Helping Students Think outside the Box

Every teacher that wishes to teach his students how to write properly will mostly focus on assigning projects/papers. Teachers give deadlines and students are expected to deliver their projects in time. These academic tasks are extremely challenging for students but even so, teachers still consider necessary to force these tasks on all of their students. They actually believe that this is the only way of teaching them how to write academically correct.

Most students feel an extreme pressure when they are forced to write these academic papers. Therefore, it would be wise to stop putting so much pressure on these children and think of better ways of teaching them how to write. This doesn’t mean that we, teachers, should stop assigning tasks. But, instead of forcing children to write, we should try and make this activity fun and interesting. 

A New Way of Thinking – The Future of Education

William Singh, educational expert at BestEssays shares his opinion about the struggles that students have to endure:

 “The problem is not that teachers give too many assignments or that they expect too much from their students. The problem is that teachers don’t know how to teach. Instead of making the writing subject interesting and challenging, they make it look like a chore. And because of this, students feel that these papers are only a waste of time that won’t help them in their future careers. “

We need to change the perception of our students regarding writing tasks. If students understand that by writing these tasks they will gain valuable knowledge and skills, they will have a different approach in regard to written assignments. 

Let’s take a look at the benefits of written assignments:

• Students will build up their research skills.
• By writing academic papers students will improve their critical thinking.
• They gain new information about a lot of subjects.
• Because students have to present their projects in front of the classroom, it will help them develop their public speaking skills.

Inspire Students to Write for the Sake of Learning

Writing assignments are necessary for students to develop their academic skills. In this case, we must encourage students to understand why and how they can learn through writing. 

Now let us turn our attention to a few methods that may help our students understand this process:

1. Blogging

A great idea that can easily be implemented in our teaching system is to let students start and manage a blog instead of giving them writing papers. For example, you can ask them to write 5 short posts a week. Let them write freely on any subject that is related to the educational program. Let the blog be their main annual project. You can check every week the quality and the popularity of the posts.

Having a blog will boost their self-steam as well, and their focus and dedication will rise exponentially. It’s the perfect way of expressing their uniqueness. If they wish to become popular, they must present unique and valuable content and this will teach them exactly how to think out of the box.

2. Article Critiques 

A great way of developing the critical thinking of the students is by offering them the opportunity to become critics. For example, you can pick a popular article, let’s say science related, and let your students write article critiques. By doing this, they will improve their research skills and they shall form their own opinions based on the facts that they’ve found. 

3. Writing Projects that are Not Graded

If you wish your students to develop their out of the box thinking, you must stop putting so much pressure on them. Instead of grading all their tasks, try to give them a project, once in a while, which sole purpose is to find out their opinion. This will be a true challenge for them and they will be enthusiastic about it. Just let their imagination run wild - you might be amazed! 

Conclusion

Keep in mind that the written assignments are not the problem; they are necessary so that students can develop a way of expressing their inner voice. Writing is a great way of improving critical thinking. We shouldn’t stop giving written tasks only because students don’t like it. 

We should try and change the perception of the students about them. And this goes for all educational practices. Students don’t hate learning or school, the only thing they hate is how things are done.

About the author:

Karen Dikson is a tech-savvy teacher and blogger from New Jersey.  Her works have been published on HuffPost and other well-known resources. She enjoys helping her students achieve their most ambitious goals. Connect with Karen on Twitter.