Making Learning Fun & Effective for All Types of Learners 

As many of you may know, students of all ages like to engage in and learn things they are actually interested in.  In other words, things that speak to their particular tastes, and that they are exposed to at a pace whereabouts they can actually digest the information.

Case in point: last year I started off one of my grade 8 French classes (who were, by the way, not very happy to be there) with an assignment that included them presenting in French, in order to practice their reading, writing and speaking skills.  After the moans and groans of unhappiness and dissatisfaction at yet another “boring project”, they asked “What does the topic have to be on….the Eiffel Tower, or some other Frenchie type of thing?”  I told them it could be on absolutely anything they desired and that they could set up the presentation any which way they wanted.  Students were excitedly asking if they could do it on this basketball star or this music icon – all answers were an emphatic “YES”.

Then the questions of “Can we use prezi, or skits with props, or music, or can we pre-record it?” – again all answers were met with a resounding “YES”.

The kids got excited because it was something they actually cared about, and we found a way for them to include the French component into it.

On top of that, I managed to stretch the unit out.  Not only did we do the seemingly boring verbs in both present and past tenses, but I gave them the general rule of how to correctly conjugate verbs and they were invited to choose their own verbs on which to practice.  The basketball lover picked verbs like “running”, “jumping”, “playing” and “passing”, while the music lover picked such verbs as “singing”, “dancing”, and “rapping”.  The part that I found the most striking was that not only were students so much more engaged in this project than on anything else I had seen, but because they were happier with what they were doing and because it came more easily to them, they were actually taking the time out to help one another on anything that the person next to them needed.

When it came time to presenting two months later, the presentations were all beyond what was even asked for in the main criteria.  Students had gone ahead and made other items to enhance their presentations, such as posters in French to promote this person or that, and a slogan to represent the kind of imaging their basketball star should get.  The presentations were imaginative, exciting, fun to listen to, and the students were so engaged!  They even asked if they could continue the entire year by learning a general concept and applying it to their own example.

One of the most important things we do for our children and our students, is to inspire them and engage them by doing things and choosing activities that speak to them!  Of course, it is important to continue to show them how to expand their horizons and learn things that are beyond their immediate interest points, but I believe that many of the curriculum and study items we provide them with already cover many of those things.  We should look more to their chosen topics, as these are the ones that are newer and really still seem to take many off-guard and get their excitement going. 

Why can’t we incorporate TED talks into English class, or invite real astronauts into the Science class via virtual connections with NASA, or learn about home economics and fashion through designer-made videos on YouTube?

I’ll admit that it is still difficult for a relatively old-school teacher like me to admit that things in the field of education are changing, but when I see how it engages the students and how, given certain technologies or new ways of thinking, we can tailor curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of individual learners, how can I say no?

As we are preparing kids for the next generation and for them to be great visionaries, we cannot ignore the growing trend toward technology and all the discoveries being made through research to push the envelope in education.  After all, isn’t it essential that our end goal for these young, intermediate, and senior minds to be able to learn in the most effective way possible?  And face it, how many times have you fallen asleep when an instructor was talking about something that was of no interest to you?

People sometimes start off by saying "I will try this" or "I will try that" and then when they are in the midst of it and the going gets tough, they just throw in the towel and say forget it!  I definitely recommend kids and people in general to check out and try new things and if you dont like it, leave it alone.  But when what you're looking for is to cultivate your leadership skills in an area, thats not the way a person with passion gets somewhere. 

People who are really sure of themselves and have a vision (doesnt have to be a very clear one at first but they have a vision) really can get around ANY problem.  These are people who are COMMITTED and will DO ANYTHING to achieve their vision.  No matter what field you get into or you are in, there will always be obstacles to overcome and this is one way that the Universe tests you to see whether you are committed to your vision or you have a non-chalant or too much of a relaxed attitude toward it.  Those who are committed are the ones who consistently really get somewhere!

I can guarantee you that all of the greatest leaders and businesspeople in the world today have had many obstacles to overcome, but they used each of those obstacles as stepping stones to learn their industry and their craft and to get that much better at what they do.  Just read up on any of them...if you find one who had everything just handed to them without even having to really work at it or keep it and make it larger, please let me know!

Do what you like, just be decisive in doing it because Henry Ford's quote that I have sitting on my desk at school still rings true: Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right!

People are always looking for things to make their lives better because people genuinely want to be genuinely happy!  So when I'm asked (fairly regularly) what are the best ways to figure out what it is that you actually want, I would probably say to think about what interests you already have and think about turning one of those into your ideal job or career.

See, often times people think that in order to make a living, they need to be doing something different from what their current passions are.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  As Donald Trump (yes, The Donald) once said, figure out what you love to do.  You can always find ways to make money doing it.

I'd like to give you my example: I had three great loves: Education, Entertainment, Entrepreneurship.  For the longest time, I didnt understand how these three things could (or should) work together, but after ALOT (and I mean, alot) of soul-searching and trail-and-error, I discovered that I could bring my experience as a teacher and my love for music, movies, and fashion to an educational and entrepreneurial endeavour.  Hence, the birth of this business.

So while I dont love his hair, The Donald is right, find ways to make money doing what you love to do!