Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Featured Download: Assessment Pack: Christian Education and Spiritual Formation
My first experience with creating an educational assessment came back when I was teaching a Sunday school class for teenagers. I had just finished a lesson series, and I wanted to get a sense of whether the teens were tracking with me or not before I started something else. So I wrote up a quick evaluation form and printed out several copies for the next Sunday morning. As incentive for the teens to fill out the forms, I also brought a couple boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts.
One of the lines on the form asked the teens to identify their favorite part of my Sunday school class. Can you guess what the majority of my students wrote in that space on that particular day? That's right: "I like the donuts." Can you guess what adjustment I made in my teaching style that day? That's right: I started bringing donuts every week!
And that's the beauty of most educational assessments: they can help you find something to tweak that will improve the experience of those you are learning with (even if it's something minor). That's why I'm excited about this week's featured training resource: an Assessment Pack on Christian Education and Spiritual Formation. It contains several unique tools that can help group leaders evaluate the spiritual and physical atmosphere of the group, as well as learning styles, teaching styles, discussion questions, and much more.
Also this week:
- The article Time to Get Away examines why your group would benefit from a spiritual retreat.
- Bonus! Want to see a printable sample of this week's featured download? Go to our free resources page and click on "Creating An Atmosphere for Growth."
- We've got two cool new icebreakers this week: Cake and Creation and Your Dream Home.
May God bless your faithful service …
Sam O'Neal
Managing Editor, SmallGroups.com
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New Training
Assessment Pack
Christian Education and Spiritual Formation
Use these tools to evaluate whether your small-group methods are resulting in spiritual growth.
Orientation Guide
Four Pack: Orientation Guides
Basic training for several small-groups ministry roles at a nice discount
New Articles
Time to Get Away
Consider taking your small group on a spiritual retreat.
Creating an Atmosphere for Growth
Is your group becoming more and more open toward God's work?
Meeting Builders
Icebreaker
Cake and Creation
A creative, and tasty, object lesson on the subject of origins
Icebreaker
Your Dream Home
Taking a real-estate approach to heaven
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Building a Church of Small Groups
Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson share examples of how small groups provide the kind of life-giving community that builds and empowers the church and impacts the world.
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