Can we have a fun lesson today?

_{^{A bi-weekly T&L bulletin for staff at Community Schools Trust}}

You know what I’m talking about. 

It’s that time of the year again. With our final few lessons remaining and the academic year coming to a close, many of us will be pressured with the question / demand: can we have a fun lesson today?

At Community Schools Trust (CST), we don’t have a problem with fun lessons. 

But we also know that one man’s fun is another’s hell…

No one can agree on what is ‘fun’.

Luckily, there is something we do agree on (for now): what makes good teaching. At CST, we’ve codified our approach to teaching and we teach very good lessons as a result.

Whilst learning can be immensely fun in our eyes, convincing some students of this might not be worth the time it might take. 

Instead, today’s post is a toolkit of how to cope with the question ‘can we have a fun lesson today?’ and the various things you might be tempted to do as a result.

1 When they ask the dreaded question, answer with ‘yes!’ 

And proceed to follow the lesson you have meticulously intellectually prepared for with unapologetic zeal. 

2 When they compare you with another (fun) teacher: but Mr X let us watch a movie!

Do not judge Mr X (out loud) but instead, explain how crucial it is they learn what you have planned for them. 

If you are Mr X, repent and don’t do it again. Normalise learning right to the end. It’s what we do. It’s who we are!

3 Maybe I’ll switch it up and let them watch an EDUCATIONAL movie…

Don’t. A screen alternative may well be educational, riveting, fulfilling and any number of other justifying adjectives, but it isn’t part of our planned curriculum. 

Apart from professional development (which we invest heavily in at CST), effective supporting curricular is the best bet we have for improving the learning and life chances for students in our care (What we teach matters, Learning First). We have done and continue to do vast amounts of work on making our curricular something we are proud of. The evidence suggests we are making a significant difference to our students as a result of this work. Why impede that success at the finish line for the sake of 50 minutes worth of a half watched movie?

4 Fine, I’ll do a quiz then. It will be fun AND educational!

I’ve also been there. It was an epic game of ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’, complete with the music, the Powerpoint animations, a ‘phone a friend’ icon, several rounds of different ‘learning’ related categories and teams. The time it took me to plan it all was equivalent to 5 lessons worth of planning.

The execution of it was as you would expect of any whole class, extended group work activity: 

Don’t fall for it. 

Teach your planned curriculum instead. Improved life chances trump potential in-the-moment ‘fun’ any day.

As we reach the finish line, ‘lean forward’

Runners lean forward to boost their acceleration and to propel themselves over the finish line. During a race, every tenth-second counts towards a runner’s placement.

We place a lot of value on time at CST:

• We report on a child’s progress in real-time on DPR
• We live mark so students can move forward in their learning in the moment
• We use techniques like SLANT to minimise time spent on the ‘how’ of learning and maximise time spent on the ‘what’ of learning
• We live coach so that we can ‘get better faster’ in our classroom practice

This year and in recent years, we have dealt with various disruptions to our students’ learning. Now more than ever, every tenth-second of learning counts for our students.

Finally, just in case you’re still tempted, here’s one more tool for your end-of-term survival kit:

5 It’s been a tough term. I deserve the break! I’ll just give ‘em what they want!

Apart from the fact that you won’t have a break in a lesson with little/no structure…fatigue researcher, Dr Samuele Marcora says, ‘top-level athletes get closer and closer to their real physiological maximum’. But they never quite reach it; the brain applies the brakes before the heart, lungs and muscles fail.

Many studies have proven this. You can read about loads of examples demonstrating this in the fascinating book, ‘The Expectation Effect’ by David Robson. 

Here’s one example: volunteers were asked to ‘sit’ against a wall with their knees bent but no chair for support and were offered a monetary reward for every 20 second intervals they endured. The researchers found that the more money offered, the longer the subjects lasted – which makes sense – but the study illustrated something else: the timing of their collapse depended not on their muscles but on their willpower.

I’m not sure we will get that well deserved payout in the next 2 weeks, however, what we can do is focus on the latter finding: ‘it is the brain which determines how hard the exercise systems can be pushed,’ (Roger Bannister, the first man to run the 4-minute mile, 1954). Mind over muscle. 

Learning over ‘fun’.

Having said that…

Learning is not the antithesis of fun.

So let’s not treat it like it is. When we say ‘no’ to a film, don’t be apologetic about it. Front load the lesson with what you expect of them in that lesson. Be deliberately upbeat.

And teach. Really well. Right to the very end. You never know, it might be fun.

Have a fantastic week.

Thahmina