Fall 2012 teacher training

Fall 2012 Self-Guided RE Teacher Training

First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City

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Welcome!

This year, because construction is limiting our access to the building,
we’re trying something different: the Self-Guided RE Teacher Training!

This is a PowerPoint presentation that provides our RE Teacher volunteers
with an overview of:
 Curriculum
 Scheduling procedures and resources available to support RE
teachers
 Classroom supplies
 Sunday morning logistics
Please set aside 20 minutes or so to click your way through this
presentation before your Teaching Team meeting. RE staff will also
schedule some drop in Q&A sessions and tours and be available to meet
with and orient new teachers to help you feel prepared for your service as
an RE Teacher this year.

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Table of Contents

1. Curriculum

2. Scheduling and Resources

3. Classrooms and Supplies

4. Sunday Morning Logistics

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Religious Education Curriculum Goals

Our goals:

(1)We
want children and youth to have fun and feel they are part of our religious
community.

(2)We want children and youth to learn about our UU faith and to gain some of the
basic religious literacy expected of informed citizens in our society.

(3)We want to support young people in their personal and spiritual development so
that they can become capable, connected, and contributing adults within and beyond
our church. We hope each participant will feel…
Capable - Aware that each individual has unique skills, abilities, and talents.
“Something to offer.”
Connected - Aware that our congregation exists as a supportive spiritual community
in which they can find friendship, compassion, and inspiration. “Someone to be with.”
Contributing
– Aware that each of us can choose to make a difference in our own
community and in the world beyond our church. “Something to do for others.”

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Religious Education Curriculum Programs

Tapestry of Faith is the curriculum for our classroom Sundays.
This program was developed by the UUA and is available on line free-
of-charge.
 Tapestry of Faith lessons are designed for 60-minute class
sessions.
 Each lesson session includes a number of alternate activities --
you simply cannot fit them all in a single 60 minute Sunday
school session -- so you will need to read the lessons in
advance and choose which activities seem like they would be
fun and engaging for you as a teacher and for the group of
kids who are regulars in your class.
 If you would like help with lesson planning, Mary or Allison will
be happy to read the lesson and send you a recommendation
of which activities we think you should do. Please email us at
least one week in advance of your scheduled teaching date so
that we prepare and email you our suggested lesson plan.

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Religious Education Curriculum by Grade Level, cont.

The following curriculum programs will be used at 9am this year:
Early Elementary (grades 1-3)- Love Surrounds Us
Upper Elementary (grades 4-6)- Love Will Guide Us

The following curriculum programs will be used at 11am this year:
Grades 1-2 - Love Surrounds Us
Grades 3-4 - Love Will Guide Us
Grades 5-6 – Love Connects Us
Grades 7-8 – Heeding the Call: Qualities of a Justice Maker
Grades 9-12 – Virtue Ethics

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Religious Education Curriculum Availability

There will be a binder with a printed copy of the curriculum located in
each classroom for use by all teachers/staff. PLEASE do not remove
this copy!
We encourage you to use the online version of the curriculum for
planning and preparation. This will save a lot of paper and cost for the
church. It will also allow you to click links to external resources
(images, videos, etc.), which are often included in the lessons.
Each teaching team will receive a link to the online curriculum in a RE
Start Up Info email at the beginning of the year. The links will also be
posted on the church website in the RE Resources tab.
If any teacher volunteer wants a printed copy of the full curriculum,
please email your request to RE Assistant Allison Zafiratos at
REAsst2@slcuu.org.

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Adapting the Curriculum

The curriculum materials we have chosen are a guide for you, but you
should not feel limited or confined by these lesson plans. We want you
to use your creativity and judgment to create an RE class that is fun
and engaging for you as a teacher and for the children and youth in
your class. And in most cases, there are fewer lessons in the
curriculum than there are Sundays, which means there is plenty of
time to fit in new ideas and activities.
To this end, we encourage you to set aside time in your weekly
lessons and in your schedule throughout the year for games, parties,
field trips, social justice projects, or whatever your teaching team and
the kids and families in your class can dream up and support.
Please do communicate with RE Staff and with all of the teaching
team about changes that you are making to the curriculum. We are
happy to assist with scheduling, communicating with families,
logistics, etc.

