Morning Lines #19- Blueberries

  "She gingerly placed a berry in her mouth and felt the rush of surprise as it exploded against her cheeks. Standing there in the dense greenery, Sarah realized she had never before tasted a color, never experienced and enjoyed the elemental, unrefined, sun-water-earth-and-air created color of blue"
                                                                    Jim Minick

    The blueberry and blackberry seasons are beginning. Just like a squirrel I am hoarding some in my freezer for winter mornings of steel-cut oat breakfasts. Along with this foraging I am reading The Blueberry Years by Jim Minick. This is memoir of the time he and his wife bought, cultivated, planted, and developed a blueberry farm. He is an articulate and descriptive writer, much enjoyed as I eat some of my hoard.

Seminary Readiness Activities

  Readiness to learn is essential to a good seminary class. Preparing readiness activities in advance is worth the trouble. Here are a few I am going to use in the first two weeks. They can come before the devotional when students are arriving or they can precede the lesson. They can even be used more than once in a lesson if the concentration is failing.

   Fishbowl-   Cut up questions and put in a fishbowl. Have students draw out one question from a past lesson and be prepared to answer on your signal after roll call. You can also use questions for reading and finding the answer in an assigned paragraph.

    

1-What four books are called the gospels?

2-What does the word Testament mean?

3- How many books are in the New Testament?

4-In what language was the New Testament originally written?

5-Who were the Jews subject to during New Testament times?

6-What is the longest chapter in the new Testament?

7-What is the shortest verse?

8-What is an epistle?

9- Which four epistles have only one chapter?

 Flow Charts-Have students pick up, or hand to them as they enter, a partially complete flow chart to finish. Flow charts are graphical depictions of processes or relationships. Typically flow charts include icons showing particular processes or steps, and arrows indicating paths.

  Alphabet Summary-  Each student is assigned a different letter of the alphabet upon entering the classroom and asked to generate a word starting with that letter that is related to the topic to be discussed. Students share their terms with the class, partner or write it on paper.

Pass out letters A-J and ask them to find a word starting with this letter in the Reading block- Luke 1:26-39
   Possiblities are 
     Angel, Blessed, Cousin, David, Elizabeth, Favored, Galilee, Highest, Impossible, Jesus

Jumbled Summary-  Teacher posts or cuts up and places in an envelope randomly ordered key words and phrases from a lesson. Students put the terms and phrases in a logical order to show understanding.

  From Matt. 1-

      Put these into correct order:

  Mary begat Jesus

  Jesse begat David

  Judas begat Phares

  Solomon begat Roboam

  Jacob begat Joseph

  Abraham begat Isaac

  David begat Solomon

  Joseph was the husband of Mary 

  Mary was kin to Joseph so her genealogy is the same

Letter Writing-  Upon entering the classroom students are asked to write a letter to a specific person or place for specific reasons relating to prior lessons. It encourages students to think about a specific audience and practice skills.

   Write a letter to a fictional friend and explain to them the experience you had outside the temple when Zacharias came out speechless and filled with a vision. Luke 1:5-23

Similarities & Differences-  Either in graphic or symbolic form, representing similarities and differences enhances students’ understanding of and ability to use knowledge. Four forms to use are Comparing, Classifying, Creating metaphors, and Creating analogies.

   Jesus is to John the Baptist like________________ is to ________________.
   Mary is to Elizabeth like ______________ is to______________.
   Baptism is to Jesus like _______________is to _____________.
   The dove was to baptism like ____________is to____________.
   Nazareth is to Bethlehem like ______________is to _________.
   The stable is to the nativity story like ____________is to _________.
   

Here is another Scripture Man Template which is my own favorite. I play this game like this:

1. Make a list of 20 questions which have one word answers. I play this as review but also to dig into a new block of scripture. 
2. Assign each question a grid coordinate, i.e.; A-7, B-10, F-12
3. Pass out the Scripture Man handout and have them fill out the grid with the little pictures. The coveted point is scripture man which they can only place once, worth 50 points. The dreaded points are the three bombs which would wipe out all the previous points they earn.
4. I ask the question and they write down their answer. When all have answered I tell them that if they answered correctly they could have all the points on the coordinates which were assigned to that question. For example; you may have all the points assigned to the robot if you put it there on B-4.
5. Then we go on to question number 2, and ect.
6. After question 20 everyone adds up their points and the Scripture Man is rewarded, or just applauded.

