before Christianity, the Druids marked the start of winter with the burning of stalks around November 1. Also, it was believed that demons and devils roamed the earth on this night, and the way to ward them off included offering them sweets or disguising oneself in a costume as a demon and roaming with these evil spirits. Obviously part of these traditions have lasted today. All Saints Day All Saints Day, on the other hand, is a feast established by the Church to honor all of the saints in heaven who do not have a special day on one of the other 364 days of the year. These include the many saints who have not been recognized with canonization. Some of your deceased relatives and friends are likely included in those remembered on All Saints' Day. You might think that the Church established this holiday on November 1 to counteract the pagan practices on Halloween. Actually, All Saints' Day was originally held in May. In 844 it was transferred to November 1 so that the many pilgrims who came to Rome to celebrate the day could be fed more easily with food from the harvest. All Souls Day All Souls Day on November 2 was established in the eleventh century. The Church has always believed that it should pray for "the souls of the faithfully departed." The tradition around All Souls' Day includes the Catholic belief in purgatory, a condition in which those who have died are "purged" or made clean from their sins in preparation for meeting God in the full joy of heaven. People on earth can aide the souls in purgatory by praying for them, doing works of charity, and offering Masses for the dead. Today, in a parish bulletin, there are usually people, both living and dead, listed who will have Masses offered for them on a particular day and time. A tradition in the United States and in other countries is for family members to visit and decorate the graves of their deceased family members on All Souls' Day. Also, names of the dead are collected and given to a priest who offers special prayers for them during the month of November. In years past, Catholic schools were usually closed on All Saints' Day. It gave the students a chance to really "celebrate" Halloween night with no school the next day. That's probably not the case at your school today, though you may have the chance to celebrate Mass that day with all of the student body. Discussion Questions What do you imagine will happen to you after you die? Who is someone who has died with whom you feel a special connection? Explain the connection. If there were a blueprint for becoming a saint, what would it include? Additional Lessons and Assignments Present more information on the Church's belief in the final purification of the dead, known as purgatory. See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030-1032, for more information. Lead a discussion about respect for the dead, including Church regulations on the burial of the dead, autopsies, organ donation, and cremation (see CCC, 2299-2301). Have the students write and share short biographies of deceased family members who have taken their place with the communion of the saints. Watch a film on the life of a saint.

Prophets Lesson Plan

A very large portion of the Old Testament focuses on the lives and messages of the prophets. The prophets played a very important and influential role in the history of Israel and the development of the Jewish people. They voiced a constant reminder from Yahweh that his people must worship the one, true God and treat others with dignity and respect. Old Testament Prophets Lesson Plan Lesson Objectives: SWBAT list the eighteen prophetic books of the Old Testament. SWBAT categorize the prophets as major/minor and northern kingdom/southern kingdom. Assessment: Prophets Matching Quiz Teaching Approaches: 1. Bell Work: Directed Reading Guide Jesus Christ: God's Revelation to the World (Chapter 5, pages 107-116) Or The Old Testament (Chapter 7, Introduction) 2. SMART Board Activity (or Prophetic Worksheets) Using the Prophets SMARTBoard Notebook presentation or the PDF prophets worksheet version of the activities, address the following questions: How many prophetic books are in the Bible? (18) To what do the terms "major" and "minor" refer? (the length, not the importance, of the prophetic books) Who were the "major" prophets? (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, [Daniel]) Who were the "minor" prophets? (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi) Who were the prophets of the northern kingdom? (Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea) Who were the prophets of the southern kingdom? (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah) Who were the postexilic prophets in Judah (southern kingdom)? (Zechariah, Haggai, Isaiah (3rd), Joel, Malachi, Zechariah, Jonah) 3. Create Matching Quizzes To memorize the categories for each prophet, have the students create matching quizzes on blank notebook paper. Have them create an answer key on a separate sheet of paper. After 10-15 minutes, allow the students to exchange their quizzes with a partner. Repeat the process as time allows. 4. Verbal Check Check the students' ability to categorize the prophets. Say the name of a prophet and have the students show who the prophet is in the following ways: stand if the prophet is a major prophet sit if the prophet is a minor prophet raise a hand pointing to the sky if the prophet is from the northern kingdom point to the ground if the prophet is from the southern kingdom point behind yourself if the prophet is from postexilic Judah After students have shown sufficient evidence that they know the categories of each prophet, distribute the quiz. 5. Assessment: Matching Quiz Give students the opportunity to show their knowledge in the Prophets Matching Quiz (PDF or Word versions). Note that the final question can use some of the names on the front of the sheet, but will require students to know the prophetic books that are not listed. Answers: 1. A, 2. B, 3. B. 4. B, 5. B, 6. A, 7. A, 8. B, 9. B, 10. B, 11. A, 12. C, 13. A, 14. C, 15. B, 16. B, 17. A, 18. B, 19. A, 20. C, 21-22. the length, not the importance, of the prophetic books, 23-40. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Amos, Nahum, Hosea, Habakkuk, Micah, Zephaniah, Joel, Haggai, Jonah, Zechariah, Obadiah, Malachi, Lamentations, Baruch.

