How to engage as many pupils as possible

In the average classroom you will have children that come with many different past experiences and interests.  As teachers we need to understand each child as an individual and a unique learner.  As you teach your class you will start to understnad what each child's interests are in.  When teaching in any new class, I make profile cards for each child, allowing them to write on it their interests/ hobbies and any other interesting information about themselves, whether that be a talent/ another language they can speak or something unique.  This approach gives me an insight into what they like, and what they have had previous experience at doing.

Once I have collected all this information I will then feed this into my planning for the different subjects.  Teaching lessons that uses children's hobbies and interests gives many different benefits.  It makes the learning more meaningful and relevant to that child.  Children are able to relate their learning to what they know and use their prior knowledge.  These types os lessons are great for child directed and personalised learning as children will want to tell you more about what they know.  Children just love talking in depth about their interest or hobby as they think they are more intelligent then their teacher.  Children will be more engaged in the lesson and therefore their concentration and motivation to learn will increase.  What I then look at is what are the most common hobbies and interests, which are normally football, computer games, acting etc, to engage as many of the children in those lessons as possible.


What I have also realised is that some children don't even realise they have specific talents or do not think to write down a specific hobbie or interest.  Therefore as teachers we need engage as many children as possible by providing children with a wide variety of opportunities and contexts to learn.  Giving children different expereinces both in and outside of the classroom that allows children to understand that they can be good at different activities or subjects.  Teachers need to use a range of different stratengies to engage, motivate and inspire children to learn.  Meeting the different learning styles and needs of the children is crucial to the development of children's learning and understanding.  The planning of these lessons may take longer, and take teachers out of their comfort zone, but if you set the ethos in your classroom, that its ok that you don't understand, or to take risks, then children won't take new opportunities or 'have a go'.  As a teacher it is ok to show vunerability, no teacher knows everything and this needs to be conveyed to children to allow them to realise that everyone in the classroom is learning together. 

Personally as a teacher I believe it is not just about teaching what needs to be taught.  Teachers need to provide different contexts and real life experiences so that the learning is relevant and meaningful.  I am not saying that all subjects need to be based on a different child's interest, but making links and relationships with their interests can be a great way to bring the learning to life.

What ways do you engage as many children in your class?  Would be very interested to hear you views on this.