Fiona Hammond

Is your small group or Bible study time poor?

Make the most of your time together by employing a “flipped classroom” approach.

Simply encourage people to read or watch the stimulus material in their own time during the week and think through some ideas in preparation for your time together.

For instance, if you have chosen to watch one of the videos in the SFC Short Course, What Matters About Jesus simply email or text the link to your group. Ask people to note new ideas and “aha” moments as they watch. Encourage everyone to fit this into their normal routine, imagine your group members watching the episode in the car as they wait for netball practice to finish, or when they wake up early over a cuppa, or if they arrive at band practice early!

Note that there are questions after each episode – perhaps someone could choose one to explore and share their discoveries during the group time.

There are clear advantages to this type of preparation: the brain gets working early and starts to make connections between new information and previous experience. Group members will be mulling over the content during the week, and this allows for rich discussion and great questions when you do meet. A flipped classroom approach also allows you to be flexible with your meeting time. Imagine meeting at a venue that does not require a screen! Consider meeting at the pub, in a coffee shop or simply streamline your time by getting straight into the questions.