Elevation

Teaching middle-school students week after week is a fairly unpredictable experience. There are some constants: regular attendants, some youth who raise their hands first and some who need time to show off their phones when they come into class. But each week has its ups and downs, sometimes for no discernible reason. The youth will dive right into some lessons, but completely muddle through others. And somehow, the times limits for each discussion section and activity which I carefully chart in lesson plans never work out as planned.

I spent the first few weeks of teaching Elevation (our middle-school youth class) just trying to learn people's names. Then I started worrying about how no lesson went according to schedule: Was I ignorant of what the youth were interested in? Why did some activities flop and others get the kids involved? I've had to give up on learning these seemingly basic answers. There are some things which I know the group will enjoy, or care about, or be good at doing. But there are some times when the lesson plan takes a backseat.

Today our class was supposed to open by sharing ways to welcome others. Instead, halfway through sharing time, one kid raises his hand amid the general chatter.

"I have a fish."

Other youth started chiming in with stories about their own fishes, which fishes were deadliest and which were tastiest. And that's why we had Fish Time today (after talking about hospitality!) where each youth got to tell one fish story. I had no idea that some youth had fished for sharks, or petted koi. And while admittedly Fish Time wasn't related to the lesson plan in the slightest, devoting some time to talking about themselves made the rest of the hour a bit smoother. I often feel apprehensive waiting for youth to filter in at the beginning of class, but these guys are awesome. It's a fun time.