Engaging their diverse student body

A schoolteacher stands in front of as many as 30 young people nearly five days a week for close to 10 months a year and tries to keep their attention, while introducing new subjects, concepts and ideas for several hours per day.
Educators, like people in general, have diverse personalities and interests. However unlike many, teachers, similar to performers, need to be “on” when presenting their material.
All of us have had a favorite teacher; one who kept our interest or ignited our passion in a specific topic akin to Robin Williams’ Mr. Keating in “Dead Poets Society. And, of course, we can remember the teacher who was boring, like Ben Stein’s droll character in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
“I’ve always said that teaching is like being on stage, five times a day,” said Adam Berlin, an eighth-grade Social Studies teacher at Lawrence Middle School. “Delivering a lesson in an entertaining way makes the class more enjoyable for both the teachers and the students.”
Berlin has warbled his way through a historical song more than a few times during his 23-year career — 18 in the Lawrence School District — to stimulate interest in a topic. He said that should students view a class as entertaining, “their interest level and ability to focus increase as a result.”
“However, students need to know that education is always the priority, not entertainment,” Berlin said. “Teachers are educators, not entertainers. Being entertaining is simply one part of our repertoire.”
Hewlett High School science teacher Ric Stark said he disagrees with the assumption that teachers are or should be performers, but said that good teachers should be engaging. “I would describe an engaging teacher as one who can help students, to at least some degree, appreciate the value of the lesson,” he said. “However you wish to define value.”