Getting Their Attention, 2

See Getting Their Attention

Marva Collins died last week, and after learning more about her, I can see that she had mastered the art of capturing her students' attention. Although she began her career before the advent of Whole Brain Teaching, I can see some intersections between her methods and WBT.

For one thing, her classroom did not have a teacher's desk. She stayed on her feet and perpetually engaged her students for the whole day.

In addition, she gave what may have amounted to the only positive feedback in the experience of her students. She made them look her in the eye as she praised them and told them not only that she loved them, but also how smart they were.

She even turned praise into a teaching opportunity by commending her students in Latin, Italian or German. This, no doubt, added the element of fun to learning.

Most of all, she captured the class's attention by believing in them and expecting great things from them.  

While Mrs. Collins taught classics and did not seem to approach subjects in terms of a Biblical world-and-life-view, the Christian teacher may profit from studying her methods and asking, "What did she do that conforms to the Bible's approach to making disciples?"

In 1995, CBS's 60 Minutes did a segment on Marva Collins, and examined the impressive results she achieved. You may watch it in two parts, below. To see a movie based on her early career, go here.

Hear the Word of the Lord

Whole Brain Teaching gives us an attention-getter, "Class!/Yes!" However, I wanted something to attract special attention when I quoted Scripture.

I came up with the idea of saying, "Hear the Word of the Lord," and having the class respond with, "Speak, Lord, your servant hears."

Here is the script I wrote for teaching this response:

Hey hey, Class!/Hey hey, Yes!

I have a story to tell you from the Bible.

Long ago, before Israel had a king, Samuel's mother took him to live in the Tabernacle with Eli, the priest.

When I say, "Teach," teach your partner the story, so far.

Teach, I say. (Okay, I say)

Class!/Yes!

One night, as Samuel lay sleeping, he heard a voice calling, "Samuel, Samuel."

Teach-aroo! (Okay-aroo!)

Class!/Yes!

Samuel thought Eli had called him so he went to Eli's room, but Eli said, "I did not call you. Go back to bed."

Tee-ee-each! (Oka-a-ay!)

Class!/Yes!

Samuel heard the voice two more times, and finally, Eli said that God was calling Samuel, and he should say, "Speak, Lord, your servant hears."

Teach! Okay!

In this class, God speaks to us through the Bible. When I am about to give you a quote from the Bible, I will say, "Hear the Word of the Lord." (Repeat)

So, teach! (So, okay!)

Class!/Yes!

When I say, "Hear the Word of the Lord," you answer by saying, "Speak, Lord, your servant hears." You are saying that to God, not to me.

Teach! (Okay!)

Class!/Yes!

What do you say, when I say, "Hear the Word of the Lord"? (Speak, Lord, your servant hears.)

Good. Let's practice.

John 3:16. Hear the Word of the Lord. (Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

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.