An Introduction to Christian Education
EL1515 / Fall 2008
Online beginning the second half of fall term
Each week keyed to assignments starting on Wednesday
Overview . Personal/Group Learning . Schedule . Goals . Requirements . FeAutor . Portfolio . Info . Texts . Resources . Expectations . Etiquette . Absences . Evaluation/Grading . Tech Requirements
Group Summaries
Focus on Introductions . Sunday school mornings . I love to tell the story . Praying by heart . Our daily bread . For Thine is the kingdom .
Cluster questions . Bible . Ritual . History . Learning . Assessment
A word of introduction
As I've noted elsewhere on this site, I've chosen the following required texts very carefully, seeking to provide the best and most pertinent content in the most engaging and concise form. As you will note from the class schedule, I've also spread the reading of these books out during our time together. The dates on the schedule are the deadline by which you must have read/watched these texts. Keep in mind, however, that there is much in these texts that will be helpful to you from the beginning. If you have the opportunity, you might want to read all of them early in the term and get the book reading quizzes out of the way.
Required texts
To Know as We are Known, Parker Palmer, November 4 (book quiz)
Fashion Me a People, Maria Harris, November 11 (book quiz)
Teaching the Bible in Church, Bracke and Tye, November 18 (book quiz)
Boundary Leaders, Gunderson, December 9 (book quiz)
A Time for Burning (DVD), December 10 (no, that's not a typo, this is the main focus situation for this week and must either be viewed in the library, and purchased from Amazon as the bookstore doesn't carry DVD's)
Nurturing Faith (Augsburg handout)
Book Quizzes
This is the first year I've used book quizzes in this class. In the past I've required students to write reflection papers on each of the books we're reading, papers which were to be handed in prior to the week in which we were discussing the book. I still think that's a viable option if you're someone who prefers to write reflection papers. If you'd like to do that, then please contact me as soon as the class begins. On the other hand, the book quizzes I've put together are very basic. They're really aimed at simply highlighting for you some of the central concepts in each book, and helping you to integrate across the various books. You can take the quizzes with the book in front of you, and you can spend as much time as you like on a given quiz, as long as you complete it by the final deadline (these are listed on MyLutherNet).
You will earn a "pass" on each quiz on which you manage to earn 75 points (out of 100).