Cornerstone Training
WELCOME
Welcome to teaching institute Cornerstone courses! Thank you for accepting the opportunity to help your students deepen their conversion to Jesus Christ and His restored gospel.
PRIOR TO TEACHING
Prior to teaching, you will want to:
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Review the “Quick-Start Guide” to teaching Cornerstone courses.
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Carefully study the introduction to the teacher material.
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Set up a time with your coordinator or institute director to discuss your assignment, the students, the course, and any questions you have.
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Pray for guidance to help your students come unto Christ and become more like Him.
INSERVICE TRAINING OBJECTIVES
There are many principles and skills that are important for effective teaching. You can continue to study the principles and to practice the skills taught in seminary and institute handbooks. For the purposes of this inservice training, a few key skills related to teaching institute Cornerstone courses will be defined, modeled, and practiced to help orient you to the course and the curriculum. These skills can help you to provide an edifying and converting experience for students as you seek to help them prepare, engage, and act to help them become like the Savior Jesus Christ.
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Prepare: Enhance student preparation through invitation.
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Engage: Engage students by drawing upon their preparation.
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Act: Emphasize application.
SKILL: ENHANCE STUDENT PREPARATION THROUGH INVITATION
How will you enhance your students’ preparation to improve their experience in class?
Read through these sections and follow the directions.
DEFINE
In the Cornerstone courses, class preparation material is intended to be studied by both you and your students in preparation for class. The preparation material contains invitations to enhance student and teacher preparation through questions and activities meant to help deepen learning in and out of class. Each of these invitations is accompanied by icons to help you see how and when these invitations are being used and how you might draw upon these in class.
MODEL
Here are a few examples of these preparation invitations you might find in the curriculum:
Ponder in Preparation for Class
Example: “What experiences have helped you come to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God?”
Study in Preparation for Class
Example: “The prophet Alma taught the people about the Savior’s Atonement. Read Alma 7:11–13.”
Record Your Thoughts
Example: “In your journal or in the space provided, write a few truths that stand out to you from the scripture passages and teachings in this section as well as any other thoughts and questions you have. Come to class prepared to share the truths you identified and any insights.”
Discuss in Preparation for Class
Example: “With the help of a family member or friend, identify some current applications of the principles you discovered from these verses. Come to class ready to share what you learned.”
Act on What You Have Learned
Example: “What will you do in the coming days and weeks to serve others like Jesus Christ?”
Now that you have seen how the curriculum enhances student preparation through invitation, practice looking for and using these invitations in the curriculum.
PRACTICE
Complete the following steps to practice looking for and using these invitations to enhance student preparation.
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Go to a lesson in the class preparation material for the course you are or will be teaching, and look through the preparation invitations presented.
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Select one of these invitations.
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Consider what doing this activity might look like in a student’s preparation. Think about the impact using this preparation invitation may have on the student experience prior to and during class. Think about how you might invite students to prepare for the next class by helping students to identify these preparation invitations.
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Identify another preparation invitation, and repeat this practice.
Becoming familiar with and effective in using preparation invitations will help you focus on students and enhance their preparation to have a deeper learning experience.
INCORPORATE
As you work to enhance student preparation through invitation, consider the following questions:
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How will you incorporate what you learned from these practices as you teach?
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What can you do to continue practicing this skill so you can improve as a teacher?
DISCUSS
Record what you have learned from this experience.
SKILL: ENGAGE STUDENTS BY DRAWING UPON THEIR PREPARATION
How will you engage your students by drawing upon what they’ve studied, learned, and felt during their preparation for class?
Read through these sections and follow the directions.
DEFINE
Throughout the Cornerstone course, the curriculum can help you to trust and draw upon student preparation. The teacher material includes many engagement prompts to invite students to review, recall, relate, share from their preparation, and so on to remind and encourage you to use student understanding and preparation to guide the classroom experience.
