Throughout
my years of schooling I have realized that one of the most successful forms of “hands
on teaching” is when a teacher becomes more personal with a class. For example,
I had a math teacher in high school who was also the Varsity Baseball coach. In
my class, the majority of the class was on his team and knew him on a more
personal level because he was their coach. They had already bonded with him
through their sport, which allowed for them to have the same “teamwork” aspect
in the classroom. What I mean is that he would sometimes relate his lessons to
things that these boys would better understand, such as baseball terms. Some of
the baseball players struggled in class and this helped hold their attention
and helped them understand the material more.
Another
helpful aspect of being personal with your class is to tell your class stories.
Even if you know they are leading you on a tangent just to waste time, the
story you are about to tell will hold their attention and can even relate to
the topic. I had a high school biology teacher who always went on tangents in
class. She would tell us strange stories about her family, her husband, her
pets, and so on! I would always go home and complain that the class was a waste
of time because I was getting nothing out of it. However, when I sat down at
the final I found myself remembering answers from the stories she told. (“Oh
yeah, I remember the definition of osmosis! It was the day she told us that
story about how she made dinner and it went horribly wrong!”) To this day I do
not know if she intentionally teaches this way or is just actually very scatter
brained, but whatever the reason behind it, it helped me pass my biology class
with flying colors!
People
may think it is silly for a teacher to have “story time,” especially when it
wastes time in class, but what they don’t realize is that this oddly useful
tool may determine whether or not a student passes or fails a class. All teachers should take this into account. It may seem strange and maybe even foolish, but relating to your students, relating to the material you are teaching and just getting personal with your students to a certain degree can help them in the long run and maybe even turn their most dreaded class into their favorite one!
Happy Teaching!
