CONFIRMATION: Reel 06B Discussion Success!

 Dos and Don'ts That Make Confirmation Discussion a Success! 

This reel is all about how to get confirmation to think and share. Facilitation discussion is an art that takes practice, anyone can do it. 

CONFIRMATION: Reel #6A Discussion is Good!!

 Facilitate Discussion Like a Pro

Real education only happens when our minds are engaged, but how do you do that with middle schoolers? Get some great tips right here.  

CONFIRMATION: The Art of Teaching Reel #4 Sermon Notes

Does anyone appreciate sermon notes? 

Some pastors use them to track worship attendance; some kids don't even think about what they write; and some parents just see them as busywork. What can we do to fix that? Find out here. 

CONFIRMATION: The Art of Teaching Reel #3 Accountabiity

 What's the big deal with accountability? I do that!

Do you? What does it look like? 

As teachers of the faith, we teach kids the most important information they will learn in their lifetime. How do you make sure they're learning it? Find out here. 

CONFIRMATION: The Art of Teaching Reel #1 Purpose

The Art of Teaching the Faith, Reels with Laura #1

Sometimes we think that it doesn't matter how we teach confirmation. We survived it, and our kids will survive it, too. But is that what we really want in a society that is less and less interested in Christianity and more and more interested in convincing people that it makes no sense in the world today, people are much less civil, kids are encouraged to disrespect anyone older than them, and there really is no authority? No. We want our kids to have faith and follow the Lord so they can live in God's grace. That's why the way we teach the faith, especially in confirmation, matters. 

With the desire to help anyone who teaches confirmation love it, and teach it more effectively to middle schoolers, I'm creating some reels based on my book, The Art of Teaching Confirmation. Every year we think teaching well is unimportant, we fail. You can find the videos on my website, teachthefaith.org/confirmation, on YouTube, and I'll be posting them here. They're short, practical, and, as is my goal in teaching, will get you to think.   Here's the first one: Purpose & Goal

CONFIRMATION: Technology in the Classroom

Technology is a tool, not a teacher!

I first posted this information in 2012. Since then technology and its use has skyrocketed. While kids are very used to using technology in the classroom, we can see that according to brain research, our brains still learn the way they did when God created the world. 

  

Educational research continues to indicate that while technological resources have the opportunity to enhance a lesson, there are still some things that provide greater learning, such as discussion, which requires both thought and interaction with the information. Nobody can think about anything for which they have no information and some things need practice. Students become better readers when they read, and math facts have to be memorized and used repeatedly. That being said, there are some great web resources out there that can enhance your confirmation class. 

First, we all know about Bible apps that are nice on your phone, but I still recommend that confirmation students use a real printed Bible and are provided learning activities that make them use it. 

Quizlet

I use Quizlet often to help confirmation students learn terms, and let's be honest, there are a lot of terms in the Small Catechism that kids are not used to. I also use it for a review when we have a snow day or, if for any other reason, we have to cancel class. It's primarily flash cards, but flash cards are useful tools and there are also games that can help with review. If you search for my name you can see what I've got up for my students. Try Quizlet.

Jeopardy Labs

Jeopardy Labs is a game template that allows you to create a customized Jeopardy game without needing to create your own slides. The games you make can be played online from anywhere in the world and if you use their simple editor, are easy to create.  These types of games are great for review or to find out what the students already know about specific topics. Categories might be:  church history, Martin Luther or the reformation, Lutheran doctrine, Bible 101, Hodge Podge (anything), or Small Catechism. Try JeopardyLabs.

Teachers Pay Teachers

There are a number of games on Teachers Pay Teachers, but they are not free. Most of them seem to be for Catholic students. I've not checked them out, but they do use technology. Try Teachers Pay Teachers.

