Fighting Students’ Boredom through Effective Teaching Style
By Alexandra Simultog-Fagkang
Sabangan, Mountain Province
As teachers, we should always help our students focus and maintain
their interest in their lessons. We must help them enjoy learning and
not bore them with our lectures. Students are more receptive and
productive when they are not bored. When students are bored, their
learning is disrupted.
There may be several factors why students lose their enthusiasm to
participate in class, but most of the time, it all boils down to the
teacher not being able to effectively deliver and communicate the
lesson.
Teachers must be effective communicators to connect with students
and get their attention. When asked what gets them bored during their
classes, most students say that their teachers have:
- a monotone voice
- no enthusiasm
- poor physical appearance
- no eye contact
- no motion
- no visual aids (illustrations, animation, etc)
- predictable or routine teaching methods
How can we avoid losing our students’ interest? We must change our teaching style.
Voice. We must improve our speech and manner of
speaking. The voice we use during informal conversations must differ
from the voice we use during a lecture. We must use the proper
intonation, modulation, and emphasis so that our students will hear the
lessons clearly. A serious tone will tell your students that the
information being discussed is important, while an animated voice
induces creativity.
Eye contact. To make ourselves understood by our
students, we must first speak to their eyes. We must focus our eyes on
our students so that they will know that we are interested in what we
are discussing and that we want to communicate with them..
Facial Expression. Our message can be read through
our facial expression and body language. It is important to smile so
that our students will be comfortable listening to us.
Gesture and movement. We should not limit our
teaching space to the back of the desk. We must reach out to our
students perhaps by walking around the classroom. We can also change
the students’ seating arrangement from time to time. Teachers can also
change venues. You may conduct your lecture in a place related to the
topic.
Posture and physical appearance. Our body
also does some talking .Have the normal posture while teaching
.Standing straight behind a lectern /table communicates a serious
intent .Sitting down on a student’s desk indicates a closer
relation to the students and to come down to their level
and staring at them would mean ” I need a moment of your attention
“ especially if the child has a disruptive behavior .When we are
always in the proper posture while standing and sitting normally
, we will find that the pupils do the same and it is one way also
of calling their attention to be in their normal posture too. At
the same time, clothes do not make a man but it can send the message
better. We must wear proper attire and always look our best when facing
our students.
It is not enough that we have an interesting topic or fully-loaded
lesson plan. Sometimes we forget that it is the teacher whom our
students will hear, see, and connect with first.
(Published 03 August 2009, Smart Communications, Inc.)
