What makes school boring

Other parents may think that the teacher is not presenting the material in a way that engages the students. While both of these are valid possibilities, they are not the only ones. It's worth considering the following reasons, one or more of which might be at play if your child seems to lack enthusiasm about their classes. What this type of student is trying to tell you is they are not being challenged by the work in the classroom.

So they don't feel any incentive to do the work to learn something new. An under-motivated child is not the same as a lazy child. In some situations, a lack of motivation can be the sign of an underlying issue, such as childhood depression or ADHD. Children who have trouble forging a connection with their peers or teacher may be bored in school because they feel very isolated. Not all students have the skills they need to be successful in the classroom.

You can have an under-challenged, unconnected child with poor test-taking skills just as easily as a child who is simply unmotivated. Encourage your child to break down what they learned in class and ask for the particulars of what they did for the lesson. Try to get answers to these questions:. This can help you start to zero in on what about the class may be contributing to these feelings. Speak to your child's teachers and let them know what seems to engage your child and what doesn't.

Try to curb any negativity and offer constructive feedback about what your child needs. Consider involving your child in the process. Sit down together with the teacher to brainstorm and come up with solutions to keep your child engaged and excited about their daily school life. She read novels through math class, skipped days, contemplated dropping out, and barely graduated with a 1.

Rose has proposed a solution. By designing for the average of everyone, the classroom is ideal to no one. Rose suggests adding much more choice to the classroom. Allow exams to be written or taken orally. Assign students more hands-on projects, in which they become in control of their own learning.

New research bolsters his theory. Since Mehta and current doctoral student Sarah Fine , Ed. Of course, no teacher can assign and grade 30 individual projects and create 30 individual lesson plans every day. Rose suggests schools more often exploit digital, scalable technologies that can deliver readings and assignments tailored to specific types of learners. I think we can talk to teachers about it second. Still, teachers can staunch boredom.

They tried to learn from their students as much as they taught. I had by then ruled out a career in math, and my teacher did little to explain the pertinence of limits and derivatives in my life beyond that I may fail another test. My English and U. And Mr. Rice culminated each chapter of American history with a class-wide debate in which we each assumed the role of a different figure from that period, bonus points for showing up in costume.

You want to play basket-ball? Every teacher and academic I talked to kept coming back to relevance. But Semrow says she graduated by the grace of the few teachers who did stress relevance. Pereira then decided the students would design their own photosynthesis experiment testing various wavelengths and light intensities, and then present their data in a form of a letter of recommendation to NASA.

This is the first time when abstract ideas can be motivating. Sign In Subscribe. Why Is School So Boring? Reset Search. Opinion Blog. Rick Hess Straight Up. Teaching Opinion. By Rick Hess — July 06, 3 min read. Share article Remove Save to favorites Save to favorites. Rick Hess. Know their favourite foods, music, sports teams. Know their hopes and dreams. Know what they feel about the world and their futures.

However, like most teachers I have blundered. I used "their" instead of referring to each student separately. Do not try to know the group, do not teach to the group, know each individual in the group.

Mary likes to read fantasy books, she has a younger sister in kindergarten, her mom is a nurse, she is allergic to dust, her dog's name is Spot, her grandmother taught her to knit, she's a great soccer player, etc. You do not have to try to accomodate each child in each lesson with an individualized lesson plan.

Even if you just mention a student's name, remember something about that student, the learning becomes individualized without much effort.

Another simple solution is to think of the classroom as something other than what it is. What would you do if you were all together in a cottage?

In a museum? In an ancient Greek academy? This will result in finding new ideas for your lesson plans and how you execute them. Imagination accommodates diversity. Humans would not learn anything if they were not curious about the world.

The world is more than just what can be contained within the classroom. Instead of sedentary sitting, why not a walk outdoors. The students get to go outdoors for recess and lunch hour, but the idea is to give them a break from learning -- as if learning is a chore. Why not spend minutes walking and talking about something each day with your students? Even a quick review of what they learned in the morning or the previous day is a good start.

When children walk around they ask questions, they come up with new ideas, they enjoy the learning process. Field trips are expensive and difficult to organize, but it does not have to be just a one day event, the learning can occur before and after the trip.

If you are going to visit a museum, make sure that the students know a bit about the collection beforehand. Have them research what artifacts there are in the museum. Let each student choose a favorite item that they want to see in the museum. Just looking at a bunch of objects when you get to a museum is boring.