31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator is the book I wish that I had when I was first starting out as a religion teacher and it is a resource I implemented with great results in this, my ninth year in formal religious education. The book includes thirty-one exercises to help you live out your vocation more fully and create an engaging, spiritual, and educational environment for your students.

Each of the thirty-one days includes a quote from Scripture, a story from a saint or research in educational psychology, step-by-step instructions for completing an exercise to help you become a better religious educator, and a final “Going Deeper” section that invites you into a meditation or prayer practice.

The book is broken down into four parts each describing a key aspect of the vocation of religious educators:

• disciple
• servant
• leader
• teacher

These four roles are based on the life and teachings of the Master-Teacher Jesus Christ who was called both teacher and master (leader) and taught his followers how to be good disciples and servants in order to be good teachers and leaders.

To be a good teacher, you have to be a good disciple. To be a good leader, you have to be a good servant.

What Can 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator Do for You?

Whether you are just starting out and in need of help as a new religious educator or you are a seasoned veteran looking for new tips and friendly reminders of what is important, 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator will help you effectively use your time and energy to change the lives of your students.

The exercises, strategies, activities, reflections, and meditations in 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator will help you fully live out your vocation as a religious educator. The book will help you identify the most important work you do and increase your effectiveness in the classroom.

Through the exercises, you will start to see yourself as a disciple of Christ, not just a teacher to your students. You will recognize your role as servant to the students while at the same time a visionary leader. With your inspiration and approach to catechesis, formed by these thirty-one days, you will find students and parents becoming interested and engaged in their faith.

With prayer and intentionality in these exercises, we can pray that our students develop a life-long faith and love for Jesus. We pray that they can apply the lessons in our classroom to their everyday lives.

What is in 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator?

The thirty-one days of exercises and meditations covers a wide range of topics and approaches to religious education that will help develop you as a person but also the work you do in the classroom. For example, you will

• Consider your specific vocation to the classroom
• Reflect on your relationship with Jesus Christ
• Identify student needs and strengths
• Effectively communicate and motivate students and parents
• Improve your personal prayer life
• Save time and create a more efficient classroom
• Improve your approach to lesson planning
• Improve the way students read their textbooks
• Incorporate movement and music into your days
• Become a witness of the gospel

For the full table of contents including titles for each day visit Amazon.com or Ave Maria Press and click Table of Contents.

Each day is highly practical and easy to implement. Just read the introduction and follow the step-by-step instructions for incorporating the strategy or meditation in your life.

You will also find at the beginning of the book, a foreword written by my colleague Joe Paprocki, author of The Catechist’s Toolbox and Beyond the Catechist’s Toolbox.

Supplemental Resources for 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator 

If you read the many endorsements for 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator, you will find a recurring theme: practical.

At its core, The Religion Teacher is about sharing practical resources and teaching strategies. Knowing the challenges of time and energy in the religious education classroom, “practical” is an essential component to everything I try to offer here. The 31-day framework is a very practical approach to creating improvement in your life and in your classroom, but I decided to go above and beyond the book and invest a significant amount of time and energy into additional practical resources to help you implement the principles in the book.

The following resources are freely available to supplement the book:

31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator Leader’s Guide

Are you a DRE/CRE or religion department chair who wants to lead your volunteers or staff through these thirty-one days? The 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator Leader’s Guide includes extra resources and handouts to use for each day. Download it here and print it out for your staff. This resource is perfect for workshops, in-services, and ongoing professional development to be used in conjunction with the 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator book.

Download the 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator Leader’s Guide.

The 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator Daily Email Reminder

We all need reminders when we’re starting something new. Sign up for to get an email each day during your 31 day period to remind you to carry out the exercise in the book. Sign up and get access to extra resources and worksheets to help you implement each exercise in your life.

Just enter your name and email, then choose the date you wish to start your 31 days below.

31 Days of Extra Resources

Want more? At The Religion Teacher you will find additional tips and resources for implementing each exercise in 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator. Check them out:

Become a Better Disciple 

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

Become a Better Servant 

Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13

Become a Better Leader 

Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 | Day 19

Become a Better Teacher 

Day 20 | Day 21 | Day 22 | Day 23 | Day 24 | Day 25 | Day 26 | Day 27 | Day 28 | Day 29 | Day 30 | Day 31

Special Offer: Buy 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator

31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator is available at Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, and Ave Maria Press. Buy it now and start to implement some of the exercises over the summer or purchase it in bulk for your entire staff or group of volunteers.

