7 Teaching Skills in the Classroom You need To Incorporate into Your Lessons

As a student, there were many different kinds of ways my own teachers helped me understand difficult subjects. These teaching methods helped me then tutor and mentor young children and adults and I will also pass them on to my future students in Asia.

This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nikolai S.

Visualization

Bringing dull academic concepts to life using visual and practical learning experiences helps students understand how their schooling applies to the real-world. Examples include using an interactive whiteboard to display photos, audio clips and videos, as well as encouraging your students to get out of their seats with classroom experiments and local field trips.

Also read: 5 Creative Writing Activities for the ESL Classroom

Get your students thinking!

In addition, encourage your students to ask questions and investigate their own ideas to help improve their problem-solving skills.

Focus on Behavioral Management

A major key to successful teaching is implementing an effective behavior management strategy to gain your students’ respect and ensure that they have an equal chance of reaching their full potential. Noisy, disruptive classrooms do no encourage a productive learning environment, and therefore, teachers need to develop an atmosphere of mutual respect through a combination of discipline and reward which is beneficial for both you and your students.

Also read: Games in the Classroom: What are EFL games?

Incorporate Technology

Students love technology so incorporating technology into your teaching is a great way to actively engage your students, especially as digital media surrounds young people in the 21st century. This gets them interested in the task because it almost doesn’t feel like studying.

Assign activities tailored to student needs

Lastly, assigning classroom activities according to a student’s unique learning needs means, individuals with higher academic capabilities are challenged and those who are struggling get the appropriate support. This can involve handing out worksheets that vary in complexity to different groups of students, or setting up a range of work stations around the classroom which contain an assortment of tasks for students to choose from.

Also read: The Most Useful Corrections Techniques in the EFL Classroom

Encourage Cooperative Learning

Another teaching strategy would include cooperative learning. This gives students the opportunity to work with others and see a different point of view. Research shows that students learn more effectively when working together rather than by themselves and it is also known to improve self-confidence in students. The jigsaw technique is especially effective because each student is responsible for each other’s learning, and students find out really quick that each group member has something equally important to contribute to the group in order to complete the task. Students are exposed to and use many skills with this strategy: Communication, problem solving, cognition, and critical thinking - all of which are essential for a successful academic career.

Graphic Organizers are your friend.

Also, implement to use of graphic organizers. These are a simple and effective tool to help students brainstorm and organize their thoughts and ideas in a visual presentation. Simply put, they help students organize information so it is easier for them to comprehend. Graphic organizers can be used for any lesson; to structure writing, brainstorming, planning, problem solving, or decision-making.

Now it's your turn to teach English abroad!

All of these teaching skills are great ideas that will help any teacher make the most of their time infront of students.

Apply now & get certified to teach english abroad!

Speak with an ITTT advisor today to put together your personal plan for teaching English abroad!

Send us an email or call us toll-free at 1-800-490-0531 to speak with an ITTT advisor today.

Listen to this blog post

Related Articles:

• The Top 5 Places to Teach English in Japan | ITTT | TEFL Blog
• 10 Questions You Need to Ask Before Enrolling In a TEFL Course
• Step-By-Step Guide To Legally Teaching English in South Korea
• Online or In-Class - Which TEFL Course Should You Take?
• Teaching English Abroad: What's Next? - How To Advance In Your EFL Career
• Teaching English In China - The Salary and Budget Guide