LET THE CHILDREN REMEMBER YOU AS SOMEONE WHO CARED!

Thank you very much for accepting the responsibility of teaching our children the faith of our church. This is a thankless and sometimes annoying job. However I look back at last year with no regrets, only a feeling that I did not do enough. I am happy to have a team of dedicated teachers and believe that God will provide just like He did in giving me this team.

I also believe that God will sustain us through this year. I hope that we can grow together as a closely knit family accepting the responsibilities of not only taking the classes but also helping out with Sunday school related activities including the church and area level competitions that will be held in September and August. There will also be the Sunday school Christmas program where we could use your talents. Growing together also means that we will be required to attend self improvement classes including a teachers in-service for Area 1 at St. Stephens Orthodox Church on September 1 between 2-6 pm. We are also required to attend the Southern Regional Conference that will be held in Dallas on September 15^th at St. George Orthodox Church Dallas.

While lecturing is the easiest method of teaching I would encourage you to invest in your children and take times preparing for your class. The children are smart and will recognize a poorly prepared class. Here are some qualities of a “good teacher”

• They are passionate about their responsibility
• Systematically plan, design and implement instructions/lessons
• They treat each student and each class different.
• They do lesson plans as a part of being organized
• They are flexible, not rigid
• They are caring and nurturing
• They are never late to class
• They are always positive and expect more from their students than they do for themselves
• They are friends with their students, not buddies. Its about having disciplined fun.

Variety of resources are available to you as teachers. The new and expanded library can be used for assignments and in house teaching material. If you would like to have a resource of guest speakers I would be more than happy to look people up for you.

If you need help of any kind please do let me know and I would be more than happy to assist you. If for any reason you are not able to take class that Sunday please arrange for a substitute and let me know, if you do not find a substitute please give me adequate time to arrange an alternative.

Thank you once again for being a teacher,