More Thoughts on Bringing Facebook into the Classroom

Do you allow the use of Facebook as part of your classroom experience or not? Some states, such as Missouri, have actually created state-wide regulations to Facebook interactions between students and teachers. Individual schools often create their own guidelines about using the social networking site. In a recent article author Tina Barseghian, discusses the benefits of having class Facebook pages in “50 Reasons to Invite Facebook Into Your Classroom.” By having their own classroom Facebook pages, teachers possess additional opportunities to encourage student learning. Here are some advantages: Students like Facebook and many check it several times a day, so they are more apt to see a reminder from a teacher or become involved in a discussion. Facebook is free in contrast to the social network sites that schools must pay for. Teachers can easily share calendar and events. Facebook can be an easy way for students who miss class to catch up. Parents can follow what is going on in the classroom by looking at the class Facebook page. Students and Parents can also find pertinent information such as permission slips electronically that may have been lost in a locker in their paper form. Students can use the polling feature to poll their friends as part of research. A teacher who requires responses from all students will hear from shy students or those who prefer not to share in class; the rest of the students will benefit as well. Teachers can invite experts to participate in a Facebook conversation much more easily than inviting them to the classroom. Protecting student privacy is an important concern but finding creative ways to do so can yield some excellent teaching opportunities via Facebook. And don't forget, even the Pope is on Facebook. Written by Christine Schmertz Navarro

SMART Board Tutorial Video: Teaching Vocabulary

Most teachers use PowerPoint as the backbone of their direct instruction. Like me, many of these teachers didn't understand the true potential of the SMART Board when they first got one in their classrooms. IF you have a SMART Board, I'm challenging you to use the SMART Board Notebook software to step up your teaching and move beyond PowerPoint lectures. SMART Boards are equipped with interactive tools to teach basic concepts and lessons. Take vocabulary for instance. Those of you who have used the SMART Board Notebooks for Jesus Christ's God's Revelation to the World, will notice a few pages with a list of vocabulary definitions. If you click on the vocabulary word, its definition will appear beside it. How do you create something like this for yourself? SMART Board Tutorial: Vocabulary Words and Definitions Type out the vocabulary word and definition as separate objects. Clone (or copy and paste) the vocabulary word and move it out of the way. Group the vocabulary word and its definition. Add object animation: "Fade In" to the grouped word and definition. Align the cloned vocabulary word over the grouped vocabulary word so that it looks like a single object. Send the visible vocabulary word to the back. You will still be able to see it, but when you click over it, you will actually be clicking on the invisible grouped version of the word. Click on the vocabulary word to reveal its definition. Video Tutorial:

Catholic Connections with Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, who died on Wednesday, was not a Catholic, though he was baptized a Christian. In the last years of his life he practiced Buddhism. This post is not to delve into Job's religious practice but more to appreciate the life of a remarkable person who nevertheless reminds us of the trusted servants in the Gospel parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30) who used their God-given talents to the full. Jobs also had an impact on Church life; like with any other organization in the world today much of the technology the Church now uses for record-keeping and communication can be attributed to Jobs. As this current event remains in the consciousness of your students, consider drawing on some of the following links to enrich your lessons. A Catholic Perspective on the Life of Steve Jobs Vatican Reflections on Steve Jobs Steve Jobs and the New Evangelization A Right to Life Connection: Steve Jobs was adopted Steve Jobs' Stanford Commencement Address: Three Important Lessons for Life (including living each day as if it were your last) Steve Jobs' decision not to include porn on iPhones and iPad apps: Steve Jobs' Impact on Church Life Steve Jobs: Life Lessons for Catholic Leaders