Have you ever fallen asleep in a class?
Have you ever been eager to sit in the last row of a class and wait impatiently to leave it while doing other tasks of yours to let the time pass a.s.a.p?
why have you felt so and where has that feeling come from?yawning and yawning and..........
oops o_0 but what's the reason?
yesssssss!!!!BOREDOM in class is the case!
Malcolm and i have some questions to pose.Both TEACHERS & LEARNERS are welcome for sharing their ideas to figure out such a class problem.
Dear LEARNERS:
1-What are the reasons to feel bored in classes?when do you feel more bored at a class?
2-what are your suggestions for making a class more interesting place to learn?
Dear TEACHERS:
1-What are your strategies to make your class atmosphere such an interesting one to learn and motivate students to take part in class activities?
2-If possible please share the best experience of yours that you could manage to provide such an interesting atmosphere in your classes!
Replies
Dear Alyeta
you've put your finger on the most delicate technique of teaching:)
At least i know in English classes the teacher must speak less than students and let them feel free to share their opinions..in this way students feel themselves as a part of a class and forget about boredom..thanks for sharing your idea with us,,hope to see you active in this group:)
Two trends that are beginning in the U.S., but I think widely used now in Singapore with good success, are 1) Cooperative or Collaborative learning, where students are given a problem to work on in a group and 2) Problem based learning, where students are given a problem, such as "Imagine you are the leader of a poor country. You have limited funds to spend on projects, and more problems in need of funding than you have funding to spend. What projects will you decide to fund with the current budget, and why?" The teacher of course has to give the students some preparatory information to accomplish this, and also a list of the possible projects, but then the students must research ideas on what the problem means, has anyone else ever solved it and how did they do it, and so on.
The example I have given is probably a bit complicated, but the idea is that the teacher does very little lecturing, the students have to become involved in solving a problem. They have to use research skills, maybe math skills, certainly writing skills, and also creative thinking to come up with workable solutions.
It might be applied to language learning by asking students who want to improve their speaking skills to identify what THEY can do to work on speaking. It could include speaking in the language to friends who also study the language, finding people to talk to on Skype or similar sites, listening to podcasts with transcripts, recording themselves speaking and sending the recording to someone to evaluate, and so on.
The main idea being that listening to a lecture, which is what has traditionally been offered in classrooms, is probably one of the worst ways to learn something. Much better for the student to become very actively involved in the process themselves.
I am new to this group but I like it so much! Although I have a teaching credential for American high school English, I have only actually taught English as a volunteer in a local nonprofit (18 years!). We recruit volunteers in our community and train them how to be tutors, and match them one-on-one to adult English learners in our community. Most of our learners are Spanish speakers but we also have students from a variety of countries. The majority of our students have little or no English when they begin with us, and they usually meet with their tutor only once a week for about an hour and a half. Most work (two or more jobs!) and have families, so their time is limited.
I am always interested to learn new and more effective ways to teach! One thing I like about the materials we use, which are mostly from New Readers Press, is that they are very theme based, and I think this helps maintain interest. For example, one unit might be on family relationships, beginning with vocabulary for mother, father, and so on, with pictures as well. The grammar and sentence structure is included but not the main focus, it is almost incidental. We usually augment the lesson by sharing photos of our own families, and encouraging the students to discuss their families.
Other lessons might be focused on grocery shopping, doctor's visits, and so on, but all are highly focused on actual needs of the student in daily life.
Dear Beverly
at first i'd like to welcome you to this group:)we are so glad to have you here and use your experience:)
yes i do agree with you..images of topics are so useful in the learning process..
there are also some interesting games to let students compete in groups and enjoy the learning time...such a way can even work for adults..
thanks for your care and comment:)hope to see you active here all the time:)
Dear setar, Actually,I met many boring teachers.the problem is that some teachers are not able to communicate materials efficiently,it means that they lack oral skill in transmitting stuff. the other reason can be lack of knowledge and more significantly,the absence of fun.some times,the matter goes with students ,who are bored and do'nt have motivation .the only reason for their learning is an obligatory situation,and under this situation,the teachers needs a high ability to motivate the students.what I believe is knowing the knack of students,since every method wo'nt work for every student.
Really interesting topic you raised!Thank you!
thanks dear sora for participating in this discussion..
yes i do agree with you..experience and the ability to motivate and attract students' attention is too important and not all teachers can reach it:)
wish to see you active all the time here:)
My dear friend Setar,
Thank you so much for this interesting discussion, the subject and the questions are important. Well, boredom in class happened with me many times. Especially in Math which was a very boring subject for me, and some other subjects where the teacher talk a lot such as History and philosophy. I felt more bored in the time of siesta. I think it's not the problem of the student, but the teacher, because he/she has to attract the learner by a good explanation of the course, teacher has to explain in a silent classroom, I mean students must listen to the teacher not talk to each other or make noise!!
It's a nice topic, and if I continue I'll not stop writing :)
Thank you so much asma:)
yes one cause of boredom is when the teacher becomes the only lecturer at class and i agree that the main cause of the boredom is the teacher unless the students are strange;)that happens rarely of course;)
thank you so much dear asma for sharing your fruitful idea:)
You are most welcome dear Setar!! If the topic wasn't important or interesting, I wouldn't have left a comment ;)
Your thoughts are always interesting! Keep it up dear :)
thanks a lot dear asmaa:)