Ave Maria Press is running a special offer just for fans of The Religion Teacher! Use the promo code 31LAUNCH when you order ten ore more copies and get each one for only $7.00! Take advantage of this offer before it expires on May 31.

New Book: 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator! is a post from The Religion Teacher
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My philosophy on games has always been focus on engagement over entertainment. The measure of success of a given review game is based on how much each student is engaged, not how much each student is entertained. There is a huge difference.

While searching for new games this week, I came across a game called the Password Review Game. It doesn’t take long to explain and it is very easy to set up. In many ways this game is similar to the Pictionary review game or Guesstures review game I’ve written about in the past. Password is based on an old television show of the same name that first aired during the 1960′s where a person was given clues about a word on a card to get points.

The Password classroom game is engaging because students must come up with creative clues to get the players to guess the word. Everyone in the class listens to the clue too and is able to judge its value. For these reasons, it is not just the players in the front of the room that gain the most from playing the game. The entire class is potentially involved throughout the game. For a teacher and catechist, it is a great way to check for understanding of words based on the clues students give and the guesses players offer in response.

How to Play the Password Classroom Game

1. Select two students at random from your class. Have them stand in the front of the room facing the class with their backs to the whiteboard/chalkboard.

2. Write a vocabulary word on the board.

3. Select a student to go first. He/she must select one of their classmates to give a clue about the word on the board. Once the contestant hears the clue, he/she must guess what word is on the board. If the answer is correct, that student stays standing in the front and the person who gave the clue comes to the front to replace the competing student. If the answer is incorrect, the next student has the opportunity to call on someone to give a clue and guess the answer.

Password Game Rules

• Clues must focus on the meaning of the word. They cannot give hints based on words that rhyme or give any hints as to what letters are in the word.
• Clues cannot give away any part of the word, especially compound words.
• Players must call on a variety of students. They must not call on their friends over and over again.

Variations of the Password Review Game

Once you get the basics down, try using some of these alternative approaches to the password game to mix it up with your students.

The Class Stands Until Called Upon

Occasionally, a few players will only call on their friends. You can try to enforce a rule about this, but it can be sometimes hard to track. One way to make sure all of the students are getting a change to participate is have them stand up. Once they are called on to give a clue, they must sit down. When all of the class has been called on to give a clue, then you may decide to end the round and call up two new students to play.

Two Teams

Divide the class into two teams. Select players from each team to come up to the board. The players call on students from their team to give them clues. If they guess correctly, then their team earns a point. If they guess incorrectly, the opposing player gets a turn and an opportunity to score points for her or his team.

Time Limit

Instead of alternating between players, you may instead establish a time limit for each player to guess the word. They would be given a time limit like one minute to call on as many students as possible to give clues until they are able to guess the answer.

Clue Limit

To try to cover a wider range of words and concepts, you might want to establish a clue limit. Players will only be able to call on a set number of classmates to give them clues. Once they use up all of their clues, they must guess the word or lose their spot in the front.

Use Cards or Slides

Rather than writing the words on the board, you may decide to write them on cards that you can use and save for other classes, later class sessions, or the next year. Or if you use an interactive whiteboard or LCD projector in your room, create slides with the words on them ahead of time to display for the class to see.

Select New Words to Assess Prior Knowledge

Password is a great review game because it allows you to check how well students understand words and concepts based on the clues they offer as well as the guesses by the players. It is also a good way to see how much students know about words and concepts you are about to teach in class. You might also use words that are not the focus of the lesson, but are crucial for understanding the new concepts you are teaching. If you are teaching a lesson about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, you might write the name of each gift on the board to see if students know their definitions regardless of their significance as gifts of the Holy Spirit.

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Famous painting by Jean-François Millet depicting two peasants praying the Angelus prayer in the evening.

It has been a great experience and I’m excited to share it with others. Today, on the feast of the Annunciation, I’m launching a small side project I am very excited to share. You can find it here:

• TheAngelusPrayer.com
• The Angelus Prayer on Facebook
• The Angelus Prayer on Twitter

There was a certain point in our Church’s recent history in which students were required to pray the Angelus at noon each day. In fact, praying the Angelus was a common practice for all Catholics no matter where they were during the day. I think this would be an incredibly valuable practice to reestablish. At the very least, I invite you to share it with your students on this Feast of the Annunciation.

