Have you ever experienced classroom boredom?

We often think of classroom boredom as affecting students, but it also affects teachers. Winter can be an especially difficult time for teachers and students. It’s been a while since a school break, and spring break can seem far away. The colder weather, lack of sunshine, and shorter days can lead malaise that can seem impossible to escape.

Classroom boredom can zap the energy out of your lessons and your days. When you are bored, teaching is less fun and seems to require more work. When students are bored they aren’t engaged and classroom management issues are more likely to occur. Boredom is often contagious and when you see it or feel it, it is time to take action.

Here are some ways to bring new and fresh energy to your classroom:

Shake up your daily routine.

Have you developed a daily classroom schedule that has served you well in the past but has now become stale? You may have been teaching the same thing in the same way for years and it has become a bit tired. We all get bored with doing the same old thing every day.

Try a new routine. For example, if you usually start with a review, then introduce new content, then give time for students to practice, switch the order. Introduce the new content, then ask students to connect it to previous content. If you teach reading, then math followed by science, rearrange the order. Try it for a day or week and see what happens. You don’t have to keep the new routine forever, but often a small switch can bring some new energy.

Add variety in your lessons.

Make sure your lesson plans have a variety of activities in each lesson. Start with a short 5-minute video. Then have a ten-minute discussion. Follow that with a small group activity.

Look for new ways to actively engage your students. Focus on hands-on activities, lively discussions, or group projects. Try new games, puzzles, or role playing. Act our scenes from literature or social studies content. Students enjoy Readers Theater, an activity that can be used at all grades and across all curriculums. To learn more about Readers Theater, see our previous post here.

There are many active learning strategies that can get students up and moving and actively engaged.  Read 4 Great Active Learning Strategies for All Content Areas for ideas such as a Wall Walk or a learning in a Speed Dating like format.

Use technology in new ways.

Divide up a textbook chapter and let students share their learning by creating something with technology to show their learning. Curriculum can come alive when students are allowed to make a video, illustrate a cartoon book around the content, script a newscast or write song lyrics to demonstrate their understanding of content material. Students will also come up with their own ideas about how to show and share their learning.

Feeling adventurous? Let students experiment with AI technology such as CHATGPT. AI is here, whether we like it or not. Ultimately, teachers will have to understand it, incorporate it, and teach students to curate the content in responsible and effective ways. One fifth grade teacher in Kentucky instructed his students to try to outwit the bot by figuring out which articles were written by the bot. Could you take baby steps towards understanding and using AI technology?

Build in relevance.

When our work seems meaningless, we become less engaged and less motivated to do it. Rethink lessons in terms of relevance. When writing lesson plans, put on the perspective of students and see if you can answer questions such as, “so what?”,  “who cares?”,  and “what does this have to do with me?”.  Bring in real world examples and have students connect the material the material to their lives. Then give them tasks which allow them to apply the material in meaningful ways.

Relevance will help to increase motivation, encourage students to think critically about the material, and can help create a more engaging learning environment.

Plan outdoor activities.

Not only does outdoor time provide an opportunity for students to get some much-needed fresh air, but it also helps provide a break from the indoor classroom environment. Consider things like organized outside games at recess or outdoor team building activities. You could take students outdoors for a winter related science activity like looking at animal tracks or studying the effects of temperature on water, snow and ice. Students could spend a short time outdoors as inspiration for a writing session.

You may not think of winter as a time for outdoor activities, but once you think about it, you will likely be able to think of ways to incorporate the outdoors into a lesson or two. During the early days of the pandemic, many teachers took advantage of the outdoors for more space and distance. Is there something from that time that you could reincorporate?

Give it a try! Plan an outdoor activity and see if the change of pace and a new environment help create a more positive learning environment.

How can you combat boredom in the classroom?

Varying routines and activities, considering new ways to use technology, ramping up relevance and heading outside, are all things to try. You will likely have additional ideas and when you become aware that things are getting boring you can consider it an opportunity to rethink your plans. Sometimes small shifts can have big pay offs in terms of teacher and student engagement.

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