Evaluation of a Good Sunday School Lesson

In an article entitled, 10 Marks of Great Teaching, Josh Hunt shares ways to improve your teaching through evaluating yourself in ten areas. The ten areas are his (in all capitals). The commentary which follows is mine. Evaluate last Sunday’s lesson in these areas:

1. PASSION.  Did the Holy Spirit personally convict you through the passage/truth? Did you teach with energy and enthusiam? Could attenders tell you were excited? Think about your gestures, tone, and body movement which add much to conveying how important you consider the message.
2. PRACTICALITY.  Did the lesson’s truth intersect with learners’ lives? Did you help learners see how the message/truth is relevant for them? Did you give them handles so they know how to take small, concrete steps toward obedience?
3. HUMOR.  Sunday School should be fun. Did the class laugh together? Spontaneous laughter is an important sign of relationships and an evidence that members trust one another and enjoy spending time together. Humor is more than jokes.
4. PERSONAL.  Were you transparent? Did you share yourself with the group? Did you make the truth real? With prior permission, did you tap into the affinities and experiences of attenders? I like the reminder that Josh gives:  “Being personal is also one of the best ways of creating interest. People are interested in people — especially the personal lives of people.”
5. INVOLVEMENT.  Did you involve the group in the lesson? Did nearly everyone talk? Did you ask questions, and/or did you divide them into groups and give them assignments? At any point, did you lose their attention?
6. PREPARATION.  Were you prayed up? Did you have a personal encounter with God in His Word? Did you prepare to address the learning styles of attenders? Did you start early enough in the week to see the illustrations that God provided? Could you have presented the lesson without your notes?
7. BACKGROUND.  Did you set the lesson and truth into context? Did you understand the relevance of the passage for the time of the writing? What was in the passage that the casual reader may have missed? How did previous verses prepare for this passage?
8. INTRODUCTION.  Did you grab their attention right from the start? Could attenders understand the relevance of the lesson in your opening? Did you use a question, story, or an activity that focused their attention on the truth of the passage?
9. INSPIRATION.  Did you only deliver content, or did you inspire them to take action? Did you motivate them to do something? Were they convicted about their need to obey? Did attenders realize how important their next steps were? Did you help them believe they could do it? that they should do it? Did you inspire them to be a better disciple?
10. FOCUS.  Too often, lessons try to accomplish too many things. Did you focus on one important, Kingdom-impacting truth? Did you build in the same direction for the entire lesson? Did your introduction, methods, illustrations, application, and conclusion all make the same case?

I like Josh’s grading suggestion. If each of the areas has the potential of 10 points, the total potential would be 100 points. How many points did last week’s lesson score? Strive for a score of 75-100. When you teach, give your best effort to God and those in your care! Evaluate every lesson. Be passionate, humorous, practical, and personal. Get them involved. Prepare. Share background. Capture attention at the introduction. Inspire. Focus. Teach Kingdom-impacting lessons. Make disciples!

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Darryl Wilson has served as Director of the Sunday School Department for the Kentucky Baptist Convention since 1997. He served as Minister of Education in five churches in Kentucky and South Carolina. He is the author of The Sunday School Revolutionary!, a blog about life-changing Sunday School and small groups.