Should a successful teacher’s qualities be determined exclusively by student achievement?
Should they also include attributes that are more difficult to quantify, such as the ability to emotionally connect with children?
The best answer is to turn to the research among the sea of instructional advice, suggestions, and quotes. Hundreds of pages of study, studies, and firsthand anecdotes regarding what makes a successful teacher were combed through.
We identified fundamental characteristics that distinguish a great teacher, as well as precise, concrete ways to put those characteristics into practice in the classroom. Start putting them to the test with your students to make your upcoming lessons more dynamic, exciting, and engaging!
How to be a Better Teacher?
Your learners rely on you to stay in good health. Make time to unwind, decompress, and care for yourself so that you can stay healthy, happy, and at the top of your game. Neglecting yourself can only make you sick, and it may even result in burnout. Don’t allow this to happen–involvement of teachers is critical.
Our entire career as teachers is dedicated to providing the greatest possible education for our children. Being the best teacher you can be is one of the most effective strategies to achieve this aim. Here are methods to improve your teaching skills so that your learners succeed.
Online Teaching Skills
Students will miss a live-streamed lecture if they are ill or have trouble connecting to the internet. Instead, record videos and provide them to your pupils to watch at their leisure.
Lecture videos with professors’ faces are more successful than basic narrated slideshows, according to research. Slides with videos of yourself should be interspersed throughout your presentation.
Videos that are longer than 15 minutes may experience challenges with download speed and learner distraction. Record two or three short films if you have more to say.
Before filming your lectures, make sure you test your slides on a smartphone to ensure that all text is readable on small displays. Double-check font sizes, template styles, colours, and screen ratios.
Classroom Management
A teacher can be well-prepared, well-informed, and even a superb communicator, yet still fail because of an inability to deal with classroom misconduct or classroom management.
Classroom management refers to a teacher’s efforts to organise and arrange learners, learning materials, space, and classroom time to maximise teaching and learning efficiency.
This allows children to benefit from an organised, structured environment that places a strong emphasis on a pleasant educational environment that promotes learning.
Strategies for Online Learning
It’s absurd to expect you to create a semester’s worth of high-quality videos on your own. You can leverage online resources that have already been established and present learners with clickable links.
Using open materials helps learners avoid access issues. If any of the resources you provided aren’t available, you’ll get a flood of student emails and end up wasting all of your time debugging. Spending a few extra minutes looking for things that are open access now will save you time and aggravation later.
Provide Specific Instructions
Students will be put off watching online media that lasts more than 15 minutes if you propose it. Instead, suggest the particular parts they require, as this will pique their interest.
Label resources in the order you want learners to approach them if you have more than two. A simple numbering based on the difficulty or value of each resource item can be quite beneficial to your learners.
Most learning management systems, such as Canva, Edmodo, Moodle, and Blackboard, have tools for creating interactive learning activities like quizzes. Step-by-step instructions for making them can be found all over the internet. Make use of them.
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Creating Quizzes
When creating quizzes, make sure that all of the questions can be solved by consulting the available learning materials. You should make it apparent to learners that this is not a serious report when they are asked to write a summary of lecture videos.
Making this a required but low-stakes project will yield the best results and answers from learners. Students will be engaged for 45 minutes with a set of 20 quiz questions or a 400-word limit.
It will boost compliance if you notify students that their attendance will be judged by their participation in a quiz. You won’t have time to check them all, so use the learning management system’s automatic checking and grading functions.
Group Communication
Direct teaching should not be done through group communication. Instead, use a video conferencing application like Zoom to set up “virtual office hours.” Simply log in at the scheduled time and wait for the students to arrive.
Focus on providing social support and determining whether any issues require quick attention. This might also be a good approach to get student feedback on your online classes. Meetings should be optional, and you should be at ease. There’s no need to be disappointed if no one turns up; kids are still grateful to have this choice.
Make it Interactive
You can create online group spaces for small groups of students and ask them to collaborate and encourage one another before sending you emails. To help students break the ice and start a dialogue, you can post a few questions.
Encourage pupils to use their preferred communication methods. Some groups will connect well, while others may not, but this simple strategy can help kids feel socially supported while also reducing inbox traffic.
Don’t Hide Your Feelings
The emotional openness of online teachers is an excellent instructional method. Inform your pupils that this is your first time teaching online and that you are learning as you go.
Specifically request their assistance, promising them that you would do everything possible to promote their learning as well. They will be empathetic since they share your emotions, and you will be well on your way to success.
Students who learn online dislike having their learning styles changed frequently. They are content to repeat the same structure and activities over and over again. Once you’ve found a teaching method that works for you, you can use it every week until you’re back in the classroom.
Also Read: Stand Out and Win eMaester’s Communication Trainer Challenge: Hurry and Register Now!
Benefits of Online Teaching
Flexible for Students and Teachers
The majority of online classes are adaptable. The teacher and the student agree on how much time they are willing to devote to the study. They can also choose the day, type, and location of the class, as well as the number of pupils they want to teach in a group.
One of the benefits of online education is that an instructor can provide a course flawlessly from a different location, such as a different state or even nation. Because the student and the teacher do not need to meet physically, there is no requirement for them to stay in the same location.
Personalised Experience
Teachers and students might get to know one other better when they are taught online. Because most online classrooms are one-on-one, students feel more at ease speaking up. Many students find it difficult to ask questions in groups. While putting their queries in front of everyone, they may feel shy and uneasy.
A one-on-one session in an online class gives students plenty of opportunities to ask whatever questions they have. Furthermore, teachers can devote more time to one kid at a time. A teacher can tailor the session to the student’s needs and preferences.
Communication Becomes Easier
As a result, when someone speaks online, they appear to be more concentrated than while delivering an offline lecture in front of a group. This benefits both the teachers and the pupils. The pupils comprehend and learn the material in their environment.
The students can converse more effectively. On some platforms, chat boxes are accessible, allowing students to ask questions without disrupting the rest of the class.
While delivering the lesson, the teacher can go through the questions and clarify them. All of this makes the teaching-learning process go more smoothly than in traditional classrooms.
Also Read: How to Earn INR 50k Every Month by Teaching Phonics? Top Online Teaching Jobs in India
Better Access to Learning
It can be difficult to contact a teacher in a college, school, or educational institution at times. They may be preoccupied or preoccupied with other tasks that prevent them from attending the institutes.
Online lessons might help you stay in touch with your teachers in this situation. Teachers can teach online classes from the comfort of their own homes, and students can learn from the comfort of their own homes. There are numerous benefits to online teaching and learning.
Students and teachers can attend online classes from the comfort of their own homes, allowing them to concentrate on their studies. Students can choose a suitable location in the house to begin their course.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, this is about online education and teaching. Given the current situation, when the majority of teachers and students are much more at ease with this educational system, numerous new and modern tools are being added to the system over time.
Effective teachers do not place restrictions on their students. They have high expectations of pupils, continually push them to do their best, and are kind professionals that encourage kids to believe in themselves.
As a teacher, you know that you should always expect the best from your pupils and encourage them to achieve their full potential in the classroom. However, you are aware that doing so regularly might be extremely difficult.
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