Over the past week, I have been thinking a lot about education and how to help kids become interested in what they are learning. I work at a summer camp and teach Photography, so I’m familiar with making lesson plans for classes. But I can’t stop thinking about how to truly interest kids so that they want to learn.
Ever since visiting MUMS, I’ve been really excited to start working with the kids and learn more about teaching. I think that our trips to the middle school will definitely benefit the kids, given that they are probably more likely to listen to college kids preach about how useful something is rather than their teachers. However, despite how excited I am, I still can’t seem to come up with an idea for which aspect of media I will teach or how I will tailor that tool to the class I’m assigned to. I’m starting to realize just how difficult it is being a teacher. On one hand, specialized teachers (Math, Science, English, etc.) are very interested in their subject and it is easy for them to enjoy and understand what they are teaching. On the other hand, they have to balance this love for the subject with an ability to inspire that love in their students. I honestly don’t know how great teachers are able to make us motivated to learn the material they teach — but I think it definitely has something to do with using topics that the students are interested in, first, and transferring the skills gained to a topic that might not be as exciting.
It will be interesting to go through the whole process of writing a lesson plan in the coming weeks, though, and I’m excited to see what ideas we all come up with.