For hundreds of years, the traditional “chalk and talk” method of teaching is what we have in classrooms. Recent classroom experiments, however, show that modern and revolutionary teaching methods are found to achieve better results as they give more emphasis on student interaction and enjoyment.
As teachers, it is necessary to remain engaging and to create lesson plans that truly work. In an article by Sonia Jackson, here are three teaching methods that are making an impact.
Spaced Learning
Spaced Learning is a learning method in which the condensed learning content is repeated three times, with two 10-minute breaks during which activities such as physical activities are performed by the students.
Spaced learning involves encouraging students to quickly switch through activities. For example, providing ten minutes of knowledge on the nervous system with a visual aid or PowerPoint presentation and then having 15 minutes of basketball would be the way to get the better grades.
The key is in the brain cells. It helps them to create the connections that they need to actually remember the knowledge. Furthermore, it has the additional benefit of allowing people to relax. If they are compressing sections of the syllabus into such small sections then there’s no time to worry. It’s all about the learning before moving on to another session of activity.
Flexible Fridays
Sometimes conventional lesson blocks just don’t work as every student is different and they all have their problematic subjects. The concept of Flexible Fridays is that an in-depth session of a subject can be acquired by simply having a whole day of mathematics or some other subject.
At Flexible Fridays lessons, a teacher try to help each student to study and learn what is the most difficult for him/her personally. Somebody repeats, somebody learns. It makes it more convenient for students as now they can focus on one thing while in school. It means that students don’t have a breaking point by spending hours struggling with a subject along at home.
Teachers also find it easier as they can keep their lesson plans and simply go over them again with a more personal touch. Flexible Friday lessons are more in-touch with students and gives focused study time that can help students grasp difficult concepts.
Teachers are also able to aid students by simply having fast-track weeks. Having a whole week of mathematics or English can help students to get through the subjects in a shorter amount of time.
It’s good news for teachers and students alike because even though a lesson lasts an hour it could actually lose up to 25 percent of its designated time. There’s the preparing for class and packing away to take into account, and students are not always the quickest at performing these tasks.
Teacher should choose what method is more appropriate for his/her students: spaced learning or Flexible Fridays.
Engagement
Under a new teaching method called “engagement” students are urged to engage with the real world, analyze everything that happens in different life spheres (not only internship but also economical, business, social spheres, etc.).
Instead of conventional teaching methods, students were taken to visit local businesses where they were able to witness how the knowledge that they were learning applied to the real world.
Multiple days were set aside for this practice and all students were required to wear business suits in order to attend. The idea is to get students engaged and to connect their learning to the real world. If teachers can show them how what they are teaching connects to the real world then their own brain cells are going to connect them and associate them.
Application of these new methods of teaching aims to improve the quality of education and involve students in educational process.
By: Vilma L. Hernandez | Teacher II | Tomas Pinpin Memorial Elementary School | Abucay, Bataan
