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Christ in the Classroom: Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind
If the goal of catechesis is to cultivate an encounter with Christ, why do religious educators spend so much time focused almost exclusively on ideas and not experiences? The reason is that many have never been shown a method that inspires the heart while also instructing the mind. Jared Dees, creator of the popular website The Religion Teacher , shows how applying the steps of lectio divina to teaching can reorient religious education toward encountering the person of Christ rather than merely sharing information about him. In Christ in the Classroom , Catholic author and speaker Jared Dees applies the five steps of lectio divina —reading/learning, meditation, prayer, contemplation, and action—to the ministry of catechesis. He offers teachers and catechists a practical framework for preparing lessons that broaden the focus of teaching from mostly intellectual learning to also encountering Christ in prayer, reflection, and action. Using this method, students and catechists come to know intimately the person of Christ at the same time that they are learning the tenets and traditions of the Church. Dees shares stories of success and failure from his own teaching experience and he offers dozens of field-tested strategies, tactics, and teaching methods to effectively integrate the steps of lectio divina into the classroom or other catechetical setting. Outfitted with these tools, both experienced and new religious educators will feel confident in their ability to teach effectively and lead their students to a life-changing encounter with Jesus.
- GenresNonfictionEducation
192 pages, Paperback
Published September 7, 2018
About the author
Jared Dees
24 books41 followersJared Dees is the creator of the popular website
The Religion Teacher
, which provides practical resources and effective teaching strategies to religious educators. A respected graduate of the Alliance for Catholic Education program at the University of Notre Dame, Dees earned master’s degrees in education and theology, both from Notre Dame. He has volunteered and worked in a wide variety of Catholic ministries, including Catholic schools, parish religious education, youth ministry, campus ministry, RCIA, and adult faith formation. Dees is the content marketing manager at Ave Maria Press and the author of and To Heal, Proclaim, and Teach. His articles have appeared in Momentum, CATECHIST, Catechetical Leader, and on numerous websites. Dees lives near South Bend, Indiana, with his wife and children.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 15, 2018
Have you ever picked up a book and found yourself galvanized, unable to put it down? I happened upon this new book by Jared Dees right as I was getting ready to dive back into duties as a catechist after quite a few years off. It was in a new parish, for a Confirmation group, and my daughter was in the class.
And I was more than a little unsure of myself.
Though I’ve taught Confirmation classes before — and quite a few other grades, too — there was just some seed of doubt spreading and growing within me.
I was gripped by Jared Dees’ excellent writing and practical approach. “One of my mantras for religious education is to ‘make disciples, not theologians,’” he writes in the introduction, and I determined that not only was he a catechist after my own heart, but that I wanted to be this kind of catechist, intentionally.
This book is not only eminently readable (that is Dees’ way), but it is also useful in a “here you go, right this very minute” kind of way. Dees has the gift of taking a complicated philosophy — or something we have made complicated, anyway — and boiling it down.
We’re sharing the Good News. We’re not solving differential equations. (And thank God for that, I say!)
The basis of Dees’ approach in this book is lectio divina and making that the basis for your approach and execution of your catechesis. (That’s a fancy way of saying he’s helping you share the Good News of Christ.) The book’s divided into five parts in addition to the introduction and conclusion: Learn, Meditate, Pray, Contemplate, and Act.
This is the kind of book that’s easy to tap back into on a quick reread. It’s also the kind of book you can share with anyone who’s teaching and sharing the Catholic faith.
And I was more than a little unsure of myself.
Though I’ve taught Confirmation classes before — and quite a few other grades, too — there was just some seed of doubt spreading and growing within me.
I was gripped by Jared Dees’ excellent writing and practical approach. “One of my mantras for religious education is to ‘make disciples, not theologians,’” he writes in the introduction, and I determined that not only was he a catechist after my own heart, but that I wanted to be this kind of catechist, intentionally.
This book is not only eminently readable (that is Dees’ way), but it is also useful in a “here you go, right this very minute” kind of way. Dees has the gift of taking a complicated philosophy — or something we have made complicated, anyway — and boiling it down.
We’re sharing the Good News. We’re not solving differential equations. (And thank God for that, I say!)
