Trouble Motivating Students to Learn?

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Trouble Motivating Students to Want to Know Christ
As Bible teachers, wouldn’t it be great to have students be so motivated to know the Lord that they would say, like the Apostle Paul, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord …” (Phil. 3:8). Oh, to hear them not only say, “I want to know Christ” but also, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil. 3:10-12).

Sadly, however, Bible teachers sometimes find themselves pushing and pulling students to learn and to grow in the Lord. Face it, people have a lot competing for their hearts and minds.

3 Questions to Ask About Your Efforts to Motivate Students

1) Are you connecting with people in ways that help motivate them?

For students to not only want to learn, but to actually learn, we need to make connections from start to finish in lesson preparation, planning, and presentation.

Training Resource: Help! My students don’t want to be here! They don’t want to learn! Worksheet

2) Are you strategic in connecting students with the God of the Bible and not simply its truths?

To motivate students to believe in absolute truth, we need to present them with a God big enough, great enough, powerful enough, and wise enough to have the final word, to be the ultimate standard, to have absolute authority.

Training Resource: Motivating Students to Believe … And Act on What They Believe Worksheet

3) Are you relying on God, through His Spirit, to do the work through you and in your students’ hearts and minds?

We can’t make people learn. We can whet their thirst and appetite, faithfully planting and watering the seed of God’s Word, but ultimately He is the One who brings the growth (1 Cor. 3:7).

Training Resource: The Holy Spirit & My Teaching Devotional

More Teacher Training Resources: Motivating Students

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Tips for Using Teaching Methods

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Whether using a pre-fab curriculum or writing our own Bible lessons, we need to consider methodology. While God’s truth can stand alone in impacting people’s lives, the way it’s presented can help to whet their thirst and appetite for it. Our Bible teaching methods do matter.

3 Tips for Using Teaching Methods Effectively

While many tips could be suggested about using Bible teaching methods, we’ll limit this post to just three key points. (Click on the links for more help about each tip.)

Rely on the Holy Spirit More Than Teaching Methods

  1. Don’t rely on methodology alone but rather on the Holy Spirit so your students’ “faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Cor. 2:4-5).
  1. Use a variety of methods being careful not to get stuck in a rut using the same method over and over.

Also check out the Sharpening Your Bible Teaching Methods Resource for help with 57 different teaching methods. Within each of those methods are variations, making the number of methods even higher.

  1. Tailor the methods and how you use them to your class. Think outside of the box when the curriculum suggests a method that doesn’t quite fit your class’ interests and abilities, purpose of your class, or the amount of time or space you have.

according to age:

according to type and purpose of class:

also see:

For these tips and more, order the Tips for Choosing and Using Methods Worksheet.

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FAQ About Using Visual Aids in Teaching

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FAQ About Using Visual Aids in Teaching a Bible Class
You may have heard the statistics of how when people learn by hearing alone, they tend to only retain about 10%. When they both hear and see, the potential for retention increases to 50-65%. Hence, visual aids are important.

Questions About Using Visual Aids in Bible Classes

What are the best kinds of visuals to use in today’s world?

We might be tempted to suggest using something with the technology of today. To an extent, that could be a good answer to this question as it meets people where they’re at with means of learning with which they’re accustomed. However, that shouldn’t exclude the use on low tech visualization. When strategically used, a low tech visual can be a welcomed diversion and quite impacting.

The answer to this question comes down to that it depends. It depends on the content and purpose. It depends on the relevancy of the visual to the truth being taught. If something low tech is the best means of visualizing the lesson, that’s what should be used. If images can be projected that fit best, then use that.

What would be the top tip for using visuals in the Bible classroom?

If we could only suggest one tip, perhaps it could be summed up in the word relevancy. 1) The visual needs to be relevant to the content you are teaching. That pertains to the aid itself whether a flat picture, projection, or object. Whatever it is, there should be some obvious link to the truth being taught. It would also mean that once you are no longer teaching on that content, you remove the visual.
2) Visualization should be relevant to the age level of your students. Look for visuals that relate to their stage of life. That could be the age of the people or activities portrayed in the image as well as type of design. It should also be appropriate to their abilities to understand. The younger the age, the less detail and complexity.

You’ll find more tips in the form of an acrostic in the Tips for Choosing & Using Audiovisuals Worksheet.

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Tips for Using Crafts as a Bible Learning Activity

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Using crafts as a Bible learning activity can be a great means of reinforcing truths being learned. The New Testament epistles mention writing certain things as reminders (1 Cor. 15:1; 2 Tim. 1:6; 2:14; Titus 3:1; 2 Pet. 1:12; 3:1). With children, especially, a tangible reminder to take home can serve a similar purpose. It’s therefore important to strategically choose the craft project but also to effectively use it.

An Acrostic with Tips for Using Crafts as a Bible Learning Activity

The following acrostic provides points to remember when choosing and using crafts.

C – challenging yet not overly complicated so as not to frustrate

R – relevant and reinforcing of the lesson and not merely a time filler

A – age appropriate so it fits within their abilities

F – feasible for allotted time, available supplies, and help needed for the size and age of the class

T – tested so you don’t run into preventable problems when students put it together in class

S – safe in terms of materials and tools (i.e., not using pointed scissors with young children)

More Help with Crafts

Be sure to read through the related posts listed below.

Crafts as a Bible Learning Activity DownloadAlso, check out the one page reproducible download, Crafts as a Bible Learning Activity. It does not contain the above acrostic but does give similar tips as well as some additional help. (This page is part of a bigger resource, Bible Learning Activities for Children, that also includes pages on other types of activities.)

The above resource provides some training on effectively using crafts. If you’re looking for craft kits, check out: Craft Kits at Oriental Trading (We are an affiliate of this company so a small commission on any orders helps support our ministry.)

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