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First Place:
Teacher Mary Lou Ferris
and student Thomas Murray, Union Church, Hinsdale IL
Excerpts from Mary Lou Ferris' winnng entry:
After teaching 7th and 8th grade Sunday School for over twenty years, I admit, I was set in MY way of teaching. I was more than skeptical when asked to teach a five week trial unit to Middle School Youth in our brand new computer lab....
...I was not computer savvy.....I have an assistant.... Honestly, the software has turned out to be so simple to use that if I needed to I could load and run the lab myself.
Aside from my fear of technology I was concerned that the youth would become bored after several weeks, that they would find the material dorkey, nerdy, dull. I also had concerns that there would be no sense of community or sharing among the youth. After only two weeks I knew I was wrong on both counts.
The five week trial has turned into a permanent Computer Bible class. The youth help each other... New people or visitors plug right in.
I will never go back to Sunday School as usual. The youth arrive early and don't want to leave. For me as a teacher, it is gratifying.
Excerpts from student Thomas Murray's winning entry, a student in Mary Lou's class.
"A computer lab in our church? Come on!" What are we going to do, have a computer lecture us about Christianity? NO, thisis definitely not what the computer lab is like. The games we play are fun and teach us about our religion. In August, I had the choice to go to a Bible study or computer class. I would rather learn on a computer.
That day we started exploring Life of Christ. Every week after that I went to the computer lab coming closer and closer to being a "Master Bible Explorer." I was the second person in a group of seven who showed up every week.
A computer lab is fun because you virtually see and hear the information rather than read it in a book. ...Church computer labs are really cool."
Second
Place:
Teacher Leslie Christensen
and student Ruikang Liu and Kelly Christiansen, Kent Presbyterian,
Kent OH
Excerpts from Leslie Christensen's entry:
"...Until then, I never saw this child participate in class."
As a child, I only attended Sunday School until the first grade. It was very boring and my mother stopped taking me when she realized I was not learning anything other than who could make the biggest spitwads. As an adult... I worried that some of my classes were also boring.
The change to using PCs has only had positive results. I cannot think of any student who doesn't actively participate.
One change was really exciting. A student who had only been in the U.S. a year (came in and) took control of the keyboard. Until then I had never seen this child participate.
The children's written entries tell you why I like teaching in the computer lab.
Excerpt from Ruikang Liu's essay (the new student from another country mentioned above):
"It is more funner to learn from computers then almost any other way..."
Excerpt from Kelly Christensen (Leslie's Nephew):
I like the computer lab a lot. I believe it should be fun to learn. It makes church more exciting to look forward to every Sunday.
View the Winning Teacher's Essays in our 2006 Anniversary Contest