All too often, I remember staring at the clock, counting the minutes left, and daydreaming as I eagerly waited for class to be over. In most, if not all, of these instances, I was not engaged in the material and I certainly was not having fun. As I grew older and was able to drive, my friends and I would sometimes even blow off our late afternoon classes entirely and head to the beach or really anywhere else besides that last class or two of the day. One common theme I attributed my behavior to was boredom.
In the Saga Briggs article below:
https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/refuse-to-be-a-boring-teacher/
reference is made to a study that found 60% of students considered at least half of their lectures boring and 30% indicated all their lectures were boring. How much are students actually learning under these circumstances? In so far as my personal example above, I blew off class entirely so the answer to this question is nothing. So what can we do to engage students where they can experience meaningful learning? Well one answer to this question is to bring fun into the classroom.
According to Sean Slade (writer for The Answer Sheet), "Brain research suggests that fun is not just beneficial to learning but, by many reports, required for authentic learning and long-term memory."
How can we bring fun into the classroom?
Briggs' article referenced above provides these 15 suggestions to having more fun in the classroom:
- Discover new things together
- Incorporate mystery into your lessons
- Be goofy; show you care
- Participate in projects
- Avoid "going through the motions"
- Flip your lessons
- Review-but don't repeat-material
- Share your passions
- Laugh at your student's jokes
- Replace lectures with conversations
- Put on a performance
- Enjoy yourself
- Make yourself available
- Try being a student again
- Don't take yourself-or your subject-too seriously
The list above are just a few suggestions in how we can incorporate fun into the classroom. For me, after reflecting on my prior boring experiences, I plan to utilize some of these fantastic notions Briggs mentions so I can hopefully avoid student boredom in the classroom. At the end of the day, I think a good place for me to start is to remember that I too should strive to have fun in the classroom as an educator. If I am having fun, then chances are the students will be as well.