It’s time for a quick tip!
One of the drawbacks of the education system in North America is that it is not personalized. Teachers will have a class of, say, 30 students, each with his or her own personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. Some students will learn by reading. Others will learn by listening. Still others will learn by doing. It is very hard to teach in a way that encompasses all of these teaching methods.
That said, it can’t hurt to try!
If you can combine a variety of different teaching methods into your daily routine, you can attempt to reach a wide variety of students the way they’d like to be reached. For example, for a math lesson, you can:
- Write on the board how a particular concept or skill works
- Explain to the class orally how the concept or skill works, referring to the illustration on the board
- Give students an interactive exercise, perhaps with coloring, cutting, and pasting, that will help your students “work with” the math concept in a fun and engaging manner
- Have students work on a few example math problems to get them using the skill, and cementing the concept into their brains
In this manner, students can take advantage of whichever teaching method they most associate with. By teaching using multiple methods, you will hopefully be able to reach a majority of students, each of who learn in different ways.
Happy teaching!
