How to Instill Excitement in Education

It is commonly surmised that today's youth will be tomorrow's future, yet the educational system is lacking the ability to prepare students or encourage them to further explore life's challenges. There is a general lack of critical thinking explored in the classroom and limited opportunities for students to be encouraged to think outside the box. The most disappointing circumstance is to the overachievers within a classroom that are consistently bored because imagination and creativity is frowned upon, as well as the opportunities to further explore objectives taught to the majority of their classmates, leaving them unmotivated and often ill-prepared for life. My proposal is to instill excitement back into education, by providing students with unit based lesson plans that cover a variety of subjects with one main theme. This will encourage teachers to generate an encouraging environment for students to learn and motivate all students to think outside their own personal box, despite their grade level or ability to achieve.

The focus of unit studies is that they take a general concept, for instance frogs, and discuss all elements involved that possibly can be studied as a class. The initial stages of the learning process could include reading material about frogs, then ordering tadpoles for a classroom terrarium. A field trip could include a picnic and an outing to a pond to see tadpoles in action. The objective of unit studies is to incorporate as many subjects as possible into the plan, covering science: habitats, weather, life-cycle. For art, students can make puppets of the Wide Mouth Frog, after reading the story. Students can draw pictures that illustrate their understanding of the life cycle and metamorphosis of a tadpole to a frog.

Students can journal their pictures, that will encourage their writing skills, and spelling words can be introduced based on the reading material being covered. Math would include manipulatives of frogs to encourage the unit study progress and keep students engaged and continuously sharing their understanding about the content being covered. It is said that people learn something that is spoken to them when it is repeated no less than five times, but when students can apply the information being presented, they are more likely to remember. Hands on application of study should be encouraged in the school system. By encompassing every subject, there is an elimination to be as concerned about the focus of applied questions for tests. Student learning will be assessed by much of the work that they create in class, as well as projects they display.

Students can easily be assessed with the use of unit studies by how much progress they have made, individually: academically, as well as socially, as well as within a group. Every student will change and grow. A standardized grading system doesn't motivate all students to achieve. The use of unit studies will encourage learning because it can focus on specific topics that are geared towards fun, enjoyable topics. Some of these topics include: dinosaurs, holidays, animals, habitats, and the list goes on.

Leading ladies that encourage unit studies include Carol Barnier, Diane Craft, and the creators of Apologia texts. They have tested the unit study method and it has been widely proven to expand upon each students interest in school, participation in group studies, and will involve students in all elements of a subject. Students begin to develop critical thinking skills on their own because they are encouraged to read on their own and start to inevitably ask questions and can research the answers to their unique questions on their own. Students who utilize the unit study method are encouraged to share the information they have learned and are more inclined to participate in group projects, as well as learn public speaking skills. When students are given ownership of their learning and are provided with ample opportunities to explore, that doesn't limit the use of their imagination or quell their interest in learning more, they are apt to surprise a lot of people.

Now, the concept of unit studies might be frowned upon by some individuals because the method of learning doesn't necessarily require testing to be mandated, however quizzes can still be administered. The bottom line is not how well a student can answer test questions, but in the quality of the information they are learning, as well as the opportunity to explore the information through hands-on experiments that will encourage long-term memory. Chances are likely that at the end of the year, students will test higher than grade level on subjects when compared with students that use a more traditional textbook style of learning. There are so many educational opportunities outside of the textbooks to explore that parents, teachers, principals, and the school system need to explore the use of unit studies in every classroom.

It is guaranteed that students as well as teachers will feel better about the learning process, and their ability to engage within subject matters that they regularly enjoy. By encouraging unit study learning, all students work closely with educators to create art materials, work on science projects, attend field trips, all while learning new skills and enjoying the learning process. By instilling excitement in education everyone will win. Students will leave school encouraged to think critically and always explore new opportunities, which will lead well in their lives outside of school or if they continue to pursue education outside of high school. They will have a great appreciation for the learning process, and will be able to share their passion with others. Teachers will find that it is easier to teach, and more enjoyable. There will be less test preparation and more project preparation. Teachers will have creative freedom to be able to teach to the level of students within their class, and create lesson plans that engage all.

In conclusion, the opportunity to utilize brainpower is limited, and should be let out of the box. Encourage student learning by instilling excitement in education. With unit studies, a new, exciting world is created for students and their academic future. Let's lead the way and prove that students can reclaim the classroom and have fun.

References:
Five in a Row, Loving Learning. Acquired April 16, 2008. http://www.fiveinarow.com/
Scholastic Magazine. What about our Overachievers? March 2008.
The Biology of Behavior and Learning. Dianne Craft. Acquired April 16, 2008.
http://www.diannecraft.com/article-001.htm
Don't Forget the Goal. Carol Barnier. Acquired April 16,
2008.http://www.opengifts.org/hear.htm
Interactive Learning Made Simple. Stewardship. Acquired April 16, 2008.
http://www.unitstudies.com/default.aspx