The Angelus Prayer Text

Introduce your students to the Angelus prayer today! Print out this PDF and share it with the students to use when you pray. As the leader you will read the “V.” and the students will respond with the “R.” To close, you will read the final prayer beginning “Let us pray.”

Download the PDF of the Angelus Prayer and Regina Coeli.

The Angelus Domini

V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with Thee;
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death. Amen

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done to me according to your word.

Hail Mary. . .

V. And the Word was made flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary. . .

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Note: During the season of Easter, we actually pray the Regina Coeli in place of the Angelus Domini. It is a prayer that celebrates the wonderful joy of the Resurrection. Find it at theangelusprayer.com/regina-coeli.

An Introduction to the Angelus Prayer for Children

At first glance, the Angelus seems just like any other Catholic prayer that students are required to memorize, but it is so much more than that. I truly hope you will grow to share the passion I have for praying the Angelus as a meditation on our lives as disciples. And I hope you will be moved to share it and pray with your students when possible.

Here are a few reasons that your students should pray the Angelus:

1. They need a break.

When introducing the Angelus, share the value of praying at designated times during the day. The practice of praying the Angelus is linked to three times each day: dawn, midday, and dusk. It developed and grew as a habitual part of the day of Catholics for centuries. When we make the commitment to join with others in prayer at a specific time, we have to overcome our excuses that we don’t have time to pray or have other more important things to do. We have to tell ourselves that no matter what we are working on at this very moment, it is infinitely less important than dedicating our lives to God in prayer.

When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, I’m sure she had important things to do. I’m sure she was right in the middle of something she wanted to complete. She wasn’t ready for the drastic change in her life, but she was open to it. She set aside her plans and her intentions and opened herself up to God’s will.

When we pray the Angelus, we set aside our to do lists, our homework, our assignments, our never-ending list of things to accomplish and we turn to God and say, “Lord, let it be done to me according to your word (not mine).” We need that break. Our children need that break. They need the reassurance that no matter what they do, no matter if they succeed or fail, we can trust in God to provide.

Tell them: Let go and let God.

2. They probably won’t “get anything out of it” and that’s the point.

The purpose of prayer is not to “get something out of it.” We don’t score points for keeping a perfect record for praying the Angelus. The prayers don’t magically make us better people. Feelings come and go and have no connection to how impactful prayer really is in the world.

Through the Angelus, we meditate on the words of Mary who called herself the “handmaid of the Lord.” Mary was God’s servant. The Lord was with her. The Lord loved her and she knew it. All she could do in response was offer herself in service to his will.

Ask students to consider how different this is from the mindset of getting something out of prayer. When we pray to feel more spiritual–to get something out of it–we make God the handmaid. We tell him he needs to make us feel good. He needs to give us something. He needs to serve us.

One of the most important lessons we can teach our children is exemplified by Mary in the Angelus: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. . . be it done to me according to your word.” The leader (V.) tells the people to behold Mary, our model, our hope, and we respond (R.), “Yes, thy will be done.”

It may be cliche, but it is memorable: Ask not what your God can do for you, but what you can do for your God.

3. It’s Biblical so anyone can do it.

The Angelus is a meditation on the words of Luke 1 and John 1. It is Biblical and anyone can do it. For students who may not be Catholic or those who are skeptical about Catholic beliefs about Mary, remind them that this is a meditation on the Bible. We pray to know God more through his sacred word.

If they are uncomfortable with asking for Mary’s intercession or her title as Mother of God (V. Pray for us, Holy Mother of God. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.), then it is worth having a discussion about it in class. It would be a great opportunity to clarify that Catholics do not worship Mary, but they give her due respect.

Pray the Angelus Online

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I am excited to share and invite others to pray the Angelus digitally. For centuries it was the bells of churches and monasteries that reminded Catholics to stop everything and pray the Angelus prayer (or the Regina Coeli during Easter). In today’s society, those bells are seldom rung, heard, or heeded.

In those days society was structured geographically. The bells worked very well since most people lived in earshot of the churches and monasteries. Today, society is structured globally and digitally. We need some new bells.

I would like to invite you and your students to sign up for the new Angelus bells. “Like” The Angelus Prayer on Facebook and pray with us each day in the morning, midday, and evening. Follow the @angelusprayer on Twitter and get reminders about the Angelus and Regina Coeli.