Web Quest

A web quest is an inquiry-based lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. Put simply, a web quest is a list of hyperlinks students visit to retrieve information. The best way to create a web quest is as an activity that is assigned to be completed at home to prepare them for discussion the following week and should probably take no more than 15-20 minutes. You might find it easier to put a bunch of information on slides for them, but it's certainly not as interesting than having them seek out the information. It would be best used in the areas of historical inquiry, researching and understanding what other religions believe to compare and contrast to Lutheranism, etc. Students may use the web quest to gather information but the goal is to have them use it! The WebQuest website is currently being updated, but the message says it should be up in March 2025. When available try WebQuest.

For more information about teaching confirmation, look at my books: 

The Art of Teaching Confirmation and The Art of Teaching Confirmation Resources. 

CONFIRMATION: The Memory Work Conundrum

 As the illustration shows, memorizing is simply practicing knowing something. Remembering something for a long period of time, takes time. There's no way around it. True memorization takes repetition over time.

I often hear pastors or other confirmation educators complain about students and memory work. The common complaints are:

• Kids aren't doing it. 
• Parents aren't making kids do it. 
• I (the teacher) am the only one who cares.
• I don't have any leverage, so why expect it? 

I was a professional educator of middle and high school students for many years and wrote two books on confirmation called The Art of Teaching Confirmation, and its companion called The Art of Teaching Confirmation Resources to help confirmation educators understand why how they teach makes a difference. There is important information in those books regarding why we don't want kids to stop memorizing, how we can get parents on board, and what confirmation educators need to change to make it happen, as well as resources to help with that. There are two areas that I want to encourage: 

• Expectations
• Accountability

EXPECTATIONS

Make sure they know you expect it. Let's be honest, if kids think they can get away with not doing it, they're not going to do it. If parents don't think it's important (because they don't remember anything they memorized), they won't make their kids do it either... unless you expect it.

• Kick-off Meetings - At the beginning of every year, I have a kick-off meeting to make sure everyone is on the same page with what's required. Never assume they know what you expect. Not only do I provide a calendar or a simple syllabus, but I talk about behavior and academic expectations. 

First, I ask parents to think about why they want their kids to be confirmed. They should know the reason and it helps the teacher know where they're coming from. Then, I hand out FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) and we talk about them. They include some history and tradition of confirmation, its purpose, how parents can support their kids through confirmation, how parents can also support the pastor, what is taught, why memorization and sermon notes (connections) are important, and why confirmation has a place in our culture today. 

 

Then, I talk about expectations. I go over what I expect of their behavior and let them know that I will contact them if their child behaves in a way that consistently disrupts class. Next, I share the requirements for participating in the privilege of confirming their faith. Finally, I ask a very important question: "Why do they think I am here?" This one is unexpected. I explain that I'm not here because it's my job. I think confirmation is important to their kid's faith and why it's important to start talking about it at this age. "If you're not going to expect your child to do the work or don't think the work is important, what do you want them to get out of it? If they haven't learned anything, what is it that they are confirming that they believe and why do they believe it? What is the benefit for them and what does it teach them about their faith or the church? Confirmation is not a requirement for salvation, but teaching about God and His plan for their salvation is. The FAQs are also discussed in The Art of Teaching Confirmation Resources, and there's a post about them on this website here. 

 

ACCOUNTABILITY 

• Checklists - I know people don't think they should officially keep track of grades for confirmation, but we don't keep track to grade the kids. We keep track of their progress for informational purposes. I use a simple minus, check mark, and plus. (Minus: not much effort, Check mark: acceptable effort, Plus: good or great effort)
  I promise it will help you if parents know you're keeping track of attendance and work. If you don't keep track, when you say a student isn't doing their work, you have no data to fall back on. Also, all it takes is a check mark every week and you have everything you need to let students and parents know that you care about them learning, enough to pay attention to how many classes they've missed and what work they need to make up. On the confirmation page of this website there are checklists. Use one or create your own. Resources for this are also in my book, The Art of Teaching Confirmation Resources. 

