Session: Emotional Development

Preparation

• Make one photocopy of this page. Cut out the following small group assignments.
1. Review the paragraphs on personality. Write a case study describing the implications of how one of the following affects emotional development: temperament, learning style, language, sex role, relational style, or identity.
2. Review the paragraphs on mood swings. Write a case study describing one way a teacher copes with mood swings among teenagers.
3. Review the paragraphs on emotional disorders. Write a case study describing how parents and teachers partnered with each other to help a teenager with an emotional disorder. Be ready to lead the group to develop an effective approach to guiding teenagers with emotional disorders.
4. Review the paragraphs on responding to emotional hurts. What are ways a teacher or a parent responded to you during your childhood? Be ready to share one or two of your stories with the total group.
   
   
• Gather paper and pencils for your participants.

Reflect and Practice

1. Begin the session with fellowship and prayer.
   
   
2. Organize participants into four small groups. Give each group an assignment sheet and a piece of paper and pencil for the recorder. Ask them to complete their assignment for the total group.
   
   
3. At the appropriate time call the group together and ask Group 1 to share their case study without identifying their selected factor. Ask the rest of the participants to guess which factor they have just described in the case study. Facilitate a brief discussion about the implications regarding the various emotional development factors on teaching teenagers in your church or home.
   
   
4. Ask Group 2 to share their case study. Discuss ways to use the awareness of these mood swings at church and at home.
   
   
5. Ask Group 3 to read their case study to the participants and lead a discussion in developing a better way of reaching teenagers with emotional disorders. Let participants reflect on the implications of the emotional disorders of the teenagers they teach at church and at home.
   
   
6. Ask Group 4 to share one or two stories about responding to emotional hurts. Identify ways the teachers can work together to respond to the teenagers in your church and homes.
   
   
7. Conclude this session by asking participants to look at their class roll they received during the first session. Ask, "Based on what we have discussed during this session and your experience, how can you help your teenagers grow emotionally?"
   
   
8. Close with prayer for the emotional needs of your participants. Remind your participants to read the article for the next session