Check out http://theangelusprayer.com for more information and to join me in learning to appreciate even more the great beauty of Mary’s fiat, the power of the Incarnation, the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and the grace that God has given us through the Paschal Mystery.

The Angelus Prayer for Children is a post from The Religion Teacher
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There are a number of great Holy Week prayer services for kids that religion teachers and catechists can use in class the week before Easter. We should all use this time, known as the Triduum, as a special week of preparation for the joys of Easter with particular focus on preparing our hearts with the perspective of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

A special thanks to the many great websites that have developed the prayer services for Holy Week below. While not all of the links are to fully developed prayer services, many of the prayers can be printed out and distributed to your students for your own prayer service. You might even invite students to use the links below to plan class prayer on their own.

Holy Week Prayer Service Ideas

Holy Week Prayer Ideas (JaredDees.com)

Triduum Prayer Service (Catholic Teacher Resources)

Prayer for Holy Week (Catholic Online)

Prayer Centers for the Passion and Resurrection of Our Lord (Loyola Press)

Honoring Holy Week (Catechist.com)

Palm Sunday Prayer Service Ideas

Family Prayer for Palm Sunday and Holy Week (Catholic Online)

Palm Weaving and Braiding (Catechist’s Journey)

Holy Thursday Prayer Service Ideas

Triduum Prayer Service (Catholic Teacher Resources)

Holy Thursday Prayer to Appreciate the Mass (Catholic.org)

Prayer for Holy Thursday (Education for Justice)

Guided Meditation: Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet (Engaging Faith)

Good Friday Prayer Service

Triduum Prayer Service (Catholic Teacher Resources)

Guided Meditation: Peter Denies Jesus (Engaging Faith)

Holy Week Prayer Services is a post from The Religion Teacher
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Habemus papam

Pope Francis Lesson Objectives

• SWBAT compare and contrast the initial appearance of Pope Francis and past popes including Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II.
• SWBAT make predictions about what Pope Francis will do for the Church during his papacy.

Pope Francis Lesson Plan

So much has been made of the unexpected introduction of Pope Francis I. We had heard about the beautiful vestments which the newly elected pope could choose to wear while in the Room of Tears. Instead, our simple pope appeared wearing only his white cassock. The banner, which was hung before Pope’s first appearance displayed not an elaborate coat of arms, but a plain, white canvas. Even the gestures that our new pope made were in such stark contrast to past popes that this social media meme has been going viral:

In this Pope Francis lesson plan, students will compare and contrast this appearance and blessing with past popes. Please be clear with students that the goal is not to compare the popes, but to make predictions about what they think this pope will do during his papacy based solely on this first impression. Bl. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI were incredibly humble men and to compare each pope’s humility based on this appearance is just pointless. Nevertheless, so much was said in this first impression.

1. Assess Prior Knowledge

Lead the students in a discussion about the events of the day that Pope Francis was elected. What do they know about him? What was their experience of the election?

2. Comparing the Habemus Papam and Urbi et Orbi

Create, distribute, or have students draw a Venn Diagram to compare Pope Francis’s initial appearance on the balcony before St. Peter’s square with past popes including Benedict XVI, John Paul II, John Paul I, Paul VI, John XXIII, and even earlier.

First, have students watch a video of Pope Francis’s first appearance noting everything from clothing to his words.

Next, show or have the students watch YouTube recordings of each first appearance of the popes that preceded Francis. What is different? What is the same?

The Election of Pope Benedict XVI:

The Election of Pope John Paul II:

Assessment: Have them record the differences and similarities in their Venn Diagrams.

Tip: To help students notice the important contrasts, suggest the following topics to consider:

• Papal vestments
• Papal coat of arms
• Hand gestures
• How the pope appealed to the people of Rome in his speech, his new diocese.
• How the pope appealed to the rest of the world.
• How the pope addressed his predecessor.
• How the pope referred to himself.

You may provide images and videos to certain groups of students (i.e. Group 1: Francis + Benedict; Group 2: Francis + John Paul II; Group 3: Francis + John Paul I, Group 4: Francis + Paul VI, etc.). This might provide some differing insights from each group that will be beneficial in the discussion that follows.