• Progress Reports - A progress report is never a bad idea. It periodically lets parents know how things are going. Since class usually only meets weekly, I only give one once a year, unless it's obvious that students aren't doing their work. They can either be printed or via a phone call. If a student is missing work two weeks in a row, a parent should be notified. It's always better to take care of these things right away. It doesn't help to wait until they're months behind to speak up about it. 

Unfortunately, a lot of parents don't think confirmation work or memory work is important because most kids/people only remember it until they say it and after that it's gone, because of how we do it. Basically, if you make somebody memorize something and then they never say it again, they will forget it almost immediately. Where the brain and memory is concerned, use it or lose it is absolutely true. 

Why don't kids see the value in it? Because they're 13-14 years old. No matter how many cheers or pep talks they hear, they're not going to care. They're kids. They need some real consequences for not doing the work. That's why we need the parents to understand why it's important. 

LEVERAGE

Without grades, there are very few options for leverage. It's a volunteer class and we worry that if we push, parents will take their kids out. Nobody wants that. What are the options? Confirm kids who have done nothing all year and know nothing about their faith? What is the point in that? 

The reality is, there is leverage, but we have to be careful how we use it. No pastor wants to tell a parent that their child hasn't done any work and won't be confirmed, but again, that's your strongest leverage. It's the last chance, but it's there. There are other things to do first. 

1. Have a chat with the student and ask them why they seem to not be interested in doing the work or knowing this information. Why not? 
2. Have a chat with the parents and let them know of the problem. They may share with you some challenges their child has with the work. Adjust it. 
3. Let them know that confirmation can be done later, if the student is not ready.
4. Remind them that confirmation is not required for salvation. 

The bottom line is that we should never confirm a child who has learned or thought about nothing with regard to their faith, but you don't know what they believe until you have a chat with them and ask. 

OPTIONS

We don't have to do it the way it's always been done where kids go home, say it to their parents before class the next week, somebody initials or signs the form, and it's considered memorized. Saying it once and getting a form signed doesn't mean they've memorized anything. Read more about the brain and memory in The Art of Teaching Confirmation. Here are a few options:

1. Give them a list of what they need to memorize throughout the year and let them do it at their own pace. You still need to keep track of what they have known and it's good to have random memory checks in class. Let them say anything they know, but they can't say the same one every time. 
2. Put the memory work on the pre-service worship slides every week and right before the service starts, have everyone say it together. 
3. This one is my personal opinion, however, I prefer to have students memorize God's word over the What does this mean? information in the catechism. Once they say that in class, nobody every repeats it. When you're 14, it's not long before those synapses are overwritten. 
4. Put time aside for a quick memory review each week where you ask a question and they need to answer it with one of the memory verses. For example, ask a question about baptism and they can respond with Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, etc. That also helps them apply it. 

For the record, most of the adults in the pews on Sunday don't remember their memory work. Give them a review too! Change the verse every month.

CONFIRMATION: What's a good confirmation teacher?

 Sometimes parents complain about their church's confirmation teacher, which is often the pastor. Sometimes kids complain too. Let's be honest. Middle school kids complain about anything they don't want to do and think they can get out of by complaining. Sometimes parents buy into it and sometimes they see through the complaints and know that the purpose of confirmation is greater than kids realize.  So, when we start deciding what a good confirmation teacher is, we should start at the beginning. 

What's a good teacher? 

Can kids recognize a good teacher? What is their criteria? Most kids, especially teens, consider a teacher good if: 

• They're getting a good grade. What if everyone in that class is getting a good grade? Is getting a good grade more or less important than earning that grade and learning? 
• The teacher is fun or funny or cool. What if the most popular teacher is also the one who has the lowest academic and behavioral standards? Is caring about what a student learns more or less important than being cool? 
• The teacher is too lenient and students can easily change his/her mind or get away with things they shouldn't. Is holding a student accountable for their choices more or less important than them getting their way? 
• The teacher has low academic expectations or homework as long as they get a good evaluation. 

