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Daniel and the Lions

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My teaching philosophy for Christian studies is one of access. Access to information about God and Jesus, the Bible, and time to ask questions and begin a life journey of Christianity. These are the things that I did not have access to growing up. Christian studies although linked throughout the curriculum to other subjects, draws its links from who we are and how we conduct ourselves rather than how well we write or use numbers. The learning environment is supportive and simple. It conveys the message that there does not need to be a special ceremony to speak to God through prayer or otherwise. This promotes to children that they have a voice that can be heard anytime and anywhere. Building Christian knowledge is done through Bible stories, art, songs, discussions and Chapel. Discussions are related to how the students think and feel as much as possible.  

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My teaching philosophy for Christian studies is one of access. Access to information about God and Jesus, the Bible, and time to ask questions and begin a life journey of Christianity. These are the things that I did not have access to growing up. Christian studies although linked throughout the curriculum to other subjects, draws its links from who we are and how we conduct ourselves rather than how well we write or use numbers. The learning environment is supportive and simple. It conveys the message that there does not need to be a special ceremony to speak to God through prayer or otherwise. This promotes to children that they have a voice that can be heard anytime and anywhere. Building Christian knowledge is done through Bible stories, art, songs, discussions and Chapel. Discussions are related to how the students think and feel as much as possible.  

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Reflection

My teaching of CS has become more informed over Equip, however, it has also challenged me as I listen to others who mainly teach higher grades tell of their lifelong dedication to Christianity and Christian upbringing and how it has shaped and guided them to where they are now. I was a late starter and had quite an opposite experience from my parents. I wish to make sure all my students have the most positive experiences learning about Christianity and can draw connections to God through the stories, art and activities.
I feel that I am becoming a more confident teacher of CS and that my vision has not really changed much, rather I am working out better ways to share it with the students.

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For this unit, we moderated our assessment pieces and identified the things we were looking for in the children’s work. We were interested in how well they could identify the main ideas and messages within the stories. We were also looking for authentic ways they could be like Jesus within their everyday lives and activities.

We continue to work on developing effective rubrics to support our assessment.

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Annotated

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Pre-session work

The pre-session work was good at bringing multiple perspectives to the modules. It was interesting to see what came out as the children had the freedom to ask any questions in preparation for Module 6. ‘Questions about prayer or how to relate to God - both student questions and personal questions’

Why do we have to pray in a chapel?

What is a prayer?

How does God know you are praying?

It also promoted discussion among the students as they were thinking of their questions, often out loud and found others with similar questions.

It also highlighted prior knowledge of the children.

Often the pre work has the effect of priming your thinking in preparation for the modules.

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The Christian Studies units of work are works in progress. As I reflect the unit could be linked more closely to the key ideas. I can see all the links to the bible knowledge and the stories are fantastic to study and learn from. I tried to make the links stronger and am not sure the plan reflects this.
The children loved the story of Daniel and the Lion and how Daniel trusted his God to keep him safe.
Their drawings were excellent and they could explain that Daniel was kept safe by God.
I thought that many children did not understand The Prodigal Son story and so this did not really work so well. I would rethink how or if I used this the same way again. We changed the assessment to allow more scope to show what they know rather than a regurgitation of knowledge about the bible and how many story names they can remember.