3. Discussing the Similarities and Differences 

Have students share what they noticed with other members of the class. They can either get into groups for a discussion or lead the entire class in a discussion together. If you divided the groups by certain popes (Francis + Benedict XVI / Francis + John Paul II / etc.), then try to arrange the groups in a jigsaw discussion.

You may consider writing some of the contrasts on the board. With each contrast, always ask the students “why?” Why do you think Pope Francis said that or said it in that way? Why do you think Pope Francis chose to wear what he did? Why do you think he greeted the crowds in the way that he did?

4. Papal Prediction Assessment

Now ask students to make a prediction about the papacy of Francis. What do they think his papacy will be like based solely on this first appearance? Have them write a paragraph prediction. When they finish, they can either share their responses as a group or with the entire class.

Habemus Papam! Pope Francis Lesson Plan is a post from The Religion Teacher
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Pope Activity Ideas

Catholic Icing’s List of Pope Activities for Catholic Kids (Catholic Icing)

Electing a New Pope (Information and Activities for Students) (The Catholic Toolbox)

What the Pope Does Activities (Pflaum)

Symbols of the Pope Activities (Pflaum)

Life of Pope Benedict XVI Activities (Pflaum)

Peter and Paul: United by a Common Feast (Engaging Faith)

Pope Crafts and Games

Papal Lap Book & Papal Unit Study (Shower of Roses) [...this one is really incredible!]

JPII Mitre Craft for Kids (Catholic Icing)

Papal Flag Pretzels (Catholic Icing)

Papal Flag Craft for World Youth Day (Catholic Icing)

Conclave Smoke Craft (Catholic Inspired)

Simon Peter Says Game (Catholic Inspired)

Electing a Pope File Folder Game (The Catholic Toolbox)

Pope Worksheets and Printable Coloring Pages

Pope Benedict XVI Coloring Page (Waltzing Matilda)

Pope John Paul II Coloring Page (Saint-Faustina.com)

Blank Pope Coloring Page (Catholic, Etc.)

Pope Benedict XVI Coloring Page (Happy Saints)

Electing the Pope Worksheet (The Catholic Toolbox)

Pope Lesson Plans

Papal Conclave Lesson Plan (The Religion Teacher)

Pontifex Lesson Plan (The Religion Teacher)

Lessons on Pope Emeritus Benedict and the Papal Conclave (Catechesis in the Third Millennium)

Pope John Paul II Lesson Plan (Discovery Education)

ESL Lesson Plan on the Pope Benedict XVI (Breaking News English)

Lesson Plan Pope Benedict XVI’s Visit to the United States (New York Times)

Peter and the Papacy Lesson Plans (Catholic Education Resource Center)

What can I add to this list of papal activities and lesson plans? Share some of the resources I missed in the comments below. 

Pope Activities and Lesson Plans for Kids is a post from The Religion Teacher
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Papal Conclave Lesson Objectives

• SWBAT describe the conclave process.
• SWBAT compare and contrast a papal conclave to a presidential election (or student council election or another kind of election of leaders).

Papal Conclave Activities

1. Assess Prior Knowledge

Depending on the age group, your students may already know a lot about the papal conclave. When Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation in February 2013, every major news venue gave a brief tutorial on the election of a new pope. Find out what they know already using one of the following teaching strategies:

• Chalk Talk
• KWL Chart

2. Explore the Papal Conclave

There are a whole host of websites and videos on the Internet about the papal conclave. With so many resources, it is important to provide students with tools that will enable them to understand and organize everything they read, listen to, and watch. In other words, you need to give them a graphic organizer.

Have students take out a blank sheet of paper and fold it in thirds as if they were going to put it in an envelope. Then instruct them to fold the paper in half vertically (“hot dog style”) to create six boxes. Have them label the boxes Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.

During class or as a research project, they must fill in each of these boxes with answers to the questions below. If you want to add an enrichment activity, have them draw a picture of what they’ve written in each box on the back of their papers.

Write the following questions on the board to help guide the students’ research or create your own questions:

• Who: Who elects the new pope? (List three things you know about them.)
• What: What do they use to elect the new pope?
• When: When can a conclave take place?
• Where: Where does the conclave take place (city and building)?
• Why: Why does the Catholic Church have a pope?
• How: How do they determine who they will elect as the next pope?

Alternative Activity: You might also try to give students ownership over this activity by looking to them to create their own questions. Instead of providing the questions, have students brainstorm their own questions. For example, they might decided to write: Who can become Pope? Or, How do we know when the new pope is elected?

