13 Tips on How to Become an Effective Teacher

Teaching is an interesting and sensitive career that deals with the impartation of knowledge to pupils or students. In the teaching and learning process, every good teacher wants to express himself to get the best result in her products. That is where the concern on how to become an effective teacher becomes eminent.

Being an effective teacher requires a whole lot of drills and personal discipline. It’s not always easy to come by except with a determination to reach that height. In this article, we will drive you through the nooks and crannies of what makes an outstanding teacher in the classroom.

Every student has high expectations from their teachers which also comes with emotional attachments. A positive response is always required to win the students’ hearts and prepare them for learning; while a negative mindset does the reverse. As a teacher who wants to stand out, you must prepare yourself for the challenge, pilot a sense of confidence in yourself, and set the pace as a role model.

Tips on How to become an Effective Teacher

Being an effective teacher in your professional career is the extra mile step that set you where you want to stand and you need personal guidance to get there. Here are some tips that set the pace for you.

Be Prepared
Be Active
Be Positive
Be Organized
Be Patient
Be More Self-Explanatory
Be Willing to Learn
Know your Students
Set your Standard
Be Considerate
Have no Reservation
Reflect on Previous Teaching
Be Yourself

1. Be Prepared

when preparedness meets opportunity people say luck has happened. An effective educator must be prepared for the challenge ahead of him. you should get your lesson note ready and educate yourself ahead of the class. Know the strength and weaknesses of your students and how to help them improve individually.

Students are quick to detect when a teacher is ready for a class or not and do not give them that notion of not being prepared. Let them know you for a ready teacher. Always be willing to accommodate questions when necessary and use them to buttress your teaching as required.

2. Be Creative

Someone may ask what’s the link between creativity and how to become an effective teacher. Creativity cannot be separated from effectiveness in teaching. To achieve the desired result from students, sometimes one needs to go outside the traditional teaching methods to employ creative ideas or approaches to make students active and willing to learn.

These may require dividing the class into smaller groups for a debate or a question-and-answer session. This will help make your class interactive and students willing to participate.

You may also want to read: 15 Effective Tips to Improve Your Creative Mind and Think Outside the Box

3. Be Positive

It is vital to stay positive while in the classroom, these can be contagious and will help the students enjoy every class session and see a reason why they should learn. It is natural to wear one’s personal feelings on the face, but while in the classroom, always avoid wearing personal feelings when it’s negative.

The feelings are yours and should not be transferred to the students. Put on a positive mood because students tend to reflect the mood of a class instructor. That is to say, their responses are a result of what you have presented.

4. Be Organized

A proper organization makes a class interesting. Having prepared your lesson note, endeavor to organize yourself and know what’s most important to cover in each topic, and employ diagrams and other instructional aid when required.

Work with your lecture time and be able to stop when you are supposed to. It is ideal to have a long-term plan of what you want to achieve with students and follow it sequentially. Keep students engaged with activities during and after each class and have them submit each assignment at a given time.

Improving your organizational skill is quite needful as this will help you achieve a long-term goal you set for yourself and the students as one of the qualities of how to become an effective teacher.

5. Be Patient

Sometimes it can be frustrating after several explanations yet no qualifying response. Patience is required in learning how to become an effective teacher. create a mental picture of yourself as the student and what you expect the teacher to do.

Learning is a process and sometimes takes time, not all students have the capacity to learn fast, some are quick to learn while some are not. learn to be patient with students, come down to their level, and understand the challenge and why they are finding it difficult

6. Be More Self-Explanatory

Understanding the tips on how to be an effective teacher requires humility. Always bear in mind that students are armature in a learning process and have not attained your level of education. They need a detailed explanation that will be easy to comprehend.

Most times you will be required to use basic language to communicate your ideas, you may even employ images and diagrams for easy comprehension. Coming down to their level to communicate with them gives them the confidence to follow your teaching.

7. Be Willing to Learn

Great teachers are willing to learn. If you are striving how to become an effective teacher, learning must be a consistent habit you must practice every day.

You can learn from your colleagues, by asking question of what really works for them or just sit in a class and watch another teacher interact with the student can drop helpful ideas you can employ in improving your practice.

We are in a dynamic world with new unfolding information, and to get at the helm of your affair means you must keep yourself updated with information.

Moreover, time may pass, and you will need to refresh your mind on what you may have forgotten over the years. When one stops learning knowledge starts decreasing.

8. Know your Students

Creating a relationship with your students is a good lead on how to become an effective teacher. Good interaction with students builds confidence in them towards you and makes them open to learning.

A good relationship isn’t built in a day, it can start with a warm smile and getting to know about their daily events and life at home. You can easily flow with your students when you have interacted over time with them and know their likes, dislikes, strength, and weaknesses and help them improve.

9. Set your Standard

Setting a standard will help you as an outstanding educator to relate closely with your students and yet instill discipline in them. Be ready to practice any standards you give to your students, do this consistently to avoid abuse.

For instance, if you don’t tolerate coming late to lectures from your students, don’t also come late to the class. Whatever standards you set make sure it’s geared toward enhancing your students’ delivery and your improvement.

10. Be Considerate

Discipline is a key factor in learning how to become an effective teacher. While you discipline your students, make sure you are considerate and do not show favoritism or biases in dealing with your students.

Suppose you are to down score a student for faulting a standard and submitting an assignment late, do it in understanding, give them room for explanation, and make them see reasons for the discipline. Sometimes it could be you who failed to keep to your standard, don’t ignore it, be humble enough to apologize and explain what happened

11. Have no Reservation

Giving your best in this job is crucial, from the preparation of your notes to delivery in the class and other engagements you may have, endeavor to give your best and nothing less.

You are a role model to your students and they look up to you as an example, do not hide anything that will be of benefit to them in the future. Give all and you will always be grateful you did so and will be remembered for your sacrifice.

12. Reflect on Previous Teaching

Reflecting on your teachings helps you to personally evaluate yourself and know what has been missing in your practice. Listen to yourself, Check up on students’ score sheets and reports use them in evaluating, and know what is working and what is not. Filter what is no longer relevant and add what is needed to improve on future teachings where necessary.

13. Be Yourself

Being yourself is a main guide on how to become an effective teacher. It makes you fully express your expertise. Pretending to act like someone else who has been successful in the same career will deprive you of exploring your potential.

You may want to copy one or two skills you have seen, ok that’s fine but don’t forget that you may have a unique talent they lack also. Learn to coordinate yourself before your students, be the best you can, and let the know you for your unique personality.

Sum Up

Getting to know how to become an effective teacher is like connecting the dots in a puzzle and when you are done, you will be grateful for such an attempt. Students learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process, they become more engaged and motivated when an instructor stays positive with them and make them believe more in themselves. The task is up to you for an overwhelming impact, be the best you can be.

Also Read: 15 Top Qualities of a Good Teacher