9 Teaching Methods

 

9 Teaching Methods To Promote Success in the Classroom

With the right teaching methods, educators can create an enjoyable and productive classroom experience for students where they can learn important academic and social skills to last a lifetime. There are many frameworks that a teacher could use to support students with different interests, abilities and learning styles. If you're a teacher or professional in the education field, you might benefit from learning about new instructive strategies in the field to maximize your students’ chances of success in your classroom. 

In this article, we define what teaching methods are, explore nine types of teaching methods, review the benefits of these methods and provide some tips for doing so successfully.

Key takeaways:

• Teaching methods are techniques that educators can use to facilitate the teaching process and help students feel engaged and interested in the material. 

• Types of teaching methods include differentiated instruction, lecture-based instruction, technology-based learning, group learning, individual learning, inquiry-based learning, kinesthetic learning, game-based learning and expeditionary learning.

• Improve your teaching methods by testing different ones using the same lesson, meeting with other teachers to get their perspectives and remaining flexible. 

 

What are teaching methods?

Teaching methods are ways to instruct students in a classroom, helping them to understand and remember what they've learned. Some of the best teaching strategies allow educators to convey information in a clear and concise way while also ensuring students retain it over the long term. If students can comprehend facts on a deep level and practice skills properly in the classroom, they can apply that wisdom and those abilities to their personal lives and their future careers.

Teaching methods are opportunities to make learning engaging, inspiring and fun for students. They aid teachers in fulfilling the responsibility of guiding the social and emotional development of children. By using the right strategies, teachers can instill values of respect, empathy and cultural sensitivity into their classroom. They also use teaching methods to prepare students for standardized testing. Your classroom philosophies and principles can vary based on your preferences as a teacher, your school mission statement, your subject areas and other factors.

Types of teaching methods

There are many kinds of procedures a teacher can use in a classroom. Many of them are similar in purpose, and educators can use a blend of instruction methods to best fit the needs of their students. Here are nine typical approaches to consider:

1. Differentiated instruction

Differentiated instruction is the idea of creating tailored education plans for students based on differing needs. This may involve the ways by which students access content, the activities they do, the assessment techniques a teacher uses or even the physical setup of a classroom. As all people have varying abilities and talents, it's beneficial for a teacher to adapt their teaching styles to unique students. This is also a key step in supporting students with disabilities in the classroom and ensuring they feel welcome and comfortable in academic environments. 

Here are some ways an educator may differentiate instruction:

• Provide books or other materials at different reading levels.

• Create custom spelling lists for students with different spelling skills.

• Host small groups to provide tailored advice to students.

• Offer one-on-one after-school help to students encountering challenges.

• Discuss student progress and at-home educational strategies with parents.

• Measure progress in different ways, through projects, portfolios and participation.

2. Lecture-based learning

A traditional way to structure classroom learning is the lecture format, in which teachers explain information while students observe. Teachers lead a lesson by presenting on, showing visuals of and modeling examples of a topic. While a teacher is presenting, students can listen, watch, take notes and copy the teacher's demonstrations. While this is a conventional and helpful approach, teachers may alter it for different learning environments.

Here are some ways that teachers ensure the success of lecture-based learning:

• Keep lessons brief: Students, especially those at a young age, may have short attention spans and might only be able to focus for short periods of time. It can be advantageous to keep classroom lectures short and concise to maintain student attention and engagement.

• Allow time for questions: While lecture-based learning is a teacher-centered approach, educators can still involve student input by making time for questions before, during and after the presentation. While this can make the lecture process longer, it can also allow students to engage with the material, comprehend it and remember it more easily.

• Create instructional videos: Many teachers use a flipped classroom approach where they encourage students to watch lectures or instructional videos at home and complete assignments in class. This can be a great opportunity to let students work at their own pace, as they can see videos again by rewinding and replaying them.

• Use visual cues: Whether in or outside of the academic environment, using visual cues in presentations such as icons, images and videos can be a great way to keep your audiences interested in the content. Make sure to use high-contrast colors and bold shapes and lines so students across your classroom can see and understand your messages.

• Promote handwritten notes: For those students who are able, hand-writing notes on paper can be a superb way to stay focused during lectures. It can also help people to recall information well and strengthen their spelling and writing skills.

3. Technology-based learning

Teachers can use technology in the classroom to make teaching processes more efficient and aid in student learning. Students can use devices like computers and tablets to read materials, conduct research or play educational games. In addition, cloud computing capabilities make it possible for students to access documents or other resources while at school or at home. Virtual classrooms using video conferencing software can be a great way to provide education remotely. This can be especially helpful for students with disabilities who may have difficulties focusing in a physical classroom environment.

