Class Rules as Character Training

Whole Brain Teachinsg utilizes five classroom rules:

1. Follow Directions Quickly
2. Raise Your Hand for Permission to Speak
3. Raise Your Hand for Permission to Leave Your Seat
4. Make Smart Decisions
5. Make Your Dear Teacher Happy

Because of the Bible's emphasis on wisdom, I would modify #4 to read, "Make wise decisions."

Please notice that a teacher may use each of these classroom rules as a springboard for discussing Christian character. Rule #1 deals with obedience, which applies to obeying God and, by extension, all legitimate authority. Rule #2 lays the groundwork for orderly and careful speech.

Rule #3 provides seminal training in orderly actions and thinking before acting. Rule #4 emphasizes the need for godly wisdom in one's life. Rule #5 lays a foundation for Jesus' teaching, And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. (Luke 6:31)

Here is a video on how Whole Brain teachers present the rules to their classes:

Here a Little, There a Little

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. Isaiah 28:9-11

In the passage above, the Lord refers to His people's inability to grasp and assimilate covenantal ethics and likens them to children whom teachers must give instructions in only small increments. Here, God's prophet not only warns us about slowness of heart, but also gives an insight into an educational principle that some call "chunking" (breaking information into smaller chunks).

Chris Biffle puts it this way:

Now here is a curious fact that I and other Whole Brain Teachers have discovered. Disciplining yourself to speak in units that are 30 seconds or less and then having your students repeat your message to each other allows you to cover more material, not less. When you have become adept at . . . [it], you will have eliminated all the non-educational chaff from your presentation, all the wandering, redundancy, stumbling, verbal fumbling about. You present a few points; your students repeat them to each other; you present a few more. In the little periods when students are talking, you take mini-breaks to organize your thoughts for your next few sentences. We call this approach micro-lecturing. Micro-lecturing is not an easy skill, especially because most teachers love to talk and talk and talk. But remember our Whole Brain Teaching rule:

The more we talk, the more students we lose.

(Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids, p. 47)

As you disciple your charges, think about what you'd rather do. You might lecture for 30 minutes and have them walk away with maybe one or two concepts, or you could build one small concept upon another, punctuated by their teaching those concepts to each other, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little, so that they come away with the big picture as well as its parts.

Teaching Others in Order to Learn

And what things thou hast heard of me, by many witnesses, the same deliver to faithful men, which shall be able to teach other also. 2Timothy 2:2 (Geneva Bible)

Timothy's knowledge of the faith came not only from personal teaching by the Apostle himself, but the Apostle also utilized many witnesses to reinforce that instruction. This is how A.T. Robertson explains it:

 Plutarch has dia in this sense and Field (Ot. Norv.) suggests that it is a legal phrase “supported by many witnesses.” Not mere spectators, but testifiers. (Word Pictures of the New Testament)

In his Word Studies in the New Testament, M.R. Vincent concurs as he renders the the preposition to mean "through the medium of, and therefore in the presence of." You can see here the apostolic practice which made not only learning, but teaching others an important part of becoming a mature disciple.

Based on II Timothy 2:2, the Biblical model for the transmission belt of total discipleship looks something like this:

1. Things you heard from me personally/things you heard from me by many witnesses;
2. You teach same things to faithful disciples, personally/they teach same things to others.

Edgar Dale later rediscovered this principle, which he put into his famous "Cone of Experience". It boils down to the fact that while you remember no more than 5% of what you hear, you will remember 90% of what you teach.

Whole Brain Teaching has incorporated pupils teaching each other as an integral part of the learning process with the command/response, Teach/Okay. You can see an example of how one teacher uses it here:

The point here is that we should use Teach/Okay in our discipleship endeavors not just because it represents modern pedagogical practice, but also because it follows Biblical norms. I can see it useful in teaching Bible content and doctrine, Biblical worldview, Biblical ethics, and Biblical foundations for each discipline of the curriculum as well as curriculum content.

How well your charges teach each other the truth will inform you how well they have absorbed your teaching. This allows you immediate opportunity to correct false impressions and fill in incomplete knowledge.

It also gives you confidence that they will some day faithfully and effectually deliver the same truths to "faithful men which shall be able to teach others also."

Getting Their Attention

And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. 1Samuel 3:10

Years ago, at a Christian teachers' convention, I participated in a role-playing workshop. The leader taped a label to each participant's forehead and told us to act as a committee planning a task. One member had the label "Praise Me," another had "Agree With Me," and so forth. We did not get very far into the exercise before I realized that my label read, "Ignore Me."

Aside from the lesson that we should take care about how we label our students, I came away with a deep sense of how precious a commodity someone's attention can be. How often I have identified parishioners who have checked out during a sermon and students who have mentally departed from class.

What if, seeking to disciple either children or adults, we could command immediate -- even eager -- attention as the Lord received from Samuel? Whole Brain Teaching provides a tool to do just that: Class-Yes. The following video shows how to do that with those whom you disciple.

Now, can you think of a way to introduce this to your own disciples without actually misrepresenting yourself? Remember, you don't want to communicate doubt to your disciples, but you want to remain ethical. Please relate your solution in the comments below.