Ten Tips for Teachers

In this blog, I offer ten ideas for effective teaching. Although the suggestions are primarily geared for educators, I invite parents to read them so as to become more familiar with what I believe teachers should aspire toward in order to provide children with the best possible learning environments and supports.

TEN TIPS FOR TEACHERS

By Dr. Joanne Foster

Are you a teacher? Do you focus on intelligence-building? Are you nurturing students’ development to the best of your ability?
Here are some questions you might want to ask yourself:

1. How can I challenge myself to become a more effective teacher? What specific steps can I take to increase my competence?
2. How can I better prepare, manage, and enhance the learning environment for my students?
3. What do I know about the individual? That is, where is this child at in terms of identity formation? Self-confidence? Resilience? Moral reasoning? Areas of strength and weakness in different domains?
4. What skill sets has this student already mastered? How can I build from there, and what kinds of assistance or scaffolding would be most beneficial to nurture his abilities at this time?
5. How can I motivate this child so that she becomes more excited about and invested in learning?
6. How can I improve upon my connectivity and collaboration with parents? Other teachers? Students?
7. What do I do to model, encourage, and teach students about a growth mindset—including positive habits of mind, a sense of industry, goal-setting, and how to cope when things get tough?
8. How do I encourage creativity in my classroom—and beyond?
9. What sorts of strategies do I use to differentiate programming, instruction, assessment, and other aspects of my teaching so as to address individual learning needs and facilitate a proper educational match for each student?
10. How do children co-create the learning in my classroom? To what extent and in what ways are they actively engaged in developing their own intelligences?

Refection is an excellent impetus for positive change!

February, 2013 – Joanne Foster, EdD