In lesson activity, sometimes teachers need to find a fun things for students to learn and make they enjoyed the lesson. All they have to do is manage a bunch of active kids in the classroom, educate them, create lessons plans for the academic year in advance, attend staff meetings, attend parent teacher meetings, grade test papers, assign homework while taking care of their professional development and a thousand other things. Some teachers go to great lengths to make lectures fun and engaging for students, a lot of us struggle to find the zing factor that can make a boring lesson interesting. Ever thought that the internet memes, the ones that rule social media, can be just the tool you are looking to add some spice to your boring lecture? Memes, which are just funny images accompanied by witty one liners, are really popular among kids as they often depict things that are highly relatable in real life with a sarcastic spin to it.
For those who aren’t familiar with them, memes (pronounced meemz) are a cultural element or system of behavior that is passed from one individual to another. These days, however, they've come to be known as those images with a a bold quote, sentiment or saying. They are a vehicle to express commentary on a phenomenon or a relatable event and are shared on social media to capture attention or elicit a quick laugh. Memes are very popular with students, making them a very relatable and engaging medium. And since memes are fun, students may not even realize they are learning. Students use both creative and critical-thinking skills while creating memes. Every teacher likes to define a set of rules for students to follow in the classroom. And depending upon how the teacher introduces these rules, students get to know a thing or two about the teacher. According to me, the coolest way to lay out the classroom rules is through memes that reflect your personality as a teacher.
Since memes are funny and relatable, they can act as great icebreakers between students and teachers. One good meme is enough to brighten up the mood of the classroom; they quickly and easily catch the attention of students who were initially dreading what they thought would be a ‘boring’ lecture. However, some memes can also spark complex conversations since they often deal with current events or social issues. Plus, students gain technology skills in the process. t’s important to preview any meme program before assigning it to the students to avoid fees or inappropriate content. Also, some meme-creation programs show other users’ creations, some of which may be intended for a mature audience. Review the meme-creation homepage before inviting the students to the site. It might be best to avoid the webpage all together and just download the app onto devices before the lesson. Make a meme for each rule and post them in the classroom. As an alternative ice-breaking activity on the first day of school, ask students to create their own memes based on the rules and share the best ones with the class or post on the bulletin board.
One of the biggest challenges that a teacher faces is to make students excited about a new topic that he/she is going to teach. It all boils down to coming up with a great intro for the topic that will get the students hooked. Introducing a topic with the help of memes is an effective way to grab the attention of your class. In a time where teachers are constantly looking for resources to make their lessons engaging, memes might just be the tool that you need to make your students interested in classroom learning. I have mentioned a few ways on how memes can be used in a classroom.
Sources:
https://www.bookwidgets.com/blog/2017/09/how-memes-can-make-lessons-interesting
https://www.iste.org/explore/classroom/5-ways-use-memes-students
https://www.qualitymatters.org/qa-resources/resource-center/articles-resources/use-memes-for-learning
Pict source:
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/04/X6BLS9y.png