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5 Simple Ways to Teach Better
Featured Author:
Dorit Sasson
Dorit Sasson is a New York City native and freelance writer. She teaches ESL (English as a Second Language) reading and writing courses at CCAC Allegheny Community College, and is the creator of the New Teacher Resource Center.
Dorit Sasson has written articles for a variety of journals, magazines, newsletters, and ezines like Reading Today, Essential Teacher, Teacher and Principal Quarterly, the Internet TESL Journal, WAHM Online, and many others.
Dorit holds both graduate and undergraduate degrees in English literature from the University of Haifa. She has taught English language learners in various schools in Israel for the last eleven years and returned to live back in the States in the summer of 2007.
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Dorit Sasson
When students aren’t engaged, it’s usually time to reexamine how you can adjust your instruction. Adjusting instruction means providing more opportunities for students to learn successfully based on information you gather such as their interests, work habits, motivation and learning styles and academic performance. Doing this on a consistent basis helps refine instruction so they can succeed.
Successful teachers are those who pre-assess their students abilities and then use that information to determine how and what they will teach. They use educational standards only a guide, constantly focusing on 1) what the students know and 2) what objectives (or steps) they need to take) to fulfill their goals. They focus on what the students can TODAY.
So here are 5 simple ways how you can adjust your instruction.
1) Pre-assess your students. Knowing what your students know is incredibly important for helping them succeed.
2) Use any assessment results to differentiate instruction. For your struggling K-2 ELLs, this may mean for example, that you may need to present information in a more structured oral-reading context. (ie. saying the words and then matching them to a picture)
3) When you know significant areas of weakness, provide students with guided practice focusing at one skill at a time.
4) Use the power of R’s: Review, redefine and reinforce. Avoid assuming that your students have not had any previous encounters with the subject.
5) Create more student-centered lessons. Remember – how to teach is just as important as what to teach. Refine content based on questionnaires you gave your students on learning styles, learning preferences, etc. What other suggestions do you have for adjusting your instruction. Please share your ideas.
So what are you waiting for? Try it!
Related Articles:
Four Ways to be an Effective Educator
Encourage Your Students to be Successful and on Task
hnaqvi
10 months ago
4 comments
For high school students, consistency in teaching strategy is good. However, if we have several tools in the tool box, try to use it consistently-Kids need change as well as a "constant" in learning.