20 Ways To Put More Fun In Your Lessons Needs Focused Teaching

There is one sure-fire way to prevent behaviour problems, build better relationships with your students, make them love your lessons and bag you a nomination for Teacher of the Year – add more fun! All you have to do is put more fun in your lessons and the following ideas should help get you started. Some are silly, some are wacky and some are plain outrageous but I’m sure you’ll find something worth trying. With a little effort, putting fun in your lessons will soon become a habit, the mood in your classroom will lift and your students will be lining up outside your room with broad smiles... A CD of TV and film theme tunes is a great investment. You can play ‘Chariots of fire’, ‘Rocky’ or ‘Mission Impossible’ at the start of lessons, Benny Hill when you want them to change activities and ‘Countdown’ when you want them to answer spot questions.

Rapturous applause when students answer questions, a machine gun when they’re being cheeky etc. Technology makes this easy – most mobile phones can be plugged in to a speaker system and can be used to access all manner of sound effects. I recently used my iPhone to trick the kids outside into thinking the ice cream van had arrived. It’s amazing what you can do with sound effects. 3. Add a touch of magic to spice up your lessons – as a starter, fill-in or imaginative and engaging way to deliver lesson content.

July 5, 2022 by pathway2success Leave a Comment Keeping the learning process fun and fresh isn’t just something extra to consider before a holiday break or on a Friday afternoon. Adding creative and fun ideas into your lessons can help more learners feel engaged and motivated. This can be a critical element to reaching all learning, even those who struggle with completing work or aren’t as interested in the content area you are teaching. It makes teaching fun for educators, too. Sometimes, it’s easy to get bogged down with the high demands of curriculum and expectations with state testing.

As an educator myself, I’ve been there. Times like this are the perfect opportunity to do something new and re-ignite that spark for teaching. Most importantly, when kids love learning, they will remember it. Use some of these strategies to help give your learners a fun, creative, and memorable experience in the classroom. Incorporate movement. Sitting at a desk all day isn’t good for anyone!

Get kids up and moving while learning content. Have students toss paper basketballs into the recycling bin when they get a review question right or do jumping jacks as you practice multiplication facts. Whatever it is, get kids moving. We believe that education should be inspiring, not just informative. In a world where attention is a currency and creativity is power, making learning more fun isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s an essential strategy for unlocking potential and sparking lifelong curiosity. Whether you're a teacher in a classroom, a parent supporting learning at home, or a facilitator guiding adult learners, here are creative teaching strategies to make learning more engaging, joyful, and meaningful.

Turning lessons into games can dramatically boost motivation and retention. Gamification doesn’t mean sacrificing substance—it means wrapping deep learning in a layer of fun. Try incorporating: Interactive quizzes with instant feedback Educational board games or digital platforms As a new teacher, I didn’t fully grasp how to best engage students in learning.

That’s not to say my class was a bore, but there were definitely days I knew flopped…majorly. Unfortunately, there’s no magic list for captivating students in a lesson, but experience is one of the best tools I have to answer the question of how to engage students in the classroom. Developing a bank of lesson plans and approaches you can count on to increase engagement takes time. There are few things I enjoy less than bored students. That’s why I’ve dedicated a lot of time and effort to trying new instructional strategies in the middle and high school classroom. If you’ve been scouring the web for ways to get and keep students engaged, hopefully you’ll enjoy this these active learning strategies.

Before diving into the strategies, I want to emphasize several important points. It’s hard to tell when students are truly engaged. I find that when I ask them for feedback on a lesson, they usually evaluate their interest level higher than I would have guessed. So, if students aren’t on the edge of their seats enthralled in the learning, it may just be because they are teenagers dealing with a crazy array of emotions and insecurities. Plus, engagement is not always visible externally. Engagement is not a quick fix.

It starts with building relationships with students and getting to know them as learners. Students will be more engaged in a room where they know the teacher cares about them. We have to constantly check the thermostat in the room to see what is working. Classroom games aren’t just about fun—they’re powerful tools for reinforcing lessons, building classroom community, and giving students meaningful brain breaks. The right game can re-energize your students, boost engagement, and even improve retention of core concepts. Below are 15 detailed classroom games suitable for a wide range of grade levels and subjects.