Papal Election Educational Resources

I suggest that students use some of the following resources about the papal conclave to complete their graphic organizers:

Electingthepope.net – A new website created by catechetical leaders to address questions about the conclave.

How the Pope is Elected Graphic — An incredibly informative, interactive graphic describing how the pope is elected.

How is a New Pope Chosen (USCCB) — A brief summary of the election of a new pope from the USCCB website with a free, downloadable bulletin insert.

Papal Transition Q&A (America) — The Jesuit America magazine collects a series of questions and answers about the transition to a new pope.

Election of a New Pope Resources for Schools (Archdiocese of Dublin) — Great collection of educational resources about electing a new pope from the Archdiocese of Dublin.

3. Conclave Q & A

Make sure students have a good understanding of the papal conclave. Have them form groups of three or four students. Using their graphic organizers, invite them to give each other pop quizzes.

When they finish, invite them add any new information they learned in their groups to their graphic organizers.

4. Compare Papal Elections and Presidential Elections

If you have time and interest, you may also invite students to compare and contrast what they have learned about papal elections at the conclave and U.S. presidential elections. You might also have them compare the conclave to student council elections. This is a great way to work with the social studies teacher if you are in a Catholic school.

Use the same process described above for the papal conclave in an exploration of the presidential election. Have them create a graphic organizer with boxes labeled Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. Then, have them use the Internet or a social studies textbook to complete the graphic organizer for presidential elections.

Once both graphic organizers are completed, distribute a Venn diagram. Label one circle Papal Election and the other circle Presidential Election. Have them write similarities and differences in the Venn diagram.

For example, in the middle they might write something like “both are elected by a small group of people (cardinals/electoral college).” As differences in the outside they might write that “the Holy Spirit inspires the cardinals to elect a pope, while the citizens of each state inspire the electoral college to select a president.” Or, “the pope is elected with two-thirds of the votes, while the president is elected based on a majority (more than one half) of votes.”

5. Assessment: The Papal Conclave Process

With all of the news coverage of the conclave, have students use what they have learned to write a news report of the conclave. They can either write a newspaper article or a script for a radio or TV show covering the conclave. If there is time, have the students act out the radio or TV shows.

What resources are you using to teach about the papal conclave to elect a new pope? Share it in the comments below. 

Papal Conclave Lesson Plan is a post from The Religion Teacher
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Maybe your life as a religious educator isn’t quite that bad, but we all have stress in our work in catechesis. We also have a lot of successes, though we are often too humble to admit it.

The 80/20 Analysis

In my own personal productivity system, I have picked up on a great technique called an 80/20 Analysis. It is based on the 80/20 principle, or Pareto Principle, which suggests that 20% of the inputs lead to 80% of the outputs. To ignore the number for a moment, understand that the concept implies that a minority of efforts and inputs leads to a majority of good results.

In other words, 20% of the activities, people, and events in your life lead to 80% of your stress. And the reverse of that is true as well: 20% of the activities, people, and events in your life lead to 80% of your happiness.

Think about discipline for a minute. For most of us, there are just a handful of kids out of the whole class that disrupt the classroom. Do the math in your head. Is it about 20 percent? My guess is that it is pretty close (and if it is more…we’ll pray for you!).

It goes for lesson planning too. Think back to a recent lesson plan you made. How did it go? Which 20% of activities were engaging and effective? Which 80% were ineffective, unengaging, and might even be viewed as a waste of time?

After your next lesson take some time to review your lesson plan using the 80/20 Analysis. Use the template below to help you with the process. You can also use the analysis for your own personal productivity. Download a 80/20 analysis template for personal productivity at my personal site (here).

Download the 80/20 template for lesson planning by clicking on the following links:

80/20 Lesson Plan Analysis: PDF / Word

The 80/20 Analysis for Teachers

First identify and visualize what a perfect classroom experience would be like. What would it mean for the students to be engaged? What would it mean for the students to be focused and attentive to what you say or what you’ve asked them to do? What would the ideal classroom be like?

On the other hand, describe your stress. Where do you feel the most regret after class? Where do you think the students are falling short of their potential? What is it like when the class gets out of your control?

Now, look at a specific lesson. How did it go? List the activities and approaches you took as a teacher that led to the greatest amount of stress, challenges, disengagement, boredom, and time.

