What is the best way to make a class very interesting to students?

Question

What is a good way to help students learn a foreign language especially English? How can we keep very sleepy students who stayed up very late the night before awake? What elements are necessary to make a class interesting in order to help students maximize their learning?

Answer 1

my teacher always asks us to take the class in order to make it interesting
she would give us a topic from the text and we wud have the freedom to do whatever we want,act like a real teacher
we would punish the children,ask them questions only a nerd wud answer and things like that
i hope it wakes ur children too
also to keep their minds workikng, u cud give them worksheets and as everyone says pics are better than lectures so get pictures related to the class
im a grade 7 student so im not sure if this is sort of kiddish but ive seen my seniors do these too

Answer 2

This hits at the very heart of what many describe as the 'craft' of teaching. There are two parts to this answer: 'You' and 'your lesson design'. First, you have to be interesting. I don't mean you have to be oozing with sex appeal or charisma. Regardless whether you are the teacher or the student you are still one of the personalities that make up the collective unit, the very unique character that defines that particular class. Are you the kind of person that can be respected and therefore liked and trusted by the other members of the class, without really trying to be ? Are you ardently interested in the subject you are teaching ? If you aren't, it's hard to inspire others to be. Do you know your subject matter sufficiently to feel confident of creating a teaching plan that addresses both the interests and the needs of your students ? If you can answer 'yes' to my questions than you have your answer. But if you were unable to answer 'yes' to any or all of the above, don't worry. A true teacher is one who is constantly honing their skills like all true learners. These are simply the learnt outcomes that mature with professional development. As your skills develop so does that magical thing called 'teaching craft'. (What is it ? I can't be really sure. It is certainly the confidence that comes with experience for any teacher who is highly involved in their occupation. It's a kind of love, a kind of passion. It's often an inspiration during a lesson that may have appeared to have come from no where. It's all these things and more. It's something highly recommendable .) As for keeping students awake due to self-inflicted sleep deprivation - it's not your job. It's the job of the parents !)

Answer 3

You can be creative every day. Keep them guessing. They'll never know what to expect. If you are unpredictable, they will have to stay on their toes. It takes a lot of thought (especially the first year) to come up with different ways to do things in class, and if you are not careful you start spending money for little extras. Don't go there! Raid the teacher supply room. Work with what you have. Use butcher paper, chalk, markers, etc. Most of all, use your imagination.
In my high school English class I had to teach how to use 'voice' in their writing. That day I met each student at the door with a piece of oversized construction paper and a piece of oversized chalk. (sidewalk chalk). When class got started I said, "I need somebody who thinks they are hot stuff." Two kids popped up. I used them as models for the rest of the class. Everybody drew them. I gave them 5 or 10 minutes to do a quick sketch. Then they each titled their 'portrait' and taped it to the walls of the classroom. Each class had one designated space. When they were done, we got a lot of entertainment comparing the 'artwork.' As the time for class ran out, I asked them all to look at the way everyone had titled their portrait.
I said look at your work.
All the portraits were so different, but they all drew the same person. Some were funny, some messy, some serious. All were different 'voices.' The top - off was when i asked them to compare the titles. They were all different too, even though they all drew the same person. I told them i could hear their voices in their work, both written and drawn.
This didn't take extra time, the supplies were at school already, and the students were not likely to forget 'voice.'
The next day we talked about how authors use voice, and they were experts at it already.
Just be creative. They will love it and you will have fun teaching that way.

Answer 4

Hi!
Perhaps you could start out the class with a fun, interactive game that would give the class more energy. Giving the students a reason to get out of their seats and move around the classroom always helps.

Your question presupposes, of course, that learning is maximized in an interesting class. That is an empirical question, and it's been long enough since I reviewed relevant research that I can't give you an answer on that. But it seems intuitive, doesn't it?

Answer 5

If you want the class to be lively, interested, and satisfied, you as a teacher have to be energetic, interesting, and master the art of storytelling. Tweak their curiosity, answer honestly, pass the question around so everyone can have their say. One of the best strategies I have is to always be aware of their interests and relate these to what I want them to learn. Look for a strategy you are comfortable with then keep improving on it. Be aware of the latest trends in what you are teaching, often its the incidental learning that sticks to their heads not the textbooks. If students see how passionate you are about what you teach, they will pay attention.

Answer 6

I have taught ESL for over 20 years. The best way to keep classes interesting and fun is to design lessons based on the background, interests and goals of the students (BIG) in that specific class. You should always modify your material to suit your students. One size DOES NOT fit all. Let me give you an example. Textbook material is generic and quite often culturally specific to the country in which it was designed and published. This includes, food, transportation, weather, holidays... If a book is published, let's say in England, USA, Canada, it will contain a great deal of British, American or Canadian culture. So, if you are teaching people in other countries some or a lot of this material will be irrelevant and they won't be able to relate to it. What I have done is look at who my audience is. For example, if I have a lot of teenagers, I would find out what they are interested in and use material related to that. Teenage boys, for example, love cars, clothes, music... So instead of using "canned" textbook material, try some car/motorcycle magazines for reading. Ask them to compare 2 or more brands and write reports on them.... Talk about song lyrics and what is the message behind them. Ask them to write some. Ditto, with girls. Give them fashion magazines.... The grammar practice will be embedded in a fun activity and it will keep them awake and interested. If you are teaching a group of business people, use business related material which is readily available, ask them to write imaginary business letters, design logos for their imaginary companies. If you are teaching moms, talk about issues concerning them and their families. Remember, that a language is a TOOL for communication with other human beings, NOT an abstract set of memorized rules and vocabulary. SO, show them how to use it and keep your lessons light, interesting and fun. If the students are sleepy, play a lively game to get them up and out of their chairs. If they are bored, take a close look at the lesson and see if you would be bored and always have a little "extra" on hand if you need to change venue at such times. There is nothing worse than canned, artificial dialogue (when nobody speaks like that in real life), irrelevant material, and too much teacher talk (you don't need more practice, they do) It takes a little extra effort but it pays huge dividends for both teacher and students. HAVE FUN!!!!!

Answer 7

be passionate about the lesson... I teach and love sharing knowledge with my students... there's nothing better than watching the light bulb go on above their heads in that moment of clarity...
I also remind my students that the only stupid question is the unasked one.
Have fun and keep it light... use examples of common misstakes made by world leaders like George W. Bush when he says "nuclear"... he always mispronounces it as nu-cu-lar instead of nu-clear... if he can be President and Engish is his native tongue and still make such a grievous error then your pupils shouldn't be too hard on themselves
English is a very difficult language as most of the rules are broken... I still don't understand why laughter and daughter are not pronounced similarly because daughter is derived from German word Tochter and laughter from the German word Lachen which both sound similar to laughter to me
I'll never understand it all

Answer 8

hi..

your question seems to be a very common problems ....well even when i used to be in the high schgool i had late night sleeps and couldnt be fresh fro the daily first session of the day...so here is what our teacher used to do for our english session...

she used make us read the lesson oby one of us and then abruptly stop and pull out somebody for a question from the part read and then from them we used to continue the lesson till end...like this sleepy heads and chatter boxes were caught red handed..else we were given a topic to talk about and 3 mins were given to talk about...only 3 mins and when the time was up she used pull any one from any corner and ask us to speak ..
this way everyone enjoyed the class and was careful in the class!!

hope this works! goodluck

Answer 9

whatever you are teaching, try to apply it to what students need or face on a daily basis. When kids are able to apply what they've learned immediately in their day to day lives, they are motivated and excited. They are able to answer many life's questions and fears independently. Break down the classroom walls!

Answer 10

a teacher with a good sense of humor always kept me awake