Oh, hey there! Be right back. Uh ... Sunday School presidencies are known for ringing the bell, handing out class rolls, lesson calendars--and that's all they do, right?

I'm Sherm Sunday, Sunday School tour guide. And I am here to tell you that in truth, a Sunday School presidency is in charge of helping improve the gospel learning and teaching in the ward or branch--and that includes helping all auxiliaries, not just Sunday School. One of the resources that has been implemented to help with improving learning and teaching in recent times is the teacher council meeting. What is that, exactly? Is it a lecture or even a lesson? No! Some of you are holding teacher council meetings and probably doing a pretty good job, too. High fives all around. That's fantastic. For some it may be more of a challenge. All of us are figuring out how it works in our own ward or branch, scheduling with teachers, finding extra help in Primary--oof! I know, it can be stressful. But let's focus for a minute on the actual council. There is a fantastic outline on page 3 of the Teaching in the Savior's Way resource that gives the details of the who and the what of a teacher council meeting, so take a gander. Page 3 in the paper copy, and you can also find the Teaching in the Savior's Way resource on the Gospel Library app if you go into "Lessons" and "Teaching in the Savior's Way." There you go! There are three main areas of focus during a teacher council meeting, but approximately how much time should you spend on each area? Generally a member of the Sunday School presidency is responsible for how time is spent in the council. We suggest the available teacher council time be divided into thirds. Spend approximately the first third of the time on "share and counsel together," approximately the second third on "learn together," and approximately the last third on "practice," with a minute or two reserved for discussing the principle for the next teacher council meeting. Be sure to invite those who attend the council to prepare for the next one. You will have to watch the clock so that practice portion doesn't get neglected. Now, you begin with what is probably everyone's favorite part: "share and counsel together." We have seen various examples of "share and counsel together" happening in teacher councils around the world. Look, they're in Ghana! There's Korea! And here we have Mexico! This is a portion of the meeting that we tend to understand pretty well. There is usually an invitation to share experiences; there are challenges and/or successes discussed, maybe a follow-up on what was discussed in a previous council meeting. This part of the council can be really impactful. Sometimes, however, this takes up the whole meeting time. The important thing is that the Sunday School president takes the opportunity to thank the council for their participation in the "share and counsel" portion and move on. I would like to draw your attention to the other areas of focus that should and could happen in a teacher council meeting. You have the opportunity to learn together. You should have come prepared to discuss a certain principle, which a Sunday School president or presidency member will lead out on introducing. Again, not a lesson, but an opportunity to learn together, ask and answer questions, and share ideas about the specific principle from the Teaching in the Savior's Way resource. Let's take a look at this "learn together" example. They are discussing "Reach out to those who do not attend," which happens to be from the "loving those you teach" principle in the Teaching in the Savior's Way resource. Thank you so much, everyone, for sharing. We're going to move on to our "learning together" portion. So we're going to get out our Teaching in the Savior's Way manual. And we're going to be turning to the "Love Those You Teach" section and then turn to the section "Reach Out to Those Who Do Not Attend." So, as you've read over this section since our last council, what's really stood out to you as you've been thinking about your classes and your groups? It needs to be really, honestly caring about these individuals and loving them, not--with no ulterior motive. But playing devil's advocate, how do you do that? How do you do that so that they don't automatically feel like, "Here's a person who is making me a project," you know? Maybe don't invite them--maybe don't invite them first thing. Get to know them first, and then invite. Yeah, I think that's the number-one thing, is you become their friend first, you know? And as you show them that you care, you don't just go one time and say, "Hi, I'm So-and-so," you know? And then drop off ... right. You keep going, and you become a friend by going more than one time, doing something, you know, talking to them consistently. There's a scripture I'd like to turn to that kind of touches on what you're talking about. It's Luke chapter 15--Luke chapter 15, verse 8. And before we read it, I'd like for you to think about someone in your class or quorum or organization that maybe isn't attending and how this may apply to you and to your responsibilities. Luke 15, verse 8. Bishop, would you read that for us, please? Sure. Luke 15:8. "Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost." Thank you. What comes to mind as we read that, read that scripture? "The worth of souls is great in the [eyes] of God." Everybody matters. It reminds me of Christ and the sheep, you know? Leaving the ninety and nine to search for the one. And also modeling the way that we love other people. Like, are you as a leader, as a teacher--are you showing that you love your students? Are you showing that love? Are you modeling that for them so they know how to reach out to others? I'm going to read this from the manual because I don't want to say it in my own words. But it said, "We all need to work together to reach out to those who struggle, and as a teacher you may be in a unique position to help." So I remember reading that we can work with the