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Top 10 Ways to Increase Your Students’ Interest in a Subject

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Luisa Brenton
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Look for Ways to Make it Relevant and Fun – You and Your Students Will Come out Ahead

I'm always up for a reminder about the things we need to do capture student's attention while learning about a new subject. And it's a great way to start the week! – KW

Making your students interested in a subject can be a real challenge. There are so many variables that can affect their engagement.

Lack of interest can be caused by difficultly concentrating, family problems, emotional difficulties, learning disabilities, and many other factors. Sometimes it's just plain boredom – not everything is about fun all the time. Even the bubbling hormones running through the teenagers bodies can cause difficulty to concentrate on anything other than the schoolmate in the nearest chair.

Having said that, as a teacher, you still have to do your best and try to get them to learn at least the basics of any subject. Here you will have to become creative and try one or more of the following ways to get their attention and interest.

1.  Make them see it as part of their daily life

Try as hard as you can to find a way to relate the subject to their daily lives. It will make it much more likely for them to be invested in what you are explaining. For example, if the subject is literature, try to show what they can learn from the characters’ behaviour that they can apply to their own lives.

2. Make it fun

Yes, sometimes, some subjects are just not fun. You are well aware of it, but you still have to teach this ‘boring' subject to them. How about making the learning process a bit more fun? You can try to create some kind of competition, or game, that can help them to learn, or maybe even use songs or videos. Sometimes, even a funny cartoon can be what you need to make them have a laugh and never forget the subject.

3. Show the relevance to their future careers

Students think that, at the end of the day, they are at school so they can get ready to get good jobs in the future. This is how most of the people (parents included) see school nowadays, unfortunately. So take advantage of it, and try to relate your subject to how it can be applied in a work environment. Tell them all about how doctors, engineers, IT developers, writers or dancers can use that information to become successful.

4. Let them participate in the whole process

If you want to see your students really engaged about something, let them participate. And not only after you distribute the tasks but from the very beginning. Ask them for input on the subject that will be presented, which resources will be used and how they will be evaluated. And talking of resources…

5. Use multiple resources

To avoid students sleeping on their desks during your presentation, try using multiple resources. The human voice can be very hypnotizing to some people, and others are easy distracted by it, as you know. Bring videos, music, slideshows, toys and games, tell stories, bring in a special guest for a talk.

6. Make it personal

Try to relate the subject to your own life and circumstances. You don't necessarily have to tell a private story about yourself, but tell them something about how you felt when you got in touch with that subject for the very first time, or how you have applied it in your life so far.

7. Leave the exams for later

Do not start the conversation about the new subject telling them about a test on the material. Unless the assessment will be more engaging and fun (think Project Base Learning, inquiry learning, etc), this should be the final part of the process and not a source of anxiety.

8. Change the environment

Sitting in a classroom for a whole day is hardly anyone's ideal day, especially if you are young and full of energy.

So why not move the class to a different environment and see how it affects their learning process? Try taking them to museums, beaches, for a nature walk, or even to the school's backyard. Even the fresh air on their face might help to keep them alert and more interested.

9. Make it achievable

If you scare them by saying that this is a very complex subject and that they will be in trouble if they don't manage to learn it, you are bound to fail. Students usually overreact under pressure and don't see these messages as a challenge at all. Try to take steps that help them feel they are capable of learning the material.

10. Understand their interests

And in order to make any of the tips above work, it is mandatory that you know your students interests. If you know about their hobbies and goals, you may be able to better relate the subject to their lives.

Conclusion

Getting the best from your students might not be easy, but we should try to achieve it all the time, boring subjects included. Remember that things have changed and what worked for you might not work for a class of children or teenagers nowadays. They have different demands and have to live up to new expectations, so be prepared to understand them and offer the best class you can.

 

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57 COMMENTS

  3. Hi, Thanks for sharing this amazing post.
    I am a dad of 10 years old son and I have to put so much of efforts to keep him interest in studies and I am sure the points you have mentioned in the post really gonna help me out.

  5. Yeah…I love point number 9. DO NOT SCARE THE STUDENTS. When I was a student, there was this teacher who used to make us feel afraid of maths. And I think ever since that time, I’m still struggling with some arithmetic concepts.

