When something is clearly boring I try to look up a relatedd news article, cartoon, or funny scene from tv. It wakes them up and I can usually improve concept retention as a result.
Useing small prizes like a pencils or stamps are great motivators in the process of review for mid term and final exams.
Fun and repitition work best for me. A boring class for the student means a long and boring day for me.
Making the class interesting and fun does help student become more involved and interested in the class. This is true with students that don't want to be there, or are afraid of the class before it starts. Having some fun is good to put the class in a good mood and clam atmosphere. Of course there has to be learning involved and a control of the class so that the fun doesn't get out of hand. I always talk to the students the way I would like to talked to.
I believe having a little fun in the classroom promotes learning with most of my students.
I also make sure that the students as well as myself have fun in class everyday. I am currently teaching MBC and it involves transcribing doctors notes records and reports into english and then coding it. It can be grafic often I will use examples that are informatively funny yet still descibe the procedure.
I find that most students, including myself like to have fun learning instead of struggling with boring, difficult content.
