By Megan Perry
Students at East Los Angeles College sit through a number of different classes, some better than others, every semester.
I’ve had some classes that I couldn’t wait to get to, and others I couldn’t wait to get out of. I naturally blamed teachers.
Some instructors lecture on a boring topic in a monotone voice leaving students, including me, to not pay attention to what they say.
Then I blame the subject of the class, but I found that I actually prefer going to my oceanography class over my English class, even though English is my major.
So I do not think the subject is to blame. Only one factor is left: the students. I think that it is students who make classes more interesting.
If students paid attention to the lecture, read the readings they were supposed to read before class and took the time to think about the subject at hand, then maybe the instructor would have someone to bounce ideas off of and vice versa.
When students sit unmotivated in class, the classroom gets filled with negative vibes. Other students absorb the negative vibes, turning their brains off and making it go downhill from there.
Unmotivated students lose focus in class. Lost focus causes dull classroom conversation. Dull classroom conversation leads to students hating the class. The benefits in class come from the students.
When students enter a class prepared to learn with an open mind that is hungry for knowledge, the classroom participation is much more enjoyable.
A prepared student can come to class and elaborate on ideas the teacher brings up, or at least be able to discuss the topic the teacher brings up.
I’m not saying students should read the works and have correct answers for every question the teacher asks.
I’m just saying when the instructor asks “So, what did you think of the reading?” the student will at least be able to say whether they liked or hated it.
When students enter a class eager to take in the lesson and allow it to marinate in their minds, the classroom experience becomes bearable.
It is not fair to their peers or instructors that students come in class unmotivated and unprepared. These unmotivated students force the teacher to spoon feed the information in an extremely dull lecture.
Why would students even sign up for a class if they weren’t going to take it seriously? I know homework is terrible, lectures can be boring, but students can make the class more entertaining.
All it takes is a little effort, and those dull classes can be transformed into a class worth taking.