16 Innovative Ideas to Make Your Teaching Methods More Effective: One of the most toughest and soul-satisfying jobs in the world is that of a teacher’s. A teacher, in many parts of the world, is worshipped as god and goddess, and rightly so, given the impact and footprints, they tend to leave on the society.
The gullible and tender minds of kids who are coming across many things in the world for the first time need to be nurtured well so as to turn them into an asset and a blessing for society. And this responsibility lies solely on the parents at home and teachers at school.
Right from leaning morality and ethics to learning mathematics and physics, a teacher’s role in building a bright career for students is undoubtedly the most important one.
Education has become a crowded market for businessmen to come and compete with their counterpart. However harsh the reality of education in today’s world is, a teacher’s dedication towards their students should never be compromised at any stage.
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16 Innovative Ideas to Make Your Teaching Methods More Effective
In this article, we will be talking about the various methods that teachers can use in and out of their classrooms so that their teachings are imparted properly to the kids.
- Use of technology
- Classroom simulations
- Case study based learning
- Interactive session
- Creative pedagogy
- Roleplays
- Club activities
- Group activities
- Body storming
- Design thinking
- Art and craft-based learning
- Movies and music-based learning
- Puzzles and games
- Storytelling
- Cross-functional learning
- Outings and educational tours
Let us discuss each of the mentioned methodologies in brief:
- Use of technology– Technology not only enhances the ease of leaning for kids but also helps teachers in creating a student-friendly learning atmosphere. Use of audio and visuals in classrooms helps increase learning retention capacity of students because statistics suggest that human brains grasp more knowledge through visual experience than a theoretical one. Use of Augmented reality and Virtual reality (AR-VR) gears in the classroom enhances the learning experience because it creates real-life scenarios for kids who would otherwise be not able to experience it in the real world, outside the classrooms.
- Classroom simulations– A live demonstration of theories, lessons and principles thought through a textbook is a sure shot way to make sure students are always kept curious about the learning. From stories in English textbooks to boring physics and mathematical problems, live demonstrations always improve student’s interest in the subject and help them in grasping the knowledge effectively. A man buying 10 watermelons in math textbook to Newton’s gravity problems and the stories of the apple falling on his head in the physics textbook, live and creative demonstrations in the class will help students remember whatever they have learnt in the class, for a relatively long time.
- Case study based learning– Use of real-life case studies helps in improving critical thinking abilities for the students. When a case study is discussed in a classroom, different solutions and opinions should be spoken out loud by all students so that they learn how to tackle a problem and arrive at one good solution through logical and critical analysis. The rigour and type of case study discussion can vary depending on the age of the students and the subject being thought. The objective of case study discussions in the classroom is to help students systematically tackle a problem while considering all the points and facts put out by their classmates. This also helps students to learn how to deal with difference of opinions within a team.
- Interactive session– The responsibility of making classroom teaching interactive and fun, lies on the shoulders of the teachers. The teachers should make sure each and every student takes part actively in all the activities conducted, without any hindrance and impediments. The objective of this is to help increase the confidence level for the kids and improve their communication skills. Eliminating stage fear and scepticism right from childhood makes a student bright and outgoing once he/she grows up. Such a creative and stimulating environment will help them explore and will encourage them to learn about the subject.
Children, especially young ones cannot be expected to sit all day and learn. An environment that positively impacts the children is beneficial. - Creative pedagogy: The course design and structure itself should be such that the students are eager to learn the subject. Inculcating curiosity among kids for learning is one of the biggest challenges that schools face today. In its essence, creative pedagogy teaches learners how to learn creatively and become creators of themselves and creators of their future. This type of learning inculcates the value of critical thinking. Students need to ask plenty of questions and doubts, which is an indicator that the student is actually interested in the subject being thought.
- Role plays– This is a type of learning experience where students immediately put in real-life scenarios learnt from the textbook theories. The objective of this structure of the teaching method is to help improve the decision-making capabilities of the students. Real-life as well as hypothetical situations are given to students and are expected to enact a role play. This can be business role-play or a moral science role play or a science role play, but irrespective of kind of subject being thought, role play is an effective method of teaching across all disciplines.
- Club activities– Creating various clubs within the school environment, such as Science club, sports club, art and craft club, mathematics club, music and dance club etc., has various benefits for students for learning outside the classroom environment. The objective of club-based activities is to help students focus on their scope of interest and improve their competency in that particular area. Club activities can include both co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. Taking part in these activities and conducting various events develops teaming building spirits among the participants and also inculcates leadership attributes among the club members.
- Group activities– The main objective of group activities is to help students learn how to build a team and mingle with others. There are various fun group activities and games that a teacher can plan which can act as an ice-breaking session for the kids in the class. Group activities are engaging and interactive in nature which makes the learning experience fun and memorable for the students. Kids will learn socializing and people skills by having more and more group activities in the school.
- Body storming– Bodystorming is a way of subjecting a student’s own body to physically experience a situation in order to ideate. A combination of role-playing and simulation, bodystorming takes place in a physical environment, instilling a feeling of empathy for the users. Bodystorming is also a form of brainstorming using the body i.e. by acting out stories or simulating something very close to reality with the objective of generating ideas. It’s a creative way of making students think about the real-life application of theories and practices.
- Design thinking– Design Thinking is an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding. Students use design thinking to tackle ill-defined or unknown problems (otherwise known as wicked problems) because the process reframes these problems in human-centric ways, and allows kids to focus on what’s most important for users. Design thinking offers the kids a means to think outside the box and also dig that bit deeper into problem-solving. It helps students carry out the right kind of research, create prototypes and test out products and services to uncover new ways to meet the objectives set by the teachers.
- Art and craft-based learning– Coloring, painting, drawing, sketching and crafting are always a kid’s favourite activities to do at school. And this interest of theirs can be tapped into teaching boring and difficult topics. Boring and difficult topics thought through arts and craft can make it interesting that helps gain the student’s attention and focus. Researchers suggest that using different colour and crafts imprints a strong impression and memory among young and tender brains. Hence, the objective of this method of teaching is to help students remember the learning for a long time to come.
- Movies and music-based learning– Watching movies and listening to music need not necessarily be an activity that is done in free time at home. Movies and music can be used to teach mathematics or physics or chemistry more effectively. Using the storyline and popular characters from movies in physics or mathematical problems can help build the curiosity and interest among the kids. Using the knowledge of music will help them improve memory power and retention of classroom learning.
- Puzzles and games– Learning is fun when puzzles and games are part of the classroom curriculum. Children may not require taking conscious effort when their lessons are introduced through games. Puzzles and games help children to think creatively and face challenges.
- Storytelling– Another sure shot way to make classroom learning effective is storytelling. Storytelling is an art and when this art is combined with subjects like mathematics or chemistry and iterated to students, it would be an innovative way to make students fall in love with the subject.
- Cross-functional learning– Cross-functional learning is a technique where different subjects are thought in tandem and superimposed with each other so that students gain benefits of one subject from another. This means a mathematical problem thought with Physical Training subject in tandem helps students learn both the subjects quickly and effectively. The objective of this type of teaching is to make use of student’s varying interest in different subjects and use it accordingly to maintain a healthy balance of education across all disciplines.
- Outings and educational tours– Classroom education need not necessarily be within the four walls of the class. There develops fatigue and disinterest among students if the teachings are confined to classroom monologue. Hence, an occasional outing to museums or factories or a natural habitat to help students learn in a different environment with different methodologies is an innovative method of teaching.