I realized today that the highlight of a lot of my students' days is lunchtime. Today, as the boys were jockeying for position to be first out the door for the one tray of strawberry cheesecake, all I could think about was, "Boy, I wish they could be that excited about school, learning or just being in class."
It seems that elementary school students love school, have fun in school and actually learn in school, but all that changes in high school. How can a teacher who sees 135 students a day, still inject some "fun" into each class. I can see how an elementary teacher who sees 17-22 students all day, everyday for a whole year can do it and see the gains the kids make.
I start the year trying to make class fun, but the wear and tear of grading, creating assignments, attending conferences, meeting and trainings and dealing the co-and extra-curricular mandates suck my ability to create the fun my students seem to need. And don't forget that I have to teach all the standards enough so students have them down and make sure that all the students reach the proficient or advanced level on the state tests.
So how can high school teachers make class or school fun?
It can't all be a good attitude, an occasional laugh or a joke everyday, can it?
9 comments:
"It can't all be a good attitude, an occasional laugh or a joke everyday, can it?"
Yes, and it should.
Teachers, although it is their job, are boring. No offense. I can hardly stay awake in my classes anymore, and it's not from lethargy either, let me tell ya. Teachers are so busy preparing us for our future that some of them don't take a step back and let us breathe. A normal high schooler has 8 different teachers a day, right? Or at least here they do. And I can't think of one teacher who switches their teaching style from year to year.
I think we're just getting bored with high school. We're just under pressure (great song, by the by) and we don't care much anymore.
And the guys were right: lunch is the best part of the day :)
I enjoy more presentations and less essays. When they insert fun sometimes it can be lame or not as funny as they thought it would be. Mrs. Hansen, sometimes you need more jokes just to get through the day. 8th hour I am surprised if I stay awake the entire time. Us as high schoolers are not just bored, but tired of the day to day activities we stumble through every day. Sure you can always make it fun, but with all the activities that kids are in, we have so much trouble having time to listen or pay attention. Maybe a party everyweek... just kidding. But maybe if we had more time to do the things things that we normally do in a day we would go to bed earlier and be more excited and make learning a fun filled adventure.
i think there shouldnt be fun allthe time like wut ashley said just have some jokes and then get back to work. or if you can set aside a day to watch a movie and just relax in the class would be cool.
I don't mind essays actually, Judd. They give me something to do for a while, and I love editing, so I can do a ton of that too. I think it's up to both the teachers and the students to make the class fun. I mean, I try to make most of my classes fun, doesn't always work, but hey it's a try.
And I like Chris' idea. Just set aside a day during a stressful week for fun and games. And food ;) haha
But I have only 178 days to get everything the state requires and that I want to do done. Then you have to take into account the time lost during Homecoming week, during mandatory fun day, days for class trips or testing and all the other shortened days for TAA and other such activities. All-in-all, I have about 160 actual full days where I see all my kids- except for the 7 or so who are gone on any one day (that just creates even more time lost trying to catch them up because God forbid they come in on their own time to make up class work that they have missed, but that is another day's blog)- and in the grand scheme of things, that is not enough time. Watch movies on the weekends. By the way- just what constitutes fun in the school day anyway?
yea true Mrs. Hansen but i not saying you have to there could be some teachers like a study hall teacher or a teacher who does have the free time to do it
Well school being fun does always just depend on the teacher...I must admit Mr. Lewis is right when he talks about making choices. Students' attitudes change daily and that can affect whether or not they have a positive school day experience. We're teenagers...hormones are raging for a good share of the high school population. We're not always going to view everything in a positive way...that's life. But our attitudes can depend on the choices we make.
Certain projects in school can be fun...but only if the student is interested in the topic or chooses to be interested in the topic. For example, I like Psychology, Band, and Chorus because they are topics that interest me. But as a teacher, Mrs. Hansen, you can't compensate for all of your students' attitudes. Some students will love school, but there will always be those who wish they'd never stepped foot in the building.
Although students' attitudes affect class being "fun" or not, teachers can make a difference. I like teachers that can be mature and serious, who help us learn how to accomplish goals. But I also like teachers who are human...who realize they, even though they are teachers, do make mistakes and should understand when school is beginning to be too much for their students. Yes, Mrs. Hansen, I understand you want to accomplish the goals the state has set...they are great goals to set...but I think an even better goal would be to really make sure every student truly learns something, and if that means going at a little slower (not much) pace sometimes, then so be it. Not every teacher can say every single one of their students has learned something valuable in their class...only good teachers can say that...and I think that should be every teachers goal...not "let's see how much we can get done this year".
Personally, I think class can be fun if it is reasonable, educational, and humorous...but again that depends on attitudes of course. That's my opinion...take it or leave it.
Ashley, some people enjoy essays. I do. But some kids in my class groan everytime they hear about one. Wouldn't it get annoying if they did that all the time? I am argueing for the majority not myself. And the attitude should be positive
School is gay. Just kidding. Actually i dont mind school. Some times we have bad days and just need to grind it out. I think most days are pretty enjoyable. When your away from school you have nothing to do because all of your friends are at school. Some teachers are boring, but you just need to find a way to make those classes fun. Teachers can only do so much, with todays curriculum they need to get through a lot of information and not much time to do it. They are just going to help in the long run and we will be happy that they did push us so hard in the future.
Post a Comment