Getting a group of fourth graders to enjoy school can be every bit as difficult as it sounds. You will find that by successfully getting them enthralled in your subject, however, you are creating a huge amount of possibilities and in turn a group of incredible students who are greatly rewarding to teach. You will find that there are a huge number of things that can help you to get your students right and ready to learn, but some require more emphasis than others.
#1 Give Them Fun Activities to Do
Giving them fun activities to do can be the perfect way to get them to associate fun with learning and academia. You will probably find that by looking into different areas of inspiration, for example, 4th grade writing activities that you can work with, your lessons will become more varied and entertaining.
This can be instrumental to your career as it can save you a lot of stress. Putting in the effort to make sure that kids are interested in what you are doing can be the gift that keeps on giving, as more interested students are less likely to be disruptive and cause you far less stress than bored students.
#2 Show Them That You Are Passionate
Both parents and students of any age like to see a teacher who is passionate about their subject, as that passion generally rubs off on them. If you enjoy it, and you make it clear that you do, you are more likely to provoke questions and conversation, rather than blank stares and silence. This can pique curiosity and keep your students interested. It can also help you to teach the subject effectively, which can be a godsend if you are struggling with planning lessons or you feel as though morale in the classroom has slumped somewhat for both teachers and students.
#3 Take Your Time
Not everything needs to be rushed. Planning is critically important to lessons, so you should make sure that you are leaving enough time to make lessons compelling and interesting. You should also not rush when it comes to explaining things. This is vitally important to your student’s understanding, so taking your time and working things through with them can be important to building rapport between yourself and your students. It can also help them not to be quite so stressed about school because they can’t understand the subject due to you rushing through things.
#4 Encourage Your Students
Encouraging students can help them to gain confidence. However, when doing this the one thing, you need to make sure that you understand every child has different strengths, and those strengths might not lie in school work. There are artists and athletes and performers in your class, as well as academics, and by letting your students work how they need to, and by encouraging their strengths and passions, you will find that you have a healthier class and a more enjoyable experience as a teacher.
#5 Reward hard work
Rewarding hard work is important to building confidence in your class. You will find that you are faced with a lot of exceptional students, and rewarding them for working hard, regardless of results, is important. If you can see that they are putting in the effort, you need to show them that. Not everything is about results, although a lot of teachers will lead students to believe this. Grades are important, but when you are teaching grade four, you need to teach them that hard work and a good work ethic for whatever they love are far more important.
A Few Final Thoughts
In conclusion, there are a lot of ways that you can get your fourth graders to love learning. You will find that there are so many resources out there that you can use, and techniques that you can master that will help your students to feel as enthusiastic about learning as you are, and help make your job as a teacher so much easier.
You can do this by rewarding the hard work that students put in, encouraging them in their passions and strengths, taking your time with learning and not rushing the fundamentals, and showing you are passionate about what you do can be crucial. You should also be looking into a range of external inspiration and tips passed down from other successful teachers to help you to become a far better teacher and have lessons under your belt that students will actively look forward to and enjoy.