A mathematical formula for controlling chaos

Within two weeks of moving into our ward, Brian and I were called to be Primary teachers (as is wont to happen with newly married couples). We were assigned the CTR 5/6 class, which is a combined age group: 5-year-olds turning 6 and 6-year-olds turning 7. Last week, newly called, we observed our class and witnessed a scene of barely-controlled chaos...and the ratio of adults to children that day was 4:3.

I think the best advice we got this past week as we prepared for our first day of teaching was from Brian's sister, who framed the advice as the best advice she'd ever gotten as a Primary teacher. Her advice was that the attention span of children, in minutes, corresponds directly to their age. Accordingly, we came to class armed with lots of 5-7 minute activities, and a very limited sense of the overall trajectory of the lesson.

This is a very different teaching style than I am used to. In my last ward I taught the 10-11 year old girls, and lessons would go something like this:

• "News" (3-5 minutes for the girls to share things going on in their life)
• Opening Prayer
• Brief review of last week's lesson and introduction of this week's
• Scripture-reading and discussion
• Closing prayer

Of course I tried to make the scripture-reading and discussion as interesting and relevant as possible, and I have reason to believe that I was reasonably successful in this, but lessons didn't actually take that much preparation. They just unfolded as we got talking.

Contrast this with our lesson today:

• Bathroom and drinking fountain break
• Opening prayer 
• Introductions and get-to-know-you questions
• Hands-on opening activity (which involved transferring water from a bowl to a cup by spoonfuls while naming things we were grateful for).
• Story time (kids got to sit cross-legged on the floor because they were getting restless in their chairs)
• Lesson: 2-3 minutes about why it's important to thank Heavenly Father for our blessings.
• Singing time (accompanied by Brian's guitar - they didn't sing much, but they were completely mesmerized)
• Gratitude Bingo
• Closing Prayer

Mathematically speaking, if 5-7 year-olds have a 5-7 minute attention span, a 40-minute class is going to require 6 to 8 distinct activities every time. 10-11 year olds, on the other hand, will only need about 4, and for them scripture reading and discussion can count as different activities.

In the end, Brian and I both felt good about today's lesson, and I think we're feeling excited about this new calling. But the moment we felt really successful was when Brian saw one of our kids in the hall after class and said, "Hey, Carter, thanks for making our first day in your class fun!" At which point Carter stopped, said, "I thought..." and looked genuinely perplexed for a moment before finishing:

"I thought you were the ones who made it fun."

I think he was totally not even trying to melt our heart.