Ten Strategies for Effective Teaching - Coursework Example

Ten Strategies for Effective Teaching Introduction Teaching is not only a job. It is a career, a life-long commitment. The teacher owes it to himself or herself, the students and the school to do his or her job as effectively as possible. Thus, the teacher should be constantly looking for ways to improve his or her teaching skills. As a teacher, I ensure that I monitor myself and always evaluate my performance as one. I have also looked for strategies that I think would enhance my teaching skills and make me an effective teacher. There are a lot of strategies, and a lot of articles written, to make teaching effective. I chose ten that I think would be most useful to me. The next few pages discuss each of the ten strategies that I have chosen. Wait Time During the first few months of my teaching, I often ask question after question to my students and will get impatient whenever there were delays in their answers. I dreaded those silent moments during my class that if a student couldn’t answer my question at once, I ended up answering it for them. However, this manner of asking questions, according to Anthony Fredericks, gives students “little time to think”. Furthermore, according to the same source, the “more questions that are asked, the less thinking occurs”. Fredericks recommended that the teacher extend the ‘wait time’ of students. Once a question is given, the teacher should allow the students to think through the question and formulate a response to the question. Once a response is given, the teacher should also allow the response to sink in the thoughts of the other students. This increases the probability that the teacher will be able to gain the correct answer from a student and that the students will be able to analyze the question (and the follow up answer) better. Equal Opportunity for Student Response To be a good teacher, one should not only remember that a class is different from the other classes and a student is different from another student but also the teacher should devise ways to utilize these differences to maximize the learning abilities of the students. One such way is to give each and every student the chance to participate and to respond in the class. Giving the students this equal chance will help them increase their confidence in themselves as they learn how to speak out loud in front of other people. This will also enhance their thinking process and will motivate them to study more and participate more during class hours. Cooperative Learning Cooperative learning allows small groups of students to interact with one another and to work together to achieve a common consensus or a common goal. Through cooperative learning, the students will experience how it is to work as a team and how they should synchronize their thoughts and actions to be able to deliver the work assigned to them. To ensure that this strategy is effective, I would, prior to assigning group work, plan carefully how to group students, make sure that the group is small, give the instructions carefully and make sure that they will understand the implications of working together and cooperating with each other. The students should be made to realize that the efforts of the individual members of the group will enhance the group’s performance and that the success or failure of the group would mean the success or failure of the each of the members of the group. When the work ends, an evaluation should be provided by each member of the group to assess the contributions of each member to the group work and how effective are the members as a group in achieving their goals and, if not, what they need to do to be successful as a group. Establishing rules According to William Huitt “selecting and teaching classroom rules should be an integral part of a classroom management program”. This means, according to Wood, Porter, Brady and Forton (August 2003), that for a successful semester or school year, let your students “know what behavior to expect”. Setting the rules and the routines may be time-consuming but the effort is worth it as this will help create “a sense of order, predictability, and trust in the classroom” and will give the message that “respect, kindness and learning will prevail” (Wood, Porter, Brady and Forton. August 2003). This is the reason why I spend the first day, not starting on the lecture, but rather setting the rules and expectations for the rest of the school year or semester. When I set the rules, I keep them simple, use simple language to describe the rules, explain them clearly and give specific examples if I feel my students need them. I would also set out the consequences for not following the rules. During the rest of the semester, I make sure that I apply these rules and any consequences connected to them consistently and fairly. This way my students would see that I am serious about these rules and would not take these rules for granted. Differentiation As a teacher, there are many and various ways of teaching and enhancing the learning skills of the students. Teaching methods may include lecture (with or without discussion), class discussion, small group discussion, case studies, role playing, providing visual aids and reporting. Visual aids may also vary, from writing directly in the white or blackboard to flip charts, transparencies, videos and PowerPoint presentation. What to apply will depend on the preferred learning style of the students. Adapting the teaching method to the learning styles of the students help the students remember the lesson better and relate to the subject matter better. This is the reason why, as permitted by the curriculum, I would try to vary my teaching methods and visual aids to suit the learning styles of my students Delving and Probing Asking questions is critical for teachers because the responses to these questions show the progress of the students. In this strategy, the type of questions asked is not the only one that matters. To ensure that the students will process the questions correctly, what matters is how these questions are asked and how these questions are followed through. The manner of asking these questions and getting the responses from the students can train the students to become independent thinkers and to make them process thoughts and questions more efficiently and effectively. It can also drive the students to think deeper and train them to seek better answers to the teacher’s questions. This means that when asking questions, I should aid my students in giving their initial response by delving or providing additional details or data that will help them in their thinking process. Once I receive their responses, I would give follow up questions that would probe into their responses and enhance their critical thinking. Physical Proximity In teaching, according to Vicki Ritts and James Stein, nonverbal communication is as important as verbal communication. Nonverbal behavior would enable the teacher to become not only