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5 Keys to Teaching Success
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1. Start With the Standards
Each teacher has a set of standards by grade level and subject that they are tasked to accomplish throughout the year. These standards should guide everything teachers do.
The wording of the standard should be followed closely to make sure the target it hit. While straying from the standard a bit may be okay,going too far off course will cost valuable teaching time.
2. Plan for Outcomes, Not Activities
It's easy to fall into a pattern, especially at the elementary level, for teachers to plan activities rather than outcomes. Teachers shouldn't get caught up in activities associated with unit themes unless the activity really helps drive comprehension. Some activities require more preparation and time than they're worth. If at the end of a long (and even fun) activity students aren't sure what they did, the activity needs to be rethought and reworked for the next year.
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3. Practice Cross Curricular Collaboration
The best teachers are the ones that don't teach a subject in isolation. Every lesson taught in school can relate and should relate to something students are doing in other areas of school. If teachers can connect student learning throughout the school day, students are more likely to retain information.
Thinking cross curricular doesn't happen without collaboration. Many schools are realizing the power of collaboration by allowing more common planning time among grade level teachers. This effort can pay off big when students see how teachers work together and pieces of the puzzle start to fit into a bigger picture.
If collaboration at your school isn't off to a roaring start, try working with at least one other teacher. Talk over your plans for lessons and see if you can offer each other ways to enhance existing lessons or activities.
Tip: 7 Tips to Make Collaborative Time Productive
4. Demonstrate Real World Application
Students are more motivated to learn when they see how the knowledge they learn can be applied outside of the school building. If you're teaching a lesson on rock forms, don't just stop at naming and viewing rocks. Talk about what kinds of professions would do this and why it's useful. Studying Picasso in art class is great, but isn't it better to see a local artist paint and how she makes a living? If you don't have enough money or resources for field trips, there are plenty of virtual opportunities to bring real world application of concepts into your classroom.
Even the youngest of students are hooked into technology these days, so utilizing technology may make your lesson more memorable.
Tip: 5 Best Virtual Field Trips (all free!)
5. Show Enthusiasm
If teachers don't love the lesson they've created, then they won't be able to deliver it enthusiastically. What one element helps make a lesson exciting? What gets teachers pumped up to teach it? The best teachers know how to craft lessons that not only inspire their students to learn, but create an environment of curiosity and excitement.
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