The basis of Dees’ approach in this book is lectio divina and making that the basis for your approach and execution of your catechesis. (That’s a fancy way of saying he’s helping you share the Good News of Christ.) The book’s divided into five parts in addition to the introduction and conclusion: Learn, Meditate, Pray, Contemplate, and Act.
This is the kind of book that’s easy to tap back into on a quick reread. It’s also the kind of book you can share with anyone who’s teaching and sharing the Catholic faith.
August 19, 2018
This was a book that is mostly for catholic teachers. It is written to show a better way to teach catholic students so they can learn more of how to have a relationship with Jesus, instead of just learning the facts of the bible. It shows that students many times leave the classroom not knowing Jesus. And the writer feels and I believe, is correct, that students under their teaching needs to be taught in a way to show them how to be close with Jesus and have, not just the knowledge of him, but knowing him. Because that is what he wants for us to do. I really didn’t get a lot from this book because a lot of what it talked about was catholic and that is not the Christian faith I am, so they brought in a lot of things I knew nothing about. If I had understood it better, it would have been a great book to me. For catholic readers or others wanting to learn about the catholic faith, this would be a good book. This book was gifted to me for my honest opinion. All opinion are mine alone. Thank you to #NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to review #ChristintheClassroom
September 5, 2018
Catholic school principals, dioceses, Directors of Religious Education, team leads in Catholic schools, and anyone who wants to be an effective catechist, listen up: you need to read this book. And if you are a leader in your parish or school with teachers or volunteers who teach kiddos, you need to buy a copy of this for every one of them.
As a teacher, I can confidently share that Jared Dees has compiled current research on pedagogy in a succinct manner and applied it to the religious education classroom. Is teaching the Faith about knowing the answers to pop quiz questions? The author says it is not and all of us should agree. But how do we accomplish bringing our students to learn to love God rather than just know about Him? This book breaks down an encompassing method: apply Lectio Divina to your lesson planning.
Dees doesn't just mean that you should be preparing your lessons through prayerful consideration and meditation, but he actually creates a structure for the lesson that follows the four steps of Lecito Divina (he adds one more), corresponding to the chapters. He encourages teachers to be the "guide on the side" instead of simply lecturing and to engage students through those Lectio Divina steps: reading, meditating, praying, contemplating, and acting. Dees concludes that this structure is not meant to be a template (probably so a teacher who has been teaching for years doesn't throw their hands up in frustration that they're supposed to change everything they're doing), but that the teacher can just apply the principles to what he or she is already doing. Personally, if a teacher aims to lead his or her students to Christ, rather than just to answering the questions right, they would follow his structure (and abundant tips, resources, examples, and suggestions!) to a T.
Many parishes and Catholic schools hire good people who have never taught before or who need a refresher on the best way to teach (read: don't just lecture all day). This book, if read and discussed in a staff-wide book club, could be a linchpin. It teaches pedagogy for all education philosophy, reflects on the importance of leading students to encounter Christ, and provides specific and concrete resources that teachers can take and use in tomorrow's lesson plans. Highly recommended.
As a teacher, I can confidently share that Jared Dees has compiled current research on pedagogy in a succinct manner and applied it to the religious education classroom. Is teaching the Faith about knowing the answers to pop quiz questions? The author says it is not and all of us should agree. But how do we accomplish bringing our students to learn to love God rather than just know about Him? This book breaks down an encompassing method: apply Lectio Divina to your lesson planning.
Dees doesn't just mean that you should be preparing your lessons through prayerful consideration and meditation, but he actually creates a structure for the lesson that follows the four steps of Lecito Divina (he adds one more), corresponding to the chapters. He encourages teachers to be the "guide on the side" instead of simply lecturing and to engage students through those Lectio Divina steps: reading, meditating, praying, contemplating, and acting. Dees concludes that this structure is not meant to be a template (probably so a teacher who has been teaching for years doesn't throw their hands up in frustration that they're supposed to change everything they're doing), but that the teacher can just apply the principles to what he or she is already doing. Personally, if a teacher aims to lead his or her students to Christ, rather than just to answering the questions right, they would follow his structure (and abundant tips, resources, examples, and suggestions!) to a T.
