5. Student Interest |
Please see the video below, before we begin discussing student interest!
If you have been in a class like the movie above then you can remember sitting in a class or doing an activity that was extremely boring or not engaging, you probably even lost interest in what it was you were doing all together no matter how good the intention was. The point is, that if you are not engaged then you will not be able to take away any learning, the same goes for your students, how can we as educators expect our students to learn if they are not engaged and interested in the class?
"Student motivation, as it turns out, appears to have as much influence on student success as teacher quality" (Goodwin, B & Hubble, E.R., 2013, p 66). As mention in an earlier touchstone success = effort. How can a student be successful if they are not motivated? So the larger question at stake is how do we motivate our students?
Just like a good movie trailer leaving you wanting for more, you need to do that for your students. Make your students curious learners, don't just give them the information, make them think and apply themselves while coaching them along the way. In math this can be especially challenging, we often teach students the tricks and not the whys to math, we often just show them the formula and steps without truly letting them explore the math themselves. The most beautiful thing about mathematics is that there are a plethora of ways to solve a single problem, yet in America we so often just teach them the formula and steps, we don't actually allow students to simply discover the math and struggle through it. Below is an excellent video on making math challenging and engaging to students.
"Student motivation, as it turns out, appears to have as much influence on student success as teacher quality" (Goodwin, B & Hubble, E.R., 2013, p 66). As mention in an earlier touchstone success = effort. How can a student be successful if they are not motivated? So the larger question at stake is how do we motivate our students?
Just like a good movie trailer leaving you wanting for more, you need to do that for your students. Make your students curious learners, don't just give them the information, make them think and apply themselves while coaching them along the way. In math this can be especially challenging, we often teach students the tricks and not the whys to math, we often just show them the formula and steps without truly letting them explore the math themselves. The most beautiful thing about mathematics is that there are a plethora of ways to solve a single problem, yet in America we so often just teach them the formula and steps, we don't actually allow students to simply discover the math and struggle through it. Below is an excellent video on making math challenging and engaging to students.
If you are not a math teacher I also have some easy tips for you to adopt in your lesson plans on a daily basis, please see below:
1.Open up with a hook. (Think of your hook like an excellent movie trailer or preface to a book, you want to peak their curiosity. Open your lesson with your essential question. Use props, show a video, show a picture, play a song, be as creative as you can to "hook" your students!)
2. Mix things up in your lessons. (After about 10 minuets you need to re-engage students otherwise they begin to check out. What this means is that it's important to chunk your information and activities in 10 -15 minutes. This could be incorporating think-pair-share into your lessons, turn and talk to your partner, quiz-quiz-trade. Here are two excellent links for strategies that you can incorporate into your lessons straight away!
1.Open up with a hook. (Think of your hook like an excellent movie trailer or preface to a book, you want to peak their curiosity. Open your lesson with your essential question. Use props, show a video, show a picture, play a song, be as creative as you can to "hook" your students!)
2. Mix things up in your lessons. (After about 10 minuets you need to re-engage students otherwise they begin to check out. What this means is that it's important to chunk your information and activities in 10 -15 minutes. This could be incorporating think-pair-share into your lessons, turn and talk to your partner, quiz-quiz-trade. Here are two excellent links for strategies that you can incorporate into your lessons straight away!
3. Offer choices to students. (Give students some options in their learning, this can be as simple as creating different problem sets and offering students the choice for them to choose the appropriate challenge, you could also offer them choice for homework, give them options that are still focusing on the learning objective but different methods to demonstrate mastery. Just don't offer too many choices.)
Here is a good article with suggestions on offering choices for students.
Here is a good article with suggestions on offering choices for students.
4. Start with WHY! (Before you even begin to plan your lessons begin with why. Ask yourself what is most essential for my students to take away with today and why? We need to help our students understand the why behind what they are learning. For instance, in an Algebra II class, the objective might be how to convert from radians to degrees and vice versa, in all honestly they may never use that in their life, but you can still explain to them that you will need to use conversions in your life. The exact process may be hard to make it relevant to students but all objectives are relevant to students so begin your lesson with why, help show your students that even though they may not use that specific skill align, they are using other skills underneath the objective that will ultimately help them in their life.
References:
Goodwin, R. & Hubbell, E. R. (2013). The 12 touchstones of good teaching: A checklist for staying focused every day.
Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Ferris Buller's Day Off. John Hughes. Paramount Pictures. 1986. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiCFdWeQfA
Meyer, Dan. (2010, May 13). Math Class Needs a Makeover. [Video file] Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWUFjb8w9Ps
Kagan Publishing & Professional Development. (n.d.). Retrieved fro:
http://www.kaganonline.com/online_magazine/
(n.d.). Retrieved from:
http://letsgetengaged.wikispaces.com/file/view/kagan_strats.pdf
Liven Up Your Lessons by Giving Students Choices. (2010, January 9). Retrieved from:
http://www.edutopia.org/lesson-engagement-student-choice
References:
Goodwin, R. & Hubbell, E. R. (2013). The 12 touchstones of good teaching: A checklist for staying focused every day.
Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Ferris Buller's Day Off. John Hughes. Paramount Pictures. 1986. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiCFdWeQfA
Meyer, Dan. (2010, May 13). Math Class Needs a Makeover. [Video file] Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWUFjb8w9Ps
Kagan Publishing & Professional Development. (n.d.). Retrieved fro:
http://www.kaganonline.com/online_magazine/
(n.d.). Retrieved from:
http://letsgetengaged.wikispaces.com/file/view/kagan_strats.pdf
Liven Up Your Lessons by Giving Students Choices. (2010, January 9). Retrieved from:
http://www.edutopia.org/lesson-engagement-student-choice