    Anyway, great post with pretty good information 🙂

  8. Thanks for these great ways of helping to renew the interests of students in learning. I will appreciate a REGULAR NEWSLETTER FROM YOU. I AM A SIXTH GRADE TEACHER

  22. Hi…
    Top 10 Ways to Increase Your Students’ Interest in a Subject […] Geek Squad April 22, 2019 at 7:42 am Wow; the ways described to make a boring lesson an interesting one for students are great, as being a teacher the main objective is to make the students understand the concept with fun-filled learning and memorizing easily what is taught to them.

  23. Hi…
    Top 10 Ways to Increase Your Students’ Interest in a Subject […] Geek Squad April 22, 2019 at 7:42 am Wow; the ways described to make a boring lesson an interesting one for students are great, as being a teacher the main objective is to make the students understand the concept with fun-filled learning and memorizing easily what is taught to them.

  24. Long time reader, first-time poster. just wanted to say that I almost always find your info relevant and helpful and wanted to say thanks and keep up the good work.

  30. Thanks for your amazing tips on being a good teacher. I will share these tips with my kid, I hope I will get a better result. The tips were really good.

  31. I would like to thank you for the effort you have made to analyze the factors which should be taken into consideration to improve students interest in a subject. The teaching profession is a unique and challenging profession and an educator should learn some tricks to improve his teaching ability. Enrolling in a professional development course could be very helpful to understand the basic aspects which should be taken into consideration to improve his teaching ability. Besides, professional development course also helps an educator by improving his classroom management ability which has a significant positive influence on the productivity of the class.

  32. Dear Luisa, Thank you so much for your Top 10 Ways to Increase Your Students Interest. The information was so helpful to me! I am not an educated teacher and I don’t know much about technology but I have a student in bible class who needs a lot of different things to do. He completes has lesson in about 15 minutes and is ready to leave. I will attempt to stimulate his interest by utilizing every and any means possible. Thanks again,

  33. Hi…
    You must be a very good teacher, like all point mentioned by you in this article are to the point and very relevant. Will definitely share with mine colleague.

    Regards,
    Rajesh

  35. Wow; the ways described to make a boring lesson an interesting one for students are great, as being a teacher the main objective is to make the students understand the concept with fun-filled learning and memorizing easily what is taught to them. Thanks for sharing unique ways and keep posting.

  36. […] The classroom is a good place to learn, especially if you have created the right atmosphere. However, after a while, even the right atmosphere might not be enough. It could become boring just sitting on a chair or bench behind a desk all day, every day. A change of scenery can be a good source of motivation to renew interest in a particular topic or subject. […]

  38. […] Based in Luisa Brenton, Lack of interest can be caused by difficultly concentrating, family problems, emotional difficulties, learning disabilities, and many other factors. Sometimes it’s just plain boredom – not everything is about fun all the time. Even the bubbling hormones running through the teenagers’ bodies can cause difficulty to concentrate on anything other than the schoolmate in the nearest chair. Top 10 Ways to Increase Your Students’ Interest in a Subject […]

  42. I don’t know what to do.
    Now I had completely lost my interest towards the studies.After reaching higher secondary class,I became a lazy …
    But I want to recover myself…
    So please help me with this kinds of tricks
    Thanking you

  44. hello sir, i am payal and i complete my graduation with B.Ed. Recently i got job a primary teacher and it is very difficult to convert their interest in study of primary students. i am very confused last few month, but now i am sure to easy study given my students and also convert him for trying easy process.

    thanks…

  45. i am Manshi, thanks for this article. its help me out of under presser for my new job in teaching faculty. i started to teaching just 6 month before and my subject is history and language. this are subjects make boring to all students in the classroom. its fill very bad and dose not take interest in the study, so after the 3 month i fill very bad for teaching style.
    then i started to know about their interest and their hobbies so many of students now connecting with me and follow my steps and also take seriously of my stories. Thank you so much….. Manshi

  47. I am totally agree with all these points to increase interest level of students, Most of the students gets bored in my subjects (History and Social sciences), After reading this posts i will make sure some required changes in my teaching style to make my session interesting..! Thank You

    Deepti Roy
    High School Teacher at CBSE

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