ministering brothers and sisters to initially find out about the child or the person, you know, as it may be, before we contact them so that we can know a little bit about what the needs are, and then proceed from there and ... And how they want to be contacted, maybe? Yes. I guess, like, with Primary or Young Women and Young Men, it's a little bit easier because you have a smaller group size, smaller class size. And you know, you have, like, a more intimate relationship with your students. But I guess someone like me in Sunday School who has, like, 30, 40 students, you know, how do I reach out to all those people? And how do I, you know--I guess, get into a closer relationship with those students? I think one thing, you can treat it the same way as you would in Young Men and Young Women. Ask people, "Do you know So-and-so, Brother So-and-so that isn't coming? Are you their friend?" Reach out to the people that are in front of you to go get the ones who aren't. That's a great way to do it. Did you notice how the Sunday School president introduced the principle and asked questions but didn't dominate the conversation? Also, did you see how a scriptural example was used to illustrate the manner in which the Savior taught? Then they related it to the here and now of the teaching principle being discussed. Now you've just done an amazing job sharing and counseling and learning together, but you notice you're almost out of time! Take the last third of the meeting to practice. Depending on what the principle suggests, you may have come up with an additional idea of your own to practice with that ties back into the key principle of the meeting. Now take a look at this practice example related to the principle "Reach out to those who do not attend." So I really like what we're talking about, ideas of how we would reach out to those who aren't attending. And so what we'd like to do now is take some of those ideas, and let's practice and actually role-play what it would look like to start a conversation, breaking the ice with someone and actually inviting them. OK? Sister Wood, would you play the role of a teacher inviting, and Sister Iverson being the individual to be invited? Of course. Do you want to just switch places with me? Yes. Thank you.

OK. Hi, how are you? I'm good. I've had a lot going on this week. Really? Yeah. So what was it that you do? You told me, but I couldn't remember. Oh, I'm actually a hospitality management major. So I'm doing that, but I also work doing that as well and am about to graduate. Wow. Do you like it? Yeah. You learn a lot of great ways to serve other people. And I think that it's really--I don't know. It's a great way to get to know others. That's great. You know, we've missed you. Is there anything that I can do to help you make it out to class more? No. I mean, I just really appreciate you talking to me, you know. Like, it's always good to have friends. And I actually really appreciate it when I come to church knowing that you're there, because then I know I have someone to talk to and I feel welcome. Well, I like your contributions. I mean, it's nice that we have a class where we have people from, you know, different backgrounds. And I feel that it's nice to have some of the younger people like you in our class. Yeah. I guess I am young-ish. [LAUGHTER] Great. Thank you. That was wonderful. Let's hear some thoughts on that. How do you think that went? Or what did you really like from that? I really liked that you gave a specific thing that she does that, like--in class, why we need her. You said, "I really like your comments in class, and we need some more young people," I guess. And, but I think that's, like, a specific thing, and it makes her realize, like, "Oh, like, they really do need me. They said that, but it's, like, really true." And how else can the inviter follow up with this conversation? She said she was--was it hospitality management or something? Yeah. So I think ... So asking her, say, "Hey, if we had some kind of Relief Society lesson on that--because you were saying you serve people. This would be a different angle that we could use to talk about service. Can you come and speak for just a little bit or maybe give us a 5-minute, 10-minute blurb on how that helps you to serve people?" Because she said she liked doing it. So maybe, I think, maybe this was just, like, a good starting point. And I save some of your suggestions for the next time I contact her. So it's not too aggressive. Yeah. Right. There are some good suggestions here. So let's take that and use it. And let's say you meet again at the grocery store, and you have another opportunity to have a conversation. Let's see what that may look like. Did you notice how in this particular practice, role play was a key part of helping drive the principle home? Let's not forget the important elements of feedback, discussion, and the opportunity to try again as a part of practice. Be sure to give everyone in the council an opportunity to participate and develop their own skills as they relate to the principle through practice. As you wrap up the practice portion, invite those attending the council to apply what they learned and practiced in upcoming teaching opportunities and, of course, take note of any impressions received. Finally, talk about what's happening during the next teacher council meeting, and give each and every one the opportunity to prepare. Follow up with the members of the council in advance of the next meeting, and remind them about what they were invited to prepare. And as they do so, they will recognize the value that comes from meeting in council when they know they have something to contribute. Last of all, close your council with a prayer, and voila! You are ready for another wonderful round of teaching until the next teacher council! For those of you out there who would love some more suggestions and specifics about the practice portion, there is a whole other video about that very thing. So check it out!