Being a creative University College teacher is great!

We all hear and read about preschool and primary teachers who have creative ideas to help children develop great skills. We hear and read less about high school teachers and, even less, about University College teachers being creative.

Here is a fact: I have been teaching English for many years in a Belgian University College, and most students come into class with a negative feeling about English. One of the challenges I must face is to make them DARE to speak English, and, believe me, it is not easy! I often teach the same student for three years or more in a small group class with their friend, but still, they do not dare. This is where creativity plays a crucial role in the teaching process!

I spent hours developing, printing, laminating and cutting role-playing cards this summer without knowing if it would work and… it worked! Let me explain this quick game to you: The student must pick a card, get 3 seconds to check it out, and then sell the product to customers whose teammate plays the role. So, it is a fast game because every minute, another student gets the salesperson role and must act. You could think “Yeah, role-playing in language class, that is not new”.

It is not, indeed, but what made my new game different is the fact that these so-called products all do exist but are not known and can be considered gadgets. Therefore, the students had never read about them! I had so much fun looking at their faces when they discovered the poo-timer or any other product I had picked.

They had FUN, they laughed, they helped each other with absurd arguments (Belgian speciality, isn’t it?) and we closed the activity on this statement: if you can sell any product you did not know about a few seconds earlier, you can sell yourself or any topic you worked on and you master! So, dare and your oral examination can only be better than if you do not dare.

Being creative and taking the time to work on our ideas is not always easy. As teachers, we are asked to grade students which can often be perceived as pressure from the system but if you are an educator, think about it: It's really nice to have FUN moments with students while they DARE because they are not graded. Believe me, it is!