As teachers, why should need to understand how and why we impact student learning?
Do you have that strong positive thought about increasing student engagement? For a great teacher, it isn’t hard to capture after all. That we should be certain with our answers to the very important question: “Why impact student learning?”
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Whether you are a newbie or a seasoned educator, you have the capability to impact individual student learning. As to why and how let’s jump in and talk about it and share effective strategies to improve student learning.
How do you impact student learning? Are you able to determine their learning growth?
Why Impact Student Learning? 7 Smart Reasons
1. Accelerate Student Learning Growth and Development
Our teaching should not be for anything else but for the improvement and success of each child under our care. Can you specify where your students are right now in terms of mastery of content?
We should have that certain goal that encapsulates the learning growth of our students to ensure their academic success. Equally important, our students have to learn life skills so they will be ready for life’s realities.
If we do not engage them, learning will be in vain. If you are teaching just for the sake of teaching without even throwing a worry if your students are holistically transformed, it’s the most unacceptable frailty I have ever heard. As educational heroes of the world, we should do our best to reach out to our students.
2. Enhance Students’ Potential
We should see potential in the classroom.
Each student in the classroom is unique and has an interesting pack of amazing strengths and talents. As teachers, we are given the opportunity to help our young learners discover their potential and be the best that they can be.
Hence, we should do our best to become great teachers because a great teacher is willing to go the extra mile for his/her students.
Creating impactful learning opportunities for our students is a must. As we nurture them to become productive citizens in the future, we should pay attention to what interests them so learning will become fun for them.
The diversity of learners called for tailored-fit teaching methods and strategies to achieve our teaching goals. This is how we give support to our students and impact their lives so they hone their potential.
But, that’s not all. Besides developing a positive relationship with our students by recognizing their worth, we should consider the following strategies to have a positive influence on student learning.
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3. Motivate learners conscientiously
I always aim to have long-term impactful learning activities for my learners and I see motivation as the key to reaching out to each one of them.
So, what is it?
Motivating learners should be done wholeheartedly for astonishing results. Before I stand in front of my students, I already made a plan on how to gain their interests to keep them engaged and connected. They should be with me along the way.
Likewise, our precious learners should be motivated to become active learners and if you have been using the lecture teaching method all your teaching life, then engaging your students to increase their performance is unachievable. Definitely, I have seen that.
With my years in the teaching profession, I see the importance of lecturing, but doing it ALL THE TIME, won’t make sense.
4. Prepare a safe learning environment for optimal learning
It’s our role to foster a safe and healthy learning environment. I begin the new school year with this in mind. I always make a plan on how to prepare and run the classroom to greet my students with a very accommodating welcome.
Preparation is the key. I see to it that the classroom is inviting all my students to engage in learning. Aside from structuring the physical environment of the classroom, I should delve into important routines that will encourage my students to perform better.
I embed activities in my lessons that allow my students to express their thoughts and ideas. Moreover, more collaborative routines and strategies are neatly planned so all my students get along with one another and build rapport and a positive emotional relationship.
Furthermore, displaying self-control under different circumstances can help too in developing a strong relationship with them and in earning their trust and confidence.
By all means, I make sure that I never lose track of my emotions. I set the bar that should never be crossed. Pausing and taking a deep breath would help though.
5. Update teaching style
A progressive teacher always stays updated on the trends in teaching and education. As they say, learning should never stop. Our bachelor’s degree isn’t a guarantee that we have caught all the strategies in one pocket. Because there are new teaching methods we need to jump into.
We need to acquire new sets of interventions, fresh forms of assessments, and timely ways of motivating students. We should not cease learning because new concepts are born from time to time.
Reaching out to students could mean updating our teaching styles. We should be more sensitive if a method works or not.
I attend webinars, training, seminars, and workshops. They are all worth it. I should be ready all the time with what to dish out in the classroom and how to deliver them interactively.
6. Establish mastery of the subject matter
If possible, I should not say..Oh dear, I’m not sure if this is correct or if this is the right answer.
Great teachers have in-depth knowledge of the subject matter they teach.
Although the content knowledge students gain is not only the indicating factor of their overall achievement, its delivery has to be made impactful for the students to retain information intensely. This happens if the teacher shows mastery of the subject.
If you have comprehensive ideas, it will be easy for you to reach out to students and delve into multiple intelligences. In other words, you can modify your teaching strategy to fit the content and make it easier for students to understand hard concepts.
Additionally, learning in the classroom will be successful if you know the varied pedagogical processes in making students master learning competencies and content knowledge.
7. Create engaging assessments
How are your assessment activities? Are you providing critical feedback to your students?
Equally important, our formative assessments should improve the learning outcomes. I always get at a pace with my instructions by knowing where my students are.
Having the formative assessments at any part of the lesson, I can keep track of my instructional strategies if they are working or not. Hence, I have an indication of whether to modify my instruction or go on with it.
And it should be a consistent practice.
By using varied forms of formative assessments, we can keep our students excited, enthusiastic, and connected. There are awesome formative assessments that we can use. Aside from the usual teacher-made short quiz, we can utilize interactive and collaborative forms of formative assessment.
I have tried peer quizzes, think-pair-share, poster and slogan making, and many others that will stimulate learners’ interests and keep them curious about what’s going on.
In brief…
As teachers, we should evaluate the impact of our teaching. That’s a sign that we enjoy working with our students and that they are learning from us. Moreover, students are more aware of themselves and how to get motivated in framing their academic goals.
Our true concern for student learning is the foundation to improve students’ performance and academic achievement. The support we give matters a lot. It’s the motivation they need so they perform better in class.
Everyone in the classroom can be successful. Our love and perseverance make our young learners secure and comfortable. As educators of the world, we should do our best to make a big difference in the lives of our learners.
Why impact student learning? This is such a smart question that needs your practical answers as educators. What are your thoughts? Leave them below!
