Being a good teacher can be challenging on its own. You have to pay proper attention to all your students, be patient and prepared to make a lasting impact on your classroom. Throw virtual classes into the mix, and your job becomes a lot more demanding.
Learning how to produce teaching content effectively, help your online students and still have a life outside of work are some of the grueling tasks. With online teaching, you need to up your skills and make your classrooms effective learning spaces.
Here are some of our tips to help you make the most of your teaching skills in an online classroom.
Be engaging and interactive during your classes
People often assume online classes are just dull video lectures that require reading off of a script. But if you do it right, it’s so much more than that.
The lack of your physical presence requires you to make your lessons more engaging. You need to establish a virtual presence and retain the attention of your class by asking questions, allowing discussions, and encouraging participation.
Creating engagement with your students will help build their confidence and a connection between you and them. You can also increase engagement with your students by taking an interest in their hobbies and activities. Create social media accounts where your students can reach out to you regarding classes or their homework.
Create a supportive learning environment
Support your online students and encourage learning through the class environment. Be friendly and allow your students to engage in teacher-to-student and student-to-student interactions.
Understand that your students are at home and need extra support when it comes to creating a bond or wanting to learn. If you notice any shy or timid kids in your class, give them space and the opportunity to grow and learn to make friends with their classmates.
Provide viable feedback and constructive criticism
If you want to help your students make the most of online school and improve their skills, it’s vital to provide them with feedback. Make a point to let them know how they did on their assignments and tests and how they can improve their performance.
Help them set adequate goals and achieve them. It’s your duty as a professional educator to ensure all your students are motivated and keeping up with their lessons. Stay in touch with the parents to keep them updated on their child’s performance.
As dedicated educators, we want to involve parents and help build a secure learning environment for our students.
Incorporate diversity into your lessons
When it comes to teaching, especially a bunch of impressionable young kids, teachers can play a vital role in setting up prejudices and promoting stereotypes.
We want to move away from that culture of unhealthy discrimination and exclusivity. Our students shouldn’t carry any negative biases toward each other depending on their gender, race, or disabilities.
As a teacher, it’s your responsibility to promote diversity and make all your students feel included in their lessons and classes.
Follow a curriculum that caters to students with special needs, so they can keep up with their peers and don’t feel left out. Allow group discussions and bonding time so all your students can interact and bond with each other.
Utilize visual aids and presentations
Thanks to the advancement in technology, every aspect of our lives has become more manageable. Educational tools such as visual aids and infographics help us present data and make understanding easier for our students.
Incorporate visual tools and aids to make your lessons more exciting and easier to understand. Captivating your student’s attention during classes with these techniques will get them excited and motivated to learn.
Visual aids enhance the quality of education you provide and give your students more opportunities to broaden their perspective and understanding.
Transform your boring lectures with colorful and vibrant presentations. Try recording your courses and content and post them on your site or forum for students to easily access and go over them later.
Prepare your lessons ahead of time
Being prepared and ready with your lessons ahead of time is a sign of a good and dedicated educator. It shows you the amount of effort you put into your work and how passionate you’re about educating your students.
Planning and preparing your content and material days before it’s scheduled will save you from stress and delays. You’ll know exactly what to start and end your classes with, making you stay focused and attentive during your lessons.
This will also keep your students attentive and motivate them to keep up with their classes.
Set office hours and boundaries
Even with online teaching, it’s healthy to set office hours and boundaries. Teaching is your job, not your entire life. Maintain a healthy work and life balance and make sure your students follow and respect them.
During the first day of your class, let your students know what time they can privately contact you after classes and that it’s inappropriate to reach out to you outside of these hours.
Classroom hours are for class and work-related questions only. For any other questions or queries, they can contact you during your office hours.
Uphold these boundaries and encourage the parents to do the same. You don’t want parents or students reaching out to you when you’re in bed or enjoying your free time. It’s just not professional.
Learn more about online schooling and education with our help.
At Ideal School, we strive to hire competent and passionate professionals looking to work hard toward giving our students quality education and a safe learning environment. We are an online bilingual (English and Spanish) primary school offering homeschooling and virtual classes to students in the Caribbean and North and South America.
We effectively train our teachers to provide our students with quality education at affordable prices from the comfort of their homes.
