Teaching is one of the most rewarding careers that you will find, a job that gives you the chance to inspire hundreds of people to achieve great things, to spark the creativity, imagination and intelligence of your students and to teach people new things every day. Not everyone has the ability to teach others and their is a broad range of skills required if you wish to be a successful teacher.
Much has been written about the skills required to succeed as a teacher, the great education writer Douglas Reeves has dedicated his career to improving the teaching skills of others. If you want to be a teacher, or you already are, and feel like you need to improve your skills in order to truly succeed in the profession then here are some ways that you can improve.
Regular Evaluation
Teachers regularly assess their students and how they are progressing with their education, one thing that many teachers fail to do however is to regularly review their own performance. Self-evaluation is key to maintaining a high standard of teaching and it can be done with ease. The students and their performance is a direct reflection on your skills as a teacher, students will complain if they are not happy with something in the classroom as well so in effect, your self-evaluation is done by the students you teach. Review the grades of your class and listen to them, this can help you to improve.
Remain a Student
In the classroom, you are an expert of your subject and it is vital that things stay that way, you must be an eager student to become a better teacher. Keeping your finger on the pulse of what is happening in your subject is vital when it comes to better teaching the subject. Your class are curious and they will no doubt bombard you with questions, it is important for your respect in the classroom that you know the answers.
Build Teacher Relationships
It is important that you build relationships with other teachers, doing so can teach you different things about their style and perhaps you can even steal a few ideas to implement in the classroom. Working with other teachers who have the same students as you will also help you greatly, if you have a student who has a higher performance in other classes then you can find out how better to engage with them.
Build Parent Relationships
Having good relationships with the parents of your students can also help you better understand your students and their lives away from the classroom. Remember that you only see the students for a short time each week and you have limited time to teach them well, understanding their lives at home can help you to better engage with them. Creating a line of communication with parents can also make it easier for parents to communicate any problems that the student may be having with their education, the more information like this that you have, the better you will be able to teach.