Many parishes and Catholic schools hire good people who have never taught before or who need a refresher on the best way to teach (read: don't just lecture all day). This book, if read and discussed in a staff-wide book club, could be a linchpin. It teaches pedagogy for all education philosophy, reflects on the importance of leading students to encounter Christ, and provides specific and concrete resources that teachers can take and use in tomorrow's lesson plans. Highly recommended.
November 16, 2024
I am not Catholic, but I do use resources from the author’s website on occasion, so when I came across this book while researching I decided to check it out. I teach Bible, and I earnestly want to do the best job I can with the time I have with my students. I was curious to see whether his book could positively impact my teaching practice. As I said, since I’m not Catholic, not every detail of this book was relevant to me. However, I was absolutely delighted by how inspiring and applicable the majority of this book’s suggestions were to my teaching theory and practice. The tone of the book was deeply moving and helped invigorate my passion for the work I do for the glory of Jesus. I’m really glad I grabbed this from the library, and I am considering buying my own copy. If you’re a Bible teacher, even if you’re not Catholic, read it! You’ll be blessed.
April 24, 2025
Every Catholic educator needs to read this book! Jared Dees does an excellent job of refocusing the purpose of Catholic education: to know to love and to serve the Lord by connecting the head and the heart. This is an excellent book that offers resources to incorporate lectio divina into every lesson with tangible scaffolding techniques. To paraphrase a statement from the conclusion of the book, educators should strive to be more of a witness and disciple of Christ rather than just a teacher.
July 30, 2018
Interesting read for any catechist. It is Jared Dees' thesis that unless our students develop a relationship with Christ, we are wasting our time. Full review http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/2018...
September 10, 2026
I teach OCIA- adapted for youth, middle schoolers and high schoolers. I will definitely be using the ideas in this book to help my students to not just learn about Christ but to encounter Him. It will help me be more of a witness and disciple. Amen!
February 1, 2021
Excellent resource. I highly recommend this to anyone who catechizes.
September 28, 2018
An interesting book for Christian educators
Jared Dess is the creator of the website "The Religious Teacher" that offers free and paid resources. He is also engaged in a variety of Catholic ministries and author of books and articles. His book "Christ in the Classroom - Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind" is primarily written for Catholic educators and catechists, some of the concepts can also be applied by educators from different Christian backgrounds (Evangelicals, Lutherans, ...). It is good fro people who have no background in pedagogy. Dees shows the mistakes that are made by educators: long lectures, limited class engagement, lack of relevance for students. Instead, in his opinion, there should be worksheets and resources that challenge the students and help them to make connections to their daily life. Dees encourages to guide the students and shows how to engage them by applying the four steps of the Lectio Divina: reading, meditating, praying, contemplating. As a final steps he adds the step of acting because he is convinced that the natural effect of an encounter with Christ is action and that the students "start to see how they are being called to think and act differently. They start to see how they must live their lives in new ways."
Not being Catholic, it was an interesting book to read and I recommend the book for Christian educators of various traditions who have an open mind and are looking for new ideas for their teaching (and some of the ideas can even be applied in other subjects where a Christian world view can also be applied).
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#ChristInTheClassroom #NetGalley
Jared Dess is the creator of the website "The Religious Teacher" that offers free and paid resources. He is also engaged in a variety of Catholic ministries and author of books and articles. His book "Christ in the Classroom - Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind" is primarily written for Catholic educators and catechists, some of the concepts can also be applied by educators from different Christian backgrounds (Evangelicals, Lutherans, ...). It is good fro people who have no background in pedagogy. Dees shows the mistakes that are made by educators: long lectures, limited class engagement, lack of relevance for students. Instead, in his opinion, there should be worksheets and resources that challenge the students and help them to make connections to their daily life. Dees encourages to guide the students and shows how to engage them by applying the four steps of the Lectio Divina: reading, meditating, praying, contemplating. As a final steps he adds the step of acting because he is convinced that the natural effect of an encounter with Christ is action and that the students "start to see how they are being called to think and act differently. They start to see how they must live their lives in new ways."
Not being Catholic, it was an interesting book to read and I recommend the book for Christian educators of various traditions who have an open mind and are looking for new ideas for their teaching (and some of the ideas can even be applied in other subjects where a Christian world view can also be applied).
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#ChristInTheClassroom #NetGalley
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews