Teaching is one of the most rewarding careers: you get to help the next generation become who they want to be and you give them the tools they need to enter the workforce. One of the biggest challenges is that not everyone learns in the same way. Even as our methods vary.
There are subjects you might not be comfortable with, and you may have students who have trouble learning due to various reasons. However, technology is on your side:
Here are 3 ways to give more by keeping yourself upskilled throughout.
1.Don’t forget to be a student yourself
When it comes to teaching, yes, you are the one standing at the front in front of dozens or maybe even hundreds of students. However, this does not mean that you cannot be the student sometimes too. Whether it be keeping up with politics, world news, or the environment, the more you know, the more knowledge you can pass on to the students. You might even want to consider taking an online course to further your own teaching degree. Yes, being a secondary school teacher is fine, but maybe you might want to be a professor one day.
2. Keep up with new tech and teaching tools
One thing which many teachers fail to do is to keep up with the times. Sure, you can use 40 year old textbooks and talk about how fantastic the first computer was, but that won’t get you or your students very far. Resources like MarkMate are revolutionising teacher life and gadgets like Mighty Writer (for primary students) and Currikula, to aid essay writing for secondary and FE students, are popping up all the time - you simply need to keep an eye on social media and the trade press to spot them. In order to help students build a future and succeed in this modern world of technology, you need to be modern and up to date as well.
3. Make it multi-media
Maybe you have students that don’t do too well in classroom settings, but love computer games. Tools such as MyMaths are a tried and tested investment for your school because they can eradicate homework planning and marking.
And finally – make time for yourself to learn and grow. Being too busy is the single greatest barrier to keeping yourself at the forefront of technology.