1. Maximizing students’ learning during Lessons

When we think of the teacher’s role, the first thing that comes to our minds is someone who is knowledgeable enough about his subject and possesses the skills to impart or facilitate its learning among students.

Any deficiency in learning that knowledge or input can devoid the teacher from being effective or good.

So, the primary role of the teacher is to clarify things, erase confusion, and encourage students to build up that understanding and develop further knowledge.

We can’t expect our students to think critically and apply what they’ve learned more flexibly and creatively if they have not grasped it first.

Assimilating or understanding doesn’t only contribute to student’s cognitive development, but it also brings the necessary feeling of satisfaction and learning motivation. So, it’s the stimulus for learning more and developing further knowledge and skills.

Hence, clarifying our content is not the ultimate way to support students to learn, it’s rather the starting point of the process.

Students’ understanding revolves around practice, interaction with teachers, and peers (addressing questions, collaborating, etc), and feedback.

This means the more students work on the content or concept under question the better they understand it and apply it in different contexts. This is LEARNING!

Because students’ learning depends on what goes inside the classroom, we need to focus on these 3 practices to maximize it:

a) Instruction

This is about the way you design your content, present it in class, and get your students involved in learning it.

For effective instruction in every lesson, your instructional presentation should be clear, thereby minimizing misinterpretation and making your instructional method rich.

How?

Don’t rely on the same mode of explanation. Use questions and visual representations to engage and challenge students and consolidate understanding.

Invite students to explain and address questions about the lesson. Check for their understanding and allow some time for their reflection. Don’t forget to listen to their needs and concerns.

Hence, students’ prior knowledge can affect their learning. Therefore, check it out at the beginning of each lesson.

Clarifying instructional objectives is also required so that students know about what and why they’re learning such content and what’s expected of them. So, be sure to communicate the objectives in a simple and friendly language and at the same time, enhance their confidence and interest in learning.

Effective instruction also entails focusing on students’ needs and interests and fostering their agency.

Therefore, integrate a variety of tasks that engage students in sharing, collaborating, exploring, and creating. These won’t just help them enjoy learning, but also unveil their needs, interests, and ways of thinking. Besides, encouraging students to reflect on their learning, make choices, and monitor their progress can support them to develop a sense of self-efficacy and get deeply engaged in learning.

b) Classroom management

Classroom management has two aspects: the physical aspect or teacher organization of the classroom including tables, chairs, materials, decoration, etc. The social aspect covers how teachers interact with students, communicate with them, and deal with different situations.

Effective classroom management is an essential ingredient for successful learning. Why?

Students can’t learn in a chaotic learning environment where disruptions and disturbances are prevailing.

For learning to take place, the lesson has to run smoothly.

So, effective teachers are also good classroom managers. Because learning is not just about clarifying instruction, but also providing a supportive learning environment where students can and want to learn.

Therefore, to refine your classroom management skills, focus on well-established classroom routines from the beginning of the year. These will get you and your students more organized and so save you a lot of time and energy.

So, clarify these routines to your students by modelling them and showing their relevance to the teaching-learning process.

An organized lesson with clear instructional goals can also help you maintain discipline and make students more focused on learning.

Besides, to minimize all kinds of disturbances, provide the emotional support your students need. Your words and attitudes should convey respect, concern for their learning progress, and support that boosts their confidence and fosters their learning ability.

c) Assessment

Assessment is part of everyday instruction. It measures students’ learning and communicates their learning achievement as well as the existing learning gaps.

Effective teaching requires assessment for learning practices. During such a process, students participate in assessing their progress. This is through making choices, setting goals to improve their performance, collaborating and interacting with their teacher and peers to discuss their needs, and plan to enhance their learning abilities.

To promote students learning through assessment integrate self-assessment tools (portfolios, journals, reflective worksheets, etc.). Help students understand their utility and demonstrate how they need to use them to improve their learning.

Also, to get them involved in monitoring their progress clarify assessment criteria and provide the necessary resources (rubrics) to guide them.

Your feedback is so important to students’ learning. So, make it more descriptive, showing clearly the learning gaps and how to close them. Praising students’ efforts and nudging them to do more to achieve their goals is also an essential component of your feedback.

2. Promoting social and emotional development

Educators’ role is not only about supporting students’ cognitive development and helping them achieve academic success, but it’s also about enhancing the social and emotional skills that help them thrive in their careers and lives.

So, effective teaching goes beyond academics to develop crucial life skills such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Teachers can teach and model SEL skills and provide practice. But, to build these skills in the classroom it’s also necessary to provide students with emotional support. Our relationships with students and the kind of learning environment we create play a decisive role in enhancing such skills.

For instance, if we show no empathy or we are unable to self-regulate in challenging classroom situations we can’t help students develop SEL skills. So, it’s essential to create a positive learning environment where students can learn from their teachers how they should behave more positively.

3. Inspiring a love of learning beyond the classroom

Lifelong learning has become a necessity to survive and thrive in today’s world, full of challenges and uncertainties.

Effective teaching must therefore inspire a love of learning that goes beyond the classroom context. The more students expand their learning outside the school the more they get familiar with learning on their own and so develop their lifelong learning skills.

We need to recognize that our teaching, our personality, our attitudes, words, and interactions with students don’t just affect their learning process and outcome but also their feelings, vision, and future decisions.

We can have a very significant, lifelong impact on our students.

So, effective teachers’ impact goes beyond increasing learning gains to enhancing students’ love of learning outside school.

But, how can teachers instil such love among their students?

Students admire and respect professional teachers. This is the truth!

But, professionalism doesn’t necessarily mean having years of teaching experience or being qualified from highly recognized universities or colleges.

Professionalism is possessing and using knowledge and skills (subject and pedagogical) according to your teaching context (learning objectives and students’ needs and interests). It is also about interacting more effectively with students and the ability to create a positive learning environment.

When you meet your students’ learning needs you’re making learning more relevant to them. They get more interested and motivated to learn. Creating a positive learning environment is also essential to make them enjoy learning inside your classes and inspire them to do more outside.

Finally, to turn your students into lifelong learners, cultivate curiosity in your classroom. This is through integrating tasks that engage their interests, intellect, and creativity. By doing so, you become the role model: you’re satisfying their learning needs and meanwhile stimulating their thinking and aspirations to learn more.

These were the 3 qualities of effective teaching. You can impact positively student outcomes, vision, and goals. And you can contribute to your school’s improvement. So, always target effective teaching practice. You CAN make it.