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Table of Contents

1. Curriculum and Instruction




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Scheduling Needs

Our commitment to families in the church is that we will make every effort
to have two adults in the classroom each Sunday. This is important to
provide a reasonable adult/child ratio for the safety of the children and
youth in our care. It is also important to allow for the development of
supportive and caring relationships between adults and young people in
our church community and to provide support to each teacher volunteer.

We have tried to recruit teaching teams of 3-4 volunteers for every age
group so that you can rotate to turns amongst yourselves to lead teach
and assist in the classroom, and to have some Sundays available to attend
worship services in the sanctuary as well. We hope to use parent
volunteers to fill in as assistants when only one member of a teaching team
is available on a given Sunday.

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Setting Your Teaching Schedule

Each teaching team should try to work out a schedule at your start up
meeting in the fall. You can submit the schedule in writing – as far as you
know it – to Mary or Allison after this meeting.

Teaching schedules are maintained online, in Google documents. Each
teacher will receive a link to the Google Doc for your class in an RE Start
Up Info email at the beginning of the year, along with a link to a Google
Doc tutorial. On the Google Doc, you will be able to view who is scheduled
to teach on any given week, change the schedule based on swaps you
make with other team members, and make notes about which lessons you
have covered or other relevant data.

Each week, RE Assistant Allison Zafiratos will send out an email confirming
who is scheduled to teach and reminding you to submit any requests for
classroom supplies to her. Please do take a moment to reply to this email
so that we know that you are aware that it is your turn and that you plan
to be here!

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Changing Your Teaching Schedule

If you will be unable to teach on your scheduled day.
 First, coordinate with the other RE teachers assigned to your class
and see if one of them can cover the day that you are unavailable.
Change the Google Doc once you have settled the changes within
your team. If the confirmation email for the week has already gone
out, then please email RE Assistant Allison Zafiratos and DRE Mary
Kroener-Ekstrand to let them know of the change.
 If none of the RE Teachers in your team are able to cover the
Sunday, please email RE Assistant Allison Zafiratos and DRE Mary
Kroener-Ekstrand ASAP so that they can begin to search for a
substitute.

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Last Minute Sunday Substitutes

If you need a last minute Sunday substitute, please email AND call both
Mary Kroener-Ekstrand and Allison Zafiratos at the church as early in the
morning as possible.

When you call, be sure to leave a message in their individual voice
mailboxes – do not leave a message in the general church mailbox.

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Resources and Additional Training for RE Teachers

In addition to the online curriculum, each teacher will be given a Teacher
Packet (hopefully at your initial teaching team meeting) that includes many
resources such as…
•Copies of RE Policy and Procedure Documents
•Information about Classroom Management and Discipline
•Suggestions for check in questions, games and other fun activities

Occasional teacher development and support meetings will also be held
throughout the church year.

Please don’t hesitate to call or email Mary with your questions and
concerns.

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Table of Contents

1. Curriculum and Instruction




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Your classroom

Each grade/class has a particular space assigned to you as a home
base. Please take a moment at the beginning of the year to browse
around your classroom. You will want to take particular note of:

Emergency evacuation information near the door

Location of First Aid Kit, usually in a cabinet labeled on the outside

Behavior covenants

Bulletin Board Space available for class use

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Supplies in the Classroom RE Cabinet

Each classroom has a RE cabinet. The cabinet has been organized to
enable you to find the materials that you need each week.

At the beginning of the year, each RE cabinet is stocked with the
following supplies:
 Construction paper
 Scissors
 Crayons, markers and colored pencils
 Glue (bottles & sticks)

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Teacher Supply Room

Room 206 is our Teacher Supply room. In it you will find many craft
supplies, games, books, etc. that you can use in your classes. The
room is unlocked on Sunday mornings. You can gather your own
supplies and/or send children in to get the items you need for your
class.

Please remove only what you expect to use so that supplies are
available to other teachers.

Please return any unused items to the places where you found them.

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Multimedia Supplies and Procedures

Many RE teachers enjoy using internet resources in the classroom. We
do have WiFi throughout the RE building. The password will be sent to
you in the a RE Start Up Info email.

