The classroom is a dynamic environment, bringing together students from different backgrounds with different abilities and personalities. Therefore, being an effective teacher requires the application of creative and innovative teaching strategies to meet the individual needs of students.
It might be tough to predict which teaching tactics will work best for your students, whether you've been teaching for two months or twenty years. As a teacher, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, so here are several effective teaching strategies you can use to inspire your classroom practice.
1. Visualization
Bring boring academic concepts to life with visual and hands-on learning experiences, helping your students understand how their education applies in the real world.
Examples include using the interactive whiteboard to display photos, audio clips, and videos, as well as getting your students out of their seats with classroom experiments and local field trips.
2. Cooperative learning
Encourage mixed-ability students to work together by promoting small-group or whole-class activities.
Through verbal expression of their ideas and respond to others, your students will develop their self-confidence, as well as improve communication and critical thinking skills that are vital throughout life.
Solving math puzzles, conducting science experiments, and performing short skits are just a few examples of how cooperative learning can be incorporated into classroom lessons.
3. Research-Based Instruction
Inspire your students to think for themselves and become more autonomous learners by asking thought-provoking questions.
Encourage students to ask questions and research their ideas to enhance problem-solving abilities and obtain a better comprehension of academic issues. Both are essential life skills.
4. Differentiation
Differentiate your teaching by assigning tasks based on students' abilities, to ensure that no one is left behind.
Assigning classroom activities according to students' unique learning needs means that individuals with the greatest academic ability are stretched and those who are struggling receive appropriate support.
This may involve distributing worksheets that vary in complexity to different groups of students or creating a series of workstations around the classroom that contain a variety of tasks for students to choose from.
5. Technology in the classroom
Implementing technology into your teaching is an excellent approach to actively engage your pupils, especially with the prevalence of digital media among young people in the twenty-first century.
Interactive whiteboards or mobile devices can be used to display images and videos, helping students visualize new academic concepts. Learning can be more interactive when technology is used, as students can physically participate during classes and instantly research their ideas, building autonomy.
6. Behavior management
Implementing an effective behavior management strategy is crucial to earning the respect of students and ensuring that they have an equal opportunity to reach their full potential.
Loud and disruptive classrooms do not foster a productive learning environment, therefore developing an atmosphere of mutual respect through a combination of discipline and reward can be beneficial to your students.
7. Professional development
Participating in regular professional development programs is a great way to improve teaching and learning in the classroom.
With educational policies constantly changing, it is extremely helpful to attend events where you can get inspiration from other teachers and academics. It's also a terrific way to go out of the classroom and collaborate with other instructors like you!
Sessions can include learning about new educational technologies, online safety training, tips on how to use your teaching assistant(s), and much more.
Being an effective teacher is a challenge because each student is unique, however, by using a combination of teaching strategies you can address the different learning styles and academic abilities of students, as well as make your classroom a dynamic and motivating environment for the students.