The Importance Of Teacher Development

What is the most important factor in school that influences a student to learn and achieve? Without doubt, it is the teacher. The role of a teacher to inculcate the passion for learning in a student’s life has been proved in every classroom. Everyone has their own favorite teacher who made them become passionate about different subjects like History, Mathematics, Chemistry, Languages, etc.

Thus, if we are to create experts, it is important that we develop their educators.

Teacher Preparation Programs

Today’s teacher preparation programs give importance to subject-matter mastery and practical training to the student educators. These training methods are being implemented following the methodologies used in a medical school or a law school training. Educators are given opportunities to work and learn through case studies. They are being involved and trained through education in best practices and internship opportunities. Exemplary teacher preparation programs allow teachers to get hands-on training in real classrooms.

The role of Universities and colleges in training student educators is inevitable. These educational institutions are now revamping their teacher preparation programs to give more emphasize on subject-matter mastery. Usage of educational technologies and innovative training programs have been developed for students who are looking for  new career options and wish to pursue degrees online.

Early Career Training

Mentoring and coaching in the earlier stage of the career is very important to retain teaching professionals. Without proper guidance in the high-demanding environment, young educators prefer to leave their profession during their first 5 years in the field. To prevent this, veteran colleagues should step-up to the plate and extend their hands to support and guide the young teachers of our nation to prepare the next generation of teachers as well as the students.

Preparation Strategy For Teachers

The best preparation strategy for teachers is to have ongoing and regular opportunities to learn from each other. Teachers should be able to update themselves through preparation programs about children’s learning methods, emerging technology tools for classroom, new curriculum resources, etc.

Thus, the best teacher development includes ongoing, experiential, collaborative, and connected learning from each other and opportunity to work with students and understanding their culture.


Source: http://www.getteachered.com/blogs/

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Do-It-Yourself Projects – A Best Way Of Teaching

Do-It-Yourself (DIY) projects are activities done without the help of others like a teacher or a trainer. Sometimes, they may require minimal supervision from a guide.

For successful completion of these projects, one may require utmost discipline, and understanding abilities & skills. DIY also demands a person to be passionate towards the activity to incorporate his or her own creativity.

Aim of Teaching and DIY

Teaching facilitates learning. Teaching through DIY activities offers scope for students to learn things by themselves. Furthermore, these activities inculcate leadership qualities and provide the required training to complete a task.

In particular, DIY activities increase the rationale and critical thinking in students by enabling them to use their minds in activities they perform.

Important Purpose of Teaching

The purpose of teaching and learning is to create diversity in the society with new contributions from each learner to the already developed theories.

When students try to do activities on their own, their individuality reflects with their work. Thus, these offer the opportunities for creativity and diversity in the resultant products.

Resources for DIY

DIY activities can be done by using objects that are easily available. Also, students can search for kits that are specially created for DIY.

Here, we shall look into some of the inexpensive tech hacks that teachers and students can consider to experience a greater learning session:

• Teachers can find useful information in websites such as Instructables and Make that offer plans, videos, and tips to teachers.


• For simple and inexpensive projects, teachers can browse for Howtoons where they can find these projects presented in an amusing cartoon format.


• In case of blogs, TeachClever is a great resource that makes quality teachers. It has great tech tips for modern educators. One of the worthwhile online resources is Tech Savvy Teachers.


• Another resource is an event called Maker Faire that is held twice a year. This event hosts an astonishing gathering of DIYers of all ages. In this event, kids and adults work on projects under the guidance of university lectures. People from all the age groups with diverse interests will showcase their interests in this event.

In today’s classrooms, enthusiasm and willingness to share expertise make DIYers as special ones. They are truly lifelong learners and teachers.


Source: http://www.getteachered.com/blogs/career-tips/

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Factors That Can Affect The Student Learning Process Inside Classroom

There are many factors that can affect the student learning process, especially inside a classroom where prolonged attention is required to grasp a concept in a very short period of time.

Let us discuss about those factors that could affect the learning process inside a classroom:

Too many of Jargons in the explanation

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo – This is a grammatically correct sentence in American English. Believe it or not, this is what a student gets in a classroom if he or she does not understand the lecture.

One of the reasons that a student gets easily bored in a class session is the inability to understand or connect with the subject. This may happen if the student is not able to understand the meaning of the context in question or if the concept is too ‘alien’ from the student’s perspective. This is mainly because of too many technical terms in the context of the explanation which can drastically affect the students’ ability to grasp the concept.

Teachers should try to explain such difficult terms during the initial class sessions and make it a point to reiterate the same terminologies in order to keep the students’ minds refreshed. 

Very Strange Concepts

As said, alienation of a concept can turn the students’ interest off. To avoid this, teachers should try to explain a concept to the students with an example that they can remember.

The examples can be selected from everyday activities that would help a student to understand the concept and be attentive in the class.

Information Overload

Even if the lecture is very simple and easily understandable, students would get tired after a certain period of time. Some teachers would start teaching in a classroom in a relaxed manner, without focusing on the core subject, to get the attention of the students. But, it is also important to give a small break to the students in between the teaching session. This may be difficult for some teachers to interrupt their flow. But, they should also consider that if the students are not able to concentrate, understand and ‘follow’ the teacher, the lecture would become unproductive.

Thus, teachers should avoid teaching continuously for, say, 40 minutes. If possible teachers can opt for humor as a teaching method for the whole session to grab the attention of the students for prolonged classroom sessions.

One-Way Communication

A good lecture is considered successful only when it is interactive. One-way communication is another important reason that makes students contribute less towards the session as well as makes them less attentive. This also avoids active participation and learning on the students’ part.

There are some unavoidable factors that can make a student less interested in the class or towards education itself, including physical, emotional, and environmental factors. If a student is physically unwell or emotionally disturbed, he or she may not be able to concentrate in the class, at all.

If the environment at school or classroom is unfit for learning, a student would definitely struggle to learn.

But a teacher could resolve issues under his or her control and make use of the opportunities available inside the campus and the classroom to grab the attention of the students. Teachers can also follow some of the simple teaching strategies to improve their performance in the classroom and reap the rewards of a best interactive learning session.


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