Teaching teens is not always easy. There are times when it seems downright impossible to reach teens, have a disciplined classroom, and handle teens in a way that they are motivated to learn and do their best. If you haven't seen volume 1 of How To Teach, Jesse talks about being a leader in the classroom and he shares some stories from his experiences. |
1. Remember, we do the same thing.
If you've been in a teacher training session or meeting, you know that we do pretty much the same things, in that, if something isn't stimulating to us, our minds can wander, we can joke around with our co-workers, jump on our phones 'for a second', or do any of the dozens of things that our students do that drive us absolutely BONKERS.
I think the word is empathy, and that is the biggest key to reaching and connecting with teens.
2. Every student is different.
It's not always easy.
However, if we do have the opportunity to find out exactly what connects with them, it is very rewarding and makes it all worthwhile.
3. Tap into their interests
Their interests!
If your students are really into Fortnite, instead of telling them to put down the controller and go outside or open a book, let's use that insanity for Fortnite to capture their attention in our lessons. If your students are really into John Cena and saying, "You can't see me", use that in your classes to get their attention and get them talking about, writing about, or watching videos in English with John Cena.
The bottom line is we need to be genuinely interested in the students, find out what they are into, and try to create an environment that makes them want to be involved in our classes by working with what they find interesting.
Even if it's doing something small like using their interest in a PowerPoint presentation or adjust a speaking topic to include that.
Easter Egg Lessons:
Trust - They may end up trusting us in ways that we hadn't anticipated.
What else can you find?