Classroom Rhythms Series: Enthusiasm

Students can read right through fake, so enthusiasm must come from a genuine place, however exaggerated it may feel. If you asked my freshmen which text we read this year was my favorite, they would respond with 'all of them.' Because at the start of every unit, I share why that text is my favorite or at least why a portion of that text is my favorite. I don't have to fake that. It doesn't have to be my favorite of all time, or of anything ever written, it just has to be a favorite over something else. For example, I really can't stand Hemingway. I'm not sure why, but he's always been one of my least favorite writers. (I know some have stopped reading just at that assertion, but stick with me!) So, at the start of reading "In Another Country" in American Literature, I enthusiastically told my students that this was my favorite text by Hemingway- and it is! It's short, not too Hemingway-ish, and is good fodder for the iceberg principle and flawed heroes. It gets the job done with less pain that a typical Hemingway text. I would never tell them the rest of that, but my enthusiasm for the depth of the text gets students wondering what I'm so excited about, even if they won't admit it.

Enthusiasm can cover a multitude of negativity. Students often approach literature with trepidation, disdain, or contempt, but a teacher's enthusiasm for the content can soften that, even if only to indifference. It's still progress. Students can spot a teacher who loves teaching, loves students, and loves their content-area. It's palpable in the room. But it can also be acquired and exaggerated on those days every teacher has when you're just not feeling it.

5 Ways to Infuse Enthusiasm into Your Classroom

1. Fake it 'til you make it
That's right, good, old-fashioned faking. Every one of us has those days where the genuine enthusiasm,
interest, excitement just can't be mustered. So it's on these days that we can't pass that on to students. We fake it. Yep, a genuine fake. I genuinely want my students to believe what I'm faking!
Find one thing that you can be excited for that day. And then run with it. Like, really run with it.

2. Bank on the Enthusiasm of Others
If you are enthusiastic and excited about your class, students eventually will get on board with you and their enthusiasm will make it easier to be enthusiastic. I firmly believe enthusiasm is contagious. There's actually research to back this up. John Cacioppo, a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, said in this Washington Post article, "the more expressive and sincere someone is, the more likely you are to see that expression and mimic it." Get students to mimic your enthusiasm and you will need to fake it less and less!

3. Start it Off Right
I believe that the first few minutes of class set the tone for the rest of the day. This is why I hate to start a class calling names for attendance, reading announcements that students ignore, or checking homework one student at a time while the rest of the room talks about unrelated topics. Think about the first 5 minutes of your class period. What does it look like? Is it interesting, exciting, relevant, and engaging? If it's not, consider changing up your routine. Now, this may mean that your attendance gets turned in at minute 5 instead of minute 2 while students are engaged in an activity. But, the tone it sets for the day when students can come in and within a minute or two be actively engaged in the activities of the day is priceless.

4. Plan Ahead
I believe strong planning can help give the class freedom to be enthusiastic. If you're never sure what's happening in class, then you feel like you can't take the time to be enthusiastic and energetic. To engage students with a fun activity. To take an extra day to explore a topic further. To collaborate, find authentic audiences, and make a difference in the world all from your own classroom. Planning makes a teacher's world go 'round. If you plan ahead, you'll be able to feel comfortable taking that extra time when student enthusiasm takes the class in a new direction.

5. Find the fun!
This may be using music relevant to your class, adding artistic elements, using gamification strategies, throwing in class debates, giving students a lot of choice in what they create. While fun isn't the point of a class, it is definitely a key component in learning. Lectures that drag on, worksheets with little value, redundant practice problems, and wasted class time has no place in the classrooms of today. Our work is too important and too exciting for that. So kick up the fun. Ask students what they would like to see happen in class. You may be surprised by the answers you get.