TURN THE MUNDANE INTO THE EXTRAORDINARY

There are many educational practices which on the face it, seem to be deadly dull and boring. They are maintained because of obligation or to provide teachers with administrative time while keeping students occupied. They can be regarded as hack activities.

Children don’t appreciate them as being meaningful and engaging, often using them as switch off or ‘mucking around time’. Modifying these activities and dressing them up with added meaning can transform them into looked forward to interludes and valuable learning tools. That takes a bit of imagination and promotion, but it is well worth the effort.

Enhancement and transformation can be extended to many facets of student learning and development. This paper illustrates my message by drawing on three very ordinary school classroom activities, silent reading, the marking of children’s work and eating lunch. This list is not exhaustible and other activities (including ‘show and tell’) can be included.

Up the Ante on Silent Reading

“Silent reading” often takes place at strategic times during the school day. At times when teachers need space and minutes for important elements of preparation and administration. Children are often engaged in “silent reading” (which could be anything but silent) straight after lunch or a break periods. This may give teachers time to organise and fine tune preparation for lessons to come. Silent reading is sometimes encouraged because teachers need time to complete records, work with individual children, and so on.

It’s often felt that silent reading does not really fill a useful or meaningful purpose in school programs. It is often random and concludes with children putting books away. There is a possibility they may have enjoyed reading, but with little sense of completion.

Silent reading is an activity that can be made meaningful and engaging. A working strategy might be as follows:

Ask children as they read to take note of the following. You might even develop these or similar markers with the class before this activity becomes operational.

• The title of the book, the author and illustrator.

• The construction of a verbal summary about the book.

• The development of an understanding that can be shared. This may include a summary about the main characters in the text, or what the text is about if it is nonfictional.

• A synopsis of what the reader has learned from the text. Every story has a moral, and every factual text a message that is being offered.

• An indication of whether the text is more or less appropriate for younger or older students and why.

• A recommendation. Would you encourage others to read the book or not; why you’re making that recommendation.

Encourage children to take brief notes as they read, to cover the points listed above. Teachers might also create a template or rubric that outlines these elements, with children to fill in the blanks.

At the end of the period, ask a number of children to share their learnings as outlined. Oral expression can be assessed. Building confidence and understanding will be encouraged through this sharing.

It is wise to check the names of children on a list, with a date to show when they have presented to the group. This means that next time the activity takes place, other children can be selected to offer their verbal summaries.

This activity could be pre-organised on a roster or planned as a ‘cold turkey’ activity so children do not know when they will be selected.

Any activity that enhances purposeful “silent reading”, is worthwhile. Value adding is an outcome and extension, enriching comprehension and oral expression opportunities. Reading is an important learning tool and its meaningful practice establishes a critically important learning habit.

Make Marking of Work a Highlight

The teaching life is always busy. It is very easy to get behind with routine classroom tasks. One of the areas easily overlooked is that of marking children’s work. In particular, that can apply to bookwork, homework, and other tasks set for children. It can also include extra work set by way of sheets or other materials children are asked to complete. These days children do a lot of work online and sometimes submit files for marking. That happens for both primary and secondary school students.

It’s extremely disappointing to students if work submitted for marking is overlooked. It also hurts if their perception is that teachers regard marking as a chore and a drudge. Initially children will be very disappointed their work has not been marked. If non-marking becomes a habit, then attention paid by children to work tasks will gradually decline. The reason for that is a belief that even if work is submitted to their very best standards, this will not be recognised or acknowledged. In short, children can come to believe the teachers are disinterested in what they produce.

That in turn takes from the self-esteem children feel, the pride in self and their attitude toward work tasks. If teachers fail to mark work this can become very demotivating for children. Regardless of everything else, they may believe that teachers are not interested in them and the work they do.

If a child brings to your attention the fact of work to be mark is outstanding, my suggestion is to apologise and then set about marking the assignment as quickly as practicable. Letting students know that this has been an oversight will not hurt. Children respect honesty.

Rewards

When marking, do so as thoroughly as possible. My suggestion is to correct spelling, punctuation, and other omissions. Do so neatly and in a different coloured pen (preferably red) to what the child has used. Adopting the ‘CRC’ (commendation, recommendation, commendation) approach is suggested as it offers both perspective and balance.

Children appreciate comments written on work and I believe that stickers or stamps are an absolute “must”.

Students love to share work assessments with their peers, parents, siblings and with others. Teacher care and attention to marking can for them, be the icing on the cake. Knowing their work is appreciated, motivates many students to maintain and better their future efforts.

Lighten Lunch Eating

Supervision of lunch eating arrangements is often part of teacher responsibility. That’s especially the case for Early Childhood and Primary children. This can feel like both an imposition and a chore.

Quite often, lunches are eaten in classrooms before children go out to play. There is usually a time of 10 or 15 minutes allocated for lunch eating. This might include getting lunches from refrigerators or luggage lockers, eating, disposing of litter and replacing the lunch container.

Keeping children focused and engaged while they are eating can be an issue. Often, there are children who have nowhere near completed eating by the time the release bell goes. These slow eaters can finish up sitting outside eating their food. When this happens, food more often than not finishes up in the bin.

There are ways and means of encouraging children to eat lunches. Requiring children to stay in their seats or sit in social groups and acting in an acceptable manner may work for some. Playing soft music as a background can relax atmosphere and encourage eating.

When supervising lunches, consider playing a game that focuses on etiquette, table manners, posture, and general good manners. Commend children on eating with their mouths closed and not becoming overly distracted by the social environment of lunch time. Giving points to groups for compliance is a way of reinforcing positive eating behaviour. On occasion, I would introduce imagination. One example would be asking children to remember their manners and display appropriate etiquette. A reward might be an online visit to see important people or visit a favourite restaraunt for afternoon tea. The emphasis is to reinforce the importance of these qualities, that if demonstrated can open doors on important elements of life and living.

Teachers sometimes use lunch eating periods for marking work, talking with colleagues, or preparing for lessons. While important, there are games that can be played and attitudes can be built around recess and lunch eating activities.

I found the children quite often appreciated me taking an interest in what they were eating and interacting with them during lunch periods. This can be an enriching time.

Conclusion

There are many ordinary and mundane school activities. That is as it should be, for learning should be about substance, not perpetual ‘froth and bubble’. Student motivation and desire to succeed should also come from within and not be totally dependent on the use of props and teacher prompting.

However, adding meaning to what can be quite ordinary activities by developing healthy attitudes toward them is enriching, rewarding and can build important social attitudes and learning outcomes.