Using Binders to Make Youth Lessons More Effective

I never was the kind of student who could skip the lecture because "everything was in the book".  I had to read the book AND go to class in order to really absorb the material.   So a few months after I was called as YW president, I started to really feel like we needed to add that one more thing to help our Sunday lessons to be more interactive.    After a discussion with my presidency, we decided to provide a binder for every young woman that would be kept in the YW closet and handed out before each lesson.  The binder would provide a place for them to take notes, keep handouts, draw charts/illustrations from the lesson, and answer questions asked during class.   

We've been using them now for three years and I think they've played a very valuable  role in helping our Sunday lessons to be more meaningful.   They give the girls that "extra" way to learn the material  and make it less likely that the lesson floats in one ear and out the other.   The part that I've liked most about them is that I feel like their effective use (which takes a concerted effort) has facilitated better discussions.    When the girls have the opportunity to write an answer to a question in their binders first before answering, the answers are invariably more well-thought out and  original, since they wrote their answer before hearing everyone else's answers first.   I also like that they have a sort of spiritual journal for them to go back to.   When a girl moves from the ward or graduates to Relief Society, the binder is given to the girl.   

What do you need?  

1-inch binders with pockets (one for each girl)

pens (one for each girl)

loose leaf paper (to keep in each binder)

a couple of sheet protectors per binder for hand-outs 

3-hole punch to keep in the closet (or use the one in the library)

OR 

1 composition notebook and pen per girl

Why Use Them? 

1. The binder provides a place for the girls to take notes, which helps them remember what they've learned better.  It also provides a place for them to go back and review what was taught another week.

2. The binder provides a place to write down answers to questions asked during the lesson.   When a moment of quiet is provided to write the answer down, then girls are asked to share their answers; the answers are invariably more well thought out and original, since they've written their answers before they've heard anyone else's.  I also feel like it definitely reduces the whole copying the same train of thought as the person before them that often occurs in lessons. 

3.   A lot of the girls really, really like the way the binders help them to better absorb the lessons and  learn the gospel more effectively. 

4.  I think that creating an outline or "worksheet" to go along with the lesson (see picture below), sometimes helps me to better prepare the lesson and helps the girls to have something to follow along with. 

Some Hurdles/Tips

1.  A small percentage of the girls (about 5 of our 33 girls) really do not care to use them.  We do not force the issue.  

2.  If you don't consistently hand them out and/or encourage their use, they will not be as effective.  I'll often chime up in class (when I'm not teaching) and say things like, "That would be a great thing to write in your binder." 

3.  You need to collect the binders at the end of class, so they do not get lost at home.  We rarely see a binder again that has been accidentally taken home.  

We have 33 YW in our ward, so the binders take up an entire shelf (plus a little) in our closet, but in my opinion they are worth the space and time they take up.   

  This year for our binder covers we had each girl watercolor their own background, then when they were dry, we printed this year's mutual theme onto it.  

 Here's a printable graphic I made of this year's mutual theme that you are welcome to use:  

If you use a binder or notebook in your youth class, I'd love to hear your ideas for what works and what doesn't with them.   What other ideas do you have to make your lessons more effective?  

Apostle Tabs for General Conference Journals are Updated

I just wanted to let you know that the post containing the apostle tabs for the General Conference Journals are now updated with the newest three apostles!  


Click here to see the UPDATED post with pictures and directions!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!   

I hope your Christmas season is filled with love, joy, and a remembrance of what the Christmas season is all about.    This year we are celebrating Spencer being in remission from leukemia (AML) for 3-1/2 years, Cami being home from her first semester at BYU, but mostly we're just happy to be all together this Christmastime!  

How can I find solutions to my challenges and problems?

I created this lesson and worksheet for a YW lesson, but easily adapted it to a Family Home Evening lesson for my family as well. It ended up being a very meaningful lesson for both groups.    

How can I find solutions to my challenges and problems?  
( from the Come, Follow Me YW curriculum)

Purpose: to teach us to turn to God when we face challenges and problems in our lives

Preparation: 
*read through 1 Nephi 16 (the story of Nephi and the broken bow) and refamiliarize yourself with the details
*prayerfully study one or all of the following talks: Like a Broken Vessel (Elder Holland), Make the Exercise of Faith Your First Priority (Elder Scott), We Never Walk Alone (Pres. Monson), Of Things That Matters Most (Pres. Uchtdorf)
*make copies of one or more of those talks
*think of a story from your own life when you faced a problem. Be prepared to tell about the problem and some of the process you went through to resolve it. (Remember that you're looking to engage the student and help them to see themselves in that situation, so take care not to make the story too long or or too grandiose. I recommend about 3-5 minutes for this.)

Opening Song: "I Need Thee Every Hour," Hymns, page 98

Opening Prayer:  

Share a personal story about when you faced a difficult challenge and what you did to overcome it. I shared about when I was so poor as a college student I didn't know if I could continue going to school.

Ask the students (or your family) to each think of difficulty or challenge they've faced in their life and write it down on the worksheet.

