There you are! Sherm Sunday, Sunday School tour guide. When you or someone you know was called to teach in an auxiliary, whether Sunday School, Primary, Young Men--any organization that has a teacher--what sort of orientation did you receive? Back in the olden days, it probably went a little something like this: Oh, Sister Jones! Sister Jones! Hello! I'm glad I caught you before you left for the day. Me too. I just wanted to thank you so much for being willing to accept this calling to teach the Young Women. They're such a beautiful group. You're going to love them. Yes, of course. Here's the manual. And so it looks like some of the pictures are falling out, but you can just take care of that. And ... uh ... we're starting on lesson 11 next week, I think. Don't quote me on that, though. Uh...okay... Do you want me to just pick one, then? Oh, and here is the class list as well. They're a great group of girls. You're just going to love working with them. Yes, and so if you have any questions ... I do, actually. I'm on my way to a meeting right now, and so I'll phone you later. Yes, OK? Oh! Good idea. Good luck. You'll be fine! Bye-bye! Actually, I have a lot of ... thank you!

What?

I know, right? Now take a look at this example of a real Young Women president who took the initiative to orient a newly called Laurel adviser. Let's see what they did.

I appreciated the offer of new orientation, even though I've had previous callings in the Church, because it showed me that it's OK to always be learning and it's OK to be asking questions or seeing weaknesses in myself. I had just come from a calling where I hadn't felt very successful. I hadn't had very much orientation. And the transition from the singles ward to the family ward is still jarring to me sometimes. And it was good for me to know that my presidency in the Young Women had communicated about what we needed as advisers, what our girls needed, and the direction they wanted to go. Probably the first thing that I want to talk about, and the thing that's most important, is that you get to know the girls and that you get to love them, inside the classroom and outside the classroom. See what she did first thing? She opens to the last page in the Teaching in the Savior's Way resource, where it talks specifically about the steps of orienting new teachers--which is a responsibility of priesthood and auxiliary leaders, not just the Sunday School leadership, OK? Good! In this case, the Young Women president is orienting an adviser in her organization. And she starts off by discussing what it means to teach in the Savior's way, and she talks about the needs of those in their specific organization. What a way to start! During the orientation, it stood out to me that it really is the way the Savior would teach and that if there were things I needed to know about those that I was teaching, that my president would tell me that, and that I would have the guidance and the insight that was necessary to do the job. I also liked in the orientation that I didn't have to take it all in immediately, that there were resources online. There was the Teaching in the Savior's Way manual ... OK. An important element of orienting newly called teachers: Show them what the resources are. In addition to print resources (which exist digitally as well), tell them about online resources and the Gospel Library app. Within the Teaching in the Savior's Way section in the Gospel Library app, as well as online, you can find several videos created specifically to support the principles outlined in the Teaching in the Savior's Way resource. There is also a set of videos that is designated for use right there during the new teacher orientation. Take a look! There are a myriad of resources they can draw from, if only they know how to find them. And you can help them do that! You receive one orientation, but then you go put it into practical experience, right? You go teach in a classroom. And you might have questions. You might have concerns. You need feedback. "How am I doing?" And receiving some ongoing support allows you to feel successful in your calling. And then what did the Young Women president do? She offered ongoing support individually. But one of the ways that ongoing support can also happen is through ...

can you guess? I really appreciate that I'm invited to teacher council meetings. If you guessed teacher council meetings, you were right! I love to hear how the other teachers in the ward are engaging their varied groups of students. I'm starting to think, "How can I help the girls apply this to their lives? How can I not get in the way of the Spirit with this lesson?"

Even if someone is an experienced teacher or longtime member of the Church, should auxiliary leaders sit back and let things coast along without any further support or orientation? I will let our sister answer that question. After the teacher training and orientation, we started a pattern of, she would ask before Sunday if there was something I needed to help me with my lesson. Or after the lesson, we would pause and kind of linger behind the girls and discuss what went really well. It's been really nice to feel like I can go to her with things I'm excited about and be like, "What if we try this?" And she's supportive but yet also always keeps in mind those principles of good teaching and helps me focus on what's important. Whether you're brand-new to this whole thing or a well-seasoned teacher, a bit of a refresher when it comes to teaching in the Savior's way is always a good thing. Happy orienting!