Here at SCM, we’re asked a lot about how to teach compelling lessons that capture and keep student attention.
Some believe it isn’t possible.
—That social media has polluted hearts and minds so thoroughly that nothing can penetrate. It’s understandable to think this way, especially if you follow common teaching practices.
Meaning, attempting to engage students with lessons that are . . .
- entertaining
- conceptual
- vague
- applicable
- technological
- superficial
- broad
If you’re still teaching like this, you’re dead in the water. Although the descriptors are mine, they represent how lesson delivery is commonly recommended.
Let’s take each of these one at a time, reveal their weaknesses, and offer a better, more compelling counterpoint.
1. Entertaining
If you try to entertain your students into paying attention with elaborate and ever-exciting activities, you will fail. You can’t compete with their after-school, online world.
That ship has sailed.
Further, it’s not the creative, silly, colorful, novel, or flashy that captivate students. Not anymore. It’s the teacher with an expert-level knowledge of their subject.
2. Conceptual
Most students, particularly elementary age, aren’t ready for conceptual learning. Yet, it’s shoved down their throats as if it’s the most important thing in the world, especially in math but every other subject as well.
Big picture learning is not only confusing, difficult to teach, and mind-numbingly boring for students, but it only make sense after mastering the basics.
Repetition isn’t a bad word. Rather, it’s one of the most effective tools for learning and building confidence and self-worth.
3. Vague
While visiting classrooms, I’ve said to myself more times than I can count, “What’s the point?” In other words, what’s the purpose, benefit, impact, objective, usefulness?
“Why are we sitting here and why should we listen?”
For every lesson you must ask yourself, “What are students meant to learn and how can they prove their learning?” If you can’t answer this question, then your students are going to melt into their seats.
4. Applicable
The obsession with making every lesson applicable and relevant to students’ present-day lives—as if there must be an immediate connection or they can’t learn—loses them to their daydreams and reinforces their dislike for school.
It’s the stuff they have little connection to, and have never heard of, that sparks their interest and desire to learn.
Escaping into Edo Japan, Bastonge 1944, Pasteur’s lab, Ramses reign, Black Widow Pulsars, and the 1000s of options you have to draw students into mysterious and fascinating worlds is what gets their heart racing.
How many apples they can buy with their imaginary budget does not.
5. Technological
YouTube lessons, video examples, laptops, voice notes, tablets, blah, blah, blah. The idea that students must learn using technology because it’s ubiquitous in the world is silly.
Learning outcomes are worse in every measure compared to books, beakers, and math compasses. They already know more technology than most teachers. They already spend too much time staring at screens.
Pencils, lined paper, and bound books engage and develop the brain, fine motor skill, and communication ability far better. They also calm the body, quiet and discipline the mind, and wash away anxiety.
6. Superficial
Choosing article excerpts over great literature makes students dumber and less emotionally intelligent. Likewise, four applicable and conceptual story math problems pale in comparison to mastering 35 equations that then can be applied.
It’s depth, detail, and success that get students’ intrinsic engines revving. Doing well while being awed by the beauty of art, literature, math, and science is what really prepares them for the “real” world.
It arms and empowers them with flexible thinking, empathy, compassion, creativity, appreciation, and clear communication skills.
7. Broad
This is perhaps the biggest factor. And it’s epidemic. Teacher guidebooks and materials skim the surface of lesson topics—more now than ever before—which is equivalent to giving students Ambien-laced gummy bears.
This is happening for two reasons:
1. Politicians, policy makers, and publishers lower the bar more and more to match poorer achievement and test score results.
2. Teachers don’t know their subject matter well enough to go deep enough to capture student attention.
Students love detail. They love depth and mystery. They love the cool stories and realms, kingdoms, peoples, and discoveries outside of their everyday experience.
—Egyptian princesses who practiced martial arts, dolphins asleep on only one side of their brain, Roman armor battle-dress rituals. In other words, cool stuff.
Challenge Them
Students want to be challenged. They want to be pushed. They want to learn something new, weird, scary, shocking, gross, sad, inspiring, amazing, and achingly beautiful.
But it takes a teacher who knows their topic to deliver it.
It takes a teacher who loves teaching content so much that not only do they become experts who can go deep into their objective with detail, re-creation, and storytelling, but do it with passion.
I realize that there are some obligatory constraints. However, if you look, you’ll find more than enough freedom to skew your teaching toward what awakens and challenges students and away from what puts them to sleep.
There is a lot to this topic, which we’ll revisit in future articles and videos. In the meantime, to learn more, see The Happy Teacher Habits and Inspire (at right).
PS – Check out this week’s YouTube videos:
1. The 7 Biggest Mistakes with Difficult Students
2. How to Stop Students from Lying
3. How to Stop Students from Interrupting
Also, if you haven’t done so already, join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.
