THE TEEN AGE BOYS' ORGANIZED CLASS
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ORGANIZATION
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OFFICERS | COMMITTEES
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President[B] | Athletic
Vice-President[B] | Social
Secretary[B] | Membership[3] Treasurer[A] | Program[4] Teacher[A] | Etc.
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CLASS MEETING
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SUNDAY SESSION | THROUGH-THE-WEEK SESSION
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Opening Services | |
Class Lesson | DETERMINED BY ACTIVITY
Discussion of | |
Through-the-Week | |
Activities | ACTIVITY COMMITTEE IN CHARGE
Closing Services |
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RANGE OF CLASS ACTIVITIES
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+------------+--------+--------------+----------+
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PHYSICAL MENTAL SOCIAL SPIRITUAL SERVICE
[A] Adult [B] Older Boy
Prepared by John L. Alexander, Superintendent Secondary Division International Sunday School Association.
The class session on Sunday should be in charge of the president of the class. The opening services may consist of a short prayer by the teacher or pupil volunteering; reading of brief minutes, covering the mid-week activities and emphasizing the important points brought out by the teacher in the lesson of the previous Sunday; collection and other business. The president then turns the class over to the teacher for the teaching of the lesson. The closing services of the class should by all means be observed.
Committees.—Short-term committees are the more effective, covering the activities when planned. The short-term committee plan, however, need not be suggested to the class until it discovers that the long-term or standing committee has failed. They will doubtless be the first to suggest the new plan.
Class Grouping and Size
It should be sane and natural and not too large. This should be specially borne in mind in working with boys; a "gang" usually consists of from seven to fourteen. The girls' class is different, and the size of the group does not materially matter. The class, however, should not be so unwieldy as to make it impossible for the teacher to give personal attention to each individual.
It is impossible to get the best results when pupils of twelve and eighteen are members of the same class, for they are living in two different worlds of thought. A teacher cannot hope to hold together a group in which there is such disparity of age. A working basis is (13-14), (15-17), (18-20). This is but a foundation on which to work. The correct grouping should be on a physiological basis instead of chronological. A pupil ofttimes will not fit into a group of his or her own age; physiologically, they may be a year or two in advance of the rest of the class, and are mingling through the week with an older group. Adjustments in such cases should be made so that the pupil is permitted to find his or her natural grouping. Like water, they will find their level.
Under no ordinary circumstances should classes be mixed (boys and girls together).