a better speaker but also a better listener. It can also foster the perception of closeness between the teacher and the students. Among the nonverbal behaviors I use is proximity or physical proximity. I would go around the room while I lecture or teach, stopping now and then beside a student or several students. I would also move from one side of the classroom to the other to better establish eye contact with my students. Moving around and getting physically closer to my students helped increase their awareness of my subject matter and made them more alert during class time. It also made it easier for me to gauge their reactions to my topics as I can see in their faces whether they understood what I was teaching or not. Student Feedback In their article, Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson offered seven principles which are “intended as guidelines…to improve teaching and learning”. One of these principles is giving “prompt feedback” to the students. According to Barbara Davis, giving “frequent, early, positive feedback” helps motivate students and support their “beliefs that they can do well” (Davis, 1999). This will also give the students the chance “to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how to assess themselves” (Chickering and Gamson, 1987). In applying this principle, I would, first of all, immediately check, record and return my students’ test papers. I would praise my student if he or she gives a good (not necessarily right) answer and give rewards (usually in the form of additional points) for “sincere efforts” (Davis, 1999). For my students who are not doing so well in my class, I would talk to them quietly, update them about their performance in class and encourage them to do better. I would let them see that I am sincerely concerned about their performance and that doing their best in my class, or any other class for that matter, will, in the long run, be for their benefit, not mine. Managing Transitions Transitions are periods when a teacher ends one topic and starts discussing another one. “The most successful transitions between lessons or activities are rapid ones that have clear ends and beginnings” (Burden, 2003). “Utilizing effective transitions in the classroom helps teachers to minimize disruptions and behavior problems, maximize instructional time, and maintain optimal learning conditions” (Patton and Dowdy, 2001). It will also prevent boredom or lethargy from setting in as the students’ interest in the subject is maintained even after the old topic had ended and a new one is being started. Keeping these things in mind, I would carefully plan how I would organize my lessons, my thoughts and my routine whenever I am teaching. I would also plan how I will summarize, conclude and end each topic or activity. During this phase, I would communicate clearly that I am at the end of the topic I was discussing. I would then give them a short period of silence to mull things over and voice their questions or concerns. Once their questions and concerns are addressed, I would then obtain a verbal confirmation from them by asking if they are ready to leave the previous topic behind and start a new one. If they answer in the affirmative, this would be my cue to start discussing the next topic. Student empowerment In her article, Barbara Klopfenstein stated that “giving learners more ownership in their learning results in a deeper, more meaningful experience” (Klopfenstein, 2003, p. 1). Klopfenstein further stated that “by teaching students to reflect on how they learn and by developing their skills to pursue their learning goals, students will be empowered to change from passive recipients of information to active controllers of their learning. The teacher’s role…is to empower learners by promoting student involvement in learning, helping learners to develop skills that support learning throughout life, and helping learners to assume personal responsibility for learning”. As a teacher, I would empower my students to learn more about the subject matter by giving them the chance, to the extent possible, to get practical experience, to interview and interact with persons who are knowledgeable about the topic and to listen to guest speakers. Lastly, if there are group works or projects to be done, empowering my students would mean letting them choose their project and how they will go about doing the project. Conclusion The various strategies discussed above are not, by any means, all-inclusive. There are other strategies that are just as effective. It is up to the teacher to assess which strategy will work best and which will help achieve his or her goals. A teacher has a big responsibility in helping shape the minds, attitudes and personalities of the students, regardless of their age. This is the reason why a teacher always strives to improve himself or herself. Implementing one or more of the ten strategies discussed may help a teacher become successful in his or her chosen career. References Burden, P. R. (2003). Classroom management: Creating a successful learning community (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Chickering, Arthur W. and Gamson, Zelda F. (March 1987) Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. In The American Association for Higher Education Bulletin. Retrieved November 24, 2008 from http://honolulu.hawaii. edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm. Davis, Barbara Gross. Motivating Students. In University of California, Berkeley. Reprinted from Tools for Teaching, copyright by Jossey Bass. Reprinted on September 1, 1999. http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/ guidebk/teachtip/motiv.htm Fredericks, Anthony D. (2005) The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Success as a Teacher. Alpha Books. Retrieved from TeacherVision. http://www.teachervision.fen.com/ teaching-methods/new-teacher/48446.html. Huitt, W. (1997). Establishing rules in the classroom. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved November 25, 2008 from http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/manage/rules.html. Klopfenstein, Barbara J. (2003) Empowering Learners: Strategies for Fostering Selfdirected Learning and Implications for Online Learning. [PDF document]. In The University of Alberta. http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/tl-dl/info/ Klopfenstein.pdf. Ritts, Vicki and Stein, James R. Six Ways to Improve Your Nonverbal Communications. In Faculty Development at Honolulu Community College. Retrieved November 24, 2008 from http://honolulu.hawaii. edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/ guidebk/teachtip/commun-1.htm. Smith, T. E. C., Polloway, E. A., Patton, J. R., & Dowdy, C. A. (2001). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Wood, Chip, Porter, Deborah, Brady, Kathryn and Forton, Mary (August 2003). Everyday Rules that Really Work. In Scholastic Instructor. Retrieved on December 3, 2008 from http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3608. Read More