The Seven Laws of Teaching CCS Senior Rhetoric II The Seven Laws of Teaching

Luke 6:40 “A DISCIPLE IS NOT ABOVE HIS TEACHER, BUT EVERYONE WHEN HE IS FULLY TRAINED WILL BE LIKE HIS TEACHER.”

James 3:1 NOT MANY OF YOU SHOULD BECOME TEACHERS, MY BROTHERS, FOR YOU KNOW THAT WE WHO TEACH WILL BE JUDGED WITH GREATER STRICTNESS.

The Seven Laws of Teaching John Milton Gregory (1822-1898)

1. A teacher must be one who KNOWS the lesson or truth to be taught. 2. A learner is one who ATTENDS with interest to the lesson given. 3. The language used as a MEDIUM between teacher and learner must be COMMON to both. 4. The lesson to be learned must be explicable in the terms of truth already known by the learner—the UNKNOWN must be explained by the KNOWN. 5. Teaching is AROUSING and using the pupil’s mind to form in it a desired conception or thought. 6. Learning is THINKING into one’s own UNDERSTANDING a new idea or truth. 7. The test and proof of teaching done—the finishing and fastening process—must be a RE-VIEWING, RE-THINKING, RE-KNOWING, and RE-PRODUCING of the knowledge taught.

1. Law of the Teacher A teacher must be one who knows the lesson or truth or art to be taught.

The Law of the Teacher If you stop growing today, you stop teaching tomorrow Luke 6:40: “Everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” If you want to help others to follow Jesus, ask God first of all to help you follow Jesus. You cannot make a disciple until you are one. He will use you as His instrument, but He will sharpen and cleanse that instrument to make it a more effective tool in His hands. Embrace that!

The Law of the Teacher – How? “… effective teaching comes only through a changed person. The more you change, the more you become an instrument of change in the lives of others. If you want to become a change agent, you also must change.” Look at 2 Tim. 3:16 - DiReCT The two factors that will influence you the most in the years ahead are the books you read and the people you’re around. “Experience does not necessarily make you better; in fact it tends to make you worse, unless it’s evaluated experience. The good teacher’s greatest threat is satisfaction – the failure to keep asking, ‘How can I improve?” A good teacher learns “where” a student is, knows where they need to go and becomes intent on getting them there quickly and joyfully – but, a teacher only knows the way if they have been there before.

A learner is one who attends with interest to the lesson. 2. Law of the Learner A learner is one who attends with interest to the lesson.

The Law of the Learner The ship needs a captain and you cannot get underway until all hands are on deck – so, do not begin a class until all eyes are on you, all ears open and all mouths muted. Silence can be a great silencer! Pause if needed to re-gather the troops. Never try to teach on credit – only spend the attention that they have! Appeal to their sense of wonder and amazement to keep their attention. Remember, they are still young enough to be amazed by new and amazing things.

The Law of the Learner: Encouragement Teaching tends to be most effective when the learner is properly motivated. Extrinsic motivation : motivation from without. Intrinsic motivation : motivation from within. Developing a strong sense of felt need: people will not learn what they have no felt need for, and will invest themselves in learning that for which they do have a felt need.

The Law of the Learner: Encouragement The key question is: Are you motivated? – Motivated people become change agent. If one-tenth of what you believe is true, you ought to be ten times as excited as you are.

3. Law of the Language The language used as a medium between the teacher and the learner must be common to both.

The Law of the Language Communication is the reason for our existence as teachers. – It’s also our number one teaching problem. To truly impart information requires the building of bridges. This means really knowing one’s students, which in itself means spending time with them outside the classroom. Communication will be more effective to the degree that it is something the teacher deeply knows, feels and does.

The Law of the Language – Intellect, Emotion, and Volition All communication has three essential components: intellect, emotion, and volition – thought, feeling, and action. Whatever it is I want to communicate to another individual, it involves … something I know, … something I feel, … and something I’m doing.

4. Law of the Lesson The lesson to be mastered must be explicable in terms of truth already known by the learner- the unknown must be explained by means of the known.

The Law of Lesson in Action Maximum learning is always the result of maximum involvement. Students will learn best as they are most active in the process. They need to be guided in their practice, taught to properly evaluate their experience, and learn not by repeating their mistakes but by doing the right things. Hearing is the most inefficient means of learning – people only retain at the most 10% of what they hear. But they will retain up to 50% of what they see and up to 90% of what they do.

The Law of Lesson in Action– Quality Activity Purposeful activity implies quality activity. Practice makes better. Experience is the best teacher. We learn by doing. ……… Well-guided practice makes better Properly evaluated experience is the best teacher We learn by doing the right things 18

5. Law of the Teaching Process Teaching is using the pupil’s mind to grasp the desired thought or to master the desired art.

The Law of Teaching Process How people learn determines how you teach – stimulating and directing the learner’s self-activities. The teacher must excite and direct the learner’s self-activities, tell the learner nothing – and do nothing for him – that he can learn or do for himself. What’s important is not what you do as a teacher, but what the learners do as a result of what you do.

The Law of Teaching Process – Think, Learn & Work Basic goals: Teach people how to think – If you want to change a person permanently, make sure his thinking changes, and not merely his behavior. Teach people how to learn – Create learners who will perpetuate the learning process for the rest of their lives. Teach people how to work – never doing anything for a student that he is capable of doing for himself. 21

6. Law of the Learning Process Learning is thinking into one’s own understanding a new idea or truth.

The Law of the Learning Process This is when your lesson becomes their truth Teaching exists to change lives Remember Luke 6:40: “Everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” This is when the student can become a teacher for themselves and for others

Where Learning Happens Teaching that impacts is not head to head, but heart to heart. Plato’s triumvirate of ethos (character/credibility), pathos (compassion) and logos (content). Ethos, pathos and logos are like a pyramid where each is dependent upon the previous. – Character, Compassion, Content. Without the foundation of character/credibility, there will not be the confidence in the teacher which is foundational to the implicit contract between teacher and student. The student needs to know that the teacher cares about him, and third of course, is content.

The need of Readiness The teaching-learning process will be most effective when both student and teacher are adequately prepared. Assignments They precipitate thinking – assignments are mental warm-up. They provide a background, a foundation on which to build. They develop habits of independent study – and this is the most important benefit of good assignments.

7. Law of Review and Application The test of teaching done must be a reviewing, rethinking, reknowing, reproducing and applying of the material that has been taught.

Good Assignments The characteristics of good assignments: They must be creative, not simply busy work. Need a clear objective for the assignments; designed with a purpose. They must be thought-provoking. They should question more answers rather than answer more questions. Stretch the learners’ minds. Assignments must be doable.

1. A teacher must be one who KNOWS the lesson or truth to be taught. 2. A learner is one who ATTENDS with interest to the lesson given. 3. The language used as a MEDIUM between teacher and learner must be COMMON to both. 4. The lesson to be learned must be explicable in the terms of truth already known by the learner—the UNKNOWN must be explained by the KNOWN. 5. Teaching is AROUSING and using the pupil’s mind to form in it a desired conception or thought. 6. Learning is THINKING into one’s own UNDERSTANDING a new idea or truth. 7. The test and proof of teaching done—the finishing and fastening process—must be a RE-VIEWING, RE-THINKING, RE-KNOWING, and RE-PRODUCING of the knowledge taught.

it’s a Trinity thing . . . WHY? . .

Children Coming to Jesus Matthew 19:14 SCC Teacher Training Children Coming to Jesus Matthew 19:14