Engaging Students In Learning Math Or Other Subjects

There are three simple yet effective strategies that an educator can take to inspire children into learning with self motivation. The first is centered around the utilisation of games. The second is the use of interesting media such as youtube videos. The third is extremely powerful but rather hard to employ; getting students to set their goals and dreams which are to be fulfilled by their academic achievements.

The first strategy of using games in lessons is fairly simple especially in the teaching of 7-12 year olds. When teaching Maths, games such as Connect 4 and Tic Tac Toe can be adapted to infuse Mathematical concepts and be used in class. For English teaching, Hangman or even a simplified version of Wheel Of Fortune can stir up a lot of interest. Better yet, create copies of such games on paper so that they can be played freely between your students. This will help them revise their Math or English concepts willingly. You may google for Math Printables or buy quality math games for class use.

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 nutritional health may be kicked off with pictures of the 'Got Milk' campaign or with the message that "students who wish to be as tall as a professional basketball player or professional model need to know this topic well!" 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 board' have proved to work very well for successful adults all over the world and they have the potential to help children as well.