Welcome to both new and returning teachers! My post today is really dedicated to the newbies, but of course, I’m hoping the returning folks can add their own tips in the comments below this post. Why? Because first things first, we’re on the same team. Let’s not do the ‘them’ versus ‘us’ division please. Teaching is a dynamic profession and you never stop learning and hopefully, sharing.
So the 2023-24 academic year marks roughly 18 years that I’ve been in the service. This excludes part-time teaching to adults and a 2 term stint at my alma mata, prior to continuous employment in the secondary-school education system at an all-boys institution. Yes, I’ve been teaching for almost half my life and I’ll save you the math if you tryna be ‘fass’ and guess my age: I turn 41 on August 31st.
I share this to indicate that not only do I have the backing of my degree and diploma, but experience in the service. And to be brutally honest, with teaching? There are some things you only learn with experience. So let’s jump right in…
Your secondary school experience is not necessarily going to help you with your teaching: Having attended an all-girls secondary school, I thought teaching the language would be straightforward. Surely, boys would take notes, learn vocabulary and practice grammar structures just as I had, when I was a student. I could not be more wrong. They dawdled, flatly stated their lack of interest and got up to all kinds of mischief while I was teaching.
Your class is not going to go EXACTLY as you planned it: Lesson planning is important and I will not discourage you from setting out in detail what you’re going to do in the class, and how long you plan to stay on each activity. However, there will be days when you have to forego parts of your lesson, to deal with disruptions and circumstances beyond your control.
You will have an on-going love/hate relationship with technology: Honestly, you want to be its friend, but it’s ‘some-timish’, and not sure it wants to commit to you. There will be days when everything goes smoothly, but more likely than not, you will be troubleshooting tech more often than using it.
You will love some classes and dread going to others: No lesson runs the same way twice. I often ran a lesson flawlessly with one class, and then, I’d do the same lesson with another, and fail miserably. To be honest, that still happens, but I’ve learned not to beat myself up over it.
Classroom climate can change like the weather: You can have a great class one day, and then step into the same room the next, and meet a storm of misbehavior, restlessness and disinterest. Classrooms are made up of humans, and they be moody too, trust me.
I could go on with all I’ve learnt, but we have a week to share tips and lessons, so I’ll address just these five issues I’ve highlighted.
Know your audience: Get to know your class(es) before you plan lessons. Find out what their interests are, ask them how they like to learn, what they like to do during a class. You might think that’s giving them too much leeway, but it’s critical that you match your teaching to their learning styles and vary your activities. Not all students learn the same way or at the same pace; and obviously, they don’t all like the same things. If you haven’t done any reading on this yet, please google names like: Howard Gardner & Carol Ann Tomlinson
Research lesson planning: There are many lesson plan templates, but there are certain elements that are common to all and which you should not skip over.
Learning Outcomes/ Objectives: Whatever name you choose to call them by, these must be clear to both you and your students. They should also include skills that are higher up on the taxonomy: move past the verbs “remember” and “understand”. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, please refer to the revised Bloom’s taxonomy of 2001. It’s moved from Nouns to Verbs, and there’s actually a colour-coded listing for each tier. That’s great because you want your students to be ‘actively’ learning, not passively receiving instruction.
Scaffolded activities which allow for Formative feedback: I know I’m throwing a lot of educational terms around, but that’s the point. Use August to get acquainted with them. Formative feedback is critical during a lesson because it allows you to gauge to what extent your students are understanding what you’re teaching. Work WITH them, circulate the room and provide as much feedback as you can. This feedback is purely for you to know how to plan future lessons. It should not be punitive in any way.
Scaffold your activities so that you give students more independence as the lesson progresses. Try the “We do it ⇒ You do it with a group/ in a pair ⇒ You do it by yourself" method. And a key point? Remember that your job isn’t to stand in front of the class. It involves movement (so wear comfy shoes) and interact with students as they work. What do you need to research here? Scaffolding in Education and Lev Vygotsky’s theory of Learning and Development. The Zone of Proximal development (ZPD) should be an abbreviation you learn by heart.
