The Mary Poppins bag for SRE teachers
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Having an organised SRE bag is the best way to make sure you have everything you need for your lesson and students
Years ago I learnt the value of having a bag dedicated to SRE, always packed and ready to go. Sometimes when I’m in class and I reach in to take something out, it does feel like Mary Poppins’ bag. Bottomless and full of all sorts of unexpected things.
As I prepare a fresh, organised bag for the beginning of the year here is a list of essentials items for my Mary Poppins-esque bag.
Authorisation card
This is something I know I have to have with me every time I teach SRE. Every 2 years when my new card arrives, I put it straight in a plastic cardholder attached to a lanyard. I know others who keep theirs in their wallet.
My lanyard lives in my SRE bag, so when I arrive at school I can take it out and wear it. It then goes straight back in as I leave school, ready for next week. I’ve made this part of my signing in and out routine. Sign in means it’s time to pop my lanyard around my neck. Sign out is time for it to go straight back in my bag. I find routines like this help me to remember the little details that are important.
Question box
A question box is something I’ve found to be very helpful, particularly in stage 2 and 3 classes. Not only is it a great way to encourage students to ask questions, it’s also a good technique to have for dealing with questions that are important but slightly off-topic. It gives you the option to say to your students “That’s a great question. Can you write it down and put it in the question box so we can come back to it?” This will ensure you answer the question at an appropriate time, without losing momentum in the middle of a lesson. It will also give you a chance to review questions at home, and prepare your answers.
I have found the question box to be much more successful when I introduce it in the first week, and then bring it out and encourage questions every single week. That weekly reminder will encourage students to use it.
Make sure you have everything you need to make it work. My question box contains a pile of paper slips and a pencil, so students know everything they need to write a question is right there for them.
Chatterbox
Last year I had a stage 1 class that were not very talkative until I introduced them to my chatterbox. It’s colourful, fun and on the inside are things like ‘share an interesting fact about yourself’, ‘name something you’re looking forward to’, or ‘do a silly dance on the spot’.
This turned out to be a very effective way for me to begin to get to know the students and to get them to engage right from the minute they step into the classroom. It was also an incentive for them to get to class on time.
There are lots of other ways to achieve this. Starting the lesson with news time or an ice breaker question will also work. Keep this goal in mind as you prepare your lesson too because often the Connect curriculum’s lesson introduction will help you to do this well.
Whiteboard marker
There have been many times that I’ve prepared a great SRE lesson and had it railroaded because something I was expecting to be there to use wasn’t available. Maybe the smartboard, or a CD player, but sometimes it’s a small thing like a whiteboard marker. Either I can’t find it or there’s not one that works in the room.
Related
If my SRE bag really was a Mary Poppins bag I might be able to fit a spare smartboard in it, but since it’s not, I’ve settled with a whiteboard marker and a blue tooth speaker. Anything I need, I need to take with me.
17 quick and easy games for SRE classes
Here are some simple games to build relationships with your SRE students
Where the smartboard is concerned, I always have a conversation with the classroom teacher on week 1 about what equipment is in the room that they are happy for me to use. Get that conversation happening early in the year so you don’t have to wonder for the rest of the year.
Game supplies
Sometimes lessons don’t go to plan, and you have time to fill in, or something fun to change the tone of a lesson. It’s helpful to have a game that can be played quickly and without too much set up or requiring too much stuff. It could be Simon Says or something that is particularly ‘your’ game, for example, Youthworks CEO Craig Roberts loves to play ‘Ping Pong Olympics’.
Music
Songs are a great way to help students learn and remember things from the Bible. There are a myriad great ones that can be used in SRE. I have a playlist of seven. They are my ‘go-to’ songs, whether it’s a planned activity, or if I happen to find myself with a few extra minutes at the end of the lesson. So I always make sure I have what I need with me, whether it be a CD or a playlist on my phone.
Like Mary Poppins, SRE teachers will be in and out of the lives of most of our students but by God’s grace, we pray that we will have a lasting and memorable impact.
As you get ready for a new year, what will be going into your SRE bag?