Each game is easy to implement and can be adapted based on your class size, space, and learning goals. Silent Ball is a simple, low-prep game that works well as a quick brain break or transitional activity. Students spread out and toss a soft foam ball around the room in complete silence. If a student makes a bad throw, drops the ball, or speaks, they are out and sit down. The last student standing wins. It’s perfect for promoting self-control, coordination, and focus—especially after a high-energy lesson.

Label each corner of the room with numbers 1 through 4 using signs or whiteboard markers. One student stands in the middle, closes their eyes, and slowly counts to ten while the rest of the class quietly walks to a corner of their choice. Once the counting ends, the student in the middle calls out a number, and everyone in that corner is out. Play continues until only one student remains. This is a fantastic movement-based game that’s especially effective for indoor recess or transitions. Sparkle is a competitive and exciting game to reinforce spelling skills.

Students stand in a circle and take turns saying one letter at a time of a given vocabulary or spelling word. After the final letter is spoken, the next student says “Sparkle,” and the following student is out. If a student says the wrong letter or loses focus, they’re also out. It’s a fast-paced way to make spelling practice more engaging and memorable. Trashketball combines review questions with a fun basketball-style twist. Divide the class into teams and ask them a question related to your current lesson.

If the team answers correctly, they earn the opportunity to shoot a paper ball into a trash can from varying distances for extra points. You can assign different point values for different distances to add challenge. This game is excellent for reviewing before a test and encourages teamwork and critical thinking. Have you ever spent hours crafting a lesson plan only to watch your students’ eyes glaze over halfway through? You’re not alone! Effective lesson planning is both an art and a science—a delicate balance of clear objectives, engaging hooks, and adaptable strategies that keep every learner on their toes.

Did you know that 81% of teachers report student engagement has become more challenging post-pandemic, yet only a third adjust their lesson pacing accordingly? That’s a gap we’re here to close. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll unpack over 50 proven lesson plan strategies that veteran educators swear by, from active learning hacks and tech integrations to creative cross-curricular ideas and differentiation techniques. Plus, we’ll share insider tips on tools that make planning less painful and more powerful. Ready to turn your lesson plans from “meh” to memorable? Keep reading—your future self (and your students) will thank you!

Ready to revolutionize your classroom? Dive into our expert-backed strategies and start planning lessons that truly stick! Before we dive in, here’s the cheat-sheet we wish we’d had on our first day of teaching: Little-known stat: According to a 2022 McGraw-Hill survey, 81 % of teachers say engagement is harder post-pandemic, yet only 34 % adjust pacing in their lesson plans. Translation? Most of us are sprinting while our students are still tying their shoes.

Classroom Management, Effective Teaching Strategies, Teachers · August 13, 2024 <img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2374" src="https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/5212700-300x188.jpg" alt="classroom ideas for teachers" width="300" height="188" srcset="https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/5212700-300x188.jpg 300w, https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/5212700-1024x643.jpg 1024w, https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/5212700-768x482.jpg 768w, https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/5212700-1536x964.jpg 1536w, https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/5212700-600x377.jpg 600w, https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/5212700.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> <img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2375" src="https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/q_sei-tqslc-232x300.jpg" alt="classroom management ideas for teachers" width="232" height="300" srcset="https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/q_sei-tqslc-232x300.jpg 232w, https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/q_sei-tqslc-792x1024.jpg 792w, https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/q_sei-tqslc-768x993.jpg 768w, https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/q_sei-tqslc-600x776.jpg 600w, https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/monicacrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/q_sei-tqslc.jpg 928w" sizes="(max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" /> Posted By: Monica Crews · In: Classroom Management, Effective Teaching Strategies, Teachers <img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/5d1cf2156fd4e7cda3007c301233079aba9af838b848081b5401804a298d290d?s=120&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/5d1cf2156fd4e7cda3007c301233079aba9af838b848081b5401804a298d290d?s=240&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-120 photo' height='120' width='120' decoding='async'/>Lisa says

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