Then, list the activities and teaching strategies that had the highest impact, deepest connection, student excitement, measurable understanding, and when time seemed to fly by.

Now, look ahead. What activities and teaching strategies should you improve or remove? Put them on a “Not To Do List” or make a note somewhere in your lesson planner not to repeat the activity. You may even want to cross it out in your teacher’s manual.

What activities and teaching strategies should you repeat again or do every day? Write a note to be added on your next lesson plan or edit a future lesson plan to include what worked best.

80/20 Analysis Example

I recently did this with one of my lessons. A few sessions ago, I realized a small trick to getting my students’ attention that I have been overlooking. To get my third graders’ attention I say, “God is good!” and they respond, “All the time.” I call back, “All the time,” and they say, “God is good!” and they are supposed to be silent and have their eyes on me. Lately, it hasn’t been working. I haven’t been practicing and reiterating our class procedures.

But, when I patiently repeated the call again each time someone talked to a neighbor or didn’t pay attention, the students in the class began to correct themselves.

It was small. A tiny change, but since then it has worked each time. I didn’t yell. I didn’t scold or punish. I didn’t get overwhelmed by the stress of teaching. I just repeated myself patiently and it worked. It was a small effort with big results.

Find the little things that work really well and multiply them.

Do an 80/20 Analysis to Review Lesson Plan is a post from The Religion Teacher
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Adults tend to think of Valentines Day as a time to pursue love interests or show spouses how romantic we are. Kids are not acclimated to romantic love, and consequently, Valentines Day tends to be little more than a chance to give out hearts and candy to friends. However, the holiday provides a great chance for kids to understand God in terms of the only love they are truly familiar with—that of trusted family members.

Children should know that loving God enables them to love others even more because of how he loves us. This Valentine’s Day lesson using peanut butter and jelly shows how, when we rely on Jesus, we love others more as well.

This lesson comes directly from the February KidMin Power Pack.

Lesson Materials

• Jar of peanut butter
• Jar of grape jelly
• Bread, enough for each student to have two slices
• 2 spreading knives
• knife sharp enough to cut bread into heart shapes

Note: If you have a student in your class with a peanut allergy, exchange peanut butter with marshmallow spread!

Lesson Preparation

Cut the crusts off of bread and cut each slice into heart shapes.

Valentines Day Lesson Plan (Teaching Words in Bold)

Put some peanut butter on a spreading knife and hold it up for students to see. This peanut butter? It’s a little like I was before I began to love Jesus. I didn’t know where I belonged. Wipe just a tiny bit on your sleeve or your cuff. Is this the right place for me? No… How about here?? Wipe some on your thumb. Does peanut butter belong on your clothes? Or on your thumb? No. I didn’t belong in some of the crowds I was hanging out with. I felt useless…like I was trying to be something I wasn’t meant for. Sometimes, I would get very, very close to those people. Bring your thumb up close to your mouth. But people would get too close, and realize that something wasn’t right. Lick the peanut butter off your thumb and mush it around in your mouth before swallowing. Once I let people get close, it seemed like I was always getting hurt. I felt swallowed up in their ways! Or people would say stuff… “You stick to me too much!” “You’re a tough nut to swallow!” I just couldn’t figure out why I always felt like I didn’t fit in in this world. One day I cried out to God. 

“God! Nobody loves me! I’m a terrible misfit! Help me, please!” 

Put the heart shaped bread on the table. God came right away. “Well…hi, God. What are you doing here?” God told me…

Shake the bread slice a bit. “[Your name], the reason you don’t fit in the world is that you were born for a love relationship with me first. When you love me first, then you’ll have a better fit with others. I love you. I want you to try loving me!”

So for days…slowly spread the peanut butter on the bread…I talked to God. I thanked him for his friendship and all the stuff he gave me, like parents and a house. I listened for him. I wanted to hear what he would say. He always loved me and told me so. 

Bring the bread toward your mouth. With God, I wasn’t so sticky. I didn’t cling to people. I didn’t say things that made me a ‘tough nut to swallow.’ Take a little tiny bite. I was still a little bit clingy and a little bit hard to swallow, what with my strong taste. 

But I managed to attract a really nice friend. Her name was Lisa. I told Lisa about God and she listened. 

Bring out another piece of heart-shaped bread. God showed up for Lisa. Pick up the jelly jar and put some on the knife. She told God that she felt never fit in either. She said people told her she was sickening sweet and had no backbone. 

