Forty days. We have forty days to help young people grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ during Lent. How do we make the most of our time with them? First, think about some ongoing Lenten projects you can do with the students this year. How can you check in with them each time…
Resources on the Web
NCEA 2012 Presentation: 12 Edtech Tools Any Religion Teacher Can Use Effectively
I was so pleased to be speaking at the annual NCEA convention in Boston, MA this year. Thank you to all of you who came to the presentation, listened to some of my tips and shared your own experiences with integrating technology into the religion classroom. As promised, here is the presentation titled, “12 Edtech…
Using Facebook Questions to Teach Religion
More and more teachers are integrating social media into education. I’m glad to see teachers taking small steps in this direction. One natural tool to do this is Facebook’s Questions function. First, let me admit that when I was a teacher I was very wary of Facebook. I was very afraid of my students finding…
Catechetical Link Round-up (Summer 2011)
There have been so many great catechetical links of resources posted on blogs and websites this summer, that I had to share a few. If you haven’t checked out or subscribed to some of these sites, you should definitely do so! Back to School Prayers (Catholic Faith Education) What Web Browsers Can Teach Us About…
Palm Sunday Video
Spirit Juice Studios and Outside da Box Productions have developed an incredible new video for Palm Sunday and Holy Week. If you teach teens or middle school students, this Palm Sunday video is spectacular. The video depicts two young men and their mother listening to the long Palm Sunday Gospel reading. One of the two…
Podcast for Catechists: The Catechetical Leader
I had the pleasure of joining Dorian Speed, Marc Cardaronella, and Jonathan Sullivan on The Catechetical Leader Podcast, a podcast for catechists, DREs, religion teachers, and other parish leaders.
Getting Things Done (GTD) for Religious Educators
I recently read a book by David Allen called Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. At first I thought it was a bit overwhelming with all the lists and organization that it required. I had been experimenting with Stephen Covey’s form of productivity from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, but thought…
Virtual Tour of the Sistine Chapel on Vatican Website – Activities
The Vatican has added another interactive feature to their website. Have you ever been to the Sistine Chapel? Have your students been? With so many things to see in Rome, I was never able to block out the time to wait in line to see it. A “virtual” tour may not be as good as…
End of the School Year Ideas and Activities
The end of the year is quickly approaching for most schools and religious education programs. For teachers this can be just as stressful that the rest of the year. Many students—especially seniors and 8th graders—“check-out” early in the second semester with a bad case of “senioritis.” Other students wait joyfully in anticipation of the close…
Happy Anniversary to The Religion Teacher blog
Well, it has been one year since I launched The Religion Teacher. It has been a great experience and I am thankful for the opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas with you. Since the first post in March 2009, I have shifted my focus away from news and web reviews to pedagogy and practical…
