Teaching can be a fun and rewarding job when it’s going well. We all have a teacher or teachers we can remember having a big influence on our lives and igniting a passion for a particular subject or helping us choose a certain course at college - without them we probably wouldn’t be who we are today. Unfortunately though for every teacher we respected and admired there were a whole lot that we really didn’t, and often out right ignore. Following them are some teaching techniques that will hopefully ensure you’re more the former than the latter and that some of what you’re saying is actually being picked up by the kids.

Project your voice - Teaching actually involves a lot of public speaking though we rarely think of it like that, so it’s important to make sure you can speak in a way that demands attention. Many speaking techniques make great teaching techniques. One simple one is to speak slowly which forces you to speak more clearly and more deeply and show confidence.

Deal with noise calmly - If the class aren’t listening then the last thing you want to do is be shouting and battling them to be heard. This then diminishes your power and makes you seem as though you don’t have things under control. In fact doing the opposite and going completely silent, or calmly explaining culprits will be sent out are far better teaching techniques.

Use humor - To engage the children in what you’re saying, using humor is one of the best methods. Make jokes while you’re explaining dry material and as well as being more likely to listen they’ll also be less likely to want to interrupt you. Funny believe it or not is cool.

Get them to mark their own work - When you need a break this is one of the best teaching techniques to buy yourself a few minutes. However it’s also very good for the students as it forces them to recap their work and find exactly where they went wrong. Alternatively you can get them to mark each other’s work.

Use visual cues - When you’re explaining material use visual cues on a blackboard, whiteboard or projector. This a) will wake people up and b) can stick in their minds and work as a way to trigger the memory.

Use handouts - This way if you get ahead of them they’ll bee able to find where you are on the sheet rather than drifting off or distracting others.

Ask questions - If you ask the class questions you’ll get them involved in the information which hopefully will get them interested. If you can begin a lively discussion.

Recap - It might be boring at the time but recapping really does help things sink in. Try to go over things at least three times during the year.

Mix up formats - The more teaching techniques you’ll use the more likely you are to engage everyone in the material. Different people learn in different ways so get the students acting, drawing, writing and talking.

Mack LeMouse

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