End with a Cliff-Hanger
“Oh! Only 30 more seconds left. Do you have any doubts?” Tutor asked. The student was about to say something and the class ended all of a sudden. This is something that happens in some of our classes. Such a situation will bring a chaotic end to the class. Here the tutor is not capitalizing on the unique opportunity to effectively wrap up things. What is advisable is to make every class end in a positive and reflective way, rousing curiosity in the mind of the student, enabling him to log in to your next class with added interest. In other words, it is managing the class to end with a cliff-hanger.
What is cliff-hanger? We have come across many cliff-hanger situations in literature. An ideal example is a surprise or story twist that leaves the reader hanging at the chapter’s end in a novel, to hook him to turn to the next one. Similarly a class should end with something that stimulates the attention or sparks the curiosity of the student.
There are many strategies you can employ to make this happen in your classroom. Think of ending a class with a question, a problem, a hint of information, a mystery of some kind that will hook your student to curiously wait for the subsequent class. Asking any question will not be fine. Ask good questions that make your students ponder on till the next class.
Home works or assignments can be used for generating curiosity in your students. Design the worksheets in such a way that the student works on it without any external pressure, but with a genuine interest, the tutor instilled in him. You can create tailor made problems or examples related to the hobbies or interest of the student. This will enable your student to work on them without any monotony. For example, in a writing class, the student can work on a topic of his interest. If he is allowed to pick up a topic of his own choice, it will be motivating and at the same time sustaining curiosity.
The implementation of all these learning activities depends on the tutor’s skill in managing the time. The student should not feel that you have rushed or slowed down instead of keeping a pace that suits him. Your class should convey a clear message to the student that this is the way you have planned the session to end. This will lead him to a thought that the tutor really cares him and makes customized plans only for himself.
The student must leave the class cool. Effective cooling down happens when the tutor gives a chance to the student doing a quick review of the day’s learning. This will serve as a revision by the student and an assessment by the tutor. This enables you to plan for the next class igniting the spark of curiosity in the student. Such an approach will never allow your session to have an abrupt ending.