{"id":33190,"date":"2019-06-26T15:50:58","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T21:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/?p=33190"},"modified":"2019-08-07T12:32:34","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T18:32:34","slug":"be-bold-teacher-tips-ask-a-question-no-one-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/be-bold-teacher-tips-ask-a-question-no-one-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"What If I Ask a Question and Nobody Answers? | BE BOLD Teacher Tip"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/oo_FkYBz7VY” align=”center”][vc_column_text]For a teacher, that long, dead silence after asking a question can seem awkward at best, and feel disastrous at worst (cue cartoon \u201cbombs away\u201d whistle). Thankfully, there\u2019s one thing you can do that works nearly 100 percent of the time:<\/p>\n

Smile and wait.<\/p>\n

A lingering hush can make just about anyone feel uncomfortable. That\u2019s why, during conversations, it takes less than 3 seconds for most people to jump in to fill a silence (and that\u2019s being generous). It\u2019s true with adults, and it\u2019s true with preteens, too. In fact, the average Sunday school teacher doesn\u2019t even get to 3 seconds. On average, leaders only wait 1.8 seconds before moving on to a new question. That’s just not enough time for preteens to think.<\/p>\n

In a group setting, a little bit of silence should be expected. BE BOLD<\/a> asks tough questions, and kids need time to think about their answers. In fact, preteens are often deciding what they believe in real time.<\/p>\n

Also, being the first one to brave a response can take a fair amount of courage, especially for kids at this age. Give their brains room to think without distraction.<\/p>\n

It can be challenging to resist the temptation to jump in too soon, or to offer your own answers before kids get the chance to share their own thoughts. But you must resist that temptation, especially if you want kids to own their discoveries.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a helpful tip for handling the silence. In your head, calmly count to 8. More often than not, the kids will have already ventured into the conversation by themselves. At the end of 8 seconds if no one has shared an answer yet, it might be a good idea to rephrase the question or give examples<\/strong> that help get preteens\u00a0thinking.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”33217″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https:\/\/www.group.com\/category\/ministry-resources\/childrens-ministry\/sunday-school\/be-bold.do?utm_source=CM_Blog&utm_campaign=BB_TT&utm_content=BB_TT_1_July2019″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/oo_FkYBz7VY” align=”center”][vc_column_text]For a teacher, that long, dead silence after asking a question can seem awkward at best, and feel disastrous at worst (cue cartoon \u201cbombs away\u201d whistle). Thankfully, there\u2019s one thing you can do that works nearly 100 percent of the time: Smile and wait. A lingering hush can make just about anyone feel uncomfortable. That\u2019s why, during conversations, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":33216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[732,117,742,4,127,6],"tags":[733,736,734,75,735,745,746],"class_list":["post-33190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-be-bold","category-lead","category-preteen-ministry","category-sunday-school","category-train","category-training","tag-be-bold","tag-conversation","tag-preteen-ministry","tag-sunday-school","tag-teacher-tips","tag-tween-ministry","tag-tween-sunday-school"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat If I Ask a Question and Nobody Answers? | BE BOLD Teacher Tip - Group Children's Ministry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For a teacher, that long, dead silence after asking a question can be intimidating. 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