4. Group learning

Segmenting students into groups is a great way to teach them skills in collaboration. While in their teams, they can discuss subjects and learn about the perspectives of others. It's important to encourage both class participation and listening skills so that students can gain these abilities for the future. Teachers can assign group presentations so students can convey information to the rest of the class, ask and answer questions and interact with each other.

5. Individual learning

While group projects can be exciting opportunities for students, it's also important to promote individual learning so that they can work by themselves. Assigning journal entries can be an excellent way to give students time to think through topics and develop thoughts and analyses. This is especially helpful before hosting a class discussion so class members can have ideas for what to say. Teachers can read writing assignments to reward points to students who can't participate vocally in class.

6. Inquiry-based learning

Inquiry-based learning promotes the idea of learning by investigation, where students can complete projects, ask questions and find answers by themselves. While teachers act as resources in these times, the goal is for students to solve problems and discover information on their own. Upon learning about concepts, they can explain and present the concepts in their own words to further enforce them in their memories. Then, students can advance to higher levels at their own pace. This is a way for students to perform an active role in the learning process.

7. Kinesthetic learning

Kinesthetic learning is the notion of learning through movement. Teachers can move around the classroom and use hand gestures while they present to engage students visually and kinesthetically. They can also encourage students to perform physical activities where they can move around and use their creativity. Here are some ideas:

• Drawing: Many students enjoy drawing or painting, and teachers can include this activity in the classroom to make learning enjoyable. Students can have the option to develop ideas and use different colors and tools to make their ideas a reality.

• Acting: Students, especially young children, may have an exciting time developing and role-playing in theatrical performances. This can be a great idea for implementing kinesthetic learning in group projects.

• Building: Building structures with blocks, toys or other materials can help students develop hand-eye coordination and analytical thinking skills. It can also be a fun way for them to stay focused in the classroom.

• Playing: A traditional form of kinesthetic learning is playing sports, and many schools have gym classes where students can exert energy and spend time outside. You can also have educational sports games in the classroom, where students can move around and learn simultaneously.

8. Game-based learning

If you want to update your classroom techniques and help children to be more excited about learning, consider developing and implementing educational games or challenges, whether in-person or online. These can inspire children, especially kinesthetic learners, to participate more fully in the learning process and keep them motivated and focused on lessons. It can also allow them the opportunity to solve problems and reach a goal.

9. Expeditionary learning

Expeditionary learning is the process of learning through participating in practical experiences. These can be projects, case studies or lab experiments in the classroom or field trips to places around your school and community. For example, in a science class, you might take a trip to a nearby nature center to learn about the types of animals and plants in your area. This type of approach encourages students to apply classroom knowledge and skills to the real world. It can help them comprehend the purpose of their efforts and return to schoolwork with enthusiasm.

Benefits of using teaching methods

Using teaching methods can make the job duties of educators easier and more effective. Here are some benefits of this process:

• Teaching your students effectively: You can use effective teaching methods that educators have been using throughout history to help people learn. Paying attention to the way you teach students, in addition to the content you convey to them, is a critical part of ensuring they master subjects and abilities.

• Planning your educational content: In any career field, conducting the proper amount of planning and preparation can ensure your work is efficient and error-free. Planning your teaching methods for the day, week, month, quarter or year can support well-functioning lessons and classroom activities.

• Finding the best ways to connect with your students: Experimenting with various teaching methods allows you to gauge what your students need and govern your classroom well. You can discover the teaching styles that lead to better performance on assessments and better progress reports.

Tips for using teaching methods:

With the right planning and sensitivity, many teachers can excel at using various instructional strategies in the classroom. Here are some tips for using teaching methods successfully:

• Consult with more advanced professionals: Conduct research and consult with experienced teaching professionals to find inspiration for how you can operate your classroom effectively. You can also check with multiple people to confirm that your lessons are appropriate before implementing them to ensure their success.

• Gain feedback from students and parents: In many schools, there are methods through which students and parents can give regular feedback to teachers about classroom techniques. Study this feedback carefully to adjust your approaches and meet student and parent needs.

• Be adaptable: Stay open to trying new methods as your students grow, as you get new students and as times change. With the advance of technology and other tools you can use in the classroom, there are many ways you might improve your students' learning experiences.

• Create a routine: An everyday routine, like a brief lecture, an individual writing assignment and a group activity every day, can keep the classroom predictable and comfortable for students. If students know what to expect, this can reduce stress and make them more ready to learn new information.

• Teach the same topic in three different ways: Consider teaching key topics in multiple ways using a mix of methods to help students remember the information. For example, you might have them read about a topic, write about it and perform an interactive activity about it.