Evaluation Activity/ Assessment: Do not walk out of your class, without assessing what your students have learnt. Otherwise, you’ve missed the point of creating learning outcomes/ objectives. How can you determine if you’ve met your goals, if there’s no measurement or evidence to show that you have? Even if you have to correct just one student’s work in front of the class, make sure you give your students feedback on the evaluation.
With that being said, if you have to skip one of the activities from your lesson plan to reach your evaluation, DO IT. Of course, choose wisely, but make an executive decision if you’re running out of time. NEVER sacrifice your evaluation or give it as homework. Trust me, if you do, students will simply close their notebooks and not open it till the next class (minus of course, your overachievers). They’re not sure what they’ve learnt, and neither are you.
Finally, make sure your evaluation MATCHES your objective. So if you want your students to be able to order at a restaurant for example, that’s an ORAL SKILL objective. So in your eval, don’t ask them to write a restaurant dialogue. You’re assessing a skill you didn’t teach in this particular lesson.
3. Technology is not pedagogy: By all means, include tech where you can. It’s what students use, they’re the natives (supposedly) and we have to embrace it. Incorporating tech doesn’t mean showing a powerpoint, it means having students themselves INTERACT with the technology. They’re so many options out there: Genially, Plickerz, Quizizz, FlipGrid, Blooklet, Nearpod… Take a breath and listen carefully…Choose ONE and master it. Then go on to another… Do not overwhelm yourself by trying to use more than one tech tool at a time. As a new teacher, your primary focus should be developing your pedagogy. Technology is a tool, not a replacement for solid and sound teaching.
And ALWAYS have a back-up activity. Electricity may go, the Internet sticks and websites don’t always load. Don’t spend too much time trying to make it work, while your students are off-task/ idle. Again, make an executive decision, say ‘Okay guys, so the tech isn’t cooperating, let’s move on.’ You may be disappointed, disheartened…but don’t ever let your lesson just disintegrate into nothingness by waiting for the technology to work.
4. Give your best regardless: I know, you may feel like banging your head on the desk, engaging in violence (mentally) or telling somebody off (again, mentally). DO NONE of the things I just mentioned. That’s what after-work limes and de-stressors are for (kidding…not really).
Whether you like the class or not, walk into the room without an attitude. Students match our energy. I’ve learnt that well and some days, I still struggle with it. Try to smile, be positive and encouraging and give them the best of you.
Now that doesn’t mean ignoring misbehaviour. Stop when you need to, address it and move on. Do not engage in a back and forth with a student. If he/she is argumentative, remain calm, simply say “We’ll chat after class, but right now, we need to get back to the lesson.” Don’t give the student fuel to add to the fire, because remember, the rest of the class is watching for YOUR reaction. De-escalate the situation as much as you can, but address it when the timing is right.
Also, do not lapse into bad habits like taking your sweet time to reach to the class. You don’t like teaching Form 3 after lunch, so you walk down 10 minutes after the bell, just to skive off some time. Be punctual and do what you’ve been hired to do- teach. Be professional.
5. Read the room: Some days you will walk into a class and realize they’re not as ready to work as usual. Do not launch into your lesson and ignore the atmosphere of your class. You are teaching human beings, not robots. Also, most times when you charge ahead, you get frustrated and lose your way mid-lesson. If they are unsettled, take time to re-establish structure and order in the class. It may take you five minutes, but it’ll help you get further along in your lesson than if you don’t settle them. Read up on Social Emotional Intelligence (SEL) and ways to incorporate it into your lesson. You are teaching the WHOLE CHILD.
A long one, but I hope it gives you some perspective and points you in the direction of all things Education. As I said, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to teaching, so
look out for a whole lot more this week. We’ll be talking about having a vision for your teaching, coming up with a teaching philosophy, and of course, giving tons of tips to use in your classroom.. At 21st Century Educators, we got you, new teacher. You’re in for a wonderful, wild ride that’s worth every minute of it. Join the adventure of being an educator!