AVOIDING SATIATION

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | EDUCATOR | January 24, 2017

Classroom teachers normally have some latitude in choosing instructional practices within the classroom. Thus, the development of best instructional practices in most schools is a combination of practices that are dictated by the curriculum itself and practices chosen and implemented by the teacher. I recall sitting in teachers classes through what seemed like endless lectures and needless boredom at various points during my academic career. It was like eating a pint of gelato, but halfway through you get tired of it and do not want to eat it anymore. These are examples of satiation. Student satiation (i.e. boredom, diminished involvement, or decreased quality of work) is often overlooked, but it can be avoided by providing students with a feeling of progress, changing things up a bit, and adding a bit of variety to curriculum and classroom environment. Just add a little stimulus. Imagine how boring even your favorite dinner would be if you had to eat it every night for the rest of the year. This is sometimes what we do to our students when we are overly repetitive in the classroom. Often times, even after there are obvious signs of student experienced satiation.

            As a colleague, I participate in instructional dialogues and reflections that are centered on student mastery and ways to incorporate technology, alongside student inquiry and engagement in the classroom to enhance learning.  Similarly, I have facilitated professional development sessions to support teachers in developing optimal classroom environments, facilitate instructional goals, and integrate academic tenacity.  This is done to support teacher effectiveness and collective responsibility, build relationships, and create communities of practice that are learner centered. During these interactions with colleagues, I have run across several that overly stress stand and deliver content tactics, stacked with tests, tests, and more tests. “Well, we are a top school. We are preparing students for college and this is what it’s like.”

I cautioned one team of school leaders, “That approach fails our students as it relates to rigor for the 21st century. Instead it merely drills them for memorization tests, limiting their mastery of skills they need to succeed as lifelong learners, workers, and citizens. We really need to engage students in instruction designed to teach them to think and allow learning to be fun.”

Willis (2006) stated, “The truth is that when the joy and comfort are scrubbed from the classroom and replaced with homogeneity, and when spontaneity is replaced with conformity, students’ brains are distanced from effective information processing and long-term memory storage… The highest-level executive thinking, making of connections, and “aha” moments are more likely to occur in an atmosphere of “exuberant discovery,” where students of all ages retain that kindergarten enthusiasm of embracing each day with the joy of learning” (p. 58).

This statement reiterates the need to make teaching more enjoyable for ourselves in order to make learning fun for our students and avoid satiation, thereby increasing retention and synthesis of information.

            Each day, while students are entering my class, they are met with a warm greeting and welcome into our home away from home. Once inside, students jam to the instrumental tunes of the song pick for the opening activity. They organize themselves and get right to work, addressing the opening question. Learning is the most fun when it is surprising. I do not like to just disseminate information; I enjoy cloaking it in mystery. On a good day, I will conduct an opening demonstration or show a short clip that gets students asking, “Why.”

            We then shift gears and move into mini lesson complete with student exploration. When it is time for me to lecture, I keep it short, sweet, and to the point. The fun is not lost even in the lecture. I let loose, laugh, and make if fun for myself. You might call it more of a performance. “Greetings, to all. Today, we are going to talk about… I am Dr. Tolliver and I will be your entertainment for the hour. So sit back, but don’t relax engage yourself in the journey.” In return, the students are all into it, as if they were watching the latest reality series. The closeout is just as fun. We sometimes use a beach ball and throw it around the room to determine whose turn it is to share out. On one occasion, I divided the class into two teams and they had Five Minutes to Win It. I invited one member from each team to come to the front of the classroom. The two members had to sit with their backs to the board while their group members gave them clues about a word that was on the board behind them. The team that identified the most terms in five minutes received two less homework questions. Talk about student enthusiasm and engagement.

            On those days I enter the classroom and really am not feeling it, I replace the lecture with conversations. It is more of a stylistic shift that gives the students and I an opportunity to actively exchange ideas, not just responding to them. Sometimes, I even take a seat in the audience and let the students teach for the day. In order to help students see connections and progress with new ideas, I preface it within old material so that students see how it all fits together into the bigger picture.

            Occasionally, as the year progresses, I might feel myself slipping into a rut, spending the same hours exactly the same way each day. This is when I know it is time to stop and reassess my teaching process. It is so easy to get caught using the same lessons with different student, but when it becomes boring for me, it becomes boring for the students. Therefore, I make a conscientious effort to be fresh, try new things, take risks in the classroom, make goofy mistakes here and there, and enjoy the moment. This has led to team-building activities during the lesson to get everyone pumped again. Needless to say, each year the students are beating down the roster office with requests to get into my class.

Now, I also use an alternative approach to satiation, especially when it comes to classroom routines and procedures. Grant it, I teach them at the start of the year, and we practice them until students do not need to practice them anymore. But mid-year, when I find students are getting a little too relaxed with our procedures, we take a little time to practice them again. This is usually the only time we need to do this, as they satiate on practicing and are again ready to follow procedures alone.

Read what a former student, Rodney Mobley, had to say about the class http://www.educationprojectonline.com/p/testimonials.html. Do students still use Rate My Teachers? http://www.ratemyteachers.com/armando-tolliver/6190225-t

Suggested Citation

Tolliver, A. R. (2017). Avoiding Satiation. [Education Project Online]. Retrieved online at http://www.educationprojectonline.com/2017/04/avoiding-satiation.html.

References

Marzano, R. J., Pickering. D. J, & Pollock, J. E. (2006).Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria,

VA: ASCD.

Varlas, L. (2002). Getting acquainted with the essential nine. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

Curriculum Update.