He told her that’s because she’s supposed to fit with him first. Spread the jelly on the other heart. She said she felt ‘spineless’ and drippy and was always shaping herself to fit others. He said, “Well, now that you know [your name], why don’t you guys love each other through me?” Together we can be strong…

Put the two pieces of bread together to make the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

With my friend Lisa, I’m not a tough nut to swallow. She smoothes me out. With me, she knows she doesn’t have to be sickening sweet. I balance her out. 

Turn the sandwich over and over. But the most important thing is…Lisa and I both love God. He keeps us together. He makes us strong and balanced. On Valentine’s Day, let’s remember that the most important person to love is God…who loves us…who gave us His son to die so that we could live forever with him. Let’s remember that He is what keeps friendships together, helps us find the right Valentines here on earth, and keeps us balanced and strong. 

Mary-Kate Warner is a regular blogger at Christianity Cove. You can often find her writing about Christian Motherhood, Sunday School Teaching, and inspiring children to love God.

Valentine’s Day Object Lesson: Making Jesus Our Valentine is a post from The Religion Teacher
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• Catholic Schools Week Ideas and Activities 2010
• Catholic Schools Week Ideas and Activities 2011
• Catholic Schools Week Ideas and Activities 2012

Here’s Meghann and Jen:

Catholic Schools Raise the Standards in 2013

This year’s theme for Catholic Schools Week is “Catholic Schools Raise the Standards.” Teachers and students in Catholic schools are called to more than high academic achievement–we are called to holiness, called to become saints. Does this mean, then, that academics take a back seat? Certainly not! We grow in holiness when we develop the gifts that God has given us, which includes learning all we can about the world around us so that we can, in turn, serve its greatest needs. Catholic schools, then, must help children grow both academically and spiritually–and it’s impossible to do one without the other.

With that in mind, here are two ideas to bring the theme of “raising the standards” into your classroom during Catholic Schools Week 2013, one with a heavy emphasis on literacy and the other focused more intently on mathematical measurement and problem-solving.

Catholic Schools Week Ideas

1. Focus on the Saints

If a “standard” is a benchmark against which we measure our efforts, then what higher standard can there be than sainthood? Throughout our history, the church has raised up these examples for us–what better opportunity to welcome your students into an exploration of the stories of the saints?

• Research the lives of saints on a level appropriate to the grade you teach. With very young children, perhaps you might read a biographical account of one well-known saint each day. With older students, you might challenge them to find multiple sources of information on a lesser-known or more obscure saint, perhaps with a particular connection to their own lives.
• Students can share the information learned using a wide variety of creative products: a newspaper, poster, “this is your life” sketch, social media profile, tv interview, costume and oral presentation, series of letters, journal, etc.
• Another idea might be to have students compare their saint to another figure, either in Scripture or in secular history. For example, a student could describe how both Joseph of the Old Testament and St. Maximilian Kolbe both turned their time in prison into an opportunity to use the gifts God gave them and save the lives of others.
• Another focus of the research and reporting might be on parallels to students’ lives. How can we imitate these saints in order to grow in holiness ourselves? This could lead to a class service project.
• Links to resources on saints:
  • Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland (for young students):
  • 115 Saintly Facts (for intermediate grades)
  • My Life With the Saints by Fr. Jim Martin (for high school students)
  • Can You Find the Saints: Introducing Your Child to Holy Men and Women (just for fun)

2. Growing toward Goals

As a class, discuss the importance of standards and goals to help us grow to our potential. What are our most important goals for the remainder of the year? Why are these the most important? They may be related to a particular academic subject, or to classroom culture and student interactions, or to community service efforts.

• Once a goal has been selected (depending on your students’ ages, you may select one for the whole class, one per small group of students, or even one per student), challenge your students to determine how you will measure progress toward this goal.
• Set up a plan for regular assessment and objective measurement that can continue until the end of the year. For example, you might keep a running tally of books that have been read, average number of missing assignments, number of math problems the class can do in a minute, or student-ranked level of bullying behaviors taking place during a given week.
• Set up a plan for reporting results once they’re all in.
• As the year continues, follow your plans – conduct your measurements, report your results in tables, graphs, and narrative, and perhaps most importantly, interpret the results and share your findings!

Catholic Schools Week Ideas and Activities 2013 is a post from The Religion Teacher
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