Class Work

Class Work* By Mary E. Connelly, Editor Young Woman's Journal We cannot place too much emphasis on class work, for this forms the foundation stone upon which we build; and if the structure that we rear is to be beautiful, substantial, and lasting, the class work must be strong and virile. There are many standpoints from which we might consider class work. One thing you are not responsible for, and that is your text. Upon the General Board rests the responsibility of furnishing the lessons to you, and I can assure you that they do it with prayerful, earnest hearts, and after thoughtful and careful study. Upon you, presidents, rests the responsibility of selecting teachers, and the teacher is the wonderful force in class work. If you fully realize how much it means to your association what kind of teachers you have, I am sure that you will very prayer- fully consider the subject before asking any man or any woman to act in this holy capacity. Upon you, teachers, rests the responsibility of seeing that the lessons are presented in such a way that your class may first get the information, second the inspiration and the feeling and the testimony of the truth of the lessons, and, third, that they shall be moved to live better because of the teachings they have received. The teacher, then, must be "a living light fountain whom it is good to be near." He must go into his class in power, the power that comes from knowing the text, the power that comes from loving his class, the power that comes from having faith in the work, the power that comes from feeling that it is tangible, that it is practical, and that it can be put into the every-day life of his class. If I were to ask this morning, "What do you find your greatest difficulty to be in class work?" I believe most of you would say, "In the preparation on the part of the class," and I believe that the greatest difficulty in preparation comes from a lack of proper assignment. I feel that our teachers do not sense fully, how necessary it is that they should know the les- son from A to Z, that they should have pondered over it and outlined it thoroughly and know just what they want the class

• Address delivered at joint M. I. A. officers' meeting, Annual Confer- ence, June 8, 1917.

CLASS WORK 915 to get from it, before they presume to make an assignment. How many, many times do we hear the assignment made like this: "Next week, girls, we will take the lesson on Prayer. It is found in the December Journal. Mary will take the first three topics, Jane the next two, and Sarah the last four." Now, what incentive is there to the indifferent girl to get the lesson, from such an assignmment as that? What enthusiasm will that kind of assignment arouse? What curiosity will it awaken? Or if the lesson is on Tithing, if the teacher says, "Next time, brethren, we will take the lesson on Tithing; it is number five in the Manual; I hope you will study it." Now, there are a few in the class who will study. You only need to suggest to some people what to do and they will do it, but you are after the ones who need encouragement, who need helping, so you want to make an assignment that will make them begin that very night, thinking about the subject and talking about it. If you find in studying over the lesson, a few things that will excite the curiosity of your class or that will cause them to dis- cuss or that will cause them to question as to whether they know the thing, then you will get them to begin on their way home talking about that lesson. For instance take this lesson on Prayer. If you would suggest that they talk on their way home about some of these questions, "Why should we pray? Where should we pray? When should we pray? Why are some prayers unanswered? In what spirit should we pray? Per- haps one of those several topics will interest a certain girl, and she will ask another girl what she thinks about it ; and when she gets home, it is likely she will want to see what the text says about it, to see whether she agrees or disagrees. Then you want to ask those girls to bring to your class next time, stories of answered prayers, so that they will begin talking to their fathers, their mothers, and their associates. If the brother, in assigning the lesson on Tithing, shall say to his class, "Brethren, you all know the importance of this subject, but there are many things in this lesson that perhaps you have not thought about before, and we would like you to discuss on your way home tonight, what are the blessings that come from paying of tithing and what are the penalties that come from non-payment of tithing? Ask them what effect it has on the individual who believes in tithing and yet does not pay it, ask them to read over that night, under the sociological aspects of the lesson, some of the testimonies of the non-mem- bers of the Church in regard to the character of the honest tithe- payer among the Latter-day Saints. There are some things there they have not perhaps thought of Then you might read some of those splendid questions that follow that lesson on Tithing. Do something in assigning every lesson, to get them started to

914 IMPROVEMENT ERA thinking. I believe that if you ask some of these questions or suggest some of these topics, you will get a great majority of your class to thinking along that line. You have a big help this year in the scoring which is to be given for the reading of the lesson. Do urge your class, teach- ers, to read it thoughtfully, and not just gallop through it to say they have read it; that isn't true; they must have read it thoughtfully. In making the assignment, you must consider how you are going to assign that lesson, whether it is going to be a lec- ture, whether it is going to be assigned questions and answers, whether it is going to be assigned topics, or whether it is going to be a general assignment. If you can get your class to pre- pare, certainly the last is the best way; when you can get your whole class studying, talking, thinking about the lesson, and when the teacher can come and direct the discussion. After the assignment has been made, next week comes the presentation of the work, and the teacher comes before the class with a prayerful heart that the big things in that lesson may be impressed upon the hearers, that such things may be brought forth as shall be for the best of that class. It may be that one class will need certain things emphasized, another class will need other things emphasized in the lesson. Now comes the draw- ing forth of that class; for, remember, teaching is not a pour- ing-in process. The teacher is not to do all the work, but the teacher is to draw forth from those people, to get them to ex- press themselves, and if the teacher can get them to talking, their faith in the subject will increase and it will gain more power in their lives. The teacher must be careful not to let them wander too far afield, but must keep them to the main themes in that lesson. The teacher has already determined the three or four big things that he or she wishes to present to that class, and the central points around which the others will group themselves. There must be the Spirit of the Lord in the class-room, because we want no Mutual Improvement teach- ers who do not believe implicitly in this great work and who do not have faith in it, and who do not put the Spirit of the Lord into every teaching of the association work. But there remains still another thing to do. Information and inspiration may be a source of exaltation. Those things may also be a source of condemnation. If that class has come in contact with the truth, been moved by the power of the Spirit so that the truth has burned within their hearts, and they do not live according to the truth, then those things have condemned them; but if they live the light they have received, then those things exalt them. So the teacher must watch that after every lesson, there is better living on the part of the class

CLASS WORK 915 members. If the work is on Prayer, the teacher wants to see that those girls pray more earnestly, more seriously, with more faith and always in the right spirit, "Thy will, O God, not mine, be done;" and if they have not prayed as they should do, if they have been infrequent in their praying, she wants to watch and perhaps go to persons and work with them individually, to see that they observe this wonderful privilege of conversing with our Father. If the lesson is on Tithing, the brother wants to see that those brethren in that class, after they have felt the glory and the privilege of paying tithing, of sustaining this great work, pay it; and if they have only paid it once or twice a year, that they pay it at the proper time, whenever they receive an increase, that they shall tithe that increase; and perhaps he needs to consult the bishop and work with individual members of his class, to see that they live the truth. My dear brethren and sisters, may this class work so inspire our young people that they may know, feel, and do, I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. By