With the workload that young shoulders have to bear, the least we can do is to make the process a little less taxing.
Make students the pilot
It is a natural human tendency to want to feel in control. The urge of being in control is quite strong in most teachers but in order to keep the students in the best mental space, try to delegate some of your control.
Why does chapter one always have to be taught before chapter two? Give the students a choice if they want to study chapter three first. Give the students a choice whether they want to have the test on x, y or z date, whether they want it to be objective or subjective, whether they want to have a particular session indoors or outdoors.
Practical always better than theoretical
There is a question which often bugs students, 'when am I ever going to use this?' It is always ideal for a teacher to try and show the practical usage of the concept that he or she is teaching. Try and give examples and relate to real life.
It is very tempting for teachers to just skim through the content and explain it on face value. However, for learning to become fun, it has to become more practical. Try to formulate exercises in which the students are required to apply the explained concept in a practical manner, and learning will be so much fun!
Be accepting of short attention spans
The attention span, as per a Microsoft study, of the average human, was 12 seconds in 2000. This sharply declined to just 8 seconds in 2018. The teacher should be mindful and accepting of this fact.
If you begin a lecture at 11:00 a.m. and keep going until well past 12:15 p.m., do not expect the students to maintain the same level of attention all this while. Try to give them short breaks or formulate exercises which keep them entertained.
Fun and games go hand in hand
Remember how someone always taught you mathematics in an ingenious manner as a child. It may be difficult for a kid to subtract 5 from 9 but if someone tells you that you have 9 toffees and you give 5 to your friend, how many are you left with now, it becomes way easier for a child to understand the concept of subtraction.
Similarly, there are various exercises which can be put into place to help learning become easier and more palatable for students.