MODEL
Here are a few examples of these engagement prompts that you might find in the curriculum:
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“Invite students to recount from their class preparation what they recall about this situation.”
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“Remind students that in the preparation material, they were invited to mark truths that stood out to them. Give students some time to review the scripture passages and prophetic teachings they marked in this section. Have them share what they learned with the class.”
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“Allow students to discuss for a few minutes in small groups how they would use what they learned in their preparation to help their friend.”
Now that you have seen how the curriculum helps you to draw upon student preparation, practice looking for these engagement prompts in the curriculum.
PRACTICE
Complete the following steps to practice looking for and using these types of engagement prompts to draw on student preparation.
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Go to a lesson in the teacher material for the course you are or will be teaching, and look through the engagement prompts presented.
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Select one of these prompts.
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Consider what doing this activity might look like in the classroom. Think about the impact using this engagement prompt may have on the student experience.
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Identify another engagement prompt, and repeat this practice.
Becoming familiar with and effective in using engagement prompts will help you focus on students and engage them in a deeper learning experience.
INCORPORATE
As you work to increase classroom engagement by drawing upon students’ preparation, consider the following questions:
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How will you incorporate what you learned from these practices as you teach?
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What can you do to continue practicing this skill so you can improve as a teacher?
DISCUSS
Record what you have learned from this experience.
SKILL: EMPHASIZE APPLICATION
How will you emphasize application in your class? What will you do to encourage your students to act on what they have learned?
Read through these sections and follow the directions.
DEFINE
Students’ and teachers’ effective preparation before class can allow for more time in class to help students determine ways to live by the truths they identify in the lesson. The teacher material is designed to build on student preparation and help increase students’ power and capacity to act in a way that will help them become more like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
MODEL
Here are a few examples of application-based discussions and invitations you might find in the Cornerstone curriculum:
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“Ask students the following questions: What are some of the ways you and your family have participated in family history and temple service? What blessings have you experienced for doing so? You might invite students to think of someone they could ask to mentor them in doing family history. If some students are already skilled at doing family history, invite them to mentor someone else in the class.”
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“Give students some time to reflect on and record their thoughts about the following question: In what ways can I be more active in the Church and in helping to accomplish its purposes?”
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“Display the following question: What will I do to invite the power of Jesus Christ more fully into my life? Provide time for students to prayerfully ponder this question and write a response in their journals or notebooks. As they are pondering, consider displaying a quote from a latter-day prophet to encourage them in specific ways to invite the Savior’s power into their lives.”
Now that you have seen how the curriculum helps you emphasize student application, practice going through teaching activities in the curriculum.
PRACTICE
Complete the following steps to practice looking for and using the teaching activities to emphasize student application.
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Go to a lesson in the teacher material for the course you are or will be teaching, and look through the teaching activities presented.
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Choose one of these teaching activities, and read more carefully through the activity and questions related to application.
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Consider the impact this teaching activity or the questions asked may have on the student experience.
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Repeat this practice by choosing a different lesson in the teacher material and identifying teaching activities that help to emphasize application.
Becoming familiar with and effective in using application-based discussions will help you focus on students and can help them become more like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
INCORPORATE
As you work to encourage students and emphasize application, consider the following questions.
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How will you incorporate what you learned from these practices as you teach?
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What can you do to continue practicing this skill so you can improve as a teacher?
DISCUSS
Record what you have learned from this experience.
SUMMARY
Thank you again for accepting the opportunity to help your students deepen their conversion to Jesus Christ and His restored gospel.
Remember:
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The Lord will guide you as you seek to help your students come unto Christ and become more like Him.
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Your coordinator or institute director can help you with any questions or concerns you have.
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The skills that were defined, modeled, and practiced in this training can help you be more effective in utilizing the curriculum to bless your students. These skills can help you to provide an edifying and converting experience for students as you seek to help them prepare, engage, and act to become like the Savior Jesus Christ.