Does It Have to e Boring to Learn? by Madeline

Does It Have to e Boring to Learn? by Madeline - October 2014 Scholarship Essay

When I think of school, the words that come to mind are ‘rigid’, ‘boring’, and ‘assignments’. Unfortunately, the world today, for the most part, seems to view school in a negative light, but I am strongly convinced that it does not have to be this way. School can, and should, be engaging, exciting, and inspiring. It should create in each student a desire to learn and better themselves. In order to create this kind of environment, I believe three key components are necessary to any school classroom: an assistant, a flexible agenda, and a hands-on activity. With these three factors present, an ideal classroom is established.

First and foremost, an ideal classroom needs an assistant. By assistant, I mean someone who can work in the background and MANAGE things. For example, in my high school we have a primary music teacher and a part-time assistant music teacher. As the assistant, this woman manages all of the minor, yet vital, details that come with running a music program. Along with contributing fresh ideas to the primary teacher, she does anything from printing out new sheet music for the band, ordering robes for the choir members, and collecting money for music t-shirts. Instead of our primary teacher having to handle disputes or disciplinary issues, our assistant handles them. This in and of itself greatly impacts the educational experience of music students. Instead of having to stop class to take care of such issues, our primary teacher can continue with class; she can get the most out of what little classroom time she has instead of wasting time addressing behavior issues. Thus, the opportunity for maximum growth is presented to every musician in the room. Another positive aspect regarding an assistant that applies to any classroom is the possibility of working one-on-one with a student who is struggling. The assistant tends to the person struggling while the main instructor carries on the rest of the class unhindered. All in all, the benefits of an assistant in the classroom clearly outweighs any argument against it.

Secondly, the agenda of the class must be flexible. Am I denying the need for structure in a classroom? No. The type of flexibility I am addressing pertains to the speed of progression in a particular subject. Sometimes, it seems as though teachers become caught up in, and overwhelmed by, the idea of completing a certain amount of lessons or going so far in the curriculum. While there should definitely be a goal, getting through ‘X’ amount of chapters in the book does not always contribute to the overall education of a student. An ideal classroom contains flexibility in the fact that the instructor would be willing to slow down during the lessons that are more difficult to grasp. Likewise, they may speed up and progress quickly through the easier concepts. When students are pushed to an academic pace beyond what they can cope with, they become frustrated and simply quit. This is not contributing to the kind of educational atmosphere students desperately need. The simple addition of willingness to adjust the pace accordingly contributes to the kind of ideal classroom that students desire.
Thirdly, students must be engaged. Listening to an hour-long lecture about the bacteria growing in a person’s mouth does not exactly sound ‘inspiring’.
Performing a lab, however, involving a cotton swab and someone’s cheek to test the bacteria growing in your mouth sounds just a bit more exciting. While taking notes and jotting down important information is absolutely necessary, students often respond with greater enthusiasm to hands-on activities. Mixed in with the hard facts that lectures present, a simple activity that involves students’ brains and hands simultaneously goes a long way toward locking in learned information. It also creates a little bit of anticipation within the students for their future classes. After all, if you don’t know what to expect from class to class, you won’t go into each class expecting to be bored.

It is plain to see that most classrooms in our school systems today would not be described as ‘ideal’ for it is difficult to find that magic mixture of hard work and fun in a classroom since both sides can be taken to the extreme. Personally, I know the benefits, first-hand, of having an extra teacher in the room. I have seen her help keep students up-to-speed on the concepts being taught. I have also experienced a classroom environment in which flexibility was involved and found that I retained information longer as compared to classes that progressed at a steady pace with no room for slowing down. Finally, the classes I have had in high school that sprinkled in activities outside of the usual curriculum were the most fun, the most engaging, and the most inspiring. As you can see, I have experienced these three components separately; if ever they were combined at the same time in one classroom, there is no doubt in my mind that that classroom atmosphere would be the most educational and the most ‘Ideal’.