If a student's only criteria for good or bad teaching is how they feel, can they truly know the difference between a good or bad teacher? Kids are kids. That's why they need parents and teachers who care enough to do what's best for them even when they don't like it. It is common for a child to tell their parents that a teacher is bad if:

• They don't like the class and don't want to be there.  
• They are getting a bad grade. 
• The teacher consistently expects them to do their best. 
• The teacher isn't fun because his/her first priority is that they learn.
• They hear their parents speaking badly about the teacher at home.
• They think their parent will automatically agree with them.  

It's important that teachers be approachable and friendly, but they are often portrayed by students as bad teachers because they know they are about to get in trouble for something they know they should have done, or shouldn't have done. It's the same with parents of teens. You're the greatest parent in the world when you let your child do what s/he wants, but the minute you say no, you're the worst. Sometimes a child's favorite teacher is a favorite because of their personality and not their teaching expertise. Let's not discount some important things about that though. Good teachers: 

• Care about their students as people and show that in how they interact with them. They're friendly even though they have standards. 
• Care about whether or not their students are learning what they're being taught. They're approachable and ready to help. 
• Teach students more than their subject, but also about life, accountability, the value of hard work, and the benefit of good habits and character. 
• Want to partner with parents so they communicate with them when their children are not doing the work they should be doing. 
• Have requirements that benefit their students even if they don't see that benefit yet. 
• See the bigger picture of their student's life and try to prepare them for  challenges and what comes next. 

What's a good confirmation teacher?

If you're a parent or a student, before you complain about a pastor or other teacher of confirmation, check this list. Does your pastor/confirmation educator: 

• Care about getting to know your child?
• Care about whether or not your child participates in class learning activities?
• Care about whether or not your child is doing their memory work? 
• Attempt to give your child the information necessary in a way they can understand it? 
• Attempt to help your child understand difficult doctrinal concepts through stories and examples? 
• Attempt to get your child (and their parents) to read the Bible? 
• Make himself available to have difficult conversations about the Bible and life? 
• Let students and parents ask questions about anything they may be struggling with? 
• Talk to parents about the importance of putting their child's faith above sports? School sports usually last until kids graduate from high school, and sometimes college. Faith is both lifelong and eternal. 
• Expect your child to do the work necessary to increase their faith? Or has it been watered down to the point where it's fun, but they aren't really learning much? 
• Care about whether or not your child will meet you in heaven one day? 

These are the qualities of a good confirmation teacher. If your pastor does these things, you should not be complaining, but appreciating and thanking. 

CONFIRMATION: Faith Journeys

 My husband started doing something in confirmation this year that I think is a great idea. He was having trouble feeling like the kids were connecting with their faith. After all, they're 13 and 14 years old. Hearing about God or faith from a pastor is expected. Hearing about God or faith from the pastor's wife is expected. Hearing about God and faith and life from people in the congregation that you know, however, is something else. 

Kids these day see everyone's best life online and most people don't talk about the challenges they face in life, either online or face-to-face. Many parents have a tendency to want their kids to be happy, not understanding that they should teach them how to cope with life's physical and emotional challenges by how they cope in word and deed. Nobody wants to admit that life can be disappointing, painful, and full of unexpected sorrow. Some dreams come true, and some don't. Happiness is elusive, it comes and goes, and is not a good life goal. How do we get through the hard times? Faith. If you don't see how your parents' faith uplifts and encourages them in hard times, you won't know how valuable it will be for you too. There are also people the kids see every week in church that they may not realize have had or are having challenging lives. Kids just don't see it. 

To help kids understand the benefit faith is in navigating life, my husband (who has a 2 hour confirmation class with a 10-15 minute break), personally invites a member of the congregation to come and tell their faith story. He gives them 10-15 minutes of class time. 

Of course, you want to give them a bit of guidance regarding what to share. My suggestion is to give them a few questions to think about: 

• Since faith is not a feeling, how and when did you realize that you had it? 
• Do you pray? How do you find it helpful? 
• We often forget about our faith during good times. How did your faith help you during a hard time?
• How does faith affect your daily life?
• How does attending worship help you in your everyday life? 

