As a teacher, you may sometimes find it difficult to inspire creativity in your students.  Between strict limitations on curriculum and time spent not only in class, but on after hours job demands like lesson planning and grading papers, you may find yourself wracking your already exhausted brain for fun and unique ways to engage your students.  But you know that if you don’t reach them now, when they’re young and eager to learn, they will settle into the malaise that has affected the youth in this country for the last several years, content to let the world pass them by as they keep their heads down and do the bare minimum required to get by.  To quote an oft-used phrase, our children are the future, which makes you the engineer.

But how do you encourage them to expand their worldview and take a hand in shaping their own future when you’re not even sure what will grab their attention?  For starters, you could ask.  Go straight to the source to find out what your students watch and listen to.  Get in tune with their pop-culture preferences and you’ve already gone a long way towards earning their trust, which is essential if you want them to listen and learn.  Then incorporate their interests into your class.  If you’re studying poetry, have students bring in the lyrics to their favorite song and compare them to different styles of verse.  Or use some Lady Gaga beats to demonstrate real-world applications of fractions (i.e. this is a half note, these are sixteenth notes, etc.).  If economics is something you cover, talk about the contestants on American Idol and forecast what they can expect to earn on their albums based on how they place on the show (take a poll of student interest in buying their albums and extrapolate a chart for their sales growth).  Whatever the lesson, you can grab their attention by integrating the media they adore.

You can also use technology to your advantage.  Creating assignments that are internet based or that utilize apps for the iPod, iPhone, or iPad (or other mobile devices) can really speak to GenY.  For social studies, arrange volunteer opportunities and have the students tweet about what they have learned from the experience.  Or get them playing Scrabble on their cell phones to expand their vocabulary. There are all sorts of ways to make lessons more fun for students and taking it to a level they can relate to is a good start.  You may find it tedious to keep abreast of the latest technology, but I’ll relate a little anecdote along those lines.  I had a high school math teacher who wouldn’t allow calculators in his trigonometry class, because he “never learned to use one”.  As a result, nearly half the class failed and I dropped out before the end of the semester.  He may have been a poor teacher on other levels, but alienating himself from the students was his first mistake.

With children suffering from what has been coined a “narcissism epidemic”, it’s more important than ever for teachers to break through their sarcastic exteriors and reach the creative spark within.  It’s never too late to engage students in activities that open their minds to new possibilities.  As a teacher, you hold the keys to the kingdom, so to speak, and it is within your power to encourage your students embrace progress and adopt a socially conscious worldview.  These tools will prepare them to attack problems from many different angles and devise innovative solutions that create a better future.

Alexis Montgomery is a content writer for Online Universities, where you can browse through various online degree programs to find a college that suits your needs.