 May 2001
Lesson planning with "ER" and
"Survivor"
Beat the planning blues by
designing your sessions like a hit TV series
Are you looking for a way to keep your
catechetical sessions relevant, lively, focused, and fun? Try planning
them as if you were writing episodes for the final season of your favorite
TV show. Here's the why...and how:
The 'season finale'
The television industry works in 26
week seasons, with ratings sweeps in February and May. Any
given year a series peaks with a "cliffhanger" episode, and then
goes into reruns through the summer. Wouldn't it be great if you
could design your class sessions the same way, building towards a
white-knuckle season finale that leaves your learners riveted, and eager
for next season?
Part of the lure of a hit TV season is
wanting to know how it will end, or where the show is taking us. What will
happen to the characters we have come to know and love --- or hate?
Who will be "voted off the island"? Who will finally get
married, or begin dating after months of on-and-off again romance? Who
will live and who will die? Wouldn't it be great if we
could build this drama or energy into our sessions? Well, we can!
Work your way backwards
Television producers and writers
often design episodes from the season
finale backwards. Knowing how the season will end, they add delicious
innuendo, foreshadowing and character development to lead you there. Why
not do this with your catechetical season? As you begin planning for a
particular cycle, ask yourself, "Where do I want my learners to be by
the end of my class?" Ask what you want them to know, but, more
importantly, ask how you would like their hearts and spirits to be moved by
the experience of your sessions, how you would like their faith to be
fired up.
These questions focus you on the experience
of ongoing conversion. This is one of the key elements in catechesis, and
one of the reasons why the General Directory for Catechesis
suggests that the baptismal catechumenate provides a key model for
catechesis (GDC #90). While we cannot cram all of the essentials of the
Catechism into our learners in any given year, we can realistically
set their hearts on fire to the timeless truths of the Gospel, and help
them to embark upon a lifetime of searching and learning.
Discern the key elements of conversion in
your catechetical curriculum, and work backward through the year from
there. What can you do along the way that will lead your learners to this
great season finale? How can you make this catechetical season like an
extended retreat, with a big "punch" at the end? How will you journey with them in faith?
What will move them, melt their hearts,
touch their spirits?
"Episodes"
Fans of "ER" know that
each week the show will have a focused plot that will resolve itself
within the 46 minutes or so of viewing time. Shouldn't this also be the
focus of your catechetical session? Once you have planned the general
direction of your entire "season", focus on what you will
accomplish each time you meet. Each "episode" should take your
learners another step along the way, and open up some aspect of Church
teaching or life.
A weekly episode keeps viewer attention
by intertwining several subplots at once. In the same manner, break
your sessions into blocks of activity involving different members of your
"cast of characters".
The "Writing Team"
It takes multiple writers to design
a television series, and to keep the storyline fresh each week. Obviously,
a good catechetical textbook marshals the same extensive design team. Much
of that work is already done for you. However, making this textbook come
to life each week is an awesome challenge. If you don't have one already,
recruit a partner.
A co-catechist is important not just to
assist with designing sessions. A catechetical team will be much more
effective in monitoring the progress of your "series", and will
help you to develop the "cast of characters".
"Character Development"
Throughout the life of a television series, fans get to know and enjoy the
characters. A good show allows its cast to develop in interesting ways, in
such a manner that the fans can relate to them is something more than
fictional characters. Part of the appeal of reality shows like
"Survivor" is that we get involved with the development of these
real people, as they respond to conflict and relationships.
Your "hit series" will be
successful if you, too, allow your characters to develop and grow. You and
your co-catechist can take turns leading the sessions, or assisting with
and observing them. Some of the things you might notice by
observing include:
- Which of my learners is "into"
what we're doing? Who is "tuned out"?
- Where do they each seem to be on their
journey of faith? How can we help them go further?
- What is the overall reaction to this
"episode"? Is it achieving its goal, or do we need to try
something different next time?
- Is Jesus himself part of our cast of
characters? What about the Father? The Spirit? Are they here, moving
among us?
These aspects of "character
development" are key to your successful catechetical season.
Make the most of your time
I think I have stretched this
analogy enough to make the point: Time is precious, and we have
precious little time to catechize our learners. We are lucky if we have as
much time as one hit TV series to teach each year. Not only that, but
television is just one of the competitors for our learners' time.
In the limited time we have, we need to get
to the point, and maximize these experiences by knowing what we want to
accomplish, and where we want to take our learners. Who knows? With
diligence, sensitivity, and prayer for the Spirit's guidance, we may be so
successful that they will clamor for "reruns"!
Chris Weber
Director
Catholic Education Ministries of Central Maryland.
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