Lee Ann Alexander, associate editor of the UPCI, leads the curriculum team at Pentecostal Publishing House. As a preacher of the gospel, she is passionate about training teachers. Here she discusses the importance of having lesson plans.
As a kid I remember long afternoons at the end of the school day when my brother and I sat in my mother’s classroom, waiting for her to finish her lesson plans. Lesson plans represented a significant part of her job—a measure of her effectiveness in her role was that she consistently and effectively created plans for how to teach.
Creating Lesson Plans
This month’s training focus is on developing lesson plans. Whatever form the plan takes, the act of creating a plan will help in a number of ways:
1. Teach with a transformation target in mind.
2. Plan out supporting points and activities with intentionality.
3. Have a road map to get back on track if rabbit trails or distractions arise.
This week think about the way you prepare for a lesson. Do you have a clear plan? Do you have a distinct transformation target for students? Do you know what you’ll do to get there?
Resources and Links by Lee Ann Alexander
Teaching to Transform Hearts – This book makes the case for reviving the teaching ministry of the church. It challenges us to assess our current teaching methods and effectiveness. And it gives us a wealth of strategies for breathing new life into the classrooms of our churches. As we do so, we follow Jesus’ foundational call to “go therefore and make disciples . . . teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20, NKJV).
More Than Grasshoppers: Reclaiming Your God-Given Identity – Who are you? This age-old question haunts people of every walk of life as we seek to understand our identity and purpose. This book answers that question in a fresh, engaging approach. Theological topics such as being made in the image of God, navigating flesh and spirit tensions, and living out holiness in a healthy body image and in our social media are tackled in an easy-to-read, non-technical format.
More Than Grasshoppers small group kit
Find Lee Ann Alexander’s small group sessions on Discipleship Now.