Online gatherings are still the norm for many church ministries. At the beginning of 2020, I had only been on Zoom a couple of times. By the end of the year, I had completed countless meetings for my speech therapy practice and church’s special needs ministry. I still do not feel like an expert online host by any means, but it has gotten easier the more I have done it.
I appreciate having online options available for church ministry. It allows connections to be made, relationships to stay in place, and spiritual growth to occur. Teaching children with special needs online is much different than in person. Some things translate better in person rather than online and vice versa.
Our church has been providing Zoom meetings for our small special needs class for several months. It has been a learning experience for all of us, as we have tried to continue our ministry through a different delivery system. Here are three ways we have engaged our students during online classes:
1. Virtual backgrounds
Thanks to my 11-year-old son, I discovered we could download pictures to use as a virtual background in Zoom. This feature was a nice addition to some of our lessons. For example, we downloaded a nativity background photo and had a teacher dress up as Mary for Christmas. The costume with the virtual background made the lesson come alive and broke up the regular look of our meetings. Other online platforms have this option too and provide instructions on how to download and use such backgrounds.
2. Screen sharing
Screen sharing on your computer opens a wide array of options to help add lesson content. With a few clicks of a computer mouse, you can allow others on your meeting to see something on your computer. You can share videos from YouTube or your own files. Pictures, websites, documents, and almost anything else can be shared with others with this function.
Screen sharing has allowed us to keep a few elements of our in-person routine in our online meetings. Because we usually use a visual schedule in our class, we knew we wanted to screen share a schedule to keep that consistency. Prior to the start of our Zoom meeting, the teacher types out our schedule on the white board feature. After our initial introductions in the meeting, we screen share the schedule with the class, which lists things like music, prayer, lesson, and games. We also screen share a Word document containing one of the group prayers we have always done in class.
We have used screen sharing to show power point presentations to the class. Power point presentations do not have to be boring slides of information. You can use power point to show pictures for a story you may be reading, introduce a memory verse, review highlights of previous lessons, and dozens of other things.
Photo credit: Claudine Chausse on Lightstock.com.
3. Games
If you have a relatively small group of participants, games are a great option to reinforce content and allow more interaction. We most often play a “go and find” type of game for class. We tell the students to go find something in their home pertaining to the lesson and show the rest of the class. Examples of this have been: find something red (Red Sea), find something with a lion on it (Daniel and the lion’s den), and go find a creature that lives in the water (Jonah).
Another game we commonly play is our “question board.” Prior to class, we come up with some simple questions to ask about the lesson content and create a question board with construction paper and markers. The questions are numbered and taped to a master board. During class, a student picks a number, the teacher pulls off the numbered question, and reads it. Multiple choice answers are provided if needed.
Also, on Zoom, we have students answer questions as a group by having them stand or sit to respond. During Thanksgiving, we read through several statements such as “stand up if you are thankful for broccoli” or “stand up if you are thankful for your mom.” This allowed everyone to participate at once and be involved.
Online ministry can be challenging and fun as we connect to those with special needs. Spiritual growth can happen online, and we can use the tools some of these platforms offer to help support what we are teaching. I hope that some of these ideas can help you and your class as you prepare your lessons.
Evana is a wife and mother of two children. Since becoming a parent, Evana has spent many hours driving to specialty appointments, praying beside a hospital bed, and learning about her children’s diagnoses. Evana is also a pediatric speech-language pathologist and serves children with autism, feeding disorders, and other developmental delays. You can connect with Evana on Twitter, Facebook, and her blog, A Special Purposed Life. You can also read more about her family’s story in her book, Badges of Motherhood: One Mother’s Story about Family, Down syndrome, Hospitals, and Faith.
