Teaching is all about imparting knowledge to students. But that noble goal is far from effortless. Teachers are always looking for ways to reach out to students. The difference between an effective class and a not-so-effective class is as simple as how to get your students to stay and enjoy the discussion.

Encourage them to read. A classroom discussion would only be fruitful if students have a working knowledge of the topic. Assign readings and encourage them to read those texts.

It’s called a discussion because students are expected to participate. Nothing is more boring than a one-way lesson. Hold an open dialogue in your class where anyone can voice out their opinions on your subject matter. When everyone starts to speak up, that’s when your class starts getting interesting.

Give the right encouragement, motivation, and reward. You remember when you were a student and you don’t participate in class discussion because you didn’t feel like it, but you actually had something very significant to share with the class? Well that’s exactly why your students are not speaking up.

You have to encourage them and you can do this by giving value to their views. There’s nothing worse than a teacher who doesn’t respect his students’ judgments. Motivation comes with being fair. Be a teacher who’s fair in your grading system. If the students can see that their efforts are being rewarded, then they’re going to be more involved in the classroom.

Go the extra mile. Some schools don’t have enough resources and it’s sad because students need more resources to help them maximize their learning. If you have access to better research facilities, help your students so that they will not be limited by the school’s lack of means.

If possible, give handouts and post your lecture notes online so that students can really be more empowered to learn.