Courtesy of John Bushman:
As a coordinator for S&I, it has not been my style to be very controlling. It has been my goal to give great tips and helps, but in the end, the teachers decide what works for them or not.
BUT… now I want to mandate something because it can be so VERY helpful to the teacher and the students. With the teachers I coordinate, I want them to do “The Spot” at the end of each class. But I would think it would be very helpful for any teacher out there.
Let me explain what that is. At the beginning of class when the devotional is assigned and put together (Song, Opening prayer, Scriptural Thought…) I want also someone to be assigned “The Spot”. That student knows that at the end of class, they will be put on “the Spot” and will need to share what was the big lesson they learned that day in class. So in other words, after you challenge your class and testify and close the lesson, then you say, “Billy, it looks like you were on the spot today. What was the big lesson you learned from class today?” And then Billy would share what he learned. There is room for variety with this. One teacher had a big yellow mouse pad that she slaps on a student’s desk to let them know they will be on the spot today. One teacher had a little stuffed dog called, "Spot" she would toss to a student for "The Spot" and then that student would toss to another. You could also call this, "The Takeaway", or "The A-ha". Anything could work.
“The spot” is also good because it shows you as the teacher if the big points came through. I've found this also makes the other kids want to chime in. It also helps review what they learned and keeps them on their toes.
I am also attaching a devotional chart so it will make it easier for your class president to know what to write on the board. Some of you teachers already use something like this, but here is something for the rest of you. Naturally it is nice to have written up on the board what the opening hymn will be, and prayers, etc… But it is a pain to have to write all that up every day and then it cuts into your precious board space. Here is a solution. Have it on a paper (that is laminated with magnets on the back) that you can put up and take down easily. This also gives your class president an outline of what he needs to put up on the board before starting class.
Before I laminated it, I also added a piece of red or blue paper behind it to make it stand out a bit. Naturally, you can do "The Spot" without using this devotional chart. (http://nwseminaryshare.weebly.com/start-of-the-year-stuff.html)
Some teachers assign "The Spot" by placing a sticker underneath a chair before class begins. (~Jenny)