This, by far, is the best article I’ve read in a long time. Thank you. I’m starting the last 3 years of my career and will admit I’m guilty of all of them especially since Covid teaching. I know I’m a great teacher,
I know my curriculum,
I know my students thrive on repetition,
I know that the point to each individual lesson is a bigger picture-one that develops creative, independent thinkers, problem solvers and comfort with productive struggle,
My kids are 11, they don’t bank, they don’t golf, they don’t scale mountains above sea level, they’re not finding in a garden or making gift bags with equal number of items,
Pencil to paper is how a teacher gets real data.
11 you still love a great story, especially a read aloud with the lights down,
Again, I know my curriculum!
Lastly, I understand that a textbook is NOT my curriculum. It’s a means to an end. It’s a vehicle that allows you to steer your students to the destination, the curriculum and your knowledge of it is the driver.
Thank you for this article. I’m starting my year now with renewed faith that my students are getting everything they need during our time together.
Thanks Stefanie!
Love this!!! I am finding (5 years teaching visual art) its gotta be rigorous as well – yeah, there’s another buzz word I need more help with. Last thing I wanna do is disappoint my students . . .
Thanks Elizabeth!
Rigorous doesn’t have to mean too hard/ino unattainable. Rigor provides a challenge, a struggle that with repetition and practice leads to learning and a feeling of success in students.
I LOVE this!!
Thanks Jill!
Great article, and I agree that handwriting skills and using books and pens are key for good brain development.
I am finding now that the generation coming through has less knowledge of how technology actually works however. They use without understanding – this is the ‘tap or swipe the screen’ gen. Recently a 12 year old student asked me, “How do I…?” and I replied, “Drag it to the desktop.” They responded, “What’s a desktop?” They also didn’t know how to update the OS on their own laptop, or even what the ‘OS’ was. So now we can be experts and drill down to the detail of what we know there too. Play the dial-up tone of connecting to the internet and see what they think that is!
Thanks for sharing, Andrew!
Maybe my district has more resources available to students but we don’t have to worry about this. Our IT department(through BOCES) is responsible for this. They’ve really stepped it up with help and resources for families since Covid. We are a 1:1 device district with a no cell phone policy at the junior/senior high levels.
“ It takes a teacher who loves teaching content so much that not only do they become experts who can go deep into their objective with detail, re-creation, and storytelling, but do it with passion.”
I’ve been learning more about why teaching content knowledge matters so much for students (especially elementary) and how the current standards movement has stripped content away from the curriculum to favor more generic “skills-based” learning. Your suggestion finally makes sense to me. I’m bringing more content into my curriculum this year. (I teach art so I have a lot of flexibility.) Thank you for the reminder that this is actually what children relish.
Thanks for sharing, Kayla.
Yes! Children love routine, schedules, predictability! This is when they learn best.
Bill the Teacher:
I teach middle school and this article really hits hard. 100 percent on teaching detail some cool information about the topic. The tech components are just tools: I tend to blend all of this together…some chromebook, some note taking, some group work, some individual work, but I always have a lesson goal up on a whiteboard. What do I want the students to learn/remember when they leave, this is as much for me as the students as it keeps me on track within my lesson.
Michael, that was so well written! And so true! This is a great pep talk to get me ready for the new school year. Thank you for reminding me what is important.
Greetings from Slovenia
Yes! Paper, pen and books. Thank you. My students love the interesting, sad, and gross stories as well. What are your best resources for more dolphin, escaping to Edo Japan, and Black Widow pulsar stories? Thanks
Haha, books, podcasts, docus. I like cool stuff too.
Apologies for the disjointed comments (this is my edited version):
Question…
I appreciate your point about digital technology. I teach High School and am considering including “No laptop use is permitted in class unless otherwise stated” in my classroom management plan. All students have school-issued laptops. Students already put phones away in a locked box at the beginning of the day, so I don’t have to worry about that.
To clarify what I mean: I don’t want a single laptop opening or out in my classroom unless I instruct students to do so. I feel strongly about the negative impact digital context switches has on the brain when attempting to learn and build cognitive stamina.
My question: Will this rule not stick and/or cause too much pushback and therefore be ineffective? I wonder about the situation where a student has a legitimate reason to be on their laptop. In these instances, this is okay as long as they do so outside of my classroom. When I say “a legitimate reason to be on their laptop” I refer to time when class has not started yet and they can go out in the hall. If this is during class, I would hold a hard line and say no. I am trying to think if there would be a legitimate reason during class… I guess if a student presents one, I would have them step out of class to do this, but I can’t think of any reason why it would be okay for a student to do this during class time.
I teach a couple of AP sections and I wonder if these students will think that they are above this rule and challenge it hard. I ask this because it is likely that no other teacher in the school will have a rule this strict surrounding digital technology. I am a new teacher so I am especially worried about coming in with this in my new environment.
-Ben
Hi Ben,
As long as your admin is in support of your decision, how your students feel about it isn’t your concern. You’re the leader of the classroom and know what’s best for them. If you’re committed and strong in your classroom management, you won’t have any problems.