How to Be a Creative Secondary Teacher

Being a creative secondary teacher sometimes seems easier said than done. As anyone who's been teaching middle school or high school for a few years knows, it can be difficult to come up with innovative ways to reinvigorate the same old lessons. Once you've developed lesson plans for your content area, it's easy to rely upon these tried and true plans.

Besides, you're developing tests, grading papers and attending meetings-who has time for creativity? On the other hand, creativity and innovation are what hold students' interest. With this in mind, here are five simple suggestions that secondary teachers can implement easily. The bonus is that these suggestions may make class a bit more fun for the teacher as well.

Five Suggestions for Adding Creativity to Secondary Teaching

First, save worksheets for the substitute teachers. While they are a convenience for subs when you are absent-and will keep the students occupied if you provide enough of them-they're boring and tedious for students to actually complete. Worksheets may kill time, but they also have that same effect on students' interest. Moreover, students learn little or nothing from them.

Instead, break up class periods with group activities rather than lecture all period. Interactive activities require student participation, which keeps them engaged in learning. Even something as simple as a discussion question, for instance, can spark interest in your class. This might involve each group discussing a question for five or ten minutes and then presenting the group consensus (or the lack thereof) to the class. This is also a great way to do current events.

Speaking of interactive activities, role-play is another great motivator for students. For example, in an English lit class, students can take on the roles of characters in novels (attitude and all!) as they read them aloud. Or in a history class, students might reenact battles. This type of student involvement brings dead material to life.

Also, when reviewing for exams, make a game of it. You might divide the class into two teams, each of whom answers questions presented by the teacher. Simple prizes for the winning team-special privileges or a few points on a quiz-are great incentives for students to prepare for these review games. Students are far more likely to remember the information just based on the fun of the interaction and teachers are likely to find that overall grades rise.

A final suggestion is that teachers allow students opportunities to represent learning through artistic means. Instead of answering questions about a period of history, let students make visual recreations of that period using whatever medium they might choose. Or in a science class, allow the students to develop their own experiments representing the scientific principle they are currently studying.

Being a creative secondary teacher is essentially a matter of thinking outside of the "teacher" box enough to let students actively participate in their own learning.