People often ask me, 'how do you do it?' 'how do you make your lessons so enjoyable?' or 'how do you make teaching look so effortless?'
It's funny because in my mind teaching is fun, simple and not that complex. However, here are four tips to help you become a more confident teacher or tutor.
1. Use your voice. When speaking to children of any age, it's important to not speak in a monotonous tone. Doing so will make you seem boring and it'll put your students to sleep!
To instantaneously make your lessons more appealing, vary your tone of voice from high to low. Use a higher tone when making key points or emphasising a point that is important.
2. Smile. A smile can totally transform a student's perception of you. Smiling makes you more approachable making students feel more comfortable around you. This makes for effective teaching because a comfortable student is more likely to ask for help and pay more attention in lessons.
3. Think outside the box. Do you use boring worksheets or teaching resources every single lesson? If so, ditch them at least once in a while. Worksheets and teacher resources are great but they shouldn't be used in isolation. To make lessons fun try thinking outside the box. How? Take inspiration from books, films and theatre and incorporate them into your lessons. Embed your lessons with elements of things that you find interesting. For instance, I love music so I incorporate music into my lessons. I also love movies and so I use them to help me think of ideas for writing prompts and creative writing for my students.
Your homework:
- Think of 5 unique ideas for your next lesson.
- Smile more often and vary your tone of voice.
Leave a comment below telling me what ideas you've come up with.