And, I thank-you for reading some of my mystery novel, Rubato. Judith, a piano teacher extraordinaire,  makes a decision which, upon reflection, changes the lives of others, not for the better.

Click here for 19 free chapters

Morning Lines #18- Elevate the Everyday

  The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life and elevating them to an art." -William Morris

    Some mornings there is a riot of sound and color right out my front door. I was party to a bitter feud between a Robin and this Black-Headed Grosbeak. The Robin pinned the Grosbeak on my porch and there he sat on my bicycle handle bars for one-half hour while the Robin screeched at him. He tried to get away only to be cornered again.

      I quietly withdrew inside to hide from the sound and on my way in marveled at the color on the lily,

               the Fuchsia bush,

      and the hydrangea bush, which was once a super-market plant and is now 9 feet tall.

   Some morning nature is on over-load…………………...

Book of Mormon Sunday II- Ether 8-15

   Moroni has introduced a circle here in chapter 12 of the Book of Ether. I think it starts with the enabling power of the atonement which gives mortal man an ability to desire a relationship with deity. If they choose to exercise faith in that deity then a doorway is opened which allows us to know Jesus Christ and by attaching ourselves to Him, through faith, a hope grows that we can be united with him and with our Heavenly Father. The circle goes around again when we then share our love of God with others who we feel charity for, and we extend to them an invitation to know God as well.

   Ether 12:8 "But because of the faith of men he has shown himself unto the world, and glorified the name of the Father, and prepared a way that thereby others might be partakers of the heavenly gift, that they might hope for those things which they have not seen."

   Before Jesus came to earth the law was the way. It was His law and it prepared man to embrace Him, but, His way opened the door to receiving a new heart, truly a more excellent way to renewal.

   Ether 12:11 "Wherefore, by faith was the law of Moses given. But in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way; and it is by faith that it hath been fulfilled."

    Paul, a world away from Moroni, knew the more excellent way was through faith in Jesus Christ, hope in his atoning sacrifice, and charity as a way of being with others.

   1 Corinthians 12:31 "But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way."

    As "natural man", we don't have the inclination to be charitable, but, as "men in Christ" that enabling power of the atonement refines our nature and we begin to love as He loves.

   Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me -- the fountain of all righteousness."

   I think Moroni cared deeply that we, his readers, would be able to accept his message. We, the Gentiles in this case, would have to have charity to do the work of salvation. Our part in the House of Israel is to bring the Church of Jesus Christ into our families and into the lives of anyone we serve.

   Ether 12:36 "And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father."

  In Moroni's view the future requires the enabling power of the atonement in the form of " grace" to ensure that the gospel will go forth. And we know that this power brought forth the restoration in 1830. Through Joseph Smith we can more completely walk the the "more excellent" way of Jesus Christ.

Morning Lines #17- Pooh On The Mat

    Winnie the Pooh has coached me through the enjoyment of jumping, why bicycling is so fun, and now he has joined me on the mat.

   I was anxious to teach him how much he could achieve if he tried Yoga. First we warmed up our leg muscles, stretching and reaching.

    Then on to down dog, which incidentally, he didn't quite get or enjoy as he enjoys putting his nose in the air rather than close to the ground.

    The truth of the matter is, I learned more from Pooh than he did from me. First of all, he reminded me  that it was a beautiful day.

                             And that the sky was an unusual blue without a cloud to see for miles.

      

"What are you doing today?'

   "I'm doing something important."

"Oh, doing what?'

"Listening,"he said.

  "Listening to what?"

"To the birds. And that squirrel over there."

"What are they saying?"

"Oh, that it is a nice day," said Pooh.

"But you know that already," I said.

                 "Yes, but it is always good to hear that somebody else thinks so, too," he replied,"

                                        You are so wise, Pooh. You always keep me centered.

                                And by the way, his favorite asana was relaxation pose.

