Every one of us will have a chance to be educators or teachers at least once in our life, and running a role of imparting knowledge into others is not an easy task. Naturally, we either have the option of boring the people we teach with a monotone voice and repetitive ramblings from a source material, or we could choose to play the role that was given to us -- that is to instill a curiosity for learning in others. The latter is always more satisfying, with feelings of happiness and content when you see a certain spark light up in your students. But doing so is tedious and takes preparation. We will be examining some of the ways as to how not to bore students and capture their attention in this article.
Creating Mysteries
The first way to go about not boring your students is to create a sense of mystery that will allow students to reciprocate. When your lessons are, surprising and deviate from the usual classes that the students attend, it captures their attention and holds it throughout the lesson. You can start by posting a question to them, or let them know of an absolutely confounding fact that will stun them, urging their curiosity and pushing them to pay attention throughout the duration of your classes. You’ll be sure to see them on the edges of their seats as they attempt to take in your teachings earnestly throughout class.
Pose Interesting Facts About the Topic
If a topic is somewhat mundane and the students seem to “know” a lot about it, then posting interesting facts about the topic and facts that students often overlook will do the trick to get them interested. This would require significant planning on your part in order to sift through the materials and pick up only the important and necessary information required for the students.
Motivate Them to Be Curious
As the saying goes, “the cure for boredom is curiosity”. Although there is only so much that you can do in order to get your students curious about the subject, much less the things around them, you have to try nonetheless. Intellectual curiosity is the stepping stone for the accumulation of knowledge and it is imperative that your students have them in order for them to do well. Try to have a little fun during your lessons and get your students to open up to you. It is far easier to get them to listen to you once you both share a rapport. The curiosity portion comes from getting them interested enough in the lesson and showing them interesting things that will get them to find out more.
In conclusion, one has to realize that teaching is not the same as learning and that it takes significant time and practice to perfect the art of making a lesson both interesting and enriching to the students’ life. Don’t give up at first if you fail to make an impact and simply keep trying. For, after all, tenacity will get the job done, not talent.