Engaging Students in Learning

If you missed the gifts given for Day 7, you can still access these resources:

• Podcast Episode 164: The Four Forms of Relevancy: Intrinsic Relevancy, Part 1
• Podcast Episode 165: The Four Forms of Relevancy: Inspired Relevancy, Part 2
• Podcast Episode 166: The Four Forms of Relevancy: Contrived Relevancy and Enforced Relevancy, Part 3

Loyal customers may quip that we should add Laugh to IEW's motto—Listen, Speak, Read, Write, Think!—based on “The Arts of Language.” Because of Andrew Pudewa’s passion for a good joke, it has become known that IEW values humor in the classroom. On the seventh day of our Twelve Days of Christmas Giving event, registrants receive an email brimming with goodies focused on infusing that humor into the lives of their students. Each gift is given with the hope that it would assist teachers and teaching parents in reaching all of their students and most especially those students for whom a love of learning is perhaps harder to find.

First on the gift list is an MP3 of Andrew Pudewa’s conference presentation Humor in Teaching and Speaking. During the recording Andrew shares the early moments when he first recognized the need for lifting the mood of a room through laughter. He then highlights the many benefits of humor.

In addition to the above mentioned audio are two digital downloads. Misplaced Modifiers is a giggle-worthy e-book that presents sentences seeded with misplaced modifiers that are also depicted in colorful artwork. Below each sentence are lines for students to rewrite the sentence correctly.

The game Simile Shenanigans is currently available through the Premium Membership. Modeled after the game Balderdash™, it allows students to complete a comparison from literature. Students compete on teams or individually to guess which of the submitted similes belongs to the original author. There are smiles all around when it’s time for a game of Simile Shenanigans!

Did you miss the gifts? Do not worry! There are still resources aplenty to help you engage your students in learning. “The Four Forms of Relevance: Intrinsic Relevancy, Part 1” (Podcast 164) discusses the importance of capitalizing on your students’ intrinsic interests, which in turn motivates students to learn. Another great way to learn more about motivation is to watch Andrew Pudewa’s video presentation Principles of Motivation from IEW’s 2022 Summer Conference. The principles laid out will give you a greater understanding of how to truly motivate your students.