Thursday, June 2, 2011

Where have I been?

Oh my!! I was looking up my Ward Website tonight--and saw this "new announcement"--which was at least a couple weeks old, I'm sure. So--where've I been (busy--I know...)

Look at what the Church has now:

http://lds.org/media-library?lang=eng

That is SO awesome!!! This could be so helpful for kiddos stuck at home--or adults who are home-bound (especially if you have no access to BYUTV or KBYU--which most members likely don't have access too). I'm going to tell my mom about it--as she has been home bound for more than a year because of cancer treatment/chemotherapy!

These could be great for adapting or modifying lessons too! And I LOVE that the "Scripture Stories" are on here--not that they're "animated" (cause they're not)--but I so love the "Scripture Stories"--and found them incredible to teach with when teaching "Special Needs" Seminary. I think they are a VERY under-utilized resource--and should not be seen as only for children!!! I think they could make New Testament and Old Testament Sunday School lessons make far more sense if utilized and not "looked down upon"!!!

I'm so excited to check this out more!

Primary Lesson

So--a couple weeks ago I taught Primary as a substitute. I taught the lesson about Jesus healing the blind man--the man He healed on the Sabbath.

Well--I utilized many ideas from the Primary manual of course. But--I DID NOT use a blind-fold.

I don't know--I have personal issues with that. I do think that experiencing what it may be like for someone with a disability can be a good thing--but too often students and people don't truly gain empathy--instead they learn to feel sorry for someone with a disability or something...

Anyway--so--instead I had the students just close their eyes and try to draw a picture. They "got it" pretty well.

Anyway--here was the funny part: I found a "Find the Hidden Picture" page in the Friend Magazine that I copied. It ended up being a great part of the lesson (used it as an object lesson), which almost worked better than anything else I did.

Then we combined for Sharing Time--and the younger class and teacher had done the same thing!!! So funny!!! They had worked on it together--while my 10 and 11 years old were VERY independent!

But--my point? USE THE FRIEND MAGAZINE!!!! It created a great part of this lesson--but the Friend can also be used to create great adaptations and modifications for children with different abilities!!!

Here's the link to the Friend Magazine. Love it!

http://lds.org/friend?lang=eng

Awesome Video!

I've been meaning to put this up for a couple months. Ya--what a busy life I lead--no time for even posting.

Anyway--this is an amazing show. The adoption story is great---but it is the Eagle Eyes video that I LOVE. It's about an hour long--so will take some time (I skip the adoption parts when I have showed it--not cause they're not great--but cause the Eagle Eyes is just better in my opinion).

Especially love that it's on BYU TV!!! Now to just make Eagle Eyes affordable for all who need them/could use them!

http://www.byutv.org/watch/2164-101