One of the best ways for children to learn is when their interest is captured. Notice how children are very motivated in winning when playing games like Monopoly and Chess, or how an entire class of rowdy students become quietly enraptured by a rare video screening session. Imagine if you could use Mathematical games in class to motivate all your students, including the weaker ones, into learning Maths of their own accord. Word-game sessions can similarly be organised to encourage the learning of the English Language, when students are allowed to pit their language skills against each other before the eyes of their respected teachers. Games such as Hangman can be organised for the entire class with a little preparation, and you can get free samples of Mathematics games which may be played with students by googling for Math Printables.
The next strategy you can take to make learning interesting is through the use of comical media or videos in the conduct of your lessons. It is true that good videos that are compatible with class instructions may be hard to come by, but you can just take a bit of effort to bookmark any fun videos you see the next time you surf YouTube, such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r2YRkTSAG4.
By increasing the applicability of school subjects to students, learning can be much more fun for the less motivated students. A lesson in Science on nutrition may be started with an announcement that “students who wish to grow as tall as Lebron James or girls who want a good figure should study this topic intensively!” Children are full of dreams and fantasies and if you can direct them to specific books where they can explore their dreams further, it can motivate a fair bit of reading and self-learning.
Helping students set meaningful goals would give them a strong sense of direction and focus. This is needed most of the time as not all lessons may be 100% engaging to every single student of the class. Take time off and discuss personal goals with your students either through their journals or personally with them. These goals should be a positive mood booster to the kids just by them thinking about it. A hard-working student may ‘Aim for 80 marks and above in all major tests’. A less academically inclined student may ‘Aim to be a pilot when I grow up’, which a teacher must explain, involves getting rather good grades in school. Get your student to design a digital poster of his goal or dream on an A4 poster and have him put it up on the door of his room. Such ‘vision boards’ have proven to work miracles for adults, so can they for children.
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