Doing Better
“Because if we care about it, it’s worth doing better.”
My father used to tell me that any job worth doing was worth doing well. Now that I’m an adult I can really understand his message. When I was a kid, I didn’t understand this at all because all I wanted to do was gt the job done.
The way that I can relate this to teaching is that I care about teaching, so I want to do it better. I want to make a difference and not just get a paycheck.
I want my lessons to be better so that students are engaged and want to learn about what I’m teaching them.
One way to help engage students is to make it mean something to them. If students care about what they are learning about, they will want to do it and do it better.
I like to connect math skills to money as much as possible. Most people care about money. They want more in their pocket and if they spend it, they want to get more value for the cost.
When I teach measurements of volume and weight, I try to relate it to food and recipes. Students can understand the need for knowing measurements.
If student want to make something, they will see why length, width, and depth might be important.
So, when I’m planning on teaching a new skill, I like to think about how students will use this skill. Why would learning this be important. If I can’t figure this out, then I’m just giving them busy work.
All of this has to do with relevance. If students can understand the relevance to them, then they will care about learning the skill. This will help them be more successful.
How do you get students to care about what they are learning? Please share.
Photo by Sven Mieke on Unsplash
I want my lessons to be better so that students are engaged and want to learn about what I’m teaching them.
One way to help engage students is to make it mean something to them. If students care about what they are learning about, they will want to do it and do it better.
I like to connect math skills to money as much as possible. Most people care about money. They want more in their pocket and if they spend it, they want to get more value for the cost.
When I teach measurements of volume and weight, I try to relate it to food and recipes. Students can understand the need for knowing measurements.
If student want to make something, they will see why length, width, and depth might be important.
So, when I’m planning on teaching a new skill, I like to think about how students will use this skill. Why would learning this be important. If I can’t figure this out, then I’m just giving them busy work.
All of this has to do with relevance. If students can understand the relevance to them, then they will care about learning the skill. This will help them be more successful.
How do you get students to care about what they are learning? Please share.
Photo by Sven Mieke on Unsplash
Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog (http://successfulteaching.net) by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).