The best teaching tips

I was a little surprised when I started the Education program at BYU to discover that instead of learning WHAT to teach, we mostly focused HOW to teach.

I didn’t realize that much thought work, planning, and research went into effective teaching!

But pretty soon I was spending my homework time crafting the perfect inquiry-based math lessons and engaging anticipatory sets for literacy.

And, with the super analytical brain that I have, I started seeing these teaching patterns everywhere, from my own professors to church teachers!

I started noticing what my Sunday School teachers, Relief Society teachers, and even bishopric members did great, and what they didn’t do so great on when it came to teaching gospel topics.

And you know what’s cool?

The church has totally made an effort to educate those who are called as “teachers” in the church how to become more effective, through teacher councils, newer high quality teacher manuals, and other trainings.

Because I do think that effective teaching strategies matter.

But at the end of the day, it’s not the most important thing, right?

I’ve learned the gospel from someone who didn’t ask any probing questions.

I’ve felt the Spirit listening to someone reading a quote completely out of context.

I’ve been bored during a lesson, only to have the Spirit bring one particular sentence the teacher says to my mind.

The gospel can be proclaimed by the weak and the simple.

There is no training needed. There is no lesson plan. There are no teaching tips that are necessary to feel the Spirit and to share the Spirit.

How cool is that?!

And in the most important setting, our home, teaching the gospel in the best ways that we personally can will always be good enough.

We are good enough to teach our families.

We are weak. Uneducated in many things. Simple and plain.

And yet, we can teach the fullness of the gospel.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black