The following is from the book Myths: Fact and Fiction about Teaching and Learning by Israel Galindo. How well do you know fact from fiction?
FICTION: The Florida Everglades is an extensive swamp.
FACT: The Florida Everglades is not a swamp at all—it is a very wide but very shallow river flowing toward the Gulf of Mexico. I had a colleague from Florida that was so upset when he heard me say that he stormed to his office to look up the information in his world fact book—only to return chagrined at learning that in fact what he’d always believed about the Everglades, that it was a “swamp,†was not true.
FICTION: The typical Sunday morning Bible class provides about 50 minutes of Bible study. That means that a faithful student can receive over 40 hours (or over 2000 minutes) of Christian education instruction a year.
FACT: The truth is that on a good Sunday morning, an effective teacher will be able to give at most about 15 to 35 minutes of Bible instruction. “Instructional time†consists of the amount of time the teacher is involved in direct instruction and the students are engaged in learning. When you add up the time it takes out of 50 minutes to take attendance, hang up coats, get and fix coffee, catch up with friends, entertain prayer requests, distribute materials, distribute Bibles, deal with interruptions (like the choir members leaving), transition from one activity to another, clean up, etc., you’re down to about a solid 25 minutes of instructional time.
While Christian education involves much more than formal instruction, how much actual instructional time a learner receives is significant and has an impact on learning. Realistically, a student with perfect attendance in Sunday School will benefit from a mere 25 hours of Bible instruction a year. To put this in perspective, consider that the average American family watches between 4-5 hours of television a day! Even sleeping for a deprived five hours a day will mean that a class member will be engaged in sleep 1,825 hours a year to 25 hours of your teaching.
This sobering truth is what makes teacher planning and teaching skills so critical. With only 30 minutes of instructional time per class, every teacher needs to become the most effective class technician he or she can be.
What teaching skills do you need to acquire to help you make the most out of your 30 minutes? Classroom management? Discipline? Audio-visuals? Learner participation methods? Take advantage of as many training opportunities as you can that will help you become a more effective classroom instructor.
You can order a copy of the book Myth: Fact and Fiction about Teaching and Learning by Israel Galindo (ISBN 0-9715765-4-8) directly from Educational Consultants.
