We all have days in which we fantasise about what life would be like when we would no longer have to do that one thing that drains our energy. Or we imagine what we could do with our days when we are no longer required to attend that one meeting or class that feels superfluous.
Our students are no different. They are required to attend a certain amount of lessons, most of which are obligatory. Motivation for these lessons can easily dwindle and you are left with a group who spends their time waiting for the bell to ring.
It is at those times that it can be useful to introduce a chance to reflect on the question ‘Why do people have to attend school?’. What better way to do this than by incorporating a speaking activity which allows students to fantasise about a life without school. What would they do with their time? What if no-one went to school? What would the effect be on society? Consequently, what is the use of school?
The Basics
Level: B1-C1 (Intermediate, Upper-intermediate, Advanced)
Focus: Reflecting on motivation, arguing an opinion, speaking
Time: 10 minutes
Materials: None
Aim
Students reflect on their motivation for the class they are attending or the use of school in general. They voice their opinion and support it with arguments.
The task
Using the powerpoint below you can encourage students to reflect on their personal motivation for school. Allow them some time to discuss the questions in pairs or little groups. When they have discussed the questions, invite them to show how useful they find school by doing what I call a ‘body vote’.
A ‘body vote’ is a useful tool to quickly see student’s opinion on a debatable issue. You invite the students that agree with the statement (or in this case find school very useful) to move to the left of the room. The students that disagree with the statement (in this case the ones that find school a waste of their time) go to the right. Students who are conflicted can move to the middle and anywhere from left to right on the scale depending on their opinion.
Once everyone is positioned in accordance with their opinion you can invite students to share and argue in the target language. You can choose to moderate and give turns or allow students to react to each other directly.
Surprising outcome
When I asked my least motivated class about whether or not school was useful, I was a little surprised to find all of my students had moved towards the ‘School is useful’ side of the room. When they argued their opinion it was just as informative for me as it was for them. They shared some of their frustrations about non-existing learning goals and teachers who did not seem to know either why they were studying poetry.
This activity has reminded me that a clear learning goal is key to motivate your students. It doesn’t hurt to consider this while planning our lessons and don’t forget to share it with your students! Learning is not a teacher’s secret.
Additional ideas
You could ask your students this question about any aspect of society. This is especially interesting if you want them to reflect on news events or big questions such as the use of democracy, affordable health care and other political issues.
You could ask students to extend their ideas and write an essay on the question arguing for and against. Students could also write an opinion column on the subject, arguing their opinion more thoroughly.
Over to you: Do you ever struggle with student motivation? How do you deal with this?
Have fun teaching! ^_^
Love,
Astrid
Exciting English 