Wright Track Ministries

6675 Moondance Drive

Olive Branch, MS 38654

(662) 890-6398

WTVU Teaching Lesson 2

Desired Learning Outcomes

Lesson Objectives:

This lesson is one in a series to help you as a teacher to actually make sure that what goes on in the classroom is teaching. Now that may seem a rather strange thing to say, but if students aren't learning then, no teaching has taken place. This is a basic and simple fact of the teaching-learning process. No matter how many hours of studying and preparations have been done, if the students do not learn, then truly no teaching has taken place. As a Sunday School teacher you have basically one precious Sunday School hour a week to do your part of what Jesus commanded us to do in "The Great Commission." Matthew 28:19 & 20. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen" This is an awesome responsibility and we must do everything we can to insure that we use this hour to teach.  Let's take a look at a method that may help you to be a better teacher.

What does the title of this lesson title mean? What do we mean by Desired Learning Outcomes?  To put it another way, when your students leave the classroom next Sunday morning what is it that you want them to leave with? This may be the best starting point for your lesson preparation. You will find this described by various experts is teaching as "setting goals", "stating your objectives" or "writing aims" for your lesson. I am using the term Desired Learning Outcomes (to be referred to as DLO's) because it best describes what you are really concentrating on and that is what learning do you desire your students to come out of the class with.  (It is also an unusual term and I hope that it got your attention and made you wonder what I was talking about. This is  good method to help the student to learn...sometimes referred to as "an attention getter) To make sure that we all are on the "Wright Track" we need to have a definition of learning. A simple working definition of learning that we can use here for now is "a positive additive change." Let's start by examining what we as a teacher can teach and what a student can learn.

When we teach, we can basically do one of four things:

• You can teach a skill. A student can learn a skill.

• You can impart knowledge. A student can add to their knowledge.

• You can impart understanding. A student can gain understanding.

• You can modify an attitude. A student can be led to change their attitude.

Almost everything that can be taught can be put into one or a combination of these categories. When you teach, you must decide what your DLO is. Ask yourself, "What is it that I am trying to do to my students?",  "When they walk out the door, what do I want them to leave with?".  You need to make sure this is a measurable DLO and that is truly the outcome or goal you are shooting for. Let me give you an example of what I mean:

A class of students at a Bible college were working in small groups to learn about writing lessons. The instructor told them to do the following, "Let one member of your group set a goal for the class and let the other two come up with some methods and ideas on how this can be accomplished."  A young lady in one of the groups spoke up and said, "I teach Jr. High girls and my goal is that I want them to positively glow when they leave my class on Sunday morning.!" Two young men in the group worked, or maybe a better word would be conspired for a few moments and handed her the following list of methods to achieve the stated goal.

1. Go to a local hobby store and buy several cans of glow in the dark paint.

2. Spray each member of your class. Apply liberally.

3. Let students dry thoroughly.

4. Once students are dry, turn off the lights and observe the glowing students!

5. Remember to make sure that the lights are off in the hallway so that all may observe that your students are glowing.

I shared this humorous incident to illustrate the importance of properly defining what type of DLO's you are striving for. 

Class Exercise

One of the best ways to learn something is to practice it. So let's take a practice lesson and go through it step by step. First, you need a class. Your class is an adult class with an age range of 25 - 35 years. The central passages of the lesson  Malachi 3:10 and ACTS. The title of the lesson in the student and teacher's book is "Tithing and Giving".  

Area # 1 is Skill. What skills are needed for this? Tithe means 10% so that means look at the amount and move the decimal point one place to the left. Take offering envelope from the little rack on the back of the pew. Insert money or check into envelope. Lick and seal envelope. Write name on front of envelope. Drop envelope in offering plate. I would say that teaching a skill here is not the area we need to focus on.

Area # 2 is Knowledge. Do the members of the class know what tithing is? Is this a new fact for them? Let's say that for the most part that that have heard of tithing, so knowledge of what tithing is would not be seen as your main thrust. Let's say this needs 5% of your teaching effort just to review a basic definition.

Area # 3 is Understanding.  ( Here we need differentiate between knowledge and understanding.)

I will illustrate this by using this example by answering this question: How do I get from Memphis, Tennessee to London, England?

Knowledge says, "To get from Memphis to London..... you will need to fly there."

Understanding says, "To get from Memphis to London..... you will need to fly which means you must make reservations on a flight to London. This will cost you about $4500 for two people round trip first class. You must also have a passport. If you do not, you need to get this done and allow 6-8 weeks before you plan on traveling. You will need to make reservations at a hotel for the time you are planning on staying there. You may want to get some information on London so you can plan what you want to do while you are there......" Understanding is more in depth and detailed. It is considered by some to be the next step after knowledge. 

Back to our task.....Do your class members understand about tithing. Do they understand that this is God's way of supporting the ministry of the church? Do they understand what the money goes toward? Do the members of your class understand the church budget? Do the members of your class realize that they are called to fund the Great Commission? Do they understand that God will bless them for their giving? These are questions that you must ask yourself as the teacher. For the purpose of this exercise, lets say most people in your class have been around the church long enough to know how ministries are funded, and are familiar with Malachi 3:10. Some of your efforts may need to touch on these points for review.

Area # 4 is Attitude.  Attitude is mental position, feeling or emotion toward something such as a fact, or truth and a readiness to respond or refuse to respond by action, obedience or involvement. Attitude is not just a mastering of facts. It is very much of an indicator of the heart and one's devotion to God. Prayer then becomes a critical tool in your lesson

Let's review......what we have determined by this exercise? It is safe to say that skill is not the area on which we need to focus. Knowledge may be something that you might want to touch on briefly but, this will not be the main focus of you lesson preparation. In the area of understanding, you may consider it necessary to review this to set the stage for the main thrust of your lesson preparation will be geared toward attitude.

Your lesson's DLO then might look like the circle in the example below:  Notice that the circle overlaps into more than just one area and that is perfectly acceptable. This will help you sharpen your focus in lesson preparation so that you can maximize the impact on your class on Sunday mornings and make sure that learning is happening in your classroom!

For Adult Sunday School classes I would like to recommend that you look at the Lesson Preview Sheets and the Class Action Sheets available from Wright Track Ministry. Click on the words to see a sample. These tools will help you to focus your Sunday School teaching time.

Assignment

Your assignment is to look at the next 6 lessons in your teachers' manual or pick 6 lessons at random form the Bible and go through this exercise, defining class needs and the DLO. Make this a part of the way you look at any lesson.

JER for NMW3  10-15-2000