Sometimes Bible teachers using learning centers get stuck in ruts. They use the same learning centers repeatedly, having students rotate through the centers the same way each time, rarely changing the set-up or the activities on the stations. When teachers get stuck in ruts, students’ learning sometimes gets stuck as well.
3 Tips for Staying Out of Learning Center Ruts
- Keep it fresh and interesting by using different types of stations throughout the year.
Familiarize yourself with different types of learning centers like the following: audiovisuals, arts/crafts, blocks, books, games, God’s Wonders, home living, music/worship, pictures, puzzles, research, stories — And, don’t limit yourself to using only centers you’re comfortable with.
- Keep it unpredictable by making changes occasionally, like not just different centers but also different kinds of activities or resources in the stations you do reuse.
Sometimes simply changing the activity within a center can reignite interest. Using the same activity with different resources can do the same. The Bible Learning Activities Resource covers activities for some of the above mentioned centers. In addition to providing tips for their use, it also gives suggestions of how to use them in varying ways.
- Keep it relevant by doing that which is appropriate to that day’s lesson theme and objectives.
If you can’t make a connection between the learning center and the lesson aim and content, don’t use it. We need to make each moment count with students. The more we use centers that reinforce the lesson, the greater the potential of learning.
Follow these three tips to make learning centers fresh, interesting, unpredictable, and relevant. When you do, you won’t find yourself getting into a rut. “Make the teaching about God our Savior attractive” (Titus 2:10) and students will benefit.