Being a teacher can be a very challenging and enriching career for a lot of people. The task and responsibility of a teacher is to enrich the knowledge of the young, preparing the students for their future endeavors. In the midst of doing all these, the teacher is actually shaping the future of the whole nation. If you have chosen to become one of them, you should be proud of yourself.
However, being a teacher who is able to conduct effective lessons is not an easy task to achieve. This is mainly because it’s very difficult to capture the full attention of the students throughout the whole day. For a typical student, the time to concentrate fully can only last up to two hours. This means that schools are spending more efforts to employ teachers who can engage their students in interesting lessons.
One of the basics for teaching is to conduct lessons that interest your students. Bored students won't remember much of the lesson. Refrain from giving long lectures that will only encourage your students to wander to slumberland. Instead, keep students involved and interacting with them in English. Some students may prefer to listen quietly as they are shy to make any comments. If this kind interaction makes your students nervous, provide plenty of support by giving clear and very specific directions. In addition, make your lessons livelier by adding games or using real-life objects such as a telephone, cook book, or musical instrument. You can also bring your students out of the classroom for a educational tour. This will greatly increase their attention lifespan and assist to absorb the knowledge easily.
Another effective way to attract their attention is to provide some rewards during the lessons. Studies have shown that students will be able to learn better when they perceive a personal reward. To boost internal motivation, remind them of the benefits that English can provide, such as English-speaking friends, better job opportunities, easier shopping, or less stress at the doctor's office, and then teach language that will bring them closer to those benefits. External motivation can be achieved by praise and encouragement as well as tangible rewards like prizes or certificates. These rewards have been proven to be very effective in encouraging the students to put in extra efforts in their daily learning.
Learners will remember material better and take more interest in it if it has applicable contextual meaning. This means that good teachers should be able to relate the teaching materials to daily usage or practical examples. By providing appropriate applications, students will be able to remember them better and longer. Arbitrary rote learning (word lists or grammar drills) may be useful in solidifying language forms, but unless there's a real-world application, sooner or later it's likely to be forgotten.
Experienced teachers usually motivate their students to build up their self-confidence. In other words, teachers should allow them to use their own ability to complete a task. If they lack self-confidence, they tend not to take risks, and risk-taking is necessary in language learning. By trying out new or less familiar language, they may find that they are indeed capable of more communication than they thought. On your part, you can encourage them to interact more by reducing feelings of embarrassment when mistakes are made, and give far more compliments than criticisms. You can also instruct them to perform tasks that are easily achieved so that everyone is guaranteed success. This will help to develop their confidence gradually and increase their learning abilities.
For more information on the different ways of teaching English, teaching opportunities available or getting a teaching degree, please visit the following website: http://teaching.mygeneralknowledge.com/
Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=94986&ca=Education
