Traditional teaching methods are seen as no longer effective in encouraging students to show their best abilities. Instead of being dynamic and optimistic, they are designed to be listeners only. This article will explain how we as teachers encourage our students to improve their academic abilities.
- Change students’ view of studies
The first change to be adopted concerns a change in mentality that should have practical, long-term effects. It is about changing students’ image of studies. Studying is often seen as a mandatory and boring pursuit, almost a punishment that parents and teachers impose on young people. But this should not be so, after all, the possibility of getting in touch with the new and of understanding the world around us is something that should be extremely stimulating. For this picture to change, it is interesting that school activities are presented as challenging and engaging. Many parents and teachers charge the wrong performance, focusing on the duration of the student’s studies, for example. Often, when the child or adolescent is idle, he is soon forced to study more, even if he has already completed classroom activities or homework. In this way, learning inevitably becomes a punishment.
So much more than saying “go study” in an empty and automatic way, it is more interesting to focus on the issue of learning, showing the student what he has to gain. In addition, it is fundamental to transform pedagogical strategies. The family can be a great ally in the process of improving student performance, since they play a very important role in their training. Therefore, maintaining an open and direct dialogue between families and the school is extremely important to building a relationship of trust. In addition, with this closeness they will have the opportunity to contribute to a continuous improvement in the school environment. This creates an opportunity to further stimulate students.
2. Make learning fun
The use of technology coupled with education, for example, is a very promising strategy to motivate the study. Today, most young people are very much attached to technological gadgets and digital tools. Taking advantage of this interest in order to improve teaching is a great idea. Proposing outside activities so as to hold attention and instigate student thinking is another great strategy. You need to know how to stay focused on goals, but getting out of the ordinary is more than recommended. Working on argument essay topics is one of ways needed to stay focused. In addition to the exercises involving technology, you have to use creativity to make classrooms run away from the outline of the book, notebook, and picture.
Our brain works best when it is constantly stimulated and surprising students with different exercises is very positive. Differentiated activities are interesting to give context to what has been learned in the classroom, besides being useful to develop and strengthen the socio-emotional skills of the students. Through this, the school will be encouraging students to become full citizens capable of applying their knowledge on a day-to-day basis.
3. Show the practical application of the content
Getting students to achieve a degree of excellence in education is motivating them to want to learn, and from there, to teach with quality and receive positive results. Therefore, it is essential to make classes more dynamic and practical, combining the content of subjects with real life.
4. Track student performance to improve
Another strategy to improve students’ performance is to always be attentive to the overall outcome of the class. A recurring difficulty in math, for example, may be a sign that content is not being worked out in the best way. It is essential that the teacher is also aware of signs of learning difficulty. Throughout the year, through performance assessment tools, it is important to compare the results and track the progress of the class. This type of diagnosis helps teachers and coordination to identify pedagogical interventions
