Teaching tips from Teacher Toolkit

Posted by Amelia Whitehart on September 22, 2019 in Business

Let’s writeabout more training tricks, with a focus on Rookie Teacher. Successful teachers are reflective: In order to avoid becoming the stuck and stubborn teacher, successful educators take time to reflect on their methods, their delivery, and the way they connect with their students. Reflection is necessary to uncover those weaknesses that can be strengthened with a bit of resolve and understanding. Successful teachers seek out mentors of their own: Reflective teachers can easily get disheartened if they don’t have someone a bit older and wiser offering support. You are never too old or wise for a mentor. Mentors can be that voice that says, “Yes your reflections are correct,” or “No, you are off because….” and provide you with a different perspective. Successful teachers communicate with parents: Collaboration between parents and teachers is absolutely crucial to a student’s success. Create an open path of communication so parents can come to you with concerns and you can do the same. When a teacher and parents present a united front, there is a lower chance that your student will fall through the cracks.

Be brief. Speak less. Say more. It’s hard to hear, when you are feeling overwhelmed. When responding to behavioral challenges, be brief. When children are agitated or escalated, they are not able to process. Your goal should be to de-escalate and motivate. The more we engage in a back-and-forth with our students, the more agitated and irritated we can become. Keep interactions simple, leave no room for debate or negotiation. Read extra info at Teacher Guides.

Learning is not only for young people. Technology is used in every facet of life because it can provide the speed, connectivity, and efficiency to make tasks easier. We all want things to be easier and faster and as an older adult, it’s important not to underestimate how technology can help you in your golden years. This is the information age where questions can be answered in an instant, and when we take advantage of being informed and connected then we can gain the knowledge and know-how necessary to helping ourselves and improving our lives. Getting digital literacy training can give older adults the skills and confidence to access information and services online.

Games are a great way to get them engaged with technology. Maybe they love crossword puzzles, scrabble, or Sudoku. Download an app or give them a website and show them how to play from their device. This will help them get comfortable with using the buttons and touching the screen. A good website for senior learning is Tech learning for seniors.

Music education is hot this days, many people try to learn music, for various reasons. There are a few podcasts that focuses on teaching people about music and one of them is The Music Educator by Bill Stevens. While individual practice can be an important part of learning to play an instrument, the music classroom is a great time for interaction. Academics have described the clear benefits of collaborative learning. ResourceEd explains that collaboration is a significant element of the world of work. It is important to introduce this as part of school-based education. Collaborative learning teaches skills such as decision-making and problem-solving in a group or team context. Employers value these skills, which can be learnt beginning in early childhood.

Advice of the day for music teachers : Pre-Establish a Protocol for Reluctant Learners: In the perfect classroom, every student is excited to learn and happy to participate in any and all classroom activities. While this may often be the case, in reality, there will days where students are more reluctant to learn and participate in activities. To assist with these difficult times, young teachers will want to have pre-established protocols for encouraging reluctant learners. Ideas may include incorporating songs into the curriculum that reluctant learners like or even simply providing these students with special tasks.

You can listen to the The Music Educator podcast by using the app from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.themusiceducatorpodcast.android.music. You can learn more about Bill Steven by visiting his website at https://www.4themusiceducator.com/.