This could be a great idea for high school Sunday school as well. Help kids connect faith and life!

CONFIRMATION: What do you believe and why do you believe it?

 Every year in the Lutheran church we confirm the faith of 14 year-olds and then nothing. We, essentially, tell them to repeat the answers we've given them and then tell us in public that they're willing to die for their faith in Christ because He died for them. It's been going on for centuries (beginning in the early Catholic church). 

The average life expectancy is 80 years today and the brain is fully developed at about age 25. Dr. Frances Jensen (2015, The Teenage Brain) tells us that the teenage brain is "like a brand new Ferrari. It's primed and pumped, but hasn't been road tested yet." In middle school their bodies release hormones and the brain has to learn how to deal with them. Their frontal lobe, the part that deals with executive functions and self-regulation, is the last part to develop. This area is the CEO of the brain. It's the manager of the other cognitive operations, deciding what to do when, dealing with planning, focusing attention, remembering instructions, and the ability to do multiple tasks. While the emotions are ready to run, the part of the brain that says, "Slow down, buddy, this may not be a good idea," is still under construction. 

Think about it this way. Children begin being able to think abstractly and logically in the middle school years, so it's a good time to start them thinking about faith (an abstract concept) issues. That's about (because brains don't all develop at the same rate) age 12. For the first 12 of their possible 80 years they're not ready to understand the complex issues talked about in the Bible, but can learn about it. We teach them stories and introduce them to God, Jesus, other people in the Bible, cultural issues, etc. (2021, The Art of Teaching the Faith: Preschool through Adult). Then, at 14 years-old (just 2 years later), we teach them the doctrine of the Christian faith (the 6 Chief Parts), have a big party about it, and then... nothing... for the next 66 years. 

I am not saying that we should do away with Confirmation. I'm saying that it's time we put it in perspective. It's time we realize what's going on in a 14 year-old's brain and life and not expect this to be their moment of great commitment. Fourteen years is the first 20% of an average life, of which 85% of that is too young. It's similar to expecting an 18 year old to decide what they want to do for the next 52 years of their life. Fortunately, changing your job doesn't affect your eternal life. 

My bigger question is this: How do you teach confirmation and what is your expectation of the outcome? How long do you expect them to remember what they've learned in 7th and 8th grade? In 2 years time, if a friend asks them whether or not the 10 Commandments are valid today, why we baptize babies, or how on earth we would believe the Lord's Supper contains Jesus' body and blood, how will they respond? If that friend then presses with, why do you believe that? Can they answer with anything other than, "I'm not really sure," or do we prefer "that's what my pastor told me." 

So, what do I mean when I say we should put it in perspective? 

• Do not assume that memorizing the catechism or all the right answers will stick with them the rest of their lives... or even until they graduate high school. 
• Do not assume that kids who do well in confirmation class at 14 will have a faith that lasts 66 years. 
• Do not assume that because the box is checked in the database that they've been confirmed, that they have any idea of what the Bible says or teaches. 
• Without regular revisitation, most, if not all, will be forgotten sooner than you realize whether you have them write an essay, participate in a questioning night, or create a video, or not. 

What's the answer? It's not about starting earlier. It's about continuing through the 80% of their life that occurs after the age of 14. 

Some people will never want to learn more than they did in confirmation. Some will study and learn for the rest of their lives. You can't depend on people showing up for a class to review the 6 Chief Parts, especially the way we currently educate. A simple, easy to participate form of Confirmation review needs to be built into the regular life of your congregation, and no, friends, I do not mean that you should copy and paste sections of the catechism into the weekly bulletin. 

I'll post more about what that would look like next time. 

CONFIRMATION: Is it time to change how you teach confirmation? Probably.

 In a new podcast I answer the question: Why should you change how you teach confirmation? There are some pretty compelling reasons to consider how you teach and how middle schoolers learn. Take a listen here. 

