The Battle Against Boring
“Children need structure.”
How many times have we heard that?
And I get it. Structure, in the form of routine, contributes to a child’s sense of safety and comfort. Things that are familiar bring all of us comfort, children and adults alike.
We likely go through the same routine in the morning. Get up, feed the cat, (the cat likes routine too), take a shower. Most people even have a regular shower routine - left arm first, right arm, and so on (or whatever order you prefer). We drive to school and head for the same parking spot. I’ll be the first to admit, finding someone parked in the spot I prefer definitely puts a kink in the comfort of my morning. And then we begin our classroom routines.
For years many of us have been instructed to begin class with a “Do Now.” I do understand the “Do Now” concept. I understand that it can help students make the transition from hallway mode to classroom mode. I understand it allows for attendance time, and setting the instructional tone for the period. But how routine does routine have to be?
Once after a classroom observation, the administrator observing me said, “Why are you fighting me on the “Do Now?” And for me, the answer was simple - why in the world would I do the same thing at the beginning of every single period? That would be boring.
In Brain Rules, which I have referenced here before, John Medina makes the complexities of how the brain learns accessible to non-neuroscientists. In his chapter on attention, Medina says that he poses this question to the students in every college class he teaches: “Given a class of medium interest, not too boring and not too exciting, when do you start glancing at the clock, wondering when the class will be over?” (74). Students generally identify 10 minutes as the point where their attention starts to wander.
In a high school class that is 45 minutes long, that means, on average, we have lost students after only a quarter of the class. I can’t afford to lose 75% of my instructional time because of a boring first quarter. Structure and routine may allow us to feel like we we have some measure of comfort and control, like we can know what to expect in a world where so much is unexpected.
But here’s the hitch. Sometimes routine is boring.
I don’t like to think of education as a business, but I will in one respect. Medina points out something that people in the marketing business have long known, “that novel stimuli--the unusual, unpredictable, or distinctive--are powerful ways to harness attention in the service of interest” (76). Think of how much attention is paid to the new commercials aired during the Superbowl. (I pay more attention to them than the game.)
So mix it up a little. Don’t fall back on the same lesson you did last time you taught that unit. Find a new way to engage students. Let go of the lecture. Add some technology (other than the PowerPoint slideshow of lecture notes). Make students the focus; ask them what they think. Throw in some humor. Add a little music or a video (though not a whole movie). Try something new. Do something surprising.
One of the key concepts that Medina’s book reinforces for me each time I pick it up is a common sense principle at the heart of his Brain Rule #4: “We don’t pay attention to boring things” (71). Since learning requires paying attention, teachers have to fight the battle against boring every day.
How many times have we heard that?
And I get it. Structure, in the form of routine, contributes to a child’s sense of safety and comfort. Things that are familiar bring all of us comfort, children and adults alike.
We likely go through the same routine in the morning. Get up, feed the cat, (the cat likes routine too), take a shower. Most people even have a regular shower routine - left arm first, right arm, and so on (or whatever order you prefer). We drive to school and head for the same parking spot. I’ll be the first to admit, finding someone parked in the spot I prefer definitely puts a kink in the comfort of my morning. And then we begin our classroom routines.
For years many of us have been instructed to begin class with a “Do Now.” I do understand the “Do Now” concept. I understand that it can help students make the transition from hallway mode to classroom mode. I understand it allows for attendance time, and setting the instructional tone for the period. But how routine does routine have to be?
Once after a classroom observation, the administrator observing me said, “Why are you fighting me on the “Do Now?” And for me, the answer was simple - why in the world would I do the same thing at the beginning of every single period? That would be boring.
In Brain Rules, which I have referenced here before, John Medina makes the complexities of how the brain learns accessible to non-neuroscientists. In his chapter on attention, Medina says that he poses this question to the students in every college class he teaches: “Given a class of medium interest, not too boring and not too exciting, when do you start glancing at the clock, wondering when the class will be over?” (74). Students generally identify 10 minutes as the point where their attention starts to wander.
In a high school class that is 45 minutes long, that means, on average, we have lost students after only a quarter of the class. I can’t afford to lose 75% of my instructional time because of a boring first quarter. Structure and routine may allow us to feel like we we have some measure of comfort and control, like we can know what to expect in a world where so much is unexpected.
But here’s the hitch. Sometimes routine is boring.
I don’t like to think of education as a business, but I will in one respect. Medina points out something that people in the marketing business have long known, “that novel stimuli--the unusual, unpredictable, or distinctive--are powerful ways to harness attention in the service of interest” (76). Think of how much attention is paid to the new commercials aired during the Superbowl. (I pay more attention to them than the game.)
So mix it up a little. Don’t fall back on the same lesson you did last time you taught that unit. Find a new way to engage students. Let go of the lecture. Add some technology (other than the PowerPoint slideshow of lecture notes). Make students the focus; ask them what they think. Throw in some humor. Add a little music or a video (though not a whole movie). Try something new. Do something surprising.
One of the key concepts that Medina’s book reinforces for me each time I pick it up is a common sense principle at the heart of his Brain Rule #4: “We don’t pay attention to boring things” (71). Since learning requires paying attention, teachers have to fight the battle against boring every day.
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