“I’m bored!“ This is a phrase that I really dislike hearing, and I heard it today. I’ve always believed that students shouldn’t get bored in school because there should always be opportunities for them to extend their learning in ways that interest them. So why was it that during our worm feeding reflection today, one student said that people left the carpet because “it was boring?”
I’ll admit that I was very surprised when the student made this comment, but even though it was hard for me to hear, I’m glad that she said it. As the conversation evolved in the podcast, you’ll hear that this student was brave enough to voice what others were also feeling. Better yet, her thoughts resulted in an authentic writing experience for tomorrow morning: a group of students have volunteered to sit on the Worm Action Committee and develop a plan for next Wednesday that will make feeding time more exciting for everyone.
I can’t help but wonder about how many times …
- students were bored, and I didn’t listen to their concerns.
- students were bored, but never said anything.
- or students were bored, and chose to act out, instead of speaking up.
I’m sorry for all three of these times, especially if I was ever the reason that children chose not to articulate their concerns. I can’t promise that a student may not be “bored” again, but I hope that he/she says something, and I hope that I listen. Better yet, I hope that I encourage these students to bring about change. If a group of Grade 1’s can do this, others can as well! How do you respond when children say they’re “bored?” Why and how might our responses matter? My amazing Grade 1 students definitely have me doing a lot of thinking tonight!
Aviva
What a beautiful post!!
I get bored in my classes a lot and end up just going on Twitter or texting or skipping the class when I know we aredoing a boring activity.
Sometimes I get bored because a lot of my classes don’t have much interaction and I just sit there for 75 minutes. In our history class, when my student teacher was here she made us do fun activates with the enlightenment period. One of my favourite years, in grade four we constantly did fun activities!!!! If I don’t see a purpose in a project I tend to getbored.
I am glad your grade one Ss spoke up and that you listened to their concerns.
Thanks for your comment, Labika! I think that it’s really interesting to hear different student perspectives on this. Probably what “bores” one student would not bore another. That’s why I think that we need so many ways to help students learn, as just like with adults, students need to be engaged to learn. I’m glad that this student spoke up as well, and I do love her current “Worm Feeding Plan.” I’m excited to see the difference that it makes this week.
Aviva