Being a good teacher can be the most rewarding and exciting job in the world - however, being a teacher that doesn't work effectively can be stressful, painful, and exhausting. Here are some great tips to being the best teacher you can be.
Steps
Classroom Management
1. Set the example. Remember that you are the teacher. It is important for you to be like a "superhero" figure in their eyes. Remember that your students look up to you and will thus try to mimic your dispositions. If you are rude or inappropriate, they will have an inappropriate model for their behavior. It is vital that students see you as a person with confidence, so that they follow your lead, and feel comfortable trusting you. Students, of all ages, need someone they can lean on, look up to, and be able to trust.
2. Have well-defined consequences. Set specific consequences for breaking the rules. Decide what those consequences are and then implement them consistently. Your consequences should follow a procedure that starts with a non-verbal signal (such as just looking at the student), to a verbal signal (asking the student to please stop talking), to a verbal warning (if this continues there will be consequences), to the implementation of the consequence. The consequences are up to you and depend on the program of the school. Many schools have a detention system (students do despise detentions), or perhaps writing lines, or sitting away from other students.
3. Be compassionate. Great educators form strong relationships with their students and show that they care about them as people. They are warm, accessible, enthusiastic and caring. Be open to staying at school after-hours to help students or get involved in school-wide committees and activities, and they demonstrate a commitment to the school.
4. Set some ground rules. You should have 3-5 rules that the students know about. These are the rules that, when broken, are subject to the consequence scheme outlined above. Try allowing the class to suggest the ground rules: have a class discussion and write ideas, it makes the class feel they are listened to and that you care about their opinions and input while also setting some groundwork that they will feel loyal to because they've made it. Act as a mediator to make sure that the rules decided upon are appropriate. Some may be, for instance, be quiet when the teacher is talking, respect each other, and finish the homework and classwork.
Lesson Planning
1. Have an objective. When you are planning a lesson, the most vital part is the objective. What do you want your students to take away from the lesson? If the objective is powerful, deep, and reflects what you really want students to learn, it will be reflected in the lesson.
2. Have a solid plan for your lessons. Each and every lesson should be divided into three simple parts that reflect your objective.
First should be the "lecture" part of the lesson. This is where you teach something new to the class (of course allowing for questions or comments when applicable).
Dedicate the second part of class to something that involves a collective group work element where students can work with whoever they want. Near the end of this part, you can have a discussion session where groups voice their findings/opinions, and give marks for adequate participation.
The final part of every lesson should be where the students return to their seats and work QUIETLY on one final task, such as answering specific questions written on the board, or drawing a picture related to something they learned that lesson. The students should only talk to you (if they have a question about what/how to do it) or the person sitting directly next to them. This is the wind-down part where students get a chance to work on and understand the material on their own.
3. Assign relevant homework. Rather than assigning something different every night, it is wise to assign one or two more substantial assignments on Monday and then collect these assignments on Friday.
4. Consider giving quizzes. You may want to have a quiz every Friday to assess how well the students are grasping the material. You can judge how well you are teaching by how well the majority of your students perform on the quizzes.
Effective classroom management is among the most important skills to have as a teacher. It bears mentioning again that, making your lesson plans, the most important element is the objective. The other parts of the lesson (part for "lecture teaching", part for students working, and part for quiet working) spring from or arise from that objective.
It is important to have some distance from your students, particularly for the first 2 weeks of the term. If you cannot keep a professional distance from your students, it is because YOU have the need to relate to them on a more personal level, probably because you're lacking that somewhere in your more personal life. It is your responsibility to recognize this and deal with it.
Your evaluation (i.e. tests and quizzes) should be formed based on the original objective. It should evaluate how well the students met the objectives you set out when planning your lessons.
You should be at least 1-2 weeks ahead in terms of your lesson plans.
It is never too late to start to implement these tips and ideas.
Adapted from http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Good-Teacher
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