So I just wanted to find a bunch of science tips! So here are a bunch I found.
1. Spend extra time in preparing your daily lessons to think of some unique (and startling) way to make the lesson memorable. Do something which reaches all the senses. Remember, your goal as a teacher is for your students to remember and understand.
2. Organization is the key to being a successful teacher.
3. Don't hold back your gifted students,challenge them inside and outside the class.
4. Try to change activities every 15-30 minutes, on average. Especially if you teach a Block Schedule. Labs run longer, of course, as do some written assignments. But you could break that up with a game in the middle! Go from quiet to noisy, from individual to pairs, to teams to lab groups, and back to pairs or individual.
5. Put a fun trivia question (scienceon the board during the first few minutes of class. Give a little prize for the correct answer
6. Learn some simple sleight-of-hand magic, or get some easy-to-use special effect devices from a magic shop, practice your presentation, then DO it in class in an appropriate context to make a point about your current topic
I hope some of these were helpful, I liked a few.
Thanks for the good tips.
ReplyDeletePreparation and organization must the basic golden tips for all teachers.
I like the one that challenging the gifted students. Take them to acceleration programs, get them involved in enrichment activities such as independent projects, small group inquiry and investigations, academic competitions. Gifted students will not get bored in the regular class and the will motivate the average student to do better.
Fun trivia question and give a little prize for the correct answer. That’s great motivation. Do teachers have to spend money out of their own pocket to buy “prizes”…
Thanks for sharing these tips Will. In future posts, it would be great to include links to the resources that you are finding.
ReplyDeleteGood tips, Will. I'm curious to know if you found any more information on good ways to challenge gifted students. Would you expand their assignments and experiments? Would you give them different assignments alltogether? Did you find information on how you keep them from becoming bored?
ReplyDeleteWhenever I have observed lower elementary level classrooms, changing activities every 15-30 minutes was pretty standard. When I did a practicum in a kindergarten classroom, the students needed to be constantly kept busy and always have something to do.
ReplyDeleteI think also that being organized is a key characteristic for many professions, or even a leader of an organization. I will find out next semester while student teaching how teachers do it every day!
Schools that I have done practicums at have been vastly different. Some teachers have such varied levels of learners that it can be a struggle to differentiate material. You don't want some students to be bored with a task that other students might find difficult. This would be an interesting tip to research further.