Tips for Effective Teaching (1) knowing your audience!

WHO ARE YOU TEACHING…?

I recall an event that occurred at my 50th birthday party to which I had invited my friends from the different social circles that I moved in. So, as a martial artist I invited some of my buddies whom I trained with along with those from my church and from the school where I was a teacher.

As can be expected when those who were not in education asked one a particular teaching friend of mine called Andrew “What do you teach?” he answered somewhat pithily “Kids!’

Years later when, as an administrator, I was observing teachers in their classroom I recalled Andrew’s words. I would see some teachers presenting to the class their subject facts but failing to interpret those facts in terms their students could understand.

It is this signal failure to connect the content of a classes subject matter to students in a manner that interests the that causes in loss of student engagement. Bored kids can be disruptive and disengaged kids don’t get high grades.

FIRST MANAGE, THEN TEACH!

Classroom management is a key skill to master for students to be able to learn. Failing to establish clear guidelines for behavior will result in classes that are unproductive and feel unsafe for students. When I first learned my ‘craft’ as a teacher the veteran teachers had this maxim for their classes starting in September… “Don’t smile until March!”

I don’t subscribe the idea that you have to wait 6 months before you can show some of your humanity to your students, but you don’t want to be ‘a friend’ to your students.

When I was in the UK I worked with the University of Bath in the training of student teachers who would come to my classroom to ‘practice’ their teaching while in the university they learned about the ‘academics of teaching’ and the ‘theories of learning’ etc.

Sometimes these trainee teachers just wanted to ‘befriend the students’ and not want to bring any corrections to their behavior. However, this approach often resulted in chaotic classrooms as sensing there was to be no accountability levied against them would essentially do whatever they wanted.

Good classroom control has so many benefits! Of course, the physical safety of students is always paramount! But teachers who manage classrooms well are able to provide more focused attention to smaller groups of students, stop any form of verbal bullying, respond to student questions and generally have pleasant and rewarding lessons for all concerned.

CELEBRATE STUDENT SUCCESS!!

A student’s classroom should be a safe haven where their efforts are celebrated. There are many ways to do this within the dynamic flow of classroom activity, but the very best way to do so is to decorate the classroom walls with it! When work that was at an A grade standard was ‘hidden’ inside a closed folder there was little opportunity to either celebrate it or use it to provoke other students to higher levels of attainment

I learned early on that one of the key ways to motivate students to perform better in my class was, when they produced good work, was to put it in a place where everyone could see it! To facilitate that I would frequently set what I would call ‘teaching posters’ where students would use the format of making a poster to communicate a key concept. During the creation of such posters I would readily find the opportunity to discuss with the students 1:1 what they were trying to say which frequently allowed for correction and their attaining a deeper understanding.