Job Discussion Forums

[ebooktrial0001]

Hi Everyone,

I simply want to make both my classes and private tutoring more fun.

In my five years of teaching, the best stuff was board games I created.

What about you guys?

In my opinion, the worst life is a boring life. The worst class is a boring class.

I'd love to simply hear of your experiences.

[santi84]

Sometimes, boring is a natural result of necessary material that has to be covered.

[spiral78]

Unless you are teaching kiddies, it's not about entertainment, it's about motivating why the stuff is useful or important. In fact, entertainment can blur the content if not carefully set up.

[papuadn]

Anyone? Anyone?

Meaningful education is entertaining and meaningful entertainment is educational. The age doesn't matter. Near its completion, task a course of applied linguistics students to divide themselves accordingly: Is instruction more science or art?. Then each present a document collaboratively prepared that outlines the priorities and objectives of that perspective. Their combination serves another and rarely do they take the same form.

Method: First achieved through, secondly with, and lastly about.

The rhetorician Quintilian (35 CE – 100 CE) said, “The perfection of art is to conceal art.” Another quotation — unattributed, but probably contemporary — says, ars est celare artem (“True art is to conceal art.”) Centuries later, Oscar Wilde said, “To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim.”

Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn't know the first thing about either. --Marshall McLuhan

But I agree with the practical view of the other posters. The average experience is rarely exemplary. Too many play instead of prepare. Too many sacrifice focus for diversion.

[santi84]

For lower-level learners, writing on the board in groups (categories or whatever) is a great way to encourage output within the safety of shared group knowledge. For higher-level learners, teaching conflict resolution without the safety of body language (phone and e-mail) is challeging, so I like to seat them backs together and resolve a given scenario with the pre-taught strategies.

These are, of course, just a couple of ideas that can break up otherwise "boring" but critical units without resorting to edutainment. Games/entertainment can be fun and I've used them, but it can also put off a lot of students, particularly older ones with ingrained notions of classroom norms.

[ebooktrial0001]

Thanks, guys.

To me, I just want to make sure every class is engaged.

As a student, it was impossible for me to learn if I was not engaged.

I just want to learn more techniques, etc. I know asking for feedback is one way, getting students to talk to each other is one way, etc.