CONFIRMATION: Respond to a Meme or a Picture

Below you'll find the memes included in THE ART OF TEACHING CONFIRMATION RESOURCES Leader's Guide for use for warm-ups. You can also search for images or memes in your browser. 

Intro & Bible

Ten Commandments

Lord's Prayer

Confession and Forgiveness

 

 

CONFIRMATION: The Art of Teaching Confirmation RESOURCES

THE ART OF TEACHING CONFIRMATION RESOURCES

It's available now! I just released the leader's guide for pastors and other confirmation educators on Amazon. The REPRODUCIBLE student workbook is available under the BOOKS tab on is website. In this leader's guide you will find warm-ups, notes pages, learning activities, and cool-downs for Luther's Small Catechism. This is NOT a curriculum, but a variety of resources that can be used to supplement any curriculum you use. Find a sample of the 10 Commandments unit here.

Find the leader's guide on Amazon this month only (Aug. 2021) for $24.99! 

EDUCATION: The Art of Teaching the Faith

The Art of Teaching the Faith introduces the stages of faith education and the concept of Bible Inquiry. Knowing how to teach effectively at every stage of life and development is key to having deeper understanding. How do we teach the faith to kids who are in the Narrative Stage? What is different about how they learn in the Knowledge or Understanding Stage? What about adults? Do they learn best through lecture? If so, how do we lecture in a way that engages them?

What is Bible Inquiry and how do we get students of all ages to want to know more about God’s word? How do we encourage curiosity and questions? Find insight, support, and encouragement for teaching and training volunteer teachers  to share the Bible with young children, teenagers, and adults; teaching them to interact with what they read in the Bible in a more meaningful way in The Art of Teaching the Faith. Available for a short time for $13.99 on Amazon.

- - - - - - - - - - 

I am so proud of this book! My passion in life is to help people teach the faith better. Why? Do we really need to teach better? My youth think I'm a good teacher. My pastor thinks he's a good teacher. What does good teaching look like? Good teaching is a class that asks questions and participates in their learning experience. It's not about fun activities or how funny the teacher is; it's about active minds. How do we do that? With BIBLE INQUIRY -- It's about the questions asked by leaders and participants and, believe it or not, how they're answered. Find out about that in this book! Then ask for my workshop where we'll practice dynamic, effective teaching of the faith. 

Don't forget The Art of Teaching Confirmation! It's geared to educating students in middle school. 

EDUCATION: Sing the Faith

I just discovered a great YouTube resource to help kids memorize the Small Catechism. It's called Sing the Faith. Check it out below. 

CONFIRMATION: Online Final Exam

This year,due to the disruption of Covid-19, we ended up creating a final exam for the students to take online. We wanted ot use Google Forms and had a few concerns though: 

1. We only had the 8th graders for one year and didn't know what they learned from the previous pastor, so there are parts of the test that were simplified.
2. We chose to have them test at home, but knowing kids, wanted to make sure they didn't test on their own, so we sent each test to a parent email with very direct instructions. 
3. We wanted the test to be timed and to count any instances that students left the site because it would be more difficult for them to look elsewhere for online help. We used timify.me for this and it worked very well. 
4. We didn't want it to be too long, but also wanted it to be comprehensive. 

As an educator, what I've noticed working with pastors is that they more often ask questions to illicit information, especially from confirmands. They want their students to be able to recite back what they've memorized, which may be why so many still like a questioning night. I prefer there's a deeper understanding and finding out what they are thinking just as much as what facts they can recite back. Some will say that if they get it in their head/heart that they'll carry it with them, which is true, if they truly memorize it, reviewing it over time and not just once one week in a span of a 2 year course. 

It's easy and really beneficial to add answers to the simple questions so that they grade themselves, but you will want to look at the short and longer responses. If you add short answers you may find that the program expects them to match a little too closely to grade them well. I've shortened the number of questions in a couple of sections because we didn't teach those and didn't want to penalize students for past teachers. Look at the test via this link. 

