How do you handle it when students say, "This is so boring!!"?

Question

What activities do you use?
What assignments do you give?
Do you try to explain the relevance of the subject matter?
Or, do you just ignore them?
Note your grade level in your response, please.

Answer 1

Sometimes I say "Thanks!" and the message is received that they are not using good manners. Sometimes I tell them that I am sorry they feel that way. Other times I agree with them and say "Yes, it is rather boring." I then ask for suggestions from then on how to make it more interesting.
I do teach high school and I have students from grades 9-12. I try to incorporate a lot of activities in my class. The kids will often think of a past activity and suggest how we can apply a boring concept to the activity.
Some of my activities include board games; spelling practice and vocabulary (Spanish).
Basketball; ask a question and if they get it right they can shoot for an added point. Buy a cheap foam ball and hoop at the dollar store.
Baseball; kids move around the room to the different bases as the hitter answers questions correctly. Keep score on the board.
Jeopardy; make a sentence board with questions or use magnets on note cards or make a powerpoint.
Jigsaw cooperative learning activities. I usually hand them a piece of candy as they walk in the door. Each piece has a number on it. Then all of the "smarties" form a group, all of the "tootsie pops" get together etc. After they become experts on their topic they then move. All 1's form a group, all 2's, etc. They then have 1 expert from each group in their new groups and share the information. Definitely more interesting than a lecture.
Flyswatter game; put a bunch of words on the board. Read the definition and 2 kids swat the correct answer. Whoever get it first is the winner. The class forms 2 teams for this. Great review activity.

Answer 2

I teach Jr. High special ed and one of the activities that I use and which has been a big hit in my class, is we play a form of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". With whatever subject we are learning, from the spelling list to science. The "lifelines" are phone a friend, where the student in the hot seat can pick a classmate to help them answer the question, ask the audience where everybody get to yell out the answer or 50/50 where I write down 2 answers, 1 right and 1 wrong and the student picks. It's a whole lot of fun and keeps everyone focused.

Answer 3

As a middle school art teacher I explain to the students that they will not enjoy everything that is presented, and that's fine. They just need to be respectful, try their hardest, and complete the assignment as best as they can. I do try to explain why I'm teaching what I am, but you have to understand that kids these days are handed everything to them....entertainment, videos, music.....everything is right there for them and they have to put in very little effort to enjoy it. So, school is work, which they don't like. I do explain that I'm not a stand up comic, an entertainer, or a gymnast....I don't do cartwheels to get their attention. They are in school to learn, and I will do my best to make it enjoyable, but I can only do so much. They have to make the effort as well. There are some times that I will ignore a child totally though. Usually when I know they just want a response from me and have done it more than once.

Answer 4

I teach high school math and I hear this quite often. Second only to "when will I ever use this?"
To try and keep it interesting is tough. I try to get my students to discover things so that the will understand where an equation comes from or why we do things this way. One activity I use to teach ratios, proportions and scale is to use a classroom set of handheld computers and partner up the students. We go outside and take pictures with the handhelds of the students standing next to the flag pole and a sculpture in the court yard. Next we come back inside the classroom and print off the pictures. While the pictures are printing, the students measure their height. THen they get their picture and measure themselves and the object they are next to and set up a proportion to find the actual height of the object. They do this on a worksheet. The students love this because they are out of their seats, get to work with partners, are outside, and get to use the handhelds. The next day we talk about scale and what it would be used for in "real life." The pictures and and the worksheets also make good bulletin boards for parent-teacher nights.

Answer 5

If they are over kindergarten, ask them what would make it interesting to them. The reason most children say this is that they think the information is not relavant to their lives (say, History) or that the information is presented in a way that does not catch their attention and imagination. Like, for history; you could go through the whole semester, teaching the necessary requirements from the state standards in the text... or you could make it interesting by having a "treasure hunt" throughout the semester. Have you seen the gameshow, "Treasure Hunters" or the movie "National Treasure" with Nicholas Cage? You could set up your classroom as an adventure. Make up clues that your students have to go through history to find out. Or, say you are a math teacher who wants to teach geometry.... have the students actively build something (a birdhouse or community project like a greenhouse) to practice those geometry skills as they would be applied in real life. Bottom line, the information is best presented in a way that is fun, where they don't know they are actually learning something. Ask the students for ideas... you may be surprised with what they come up with!

Answer 6

I teach high school Language Arts. I don't think I've heard that comment many times. My class is pretty fast-paced; I vary activities within a period. I think because I began teaching in block scheduling, I just got used to teaching that way, and I do the same thing now in a regular 42-minute period. There are lots of resources on teaching in block scheduling, which would help to keep your class more interesting (for you too!).
I do get a lot of comments about my class being more difficult than other teachers who teach the same prep, but I don't really care too much about that. When my seniors make that complaint, I just tell them I am preparing them for college, and if they don't want to be challenged, they have the option of dropping to a lower-level class, but, if they stay and work hard now, it will make the transition to college easier. I haven't had anyone drop yet.
Of course, with Literature, there will always be people who dislike something we may be reading. I allow them to voice their complaints, which are often valid. I just remind them that they don't have to like everything we read, but they should try to appreciate the work and understand why it is considered an important part of the literary canon. I do have to admit, however, they tend to dislike the pieces I am not as passionate about, so I have to remember to try my best to find ways to find (or feign) enthusiasm about things I may not like.

Answer 7

I am a foreign languages and ESL teacher. I was trained in secondary education but now also teach elementary and adult classes. Teaching a language offers a lot of room for creativity! But somehow, no matter how much I plan and prepare, someone says they´re bored. Add to this that foreign languages, as electives, often put pressure on the teacher to entertain and keep the students happy. I´ve tried bringing more variety to lessons, including games, you name it. Ultimately, I think it boils down to the students´ attitudes. If you meet your obligations in planning and preparing, then the responsibility of making learning exciting is also partly the students´. As far as exactly what I do in class: I discourage students from distracting the class with saying how bored they are or asking how much time is left in the class. Then, I try to bring as much energy and enthusiasm to a lesson as possible even on occassions when I myself might be bored.

Answer 8

Since I am a junior in high school and I think my subjects are boring as well. Try to get some of the students into pairs. The ones who really will work. Just try to make games out of the things the students think it is boring.

Answer 9

I teach 3rd grade, and I hear it on occasion. If it really is boring, I tell them I agree and explain why we have to do it anyway. I try to catch on to their apathy before it gets to the point where they'll vocalize their boredom and do a quick energizer (like having everyone stand up behind their desks when they've solved a problem or "raise the roof"). It's cheesy, but they dig it and seem to wake up a bit. If we're doing something that everyone else thinks is fun but one person thinks is boring, I tell them they get out of an experience what they put into it. If they don't catch on to the fact that I'm calling them boring, one of their classmates will. I use a pretty conversational tone with my students and have no problem getting goofy with them in order to teach a lesson. Once I taught an entire lesson in a horrid French accent and never saw greater results with one particular student. Changing things up just a smidgen will often create enough interest in what's going on to get through the "boring" stuff.

Answer 10

I teach elementary, my worst fear is boring the kids. I constantly keep them going, there is no down time. The students use dry erase boards at their seats to do any kind of whole group instruction. This prevents daydreaming while you're doing something on the board. Also I incorporate my own personal stories into my teaching...they love this for some reason. Throw a student's name in for examples. Use a voice that is not monotone and walk around the room a lot. If they see you have a lot of energy, they won't be bored.