6 Simple Ways to Become a Better Teacher
By Lizzie Weakley
As teachers, our whole career is about providing the best education for students that we can. One of the most effective ways to accomplish this goal is by becoming the best teacher (and, more generally, person) you can be. Here are six ways to become a better teacher to make sure your students succeed.
1) Take Care of Yourself
Your students need you to be healthy. Make sure to schedule time to relax, decompress, and take care of yourself so that you can stay healthy, happy, and at the top of your game. Neglecting yourself will only set you up for getting sick, and it can even lead to burnout. Don’t let this happen–teacher engagement is crucial.
2) Be Vigilant About Self-Reflection
You may have kept a self-reflection journal in college, but even if you don’t write it out self-reflection is a vital tool for continuous self-improvement. Take just a few minutes at the end of every day to think over what went well, what didn’t go well, and what you would do differently in the future.
3) Accentuate the Positive
The Affective Filter is a real issue. Your students will perform better when they are less stressed, and they feel like they have a chance at success. Make sure you praise students for good behavior, hard work, and high success. Praise more often than you correct–a 5:1 positivity ratio is ideal.
4) Ask for Help
Teacher’s lives are busy, to say the least. Between grading assignments, meetings, and maintaining a personal life, sometimes you get buried in work.
Ask for help, get a TA, or have students perform more tasks on their own. It’s ok to get help with the menial things in order to give more time and attention to the more important things.
Even more, never underestimate the value of a personal learning network.
5) Go Back to School
Your education will have a direct impact on your students’ education. Consider going back to school for a master’s in gifted education online, or consider broadening your license by certifying in another subject or gaining new micro-credentials.
6) Learn another Language
Chances are that you have more than one student who speaks another language at home. Use a free, online program like duolingo.com to learn a second language so you can better empathize with students who are learning English as a second language.
Becoming a better teacher doesn’t happen overnight, but these 6 steps can help you on your way–they may seem simple, but they will help keep you grounded and engaged.
For more, see:
- How to Find Your Teacher Next Door
- 6 Small Steps to Shift Towards Project-Based Learning
- Teachers Taking Leadership to Drive Positive Change
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T.K. Firoz
I would add: seek a teaching job outside your country for a year or two. That should add decades of experience and will present you as an authority when interacting with students and partents.
Bhagya
Nice Post! Collaboration between parents and teachers is totally crucial to a student’s success. Make an open way of correspondence so parents can come to you with concerns and you can do likewise.
Karen
This is an awesome article! Thank you for engaging me to become a better teacher.
Lily Rose
Great post keep it up, i really get some information from your post.
Danya Smith
Teachers are the building block of the future generations so they should continuously enhance their knowledge with the process of certification. reassly liked your points to become a better teacher.
Masabua Vasco
Being new in this career!....the info is realy helpful.Many thanks indeed