Illustration Appreciation

There are a number of ways you can tell if someone is an IOT:

They have excessive back pain from carrying large manuals

They get excited when the office store has a sale on page protectors

They respond to pretty much everybody by saying, “You could strengthen that next time by…”

They cannot do anything in public without first giving focus questions

But if you want to know if a person is a really good IOT, check his or her illustration file. We IOTs have a definite appreciation for illustrations!

In our TCE courses, we communicate a lot of information and train teachers in specific skills. However, our goal is to go beyond just giving teachers head knowledge. We want to reach their hearts and ultimately see change in their actions as a result of our classes. To accomplish this, we want to use illustrations that are well chosen and appropriately placed in our lesson plans.

A good illustration can drive home a point and stay with our teachers long after the class is over. The right illustration can even be used of God to change people’s minds.

For example, when you teach classes like The Importance of Conversion, helping teachers see the lostness of children, you may occasionally have someone question whether or not children are sinners. There is a definite trend in our culture to downplay the issue of sin—especially as it relates to children.

The strongest argument you can make for teaching that children sin comes, of course, from Scripture. We must remind teachers of the universal truth found in verses like Romans 3:23 and Romans 3:10.

But we can further illuminate this truth through illustrations. Statistics and stories can help solidify this point for many of your teachers. Many times, you can find such illustrations in the news media.

For instance, last April, Russ Bynum of the Associated Press reported a story from Waycross, GA about a group of children who planned an assault:

A group of third-graders plotted to attack their teacher, bringing a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job, police said Tuesday. The plot by as many as nine boys and girls at Center Elementary School in south Georgia was a serious threat, Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said.

"We did not hear anybody say they intended to kill her, but could they have accidentally killed her? Absolutely," Tanner said. "We feel like if they weren't interrupted, there would have been an attempt. Would they have been successful? We don't know."

The children, ages 8 and 9, were apparently mad at the teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, Tanner said. A prosecutor said they are too young to be charged with a crime under Georgia law.

School officials alerted police Friday after a pupil tipped off a teacher that a girl had brought a weapon to school, Tanner said. Police seized a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape, electrical and transparent tape, ribbons and a crystal paperweight from the students, who apparently intended to use them against the teacher.

The scheme involved a division of roles, Tanner said. One child's job was to cover windows so no one could see outside, he said. Another was supposed to clean up after the attack.

"From what I understand, they were considered pretty good kids," Martin said. "But we have to take this seriously, whether they were serious or not about carrying this through, and that's what we did."

Using a current, real-life illustration like this one drives home the point and increases retention. If you can find news articles from your local area, the effect is even more pronounced.

Some of you are new IOTs, just starting to gather illustrations for your class sessions. Others of you have been teaching TCE courses for some time now. You may have an extensive illustration file. But maybe you’ve become a little rusty in this area. Perhaps you’ve come to rely on illustrations you’ve been using for years.

Over the next several blog posts, we are going to take a closer look at this area of our teaching. We will consider what makes a good illustration, what criteria to use for choosing illustrations, how to use illustrations effectively in our teaching and where to find illustrations that have impact. Hopefully, whether a new IOT or a veteran, these upcoming posts will help us all increase our illustration appreciation!