Learning is Fun by Nature

Many of the blogs I read and workshops I attend use the same phrase when describing various teaching techniques; they call them ways to "make learning fun." However lately, I've come to the conclusion that learning, by nature, is fun. Example: While at my parent's house over Thanksgiving, I must have run the battery on my smartphone dead 3 times simply looking up random facts and answers to various questions. (For the record, that is meant to be a testament to how many things I researched, not to my poor battery life.) I learned that there are different genus of plants known as "mistletoe" and how to identify the species that were poisonous. I also learned that difference between sweet potatoes and yams, that Butler University is in Indianapolis (Who's Butler, you ask? Ask UNC. They'll tell you) and that Tim Tebow is a month and a half younger than me (yet makes so much more money.) Why was I looking for all this information? Because it was fun.

I think that it is human nature to want to learn. To want to know more about the world and how it works. And so by nature, learning is fun. So the key in education is not to make learning fun. If your students are truly learning they should be having fun by default. The key, then, is to make sure that your students are truly learning. Encourage them to ask questions and then go find the answers. Sell your subject matter, whatever it is. Even if it is the worst topic ever (*cough*cough*soil science*cough*) if your students believe that it is something you appreciate and that it is important in this world, they will want to know what it is. They will want to know, want to learn, want to understand. Why? Because it's fun!