Before I get mobbed for saying education is fun, let me explain. First, let me ask you, what classes do you remember from elementary school through college? Was it the straight laced teacher that taught straight from the book, the teacher who had been there for years and is just repeating herself, or was it the teacher that made class fun? Most would agree with the latter.
But wait, there is that word fun again. Fun can be an ambiguous word. In the case of education most would say you are suppose to be learning and not having fun. I agree. So why am I talking about fun then?
I’ve been teaching now for a while and found out why when I was a student I had fun in class. It’s how the student and the teacher approach the classroom. If you got the mindset that you just have to be there, then of course you are not going to learn anything. But if you leave your personal baggage (troubles, daily calendar, cell phone, other topics filling your brain) at the door, you’re ready to learn.
As the teacher, I approach each new class as just that, a new class. Does the student care if this is the first time I have taught this subject or the millionth time? No, this is their first. The advantage, or at least it should be treated as such, for the teacher to teach the same subject multiple times is that you can create a rhythm of the material. But don’t forget the variable in the room, the student. No matter if you are teaching students with disabilities or a mixed class. No two students are a like. As comfortable as you are with the subject, they are not. First thing I always do is try to get to know the students better along with some of their likes and dislikes. This way, even though I got most of my material ready, I can easily change it up to include information from the students.
With this, the students are more apt to pay closer attention as you are talking about something they like or dislike. So when they are tuned in, they are learning or in their own words, this class is fun. So learning can be fun, but education is learning.
I hear you, you’re saying not all subjects can be fun. What about math or accounting? Ah, the naysayers in the bunch are part of the negative atmosphere that pulls education down. Now that you know what students like, you can use real life examples, including the most awesome tool of all in a classroom: discussion. How does math or even accounting fit into the student’s every day life? Don’t just lecture about it. Don’t just do math problems, including the one about if train A goes this far and train B goes this far. Discuss. Even the students that does like to discuss as much will be learning by actively listening to their classmates stories. The first question we all ask ourselves when told we have to take a given class is, why?
As the teacher, you already know the answer, but in the act of discussion, you can actually turn the question back around and have the students answer it for themselves. And quite possibly, you will learn new reasons from your students. Learning is not a one way street.
I used to think early on, because my peers told me so, “Oh, you can only teach the curriculum this way.” At first I believed them as they were teachers so much longer than me. So they must be experienced in how to teach students so they learn. As I taught this way, all I saw back from students was blank stares. I changed my ways fairly quickly. I also came to realize with the help of the students and their parents that some of my peers were those that have done it so long, they’ve forgotten why they are truly there.
The teachers we remember the most are the ones who made class fun. Or to put it the correct way, they are the ones who helped us learn. They are the ones who kept learning fresh and relavant. Many teachers do that all the time. They include discussions, in class activities and projects to not replace the simple mechanics of reading and writing, but to accentuate and enhance the learning experience.