Tell them that you're going to look at the story of Nephi and the broken bow in a minute, but ask them if they can think of any other examples from the scriptures where someone was faced with a difficulty. Take a few minutes and discuss their answers, which may include Joseph in Egypt, Moses, Nephi and his brothers going back for the brass plates, Abinadi, Joseph Smith, Samuel the Lamanite, Moroni, etc. In the discussion, focus on the process they went through to solve their problem. For example, if they say Abinadi as their answer. Ask what was the problem he faced? What did he do to solve it? (he went to the Lord and fulfilled what he was asked to do, then knew that beyond that it didn't matter what became of him)  

Review the story of Nephi and the broken bow (or have a student retell it), then have them list and share with the class first the things they can learn NOT to do when facing difficulties, then have them list the things the story teaches them they should do. Expound on answers as you feel inspired.  

WHAT TO DO

1. Ask for help from trusted sources--like Nephi went to his father for guidance, sometimes we need to turn to trusted people in our lives to help us
2. Pray for answers 

3.  Be prepared to ACT on those answers 

4. Do something  productive (facing difficulties requires action) 

5. Be faithful

WHAT NOT TO DO
1. Let discouragement overwhelm you into not doing anything
2. Complain
3. Blame others
4. Harden your heart and get angry at God and others
5. Give up or run away from the problem

Have someone read QUOTE #4
  “Being self-reliant does not mean that I am alone as I try to finish and endure. It means that I have studied, prayed, and pondered as I work to gain confidence in my ability to gain wisdom (both spiritual and temporal) and that I use that wisdom to know when to rely on my own strength and testimony and when I turn to resources outside of myself to continue to grow and progress"

Share this story from Pres. Uchtdorf about ballpoint pens not working without gravity:  

"For example, it wasn’t long after astronauts and cosmonauts orbited the earth that they realized ballpoint pens would not work in space. And so some very smart people went to work solving the problem. It took thousands of hours and millions of dollars, but in the end, they developed a pen that could write anywhere, in any temperature, and on nearly any surface. But how did the astronauts and cosmonauts get along until the problem was solved? They simply used a pencil." (Pres. Uchtdorf)

Ask: Do we look too hard for complicated solutions or getting paralyzed by things that don’t matter? 

Have someone read QUOTE #3: “Solutions often come at us sideways. We don't often find solutions. They find us while we are doing some other task. If we are living the Sunday school answers, scripture study, prayer, service... (and allowing others to serve us) change happens. Your burdens can become manageable, as long as you don't wallow in a pity party. When in doubt serve others.” paraphrased from Jeffrey R. Holland

  
If you have time, pass out copies of some of the talks you read in preparation to teach this lesson.  

Have them briefly skim the talks for answers of what our church leaders teach us about facing our problems--prayer, scripture study, attend the temple, have FHE, go to church, etc. (have them write the answers on the worksheet)
(NOTE: If you don't have time to complete this exercise, summarize it for them. Tell them how all those talks, from all those church leaders essentially had the same simple guidance for us.)

Conclude: (DON'T SKIP) Just as a newborn baby recognizes the sound of its mother’s voice, because of its proximity to her while in the womb, we should be living our lives in such a way that God's voice is familiar to us. We gain this familiarity when we live those simple "PENCIL answers" we've known our whole lives. We don't need expensive, fancy answers, we simply need to draw near to God and listen.

"How Can I Find Solutions to My Challenges and Problems?" Worksheet by Lara Goold

8th Grade Homeschool Reading List

I'm recording the books Emma read for her homeschool English class last year partly as a way to just have it recorded somewhere safe, and partly as inspiration for someone else who may be looking for a good mix of books to read for a homeschooled teen.   An asterisk indicates a favorite of hers.

Fiction:
*1. “To Kill a Mockingbird ” by Harper Lee; 384 pages
*2.  “The Book Thief ” by Markus Zusak ; 576 pages
3.  “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ” by Douglas Adams; 224 pages
4.  “The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate ” by Jacqueline Kelly; 352 pages
5. “The City of Ember ” by Jeanne DuPrau; 270 pages

Non-Fiction:
1. “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl ” by Anne Frank; 304 pages
2. "I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban ” by Malala Yousafzai, Christina Lamb; 352 pages
3. “Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science ” by Marc Aronson; 176 pages
4. "The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe" by Loree Griffin Burns;80 pages

Verse/Poetry:
*“A Midsummer Night's Dream  ” by William Shakespeare; 80 pages


Other books she read:
"On Two Feet and Wings " by Abbas Kazerooni (Autobiography)
"The Maze Runner (Book 1) ", "The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, Book 2) ", "The Death Cure (Maze Runner, Book Three) " by James Dashner (Fiction)
*"Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption " by Laura Hillenbrand (nonfiction)
"The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles)" by Mary Eve Pearson (Fiction)
"Kisses in the Rain " by Krista Lynne Jensen (Fluffy fiction)
*"The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown (Nonfiction)
"My Story " by Elizabeth Smart (Nonfiction)


*indicates her favorite books