Scripture Mastery

    Each new year I make the plan to memorize all the scripture mastery verses myself, and then assist all my students to do the same. As the year progresses reality sets in that some students have a much easier time memorizing than others. The goal peters out by January, but this year I want to try again.

Ron White, a two time memory champion, has some tips for memorization.

"Memorizing skills are an art, acquired with training, practice, focus and the desire to improve your ability to remember and recall the information you want to keep. Usually the art of memorization is referred to as mnemonics – methods of remembering information that normally would be difficult to recall. Basically, the principle of mnemonics is to use as many different parts of your brain as possible to set up a code to process the information. 

The style the person learns through has an affect on the sort of mnemonics that can be considered. Visual learners (approximately 65% of the population) are more receptive to mnemonics, but auditory learners are able to adjust to their learning styles by substituting auditory cues in place of visual.  Kinesthetic learners can use their imagination to perform plays or actions, as well as use memory tools to base their memory techniques. Keep in mind that most people utilize more than just one learning style all the time.

Our brains interpret complex stimuli (such as colors, structures, language, emotions) through the senses (sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing). We create a picture in our minds of the world around us through this stimuli and our memories store all of this very efficiently. Much of what we remember is presented in such a way our brain has to “decode” it, making remembering it more difficult. An example would be a handwritten letter.

Points that make things easier to remember, no matter what learning style you use:

§         Make the images you create in your mind pleasant and positive ones.

§         Inject humor as often as possible. We remember more with humor.

§         Take notes and write things down you want to remember

§         Make the images vivid and colorful

§         Understand the material before you try to remember it. If you don’t understand it you won’t remember it.

§         Teach it to someone else. If you can do that you understand it, and it will solidify it in your mind

§         Try creating a simple formula that will make it easier to remember

§         Relate what you want to remember to your own experiences

§         Break things down into smaller segments instead of trying to remember everything at once"

   
     Shannon Foster, The Red Headed Hostess, gave some good advice which sounds like a plan for this year for me.

* Teach­ers:  Let me share how I final­ly fig­ured out how to do scrip­ture mas­tery after YEARS of trial and error!  First quar­ter I worked on them know­ing the key phras­es of ALL 25 (so I focused on games and activ­i­ties that taught them this skill).  Sec­ond quar­ter I worked on over­all doc­trines and prin­ci­ples found in the scrip­ture mas­tery scrip­tures so they became more and more famil­iar with them.  Third quar­ter I had them pass off each scrip­ture with the first let­ters.  And fourth quar­ter I had them pass off each scrip­ture mem­o­rized with no helps.  I found that my stu­dents did MUCH bet­ter with this tac­tic rather than just start­ing with mem­o­riza­tion at the begin­ning of the year.  What I found when I did that is that most of my stu­dents knew the first five to ten scrip­tures and then they burned out.  With my new plan very few of my stu­dents burned out first, sec­ond or third quar­ter, so at least they knew the key phras­es, the prin­ci­ples and doc­trines, and a pret­ty good idea of the words in the scrip­tures.  Also by the time you get to the mem­o­riza­tion quar­ters, your stu­dents are mem­o­riz­ing scrip­tures they have already have had a lot of expo­sure to and it is much eas­i­er for them and they are more excit­ed to put in the work mem­o­riza­tion takes."
   As for myself, I am going to use the app on my I-Phone and get started today.

Morning Lines #16- A Cycle of Things

                 A Cycle of Things

                by ME

It's early

There are few cars on the road

Most are going north

I head off to the south.

I mount carefully

Adjusting my balance

The pedals catch the gears

At first

The way is downhill.

I zip my jacket up to my neck

The wind whirls at me

Making my eyes water

My fingers curl around the brakes

But I don't squeeze,

I breathe..

On level ground

I look

And see houses waking in the sun

Pushing their working occupants

Out the door

Rushing for a boat

Another morning.

Then the pedals resist and I 

Prepare to shift into

A lower gear

My hands clutch the handlebars

As I push and strain to keep moving

Just at the top, the front tire wobbles and weaves

As I fight to stay on.

Later, at night

Re-living the feelings in my head,

I cycle the downhill,

The straight and narrow,

The upside,

And remember that each time

I come back to level ground,

Again.