subject: Tip For New Teachers - Incorporating Your Passion into your Lessons [print this page] As a new teacher, you are going to struggle with keeping the attention of your students. Heck, even us older teachers struggle with it. There is one way, however, that I have found to make your students see your class a little different than the rest. It comes down to how you present your lesson. Any body can teach from a book. A successful teacher will go beyond the book. It starts with your own personal hobbies and passions.
Include your hobbies or passion into your lessons. If you are into horses or sewing or hot rod cars, try and incorporate that into your lessons. For example, I have always liked writing poems. I can also play the piano and guitar, so what I've done is write little silly songs about my content history. I just finished writing a rap about the events leading up to the American Revolution. It was a little hokey and undignified, but the kids loved it. It made the lesson stand out in their minds.
What happens is that the passion you feel about a hobby shows in your lesson, and that excitement is contagious. The kids will get excited about the lesson. Plus, you will enjoy it a lot more as well.
It may be difficult to incorporate your love of dolphins or your photography hobby into your algebra lesson, but not impossible. It just takes a little bit of creativity.
Your students are looking for something to relate to. They are tired of sitting in a classroom, listening to a teacher read from a book. Some students like this, but the majority of your students, especially the at-risk students need to feel connected to what you're trying to teach them.
You really don't need to connect with the over-acheiving student. You need to find a way to reach that boy or girl who just doesn't care, or has too many other pressing concerns on their mind, like family problems or self-esteem issues.
If they see a teacher who is teaching with a different style, incorporating something totally unrelated to education, like golf or website design or pro wrestling, then they will connect with the lesson and with you.
So, what are you passionate about? What are your hobbies? Take some time and find a way to fit it into your lesson. It will be fun.
Give it a try.
Don't forget to stop by the site SuccessInTheClassroom.com. Find more tips and practical strategies to have more success in the classroom.