The RE department owns a projector and speakers that can be
connected to a laptop (yours or ours) to display online resources in
your classroom.

Anytime you are using technological resources in your class, please
allow extra time for set up and troubleshooting. And have a backup
plan in mind (a game, a more traditional craft project, a book to read,
etc) in case the internet is down or other technological failures
interfere with the best laid plans…

We own a tv/dvd/vcr which can be rolled into Little Chapel on a cart
for your use. Please let us know in advance that you will be needing it.

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Other Teaching Spaces

While your regular classroom will be your usual meeting place, there
are other spaces available if you need space for movement, a place
where you can set a different tone or mood, or other alternatives.
Some of these spaces are:

The playground and lawn area

The meditation garden

Little Chapel

Off site (requires special permission, please contact Mary)

If you know that you will be using an alternative space, please let
Mary or Allison know so that we can avoid conflicts with other classes
and so that we can find you if we need you.

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Table of Contents

1. Key Curriculum and Resource Changes

2. Online Resources

3. Classrooms, Snacks and Supplies


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The following will ensure a smooth start to your RE class.
 Arrive at least 15 minutes early, and go to your classroom to
check that all lesson-specific supplies are there.
 Missing items? Look in the RE cabinet and Teacher Supply Room
first, and then contact Mary or Allison.
 Join us in the Sanctuary for the beginning of the worship service.
After the first hymn, exit through the door to Eliot Hall and
proceed to the Little Chapel.
 While in Little Chapel, pick up your classroom folder from the
rainbow drawers. This will contain your roll sheet and other forms
you may need.
 RE Staff or a designated volunteer will help you gather your class,
welcome newcomers, and send you off to the classroom. They
may also give you special instructions about snack.

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Sunday Morning Logistics:
Taking Attendance

You will take attendance using the roster in the class folder.
 Taking attendance is a priority and should be done early in the
class. It is easy to do during an opening check in.
 Taking attendance early lets you know who is there in case of an
emergency, and to welcome visitors at the beginning.
 When taking attendance, list each visitor’s first AND last name on
the roster. When the parent picks up a visiting child, please ask if
they have completed a visitor form. Hopefully RE Staff will have
already collected the form. However, if not, please find one in your
folder, have the parent complete it, and return it with your roll
sheet.

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Usually, kids love snack time. Our RE kitchen will be stocked with basic
non-perishable snack items such as animal crackers, pretzels, etc.
 If you wish to have snack during your check in, as some classes
do, please pick it up in the RE kitchen before heading upstairs to
class.
 If you wish to have snack on the playground at the end of class,
please pick it up on the way outside.
 If you wish to serve snack in the classroom at the end of class,
please send a volunteer (teacher assistant and/or child)
downstairs to pick it up when you are ready.
 Please remember to load trays, cups, and pitchers in the
dishwasher and put away any other kitchen items that you use.

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Clean Up

At the end of your class, please plan to engage the kids in clean up.
Tables should be wiped down, especially following messy crafts and
snacks.
Chairs should be stacked so that the custodian can clean the floor.
Unused supplies should be put back where they belong.
Garbage and recycling should be placed in appropriate bins.
All windows should be closed and locked.

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Class Happenings and Incident Reports

There are two important forms in the RE class folder- Class
Happenings and Accident/Injury Reports.
 Class Happenings and Notes to Mary should be completed by
the RE teacher each Sunday. This is your opportunity to provide
feedback about the lesson and to provide any info about issues in
the class that the DRE should know about. Place them in the class
folder with your roll sheet and return the folder to the rainbow
drawers in Little Chapel.
 Accident/Injury Reports are used to provide staff with details
about specific class events. If something occurs that staff and
parents should be informed about, please fill out the form and
give copes (labeled) to parents and staff.

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Thank You!

Thank you for completing the Self Guided RE Teacher Training!

Mary is available to you to answer your questions and provide support
throughout the year. Please contact her at dre@slcuu.org to set up a
phone or in-person meeting to address your questions. And please watch
your email for announcements about teacher support meetings
throughout the year.
With your help, we are looking forward to a dynamic RE year!

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Fall 2012 teacher training

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