I have always been taught that successful strategic teaching techniques include enough engaging teaching techniques that put the focus on students' success right away. Strategic teaching is a complex set of activities and probably one of the more important skills new teachers need to know in order for their students to perform successfully. A Dean of Education at one of the schools I taught at years ago (when I was a new instructor) told me something that I feel was the most valuable teaching tip……â€Never teach the material to the students…Teach the students the material.†What this means is that we, as instructors, have to engage the students and the learning will follow. The old phrase, “you can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink†also fits very well for this situation. Forcing information on the students will not result in a success. I had a conversation the other day with a colleague discussing why college instructors and professor often times struggle with “engaging activitiesâ€. The answer that we came up with is that many times professors were never really trained on how to partake in such activities. Their teaching strategies are more “tribal†and they present and lecture based on how they, themselves, were taught……which in many cases was not engaging.
With some background provided, I also think that discipline problems usually occur when students find a task too challenging, unclear, or “doesn't speak to themâ€. When students become off-task, instructors become frustrated and discouraged by their efforts. Instructors should focus on students' success within the first five minutes of the lesson. This is done by using engaging teaching techniques which help keep a smooth pace from one activity to another that also serves to maintain students' attention all throughout the lesson. How is this done?? There are several things that need to be done in order for strategic teaching to be successful. First of all, instructors need to make sure you have a list of realistic goals and expectations of what the students can do. Plan tasks based on what you know for a fact, students can do with minimal instruction from you and with some guided help and assistance. Time needs to be spent on observing how students perform with various types of learning tasks. Each classroom of students is different and what works for one class may not work for them all. Instructors need to be flexible with activities and self-analyze which activities are actually working. I think that when you are more informed with the possibilities about what your students can do, you are also more likely to make decisions based on what you know not based on what you think you know.
Once instructors know their students' true capabilities, teachers can create engaging lessons that build on this knowledge using various teaching techniques. I always start class using what students already know. I am a very energetic and enthusiastic instructor that is on a constant move. Students come to my class knowing that I will be “forcing†interaction and discussion from day one. Class participation and preparation is imperative. I always tell the students they already know the answers, they just don’t know it yet. I believe it in the instructor’s job to “extract†the knowledge from the students. By utilizing what the student already knows, I relate that to the “new†information making learning fun and “easyâ€. Involving the students and utilizing critical thinking is a key. It is in the instructor’s hands….my line of questioning and presentation will make the difference between understanding and frustration. With that stated a lesson plan must be individual and unique to your own teaching style. If you believe in cooperative learning groups, then use this method of teaching. Students feel your excitement when you are passionate about something and excitement is infectious. In other words, personalize parts of a lesson. The best time to personalize an activity is during the first five minutes of a lesson. That way, you have already created momentum for the rest of the lesson to take place.
As far as methods I use to engage and interact with the students….I always make the subject matter practical. I present the information as the students might see it on tests or assignments, and then relate it to their lives. Make it seem real to them instead of spouting off some abstract concept. Stories are imperative. I use personal experiences in every lesson plan, as they relate to the topics being discussed. I allow the students to visualize concepts through my stories. Often times I find that the stories are remember more than the actual topics, which is alright because more time than not they will be able to relate topic-to-story. As mentioned in previous discussions I am still very traditional to presentation and lecture. Activities are probably my weakness……I love lecture, I find it to be the best way to learn. It should be stated that I am not talking about “Ben Stein Lecturesâ€, I am talking about interactive, discussion and full class participation lectures. I am not a dictator, I always have fun and welcome everyone’s thoughts. I joke and laugh with the students. I know everyone’s name and not one student will ever come to class and not participate…..I make certain of that. Once the lecture is over, I always have the students “box it upâ€â€¦..this is an exercise where I give the students a piece of paper with a box on it. They must write down a summary of what was learned during that days lecture. The box must be completely filled. Thoughts must include detail and understanding.
Thank you for your detailed instruction Sharon, this is so helpful! I love having them create their own bingo sheets. It is so funny to listen to them grumble to themselves for not placing the terms in the correct place! It is also a great motivator to give extra credit for winning - Thanks again for the great ideas!
i really like the post-its it is really actively and funny to see my student interact with each other
Diane, if all of these methods do not fit your style, I would not use them. But if just one seemed possible, I would try that idea only and master it. If I was able to have you in a live class and you experienced one of these, you could easily reproduce it. Maybe one day we will meet in a live class.
Michele Deck
I had a really hard time relating to this module. I am a analytic thinker and learner. I am not very creative and am quite inadequate with spatial relation tasks.
I want to be able to bring some of these games and techniques into my classrooms, however if I as the instructor has diffculty understanding and creating the right enviornment for the production of these activities, how can I present them to my class with confidence and accuracy?
Angela, I like that you are developing the non verbal skills of your students before the visit to the psych unit. This will serve them well.
Michele Deck
To increase awareness and to promote student safety, I use 5 words to be be acted out by groups of 3 or 4. This is done as Charades with no noise. This is helpful before students interact with patients on a locked psch unit.
Christopher, it is a great idea to use a variety of sources and activities.
Michele Deck
I have used power point games, such as, jeopardy, pyramid, million dollar. I have also found many webbased games, that have helped alot in my classes.
This is a great idea! I hadn't thought of this. I have used a sticky flip chart, had a student place it on another student and identify where EKG leads would go on the chest. They really liked this activity.
Drawing on the white board works for visual and kinesthetic learners. I like this activity and accept volunteers to draw on the board. I would never want to put a student on the spot if they are not willing to be the artist in class. I even have given verbal ques for the "drawer" to use so I get the best outcome.
Sue, thank you for sharing this great idea!
Michele Deck
I created the "Wheel of Misfortune" that I used for Medical Billing and Coding Students (however, it could also be used for most programs such as in Law & Ethics). There were five categories and whereever the spin stopped, the student had to choose a question from that category and their team could confer for 30 seconds and then answer. If they missed the answer, the other team could "steal" the question. The students loved it, but wanted to play it each week..........it obviously was "too" much fun!!!
Ben,I don't ever take off points for wrong answers, as I have seen it sometimes discourages participation. I award points only for right answers. This encourages people who are not sure to try anyway.
Michele Deck
I have divided the class into teams purposefully keeping them balanced by skill/knowledge. Give them a small dry erase board and a marker and having them pair off by ability to answer questions with wagers before hearing the question. Points awarded for their wager if answering correct and points taken away if incorrect. Mix it up with lightnign rounds and varying the minimum and maximum bets or incorporating 'life-lines' where they can consult each other or text/notes. winner has the most points.
Lisa, what a great visual and kinesthetic approach!
Michele Deck
I have students make up "practice quizzes" on the skeleton...they use masking tape on the skeleton and groups of students have to go through and name the parts of the skeleton that have the tape. The terms need to be spelled correctly to get credit. The team at the end of the 'quiz' with the most correct answers wins. The students have told me many times, this helps their retention, especially with areas of the body they have trouble remembering.
Vickie, adding the element of activity with the chance to win points keeps students attention.
Michele Deck
I really love this idea, I'm always looking for ways to make anatomy classes more interesting, I think this would be a great idea. If students shy away from being live manikens, you could use a life-size drawing or chart to label. I'm thinking something like "pin the tail on the donkey" but without being blindfolded. They could pin the terms or body part names on the chart, earning points for each correct answer. I think I may use this for study on a couple of anatomy systems that require labeling on the test.
I make a goofy type of review sheet, where I use odd related points, sounds like type of questions. the first class I tryed this with test scores came up by 10% and they loved it. My new class doesen't really care for it.
