[Part 6 in a series about improving gospel teaching. Previous entries in the series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5]

From Doctrine & Covenants:

And now, behold, I give unto you a commandment, that when ye are assembled together ye shall instruct and edify each other, that ye may know how to act and direct my church, how to act upon the points of my law and commandments, which I have given. (D&C 43:8)

This scripture makes reference to two primary goals when teaching: ‘instructing’ and ‘edifying’. Using these two goals as a guide, let’s discuss some basic philosophies in lesson preparation that will help students be both instructed and edified during class.

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Once in a lifetime, a special teacher comes along and has a positive and tremendous impact for good on the lives of her students. Deanna Sauerbrunn was such a teacher for her students at Taylor Junior High in Mesa, Arizona.

For the record, Mrs. Sauerbrunn taught band at Taylor. Informally, she taught her students to love music and to love life. She had an unparalleled passion for both…and it showed.

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[Part 5 in a series about improving gospel teaching. Previous entries in the series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4]

Defining what makes a teacher ‘great’–as opposed to being merely ‘good’–is a very difficult proposition. “Good” teachers are usually easy to tell apart from “poor” teachers–but what makes a good teacher ‘great’? Don’t they just do the same things good teachers do, only somehow…you know, better?

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Given all the discussion on LDS film director Richard Dutcher, I thought this story was interesting. To sum up: the story discusses LDS actors and how they maintain the Church’s standards in a sometimes decadent industry. Jon Heder is quoted as saying he told a director once that the scene had to be changed or he would not perform it.

One important point: people in all kinds of jobs face questions about honesty and Gospel principles on a daily basis. This is not a problem just for actors and directors. The temple recommend interview asks if you are honest, and many bishops tell me this is the one that is often hardest for people to say “yes” to. So, I am not by any stretch implying that only actors and directors face challenges. But it is interesting to look at how prominent people deal with these issues.

My junior companion kept coming up with excuses why he didn’t talk to the people he passed on the street. “He’s not looking at me.” “He looked busy.” “He was looking at his watch.” As a missionary in Tokyo, if you wanted to talk to men, you didn’t knock on doors, since the only people at home were harried housewives and little old ladies. You went down to the train station and waved people down. Streeting, we called it. It required a little more initiative than going door-to-door, because your next target wasn’t as well defined, but you were always assured of being able to talk to someone face-to-face if you were willing to make the effort to open your mouth in the first place.

“Why didn’t you stop that guy? He walked right by you!”

“He was wearing headphones. He wasn’t going to stop to talk to me.”

Arrant nonsense. If he didn’t know it, at least I did, and I was going to prove it to him.

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