Today we discuss about extra learning tricks, with a focus on Teacher Toolkit. Successful teachers are able to live without immediate feedback: There is nothing worse than sweating over a lesson plan only to have your students walk out of class without so much as a smile or a, “Great job teach!” It’s hard to give 100% and not see immediate results. Teachers who rely on that instant gratification will get burned out and disillusioned. Learning, relationships, and education are a messy endeavor, much like nurturing a garden. It takes time, and some dirt, to grow. Successful teachers know when to listen to students and when to ignore them: Right on the heels of the above tip is the concept of discernment with student feedback. A teacher who never listens to his/her students will ultimately fail. A teacher who always listens to his/her students will ultimately fail. It is no simple endeavor to know when to listen and adapt, and when to say, “No- we’re going this way because I am the teacher and I see the long term picture.”
Catch students being good. Use reinforcing language. Try to pay attention to students and acknowledge them (individually or as a group) for following instructions. When you do praise student actions, provide specific feedback about what is being performed – instead of saying, “great job girls”, comment, “You two are working together so nicely”. Click here to access a list of positive statements/reinforcing language. See extra info on http://rookieteacher.org/.
Learning is not only for young people. Seniors in a digital world can be easily overwhelmed by all the new technology around us. We are surrounded by an array of digital devices, whether its smartphones, social media, tablets, banking machines, or laptops. There’s no avoiding it, so we should learn how to use all these technological advances to make life easier. It’s easy to become tech savvy seniors when you begin to learn more about the technology around you.
It’s always best to start small and have multiple sessions so you don’t give them information overload. The last thing you want to do is get them feeling too overwhelmed and then they give up because you gave them too many tasks to try by themselves. A good website for senior learning is Tech learning for seniors.
Music learning is hot this days, many people try to learn music, for various reasons. There are a few podcasts that focuses on teaching people about music and one of them is The Music Educator by Bill Stevens. Every music class is different and the constant planning can be overwhelming. Many teachers complain that they feel like they spend as much time planning as they do actually teaching! But this planning pays off and can make your teaching far more effective. Having a good strategy for planning – planning your planning, if you like – means that your time isn’t wasted. Treat your planning time as time for your own inspiration to come through. You will feel proud of your plans and putting them into action in the classroom will give you pleasure.
Advice of the day for music teachers : Speak with Other Teachers: One of the best things that young teachers can do is to speak with other teachers in the summer prior to the start of school. Veteran teachers have been either in the district or the profession (or both) for awhile so they will have a lot of valuable insight as to what young teachers can expect. Also, young teachers would be smart to build a network of teachers that they can turn to for advice. These networks can consist of local teachers or those that are in the same higher education program.
You can listen to the The Music Educator podcast by using the app from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.themusiceducatorpodcast.android.music. You can learn more about Bill Steven by visiting his website at https://www.4themusiceducator.com/.