Get your learners ready with Starter

Often times,we see footballers do exercise before they engage themselves with football play.That is not out of context.They are preparing themselves for the main activity. 

Sometimes we seem not to understand the efficacy but in the actual sense,preparation is a necessity. 

The will to do is important but more importantly is the will to prepare. 

Benjamin Franklin informed us that

 " By failing to prepare, You  are preparing to fail" 

How does that sound?like a bomb right?

That calls for a moment of reflection for teachers  you know!

What is starter?

Starter in the context of teaching and learning  is  any activity a teacher uses to prepare his or her learners to learn. I call it an appetizer.It is always that short activity used by a teacher to usher the learners in to an active learning mode.Learning is not  automatic but a process.

Like catalysts, starters speed up the learning process and help learners to escape the learning barriers to navigate through the huddles of learning properly. 

Starter is a skill that provokes curiosity in learners. 

Let us look at  some xamples of starter 

Short Questions 

Short video clips 

Picture display 

Diagram

Audio 

Short play

A game

A song

Short story 

Question/answer matching challenge

A puzzle or even a positive but simple joke

Wondering What makes a good starter....here are  some tips

A good starter must focus on learning. It should not deviate from the aim.

A good starter must be simple,smart and active.

Time bound (about 5minutes)

It should stimulate hunger for learning,provoke curiosity and response. 

It should promote deeper learning 

Starter should reduce the learning barrier and usher learners in to the learning mode.

Most learners come to class with issues of life(watch our previous episode on baggages of life).A powerful starter can help learners transcend higher than their issues as they are motivated and positively interact with others. 

Remember,  learning is the focus.Starter should be able to help learners to learn better.

Starter can be used to ascertain previous knowledge about a subject and can also be used to review previously taught lessons before a new one.

A balanced starter allows the teacher to get the learners willing and ready to learn. The teacher facilitates as learners learn and chart their course. 

Traditional method of teaching  has not helped  learning because with traditional method, Teachers do not take time to prepare their learners to learn rather they drag them into it like a bull to the slaughter. Everything is about the teacher but learners should lead learning in the real sense. Over the years, we' ve seen the consequences of traditional method of teaching and the  negative effect  of lack of learning preparation in our society. Half baked learners who always prefer the answer to finding the process are bred.

Now is the time to pulse and re-imagine our practices. Starter is an  important tool.Taking it away from our teaching kit is concerning and have huge consequence. 

Additional resources 

     Hook Students' Attention with these 15 highly engaging Lesson Starter Ideas.