Remember: when kids are working online it's on the honor system. We can remind in instructions and ask parents to oversee, but we'll never know what happens. If there's a little cheating going on, it's not the end of the world. After you grade each test (you can add comments) you can let students see their results and send an email to parents (check the email at the beginning of the exam). I simply let a couple of students know that the pastor would be contacting them before the service.  

 Take a peek below. 

CONFIRMATION: Worship Connections

Confirmation notes, reports, reflection, or whatever they're called at your church can be a challenge. Along with asking students to identify the law/gospel, what the main point of the sermon was, I have seen questions like:

1. What was the law (shows our sin)? What was the gospel (shows our Savior)?
2. What was your favorite part of worship today? 
3. What did your parent(s) find interesting or thought provoking?
4. How would you change today's service? 
5. What was the "theme" of the service? 
6. How is what you heard in the sermon going to change your life? 

I've used some of those questions too. In the law they never ask a witness a question to which they don't know the answer. I have a similar motto for sermon questions. Before you put them on a form, ask yourself how the kids will answer; keeping in mind that they're 13-14 years old. Then look at the answers they're giving and ask yourself if doing this is getting you what you hope for.

My next question is... how are they doing with that? First of all, listening and writing cannot be done at the same time. Listening, reading questions, thinking, and writing is so much harder. Middle schoolers are not taught how to take notes from a lecture. When they get notes at school they come written on a slide or white board and thinking about them is not required: write now, think later.  As for the others:

• Determining law and gospel can be hard for some adults, much less kids, especially when the pastor keeps talking. Imagine what's going on in their heads, "Was that the law?" Student writes. "Wait a minute, what did he just say?" and the pastor never pauses. Of course, students are not dumb. Many will simply write "we can't do it on our own" for the law; and "Jesus is the anwer" for the gospel. It's not wrong, but it's not what you're hoping.
• Most students write these reports or notes during the sermon, which means they miss at least some of what the pastor is saying, and/or whatever happens next in the worship service. 
• Middle school kids are just learning to go deep. They are commonly looking for straight forward answers and love to fill-in blanks. Their brains won't be fully developed for 10 years. Asking them to think deeply about a sermon, pay attention as they finish the service, and turn-in their paper before they leave assures some very short answers. Students who give long answers probably did their report during the rest of the service. 

With many pastors posting their services, or at least their sermons, on social media via video, blog, or podcast, students can go back and listen again at home. However, since confirmation isn't a graded class. and many pastors have trouble holding students accountable, they will usually write whatever comes to mind and hand it in right after worship and it will be accepted.

My suggestion, and what I'm switching to next year, is to stop doing worship or sermon notes or reports and start doing Worship Connections. I'm going to try to connect the readings to each other and the sermon by looking ahead and asking some questions about the readings and the service. Download an example here.

My first one is below. The picture below is difficult to read. It may be easier to download the copy through the link above.

The Art of Teaching Confirmation RESOURCES

Resources to go with
The Art of Teaching Confirmation 
will be out this summer!! 

Resources go with Luther's Small Catechism (CPH, 2017) and are NOT A CURRICULUM. They are downloadable and are intended to enhance whatever curriculum you have created or purchased so that students  interact with the information in a meaningful way. Some of the resources are: 

Student Workbook
Workbooks can be printed/copied and put in binders or bound as desired. Teachers can choose which resources they want to use and print only those for each student workbook.

• Graphic organizers for note-taking including discussion questions.
• All chosen worksheets

Leader's Manual
Each manual includes helpful administrative information and forms, Each of the 6 chief parts includes note-taking pages and a variety of other resources:

• Administrative forms such as student info cards, progress checklists, a progress report form, and two lesson plan forms.
• Information about the purpose of memorizing scripture and how it can be successful, parent participation, classroom tips, and more.
• Memory work forms, progress checklist, and how to do memory challenges. 
• Graphic organizers for note-giving including discussion questions.
• Table Talk - questions to get students talking about each topic at the beginning of class.
• Discussion question cards 
• Notes quizzes 
• Family discussion questions
• Two Sermon Connection forms
• Scenarios for students to discuss real life isues. 
• Final Project ideas, directions, and samples, including essay outlines if that's the chosen project. 

