Keeping it fun
If the instructor is not enjoying the class the students won't either. Be creative with the subject and find something about it that could make it a fun time with a little extra effort. That will keep them coming back.
Ditto, I also feel that I get more from my students by having fun in class. I tell them we are here to learn the course but lets make it fun and safe at the same time.
Hi Brenna,
Nothing helps like experience. I have been teaching the same courses for a number of years and enjoy them more each time I teach them because I can introduce new activities and projects that serve to make the courses even stronger. Plus, these new additions help keep me excited about the courses.
Gary
New instructors have an added challenge to doing this, because they haven't had the time it takes to consider what activities or ideas could be used to make a boring topic 'fun.' This takes time, and I consider that my classes today are so much more interesting even though I am teaching the same curriculum.
Hi Joseph,
Well said. I like the sugar part. This is why I believe Skittles were invented. To help us teachers to "sugar" up our students and get them happy.
Gary
I totally agree on this. In the baking class it is sometimes hard to make it fun for the students because it is a required course and not all of the Culinary students enjoy baking, but usually when you add some humor and bring in some real world knowledge and life lessons from your own experiences and try to tie them in with their experiences that they have had themselves they start to like the course more and more. If that doesn't work we just give them more sugar. That always makes them happy.
I agree with Lauren. The subjects being taught may not be the most fun material, but the instructor should be able to find a way to enliven the class with personal experiences, jokes or whatever it takes to keep the class involved. An instructor that mearly pushes out class material is boring and will lose a class's interest in no time. Waving your arms around, changing voice inflection, anything out of the ordinary will keep the class both involved as well as entertained.
Hi Juli,
Thank you for sharing all of these great ideas on how to introduce variety into the classroom. You should have been my teacher when I was taking accounting. Creativity is a key part of being an excellent instructor and you are certainly bringing it to your classroom. Good job!
Gary
I have been teaching as a professor for a little over a year now, and my students find the activities that I incorporate into the class room incredibly unique! I have brought in Monopoly to practice keeping accounting records and we have maded arts & crafts projects to practice cost accounting and glued together 3 popsicle sticks to make fraud triangles. Point is, they never know what to expect next & the week before the Exam, we have a Review Party where everyone brings in food from their national heritage to share with the class while we play review games. Accounting can be fun!
I like to tell personal stories from my working background that have fun endings to break the ice and keep the class fun
I couldn't agree more. If my students aren't comfortable, hopeful about their success and enjoying themselves, it makes both their's and my job so much harder. Conversely, with encouragement, respect and support of the students...the class has a very positive feel and becomes some place student and instructor alike really want to be.
B-) Hi laura,
I believe keeping the atmosphere fun is a major part of the learning experience. It's not all about trying to get the students to like you but helping them to retain information easier. I like study games,feild trips and projects. It keeps things fresh and my classes seem to really enjoy them. I'm always open to finding new ways keep this momentum going, and keep them coming back.
Keeping the class attentive and focused sometimes involves a bit of light heartedness. I am a firm believer in the fact that you learn better when you are relaxed and comfortable. To get my students to relax, and open their minds, I will sit on a stool in front of the class, and ask them what their worst fear is of the class and/or the material we will be covering. I calm their fears by explaining what will be expected of them, and for the most part, they are relieved to discover that it isn't so bad after all. I then go into a life experience that I had as a student, in the same position they are in now. It had a comical outcome, and each and every class laughs along with me, and so...the ice is broken, and the learning process has begun.
You as an Instructor set the tempo for the entire class your attitude will determine the outcome and retention of each class. Keeping it light and fun earns trust and respect it is then easier to get the students to follow the school rules and classroom policies with no resistance.
You respect them and the will respect you no questions asked
I create myself as the center of attention and easily adapt myself to my students. I make my classes fun for my students as well as providing them the knoledge they desreve and expect.
It is easier to have fun and learn (and teach) as opposed to being a dictator. I feel that people that have fun while they learn, retain more knowledge.
I agree, the instructor’s demeanor rubs off on the class. If the instructor is relaxed and full of enthusiasm the students will feel more relaxed and more likely to learn and retain more.
I agree wholeheartedly. I always try to keep it light. If I can't get most of the class to smile and laugh at least once in the course of a class, I feel I'm not getting through to them.
