Okay, here’s the deal, I am sure many of you are sitting here reading this thinking to yourself, “Umm, that is pretty much a no-brainer, make learning fun, engage students in the process.” Would you believe though, that there are still teachers out there that don’t really believe that?
I know. I used to teach at a school with a woman who really didn’t make learning fun. Instead, she used intimidation and strict paper and pencil activities to keep the kids in line. She and I couldn’t have been farther from each other in teaching style. She taught general education classes and I taught special education. I tried to bond with students while she chose to not get too close. I chose to talk about problems, she chose to punish swiftly if a student acted up. I chose to make learning a fun and hands-on experience, and she, well you know what she did from reading above.
I made learning fun. Now, this certainly isn’t a brag on my teaching skills, because I certainly don’t think that I was better of a teacher than most out there, but darn it, I tried hard to keep my kids busy with fun activities that were educational.
My students were behavior-disordered students, so the more I kept them engaged in learning, the better behaviors we saw. If we had a lesson we had to read over dinosaurs, we did a project to end the unit. Throughout the unit we studied dinosaurs, did art activities with them, listened to books on tape about them, watched engaging videos about them and researched them on the computer. No, there was rarely sitting around pushing a pencil with paper. Our final project? Making large papermache dinosaurs and habitats, then having an open house where parents (who unfortunately never came…well, my mom came! LOL) and other classrooms and staff were invited.
The pure pride in my student’s eyes as they shared their work throughout the unit and then shared their projects that they created with their own hands, was just joyful to me. As I type this, I realize just how much I miss that and how excited I am to get back to it.
So, if schools make learning fun and engage students by trying a variety of ways to teach lessons, kids develop a sense of pride over their work, behaviors may improve and students enjoy school.
What does your child’s school do to make learning fun?