Teaching is an art rooted in practical behavioral science. There are proven techniques that work better than simply transmitting information. Here's how to teach in a meaningful way, to fix long-term concepts and train people who are prepared from every point of view.
Steps
Method 1 of 11: Identify Needs
Step 1. Identify crucial academic skills
Think about the skills your students need to work in the future. Think about the skills you use in adult life and how to pass them on to pupils. These are skills without which it is almost impossible to live in society in a functional way. Reading and counting are good examples. Your priorities should be these skills.
Step 2. Identify secondary skills to improve life
Identify the crucial ones, consider the secondary ones that will improve a student's life, especially if you want their existence to be happy and productive. Some examples? Creative skills, which will help him to better solve problems and manage his emotions.
Step 3. Identify emotional and social skills
To form strong human beings, you don't have to think only about academic skills. Your students will need to develop self-confidence, self-esteem, healthy methods of coping with stress and disappointments, the ability to interact productively with others. Think about the techniques you can apply in class to help them develop from these points of view as well.
Method 2 of 11: Determine Goals
Step 1. Establish general goals
Including the skills your students need to develop to be successful in life, determine goals based on those skills. If, for example, you work in kindergarten, you can teach children the alphabet and recognize simple words.
Step 2. Determine specific goals after establishing general ones
This way, you will understand if your plan is working. Once you have decided that you want to teach the alphabet to your kindergarten pupils, create a multi-step program to achieve the overall goal of teaching reading and writing.
Step 3. Break the general goal into several small goals
Set stops as if you were plotting a route on a map. If you want to teach kindergarten children to read, explain one letter of the alphabet at a time, then the compound sounds, and finally, how words are formed.
Method 3 of 11: Develop the Lesson Plan
Step 1. Schedule the course to meet your learning goals
Once the map is made, make a list of all the stages, so you will plan and keep in writing your mini-goals.
Step 2. Consider learning styles when creating the lesson plan
Each student learns differently, and if you want the whole class to have the same opportunities for success, you will need to adapt to each individual. Use activities based on sound and sight, without neglecting written materials and motor activity.
Step 3. Mix subjects to encourage the formation of multiple skills
If you are in an environment where different disciplines can be mixed, such as science and English or mathematics and history, take advantage of it. This will help students understand how information is applied and how to deal with situations they will find in the real world. After all, life is not divided into subjects. Try to collaborate with other teachers to give exciting and comprehensive lessons.
Method 4 of 11: Engage Students
Step 1. Use visual and auditory aids in class
This way students will have more concrete examples of the topics you are explaining. Complex concepts are more difficult than others to imagine, and having a reference point will allow pupils not to get distracted because they cannot follow the discussion.
Step 2. Plan activities
Generally, it's best not to explain for more than 15 minutes at a time. Students will need to be constantly active during the learning process. You can use educational games, discussions on current affairs and a few minutes dedicated to questions and answers to clarify their doubts.
If you spend 10 minutes on questions and answers, create a system that engages everyone, otherwise you run the risk of others getting distracted while a student asks you a question. An effective method is to keep notes with the names of the students in a jar and take them out one at a time: the pupil in question will have to ask a question or give an answer. Also include free questions, which allow everyone the opportunity to ask or answer
Step 3. Connect the study topics to the surrounding world
Since learning is about knowing how to act in real society, you will need to relate the skills and information given in class to the lives of students, especially their future. Pupils should never ask if in the real world they will need what they learn.
Math skills should be related to bills, establishing a good mortgage, and future job assignments. Language skills are used to write cover letters or to send proposals. Historical skills can be used to understand politics and determine voting decisions. Sociological skills will help educate their hypothetical children, interact with friends and strangers
Method 5 of 11: Allow Independent Browsing
Step 1. Take your students for a walk
The point of teaching in a school is to promote the training of skills to pass tests and to teach people how to live in the real world. Bring them out to use their skills in the real world.
Host a science class on the beach to learn about animals, plants, and geological features. Organize a theatrical performance to allow students to get to know the authors of Italian literature. Organize a history class to interview residents of a senior center or a sociology class to interview inmates
Step 2. Let them experiment
Leave room for their creative interpretations of the subjects. Allow students to ask questions and take other paths. By letting them lead their own learning, they will learn better and have a greater interest in what they do.
For example, if you have set up a lab experiment with a mouse in a maze and your student suddenly wonders what would happen if mirrors were also inserted into it, let them do it. An assignment doesn't have to be rigid if you want students to learn something
Step 3. Encourage innovation
Let your students create new things. Assign broad tasks with specific objectives so that they arrive at their own method of achieving a certain purpose. This way, they will discover a learning method that best suits their style and interests, get involved in the process and feel encouraged to achieve success.
For example, if for an Italian assignment they have to write a certain amount of words on a particular subject, say that how they will organize the text will be entirely up to them. They can make a comic, write a song, create a comedy show, write an essay or make a presentation. Don't impose limits
Method 6 of 11: Strengthen Learning
Step 1. Interact when they study alone in school
Walk through the classroom and talk to them to find out what they are doing. Ask how it goes. Don't ask what's wrong, but find out if they're getting it right. Try to get a more elaborate answer than "I'm fine" or "It's okay". You can also ask them to explain what they are doing or what their understanding of their work is.
