Thousands of teachers around the world are “experts” on their subject matter – having studied the subject for many years in college, or having performed their job for a number of years. Just because they “know the subject matter” doesn’t mean they are a great “teacher”. Teaching is an art. It takes patience, flexibility, understanding learning styles, listening skills (yes teachers must have excellent listening skill – as well as eyes in the back of their heads when they are teaching young children), patience, in-depth knowledge of the subject matter, and of course patience. (Obviously patience keeps coming up, because impatient teachers are the worst kind of teachers.) So just knowing the subject matter doesn’t necessarily indicate that they really How to Teach.
Lesson 1:
There are many important areas where people need to understand How to Teach is even more important than what they are teaching. For example, all students learn in three basic was – auditory, visual, or kinesthetic – and teachers must be creative and find ways in which all types of students can learn. Here are some ways that can help:
- Building visual aids – Sometimes it’s helpful to build something that helps them learn (and working together in a team environment teaches some great team building skills). For example, when studying geography, have them work in groups to build a map of the terrain of the country being studied, or when studying history, divide them into groups and have them act the parts of the people they are studying. If it’s math, bring in a bag of goodies (sometimes candy is good if there are no diabetics in the class, but toys are a great teaching tool for young kids – just be sure they are safe), and practice counting the number of goodies in the bag and then they can start learning fractions if one student is given 1/10 of the goodies, how many are left for everyone else. There are many ways to get students involved in the material and get them excited.
- Discussions – For teachers just learning How to Teach, here’s a great method. Teach a while, ask thought provoking questions, and get the students thinking about what they are learning. Point out why this topic is important in real life and what they can learn from it. Have them discuss why this makes a difference and why it’s important for them to understand. Get some of the students who are “getting it” to explain it to the others who are having difficulties.
Lesson 2:
Remember the intent is to help them learn, not just know How to Teach the material. If the students are in a class where they cover different subjects, remember these points:
- Schedules versus Interest – Some students will find the material very interesting while others are bored, and the rest are confused. Many teachers (those who teach younger children who have multiple topics to cover in one day) have a time table on how long they are to spend on each topic. If the students are highly involved and interested in the topic (as longs as it’s not recess or nap time) continue getting deeper into the information. The other topic can wait a bit longer – when students are motivated to learn, maintaining that enthusiasm and interest is more important than the schedule for that hour.
- Field Trips – Sometimes a field trip to a museum or historical landmark is one of the best ways to garner interest in what some students see as a “boring” topic. Getting them out of the classroom environment, and to a very special place is a treat, and hearing the information being presented by an “outside authority” (tour guide at the museum) re-emphasizes the importance of what the teacher is saying – and gives the teacher additional credibility. Finding creative ways to teach different topics is one of the most important methods for new people who are learning How to Teach.
Lesson 3:
Not all learning is done in the classroom. Teachers should understand that learning doesn’t stop when the students get on the bus to leave school. Part of knowing How to Teach is having a good idea of the type of homework that can be given to help enhance the learning. Just remember, brains need a break and there needs to be resting and play times in between learning times.
Conclusion:
When people realize that learning a variety of teaching methods helps them How to Teach more effectively, they become much better teacher, and their students learn better and retain the knowledge.
