I'm back tutoring math again. As I looked at the notebook of one of the young men I'm working with, I saw the word "bored" written several times. Bored. Why are we boring our students? In fact, in a survey of 1000 students boredom was listed as the number one issue students had with school.
I taught math for 25 years and I know I had my boring days. In fact as I've probably written here before, I bored myself so much that I quit! Lucky for me I had spent the time away acting in a professional children's theatre company.
When I came back, I had a whole new way to teach. I began to blend the entertainment strategies I used to hold the attention of little children with the math instruction. Everything began to change. I didn't entertain them per se but I did realize that if I was boring myself, what was I doing to them?
Why are we boring our kids? Sometimes we forget we're not teaching little teachers. They're not interested in our subject as much as we are. We're got to find a way not to bore them. I know teachers are not trained to be entertainers but we do have to begin to find ways to capture our student's attention and interest. We've got to face facts. Kids are used to being entertained and if we're going to be effective, we've got to find the tools to make our classes into fun places to learn.
Need some help? I'd be happy to do so. I've been speaking on this topic for several years after seeing the dramatic changes in both my math classes and the Strategies of Success program I created. I'll be offering a teleconference this January where I will share many of the strategies I used to engage students.
More later...
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