If you're interested in seeing a sample, use the form below and I'll send them in as soon as they are available:

CONFIRMATION: Confirmation FAQ

I've been hearing about a lot of people who've had a number of students and parents ask why they (or their kids) need to go through confirmation classes, especially if they're not required for salvation. My suggestion is to write some Frequently Asked Questions and answers for your website. Many people already have done that, but I see often that their questions are about when and where classes will be held, what students need to bring, and other procedures.

My FAQ were chosen carefully. I did not want to answer every question under the sun nor did I want to have answers so long that they wouldn't be read. If you're looking for some examples, feel free to check mine out:

• What does the Bible say about confirmation?
• What is the history of confirmation?
• What is the purpose of confirmation?
• ​Why did Luther write the Small Catechism?
• ​Should parents be teaching confirmation in the home? ​
• What is the role of parents in the teaching of the faith to their children?
• How can parents support their kids through confirmation?
• How can parents support their pastor through confirmation?
• Is confirmation a requirement for being a member at St. John Lutheran Church?
• What is taught in confirmation?
• Why do we have to memorize so much?
• ​Why do we have to do sermon notes?
• Is confirmation the end of one's religious education?
• Is confirmation still meaningful in the 21st century?

To see the answers go to the St. John Lutheran Church, Sterling, NE website. Remember that learning the Word and the 6 Chief Parts of Christian doctrine is the most important thing we all learn. 

The 10 Commandments show us how God created us to live in a relationship with him and each other. Without him we are without hope and a future. 

The Apostles' Creed describes who we are in a relationship with; briefly explaining the triune God and what he did and does for us. 

The Lord's Prayer is how we are invited to communicate with him and how he teaches us that he wants us to remain in communication with him. 

Baptism is how we are brought into relationship with him through water and the word. 

Confession maintains us in the relationship, continuously bringing us back to him for forgiveness through repentance and confession. 

The Lord's Supper is how he nourishes our relationship, strengthens our faith, and draws us closer to him.

EDUCATION: NO-NO for Fill-in-the-Blank or T/F

I know that people love workbooks that have true/false or multiple choice quizzes as well as fill-in-the-blank notes. Why? Because they're easy to do and easy to grade and on some level we think when students get them completed correctly that they've learned something. Not to mention that they're so much easier to teach. You don't have to come up with challenging questions that students don't answer. It's so much easier for kids to look at the verse and or listen to the speaker and pick the missing word. The problem is that those things don't indicate learning. They indicate listening or looking. Look at the example below.

You can see that the first question is a guess at what someone is going to say. Any number of words can go in that blank, so the first thing students are going to do is to listen for the teacher to start the sentence so they can catch the word. Our brains do not multitask. They can think about something or listen, which is why it's never a good idea to talk while students are writing. They will either write or listen, but cannot think about what you're saying while thinking about what they're writing. Let them write and then talk or talk and then let them write. Get comfortable waiting. You can also see that with the other two blanks there are Bible verses listed. Again, students will look for the missing word, but not think about what the verse says. Do you want them to think or come up with the correct words?  Look at the true/false quiz example below. 

There are two problems with true/false quizzes. One you've got a good chance at a correct guess. When looking it over you'll never know if a student understands more than what is there, understands any of what is there, or was just a good guesser. Also, it's not easy to write a good true/false question. These questions were found on an online confirmation curriculum and anyone could guess the correct answers. (The first question should be revised.) 

It's time to start teaching confirmation with the inquiry method. If you want a more meaningful class that's based in discussion and meaningful interaction with the material, take a look at this book on Amazon.