“Teacher, I am bored!”
“OMG, this lesson is so difficult!”
“I wish I were somewhere else.”
“I totally hate school!”
Maybe they do not utter these sentences out loud, but you can see it on their faces, in their attitude and in everything they do. School can be a real challenge to them because the heavy load of the school subjects seems to be irrelevant in a world that is in perpetual change. So, we cringe and cringe and cringe and feel useless and powerless as teachers. How can you motivate a generation that is utterly unmotivated? How can we make it easier to them? How can I, as a teacher, avoid the pitfalls of a highly disengaged generation?
“Teacher, I am bored!”
Boring lessons come from the single cause that the students do not feel any interest whatsoever in what the teacher presents. This means that they do not see any connection with real life, real facts and real usage. In many cases, we find it so difficult to plan something new out of the blue, to come every single day with something fresh and new. But the good news is that we do not need to reinvent the wheel. I found out that I already have the tools necessary to deliver the content in an attractive way. It is called arts and crafts centered lesson plans. They offer the down-to-earth and highly reality connected background that will engage students in topics that are real and easy to comprehend.
“OMG, this lesson is so difficult!”
I must admit some lessons are a pain in all the body parts that you can think of. You feel it, the students feel it, the whole universe feels it. How can we mellow things down? Is it even possible? Of course, it is. Take that difficult grammar lesson that you have and integrate it some crafts in it. If the students do it in their own way, with their own hands and with the intense focused that crafting involves, they will have a better retention rate. There will be no more difficult lesson, just pleasant ways to deal with them.
“I wish I were somewhere else.”
Being stuck in school for a consistent number of hours every day can get some students wanting to leave as soon as possible. When I ask my students where exactly they would like to be, oftentimes they say they want to be at home, listening to music, watching a TV series, reading a book or hanging out with friends. They view music, films, books and other artistic expressions as connected to something their brain loves and wants more of it. Why can’t we bring these things to class then? Integrating forms of arts like music, literature, dance, films, paintings and so on is an excellent way to create a comfort zone that will allow the students to thrive and to be highly productive.
“I totally hate school!”
This is a tough one. Yes, of course, we all have moments when we “hate” things, even our jobs. However, it is merely just a frustration or better said it is a way to let out steam. Sometimes, it is a sign that the person is overwhelmed and he cannot take it anymore. It happens to the best of us. This is why it is crucial to create a friendly environment. By using the lesson plans centered on arts and crafts as a way to ease in the students, we will see significant improvements in the overall mood of the class. Art demands engagement and stimulates that side of the brain that will keep you alert, happy and engaged. It is a pleasure for both students and teachers, as art is perceived as the ultimate form of pleasure, a passion and a hobby, nothing forced, imposed or mandatory. Shifting the students’ focus to something they love and prefer will make them improve their state of mind.
Now, you might be worried about how you are going to integrate arts and crafts in teaching English or any other language or subject. I get my inspiration from these 50 ready-made arts and crafts-based lesson plans. They focus on visual arts, performing arts, literary arts, multidisciplinary and experimental arts and a section for crafts.
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Major thanks for the article post.Thanks Again.