Sunday, January 22, 2012

10 Observations after Teaching the Middle Schoolers


Okay, so these boys are not my middle schoolers from church, but they could be.

See the goofball on the far left and the one in the brown plaid shorts doing the peace sign with his hands? Times those two boys by 5, add four sweet, intelligent girls and you have my middle school sunday school class from this morning.

Really.

We have a great teaching system at church for the middle schoolers - on one month, off three. There's a reason for this and if I need to explain it to you, maybe I should just give you my next month.

So, since I'm into lists, here are 10 observations about Middle Schoolers during my teaching stint this past month:

10. Middle school boys talk way more than middle school girls. Actually, it doesn't have to be words, just noise. Noise coming out of their mouths non-stop. Non-stop. NON-STOP.

9. Middle school girls are polite, intelligent, interested in what I have to say and incredibly patient. And good drawers. And pretty. And sweet. Did I mention they were interested in what I have to say???

8. Middle school boys don't care if there is powdered sugar from the puppy chow I made them all over their sweatshirts or on their faces for that matter.

7. Middle school girls have three basic facial expressions - a smile when they hear something clever, an interested smirk when they hear something new, and an irritated scowl when they can't hear the teacher above the non-stop noise-making of the middle school boys. NON-STOP.

6. Middle school boys have basically one facial expression - refer to the goofball on the far left of the above picture. Not sure what it means but occasionally that expression comes without sound effects.

5. Middle schoolers have the capacity to listen when threatened. I had to use my Momma Wisen voice twice today - I hate pulling that one out of my hat, but it was highly effective.

4. Middle schoolers are shockingly honest. They answer every question asked them with speed and very little filtering. Just ask them about themselves - after all, they are their favorite subject!

3. Middle schoolers can be helpful to have around. Every Sunday morning I am met by two brothers who race to my car to help me carry in the sixteen dozen doughnuts that I picked up for the Cafe. Of course, I doubt it has anything to do with the doughnuts...

2. Middle schoolers are completely unable to repeat after a teacher in unison. So don't even bother to ever say, "Repeat after me..." Trust me on this one.

1. Middle schoolers are image bearers of Jesus Christ and because of this, they are able to glorify God with the choices they make. We had a long talk about this and I actually think the kids understood it by the time we were done.

Amidst the sound effects, the spilled hot chocolate, the belching, the poking, the texting, the wiggling, the munching and the begging to be my helper (yes, we dressed one of the boys up with the full armor of God today and I had more volunteers than I knew what to do with), these kids seem to grasp the fact that the gospel is not just another theory or Sunday School story, but a life-changing historical event that demands a response from even a goofy middle schooler in the twenty-first century.

What more could I possibly ask for?

May Jesus Christ be praised in all that we do for the cause of furthering His glorious gospel - even to our middle schoolers at Harvest Bible Chapel Spring Lake!

P.S. If any of you would want to join the team, it's a hoot! Give me a call...

3 comments:

  1. Oh, gracious, I couldn't stop laughing. God bless your Middle Schoolers
    and all who work with them!

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  2. Oh my dear goodness, Kristen. I didn't have time to read this the other day when it popped up, but we were going to begin listening to the Jonah sermon series for school today (since we're reading Jonah now and Dave, Cal, and Chris have mastered the art of preaching in plain English -- yeah, I guess the word "dude" counts.) Unfortunately, I can't seem to access that podcast. I guess I'll have to wait 'til Dane gets home. In the meantime, however, I thought I'd quickly catch up on my blog reading.
    This was the funniest thing I've read about middle schoolers in a long time. Maybe its so funny because its so true :o) You should come watch the middle school boys play basketball sometime -- yeah I bet you can picture it already. Anyway, thanks for the laugh -- and the study this morning was excellent as always. Thanks!

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  3. Kristen, just want you to know that although the boys might get crazy, they LOVE having you for their teacher. When I read this to Nate he said, "I didnt realize we were that bad. Do you think she'll quit teaching. I dont want her to quit teaaching" Im thinking you gave this some things to think about. Thanks for using your gifts to teach this kiddos. Your making more of an impact then you think.

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