Having a passion to teach is good, but you also need to develop techniques to teach effectively.
These are learned skills you have to improve as an educator, and the following modern methods are showing promise. The techniques should help improve your teaching methods by making your students better learners and showing you how to create a teachable environment.
Why is Creating a Learning-Centric Environment Important?
Creating a learn-friendly environment is important for students and educators. It may surprise some people, but the reality is many teachers consider quitting because students misbehave.
Understanding that this issue makes it harder to teach means you can address it. These are some suggestions that could help:
- Create some rules, and keep them simple and direct.
- Find ways to reward students that follow rules.
- Avoid favoring students as much as possible.
- Give your students choices, which makes them feel appreciated. For example, you could ask them how many pages of homework that should get.
These suggestions will help keep your classroom behaving well, but you also need to nurture a learning spirit in your students. This usually means empowering students by helping them be better learners. You can do that by considering the following:
- Refine Note-Taking
Encourage your students to refine note-taking skills. You can teach the Cornell Method, which allows students to analyze the notes being taken throughout the lesson. This increases the chances of your students retaining the information you teach.
- Encourage Self-reflection
Teach students to pay attention to their inner-monologue using neuro-linguistic programming. Being aware of thoughts as you learn can show you how you learn best. Encourage your students to share their feelings or thoughts on a subject.
- Turn it Off
Today’s students depend on technology more than ever before; it can be helpful, but it is not needed to retain information. Encourage deep work, which is a method of studying that requires students to turn off distractions and focus on learning.
Molding an environment where learning can flourish is pretty involved but, as you can see, it is possible. Now, all you need to do is refine your teaching methods to get your students to learn as much as possible.
Keep Evolving as a Teacher
The following are a few new methods to consider if you want to make sure your lessons are coming across effectively:
- Personalized Learning
Most curriculums are not formulated to meet each student individually, so there are bound to be a few shortcomings. What you can do is find a way to monitor each student’s success and level of understanding. Any student that needs additional attention or varying educational challenges should receive that. There are apps that can help you monitor your students a little better.
- Project Based
This one might be a little strange because it involves letting the project you are working on dictate the way you teach. This may seem a little unfocused, but the reality is the world is changing, and students need to learn to adapt to any project. Consider this type of teaching a reflection of today’s gig economy that is quite popular.
- Place Based
Some students have a hard time connecting lessons to real life. This disconnection sometimes affects their willingness to learn, which is part of the reason place-based education should be implemented in teaching lessons. Be willing to go to a location nearby where you can teach your lesson, and see how it applies to the real world.
- Maker’s Education
STEM is important, but making sure your students learn everything you are teaching can be challenging sometimes. The aforementioned tips could help, but another thing to consider is to create projects that require skills that were taught in the lesson. This should get your students excited to learn, and it should help them retain the knowledge.
These are just some of the methods teachers can employ to help students understand and truly absorb the lessons being presented. There are other methods out there to think about and methods that haven’t been discovered yet. Learn from others, but allow your creative side to shine through, too.