Class Structure

Class Structure

It’s easy for us as adults to forget that our students have spent long hours in school at a desk. By the time we have the opportunity to catechize them; they’re not much interested in sitting still for an extended period of time. While children have to go to school, we should strive to find a way for them to enjoy going to religion classes. It has been my experience that the following time frame format works well with most students any time of the day, any day of the week. Simply divide your class time into fourths: a game, an interactive activity associated with the theme of the lesson, a teaching, and prayer time.

Game time: Whether choosing a game everyone will want to be involved in or simply allowing the students time to visit with their friends, allowing for this time is important for building friendships and developing relationships. We’ve tried putting game time at the beginning and ending at of our classes. For us, having it at the beginning works the best. It allows time for the late comer to get to class without missing anything important and it also lets the students get a little of their “gabbing” out of the way before class begins.

Interactive Activity: This can be a skit, a parable type story or a hands-on activity. The important thing to remember is that the activity should be a lead -in to the lesson. A few examples might be: A mock wedding before a class outlining the Church’s teaching on divorce, handing out colored pencils and pictures before a class on various ways to pray, a silly skit before a class on gossip, or a short video clip to introduce the topic.

The Lesson: While it may seem that by dividing the class into fourths leaves you little time to discuss the lesson, try to remember that children and teens learn best when their senses are engaged, plus as much as we hate to admit it, they’re attention span is limited and they’re going to stop listening to us lecture after the first 10-20 minutes anyway. Changing the venue and the way we present what we have to say is to our advantage and theirs.

Prayer time: Although praying before class begins is a great idea. Keep the beginning prayer short. Save the longer prayer time for the ending of class. By waiting until class is almost over, you’re allowing the student’s time to digest the information they’ve been given and put it into a format that fits their individual lives.
In one of the classes I direct, we as leaders pray together at the beginning of class while the students visit. Although the student’s aren’t directly a part of that prayer time, they are being given a positive example of adults praying with a common purpose, outside of a Church setting. The fact that the adults are praying for the success of the class and for them, isn’t lost on them either.
Our prayer time always starts with the forming of a circle and holding of hands. The students are encouraged to center themselves while their theme song plays and let the Spirit of God move them into a place of quiet and worship.
After the song finishes, we hold hands and pray for individual needs by squeezing the hand of their neighbor. I usually have an adult begin the prayer so that a positive example is given to start this part of the prayer time. If the student wants to pray out loud they can. If they choose not to, they have the option of passing by squeezing the hand to their right, allowing the prayer circle to continue. Occasionally I will instruct each student to offer one word or a phrase of prayer without giving them the option of passing. I’ve found that this occasional practice eases the shyness of some of our students who would never consider praying out loud in a group otherwise.
There have also been times with a new group of students when hands are squeezed all the way around the circle without a word of prayer being uttered. Call me stubborn, but in that case, I’ve simply said, “Okay everyone, let’s try it again, and this time let’s hear what’s in your hearts.” Once their shyness is overcome it’s surprising how many of them look forward to this part of the prayer circle.
Occasionally, an extra ornery group will decide it’s funny to squeeze the hand to the left instead of the right, or not squeeze anyone’s hand at all. Of course, this interrupts the flow of prayer time. At such times, I simply stop the prayer, pinpoint where it stopped and ask the ornery party to please offer us a prayer of apology for interrupting our prayer time. If addressed with a serious yet non accusing tone, it sends a powerful message about the importance of prayer time.
We also ask any students who would like individual prayer or those who have friends or family in need to stand in the center of the group and hold out their hands for a special blessing. Although they may need encouragement at first, this usually becomes the most popular part of our prayer time. Many times we have over half of our group in the center asking for prayer. Once they are in the center of the circle, we instruct them to hold their hands out palms up to receive a blessing, while the group on the outside of the circle hold their hands out palms down to offer the blessing. We like to sing “Spirit of the Living God”, but any short prayerful refrain will do as well. Just make sure to keep the song or prayer the same each time to help the students become comfortable with praying this way.
To end our prayer time, we say the Our Father and Hail Mary together. If we have an adult leader who is comfortable with Spanish or more than 4 or 5 Spanish speaking students with us, we ask them ahead of time to lead one of these prayers in Spanish. Most generally our Spanish speaking students are the most comfortable with the Hail Mary.

We usually ask the students to sit after prayer time so that announcements can be made and any handouts can be given.

We end our classes by offering a snack and/or a beverage. After all…what’s a gathering among Christians without food?

While the prayer time I’ve outlined may seem a bit lengthy, I see it as the most important form of bonding we offer. When offered in the format I’ve outlined, our prayer time with 30-50 students is only a 15 minute time span. Praying together cements us as Catholics who care for and about each other. Skipping or shortening prayer time is not an option in my classes. The times I’ve been tempted to cut prayer time out or shorten it is laced with the fear that there may very well be a student in class who has a prayer burden they are waiting to share.