Step 2. Discuss the weaknesses
After an assignment, take a look at the overall performance of the class. Identify common problems and discuss them. Talk about why this mistake is easy to make and how to identify the problem. Explain how to fix it or how to have a better approach. Understanding a problem beyond right or wrong will give students much stronger skills to find a solution on the next occasion.
Step 3. Review old topics occasionally
Don't talk about a topic at the beginning of the year and then leave it on the back burner. Always connect new themes to those from previous lessons. This will gradually and steadily solidify and reinforce the skills a student has, just as learning a language requires daily commitment.
For example, an Italian lesson on argumentative essay will lead back to the skills previously obtained regarding fictional works and discussions on how using these stories in an argumentative essay serves to make it more emotional and to change the perception of the information to be part of the reader
Method 7 of 11: Evaluate Progress
Step 1. Create well-balanced tests
Have you ever taken an exam that is too difficult or one on topics explained during the last three days of class instead of on all the topics of the semester? These experiences will help you understand why it is important to balance tests. Use appropriate topics for the exam in a balanced way to give everyone a chance.
Step 2. Consider alternatives to standard classwork
Traditional tests can sometimes be a very inaccurate method of assessing student understanding. Particularly intelligent pupils who study with profit may have a worse performance than those who absorb materials very badly but are able to take good tests. Think of alternative ways of assessing learning without putting too much pressure on pupils to succeed only in specific ways.
Consider formative assessment. Ask your pupils to paint a real-world scenario in which they would use the skills they learned, assigning an essay or presentation preparation to explain how they would handle the situation. This reinforces their abilities and gives them the opportunity to demonstrate that they not only understood the arguments, but that they also grasp the true meaning
Step 3. Focus on public presentations
Public speaking is an important skill. However, not everyone acquires it by being forced to speak in front of others. Work on students' presentations to evaluate the topics they will use but also to ensure the acquisition of the ability to express oneself in front of an audience. Once they have mastered this skill, you can organize a presentation session.
- You can ask students to do the presentation individually, with you present. This method will be more like an interview and will make them less anxious, so they will be able to speak more efficiently. They will also have the opportunity to ask questions to find out if they can do something to improve.
- They can also make the presentation in front of the classmates, who will ask questions, prepared beforehand, to those who will speak, so they will understand if they have understood the study material well.
Method 8 of 11: Reward Success, Treasure Failure
Step 1. Let the students choose their rewards
Make a list of acceptable awards for excellent performances, both individual and group, and let pupils decide which ones they prefer. This way, the reward will be a real incentive and motivate them to give their all.
Step 2. Don't see failures, see opportunities
When a student makes a mistake, don't call him that and don't let him think of his mistake in those terms. Show him that this is a study experience that will allow him to understand why he got inaccurate results. Allow him to try again and kindly show him how to correct himself. Remember, don't use the adjective "wrong", replace it with "almost correct" or "good try". Don't forget that a skill learned through trial and error will be much stronger than a skill it acquires randomly - getting there in the latter way won't do it any good.
Step 3. Try the group rewards
Traditional teaching environments tend to create a system in which students who do less well in school are jealous of those who are successful. Instead, create an environment in which students want to work as one unit and don't stigmatize success or nerds. In this way, pupils will become much more functional adults and will prepare themselves better for the world of work. How is this achieved? With group rewards, from which the whole class benefits thanks to the success of the individual.
For example, create a system where for every student who gets top marks on a test, everyone gets a reward. You can give everyone extra points of credit or ask students if they prefer a different reward. This encourages them to work together to achieve better results together
Method 9 of 11: Satisfy Emotional Needs
Step 1. Make them feel unique and desired
Recognize and appreciate each student individually, for the qualities that make him a unique and wonderful human being. Encourage its strengths. You should allow him to understand that he has something to offer. This will increase his confidence and help him find his own path in life.
Step 2. Acknowledge and appreciate their efforts, even if they are small
Tell each of them that you have done a good job, but do it heartily, and offer a reward. A student who succeeds in moving from a D to a B +, for example, may be rewarded with an A for achieving this result.
Step 3. Respect them
It is extremely important to do this. Whether they are students writing their PhD thesis or kindergarten children, treat them as capable and intelligent human beings. Respect the fact that they have ideas, emotions and lives outside the classroom. Treat them with dignity and they will do the same to you.
Method 10 of 11: Get Feedback
Step 1. Ask your pupils for feedback to find out what they think about your teaching method and what you could improve on
You can also ask for it personally or create anonymous questionnaires to get more honest opinions.
Step 2. Ask their parents for feedback
They may have noticed an improvement in their child's abilities, his level of self-confidence or his socialization. Or maybe they have noticed a deterioration. Getting an outside perspective will let you know if your lessons continue to impact outside the school walls and learn about any family problems you are not aware of.
Step 3. Ask your boss for feedback if you teach in a school
Ask him to observe you at work. His ideas will help you, but remember to open up to criticism.
Method 11 of 11: Keep Learning
Step 1. Read books on the art of teaching
Get the latest articles and essays from the conferences to keep up with the latest strategies and methods. Thus, your strategies will never be out of date.
Step 2. Take classes at the university to brush up on your skills
This will remind you of forgotten techniques or strategies that you tend not to use.
Step 3. Observe other teachers, not only those recognized, but also those who seek to emerge
Understand why some things work and others don't. Take notes and implement what you have learned in class.
