Things You'll Need:
- Creativity
- A plan
- Objects
- Enthusiasm
- "Stage presence"
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Step 1
Know your subject. It helps to think of knowledge as a deep, deep well. Water in a well lies far below our sight and in order to be of use it must be pulled up to ground level - the level where people walk around and get thirsty. If you're going to teach a subject, you need to know it inside and out. Take the lesson deep by taking time to think about its most important aspects and how the information relates to your personal life. Now, suppose you are teaching a class on recycling. For you, recycling may be a very deep subject about Stewardship of the Earth and Corporate Responsibility. While there may be time to touch on one of these deeper reasons, your 3rd graders probably need the water of knowledge at a more practical level. Therefore, most of your teaching time should be spent relating recycling to the world of your students. For instance, "How do you feel when you go to the playground and there is trash on the slide?" is probably better than, "Do you think we should protect the Ozone?"
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Step 2
Have a plan. Typically, children have a limited attention span. Actually that's inaccurate. Children are the only honest people when it comes to admitting the length of their attention span. Adults are merely coerced into not revealing disinterest. If you stand in front of a group of children for more than one minute and notice heads moving right and left - you've lost the crowd. It's very important to keep things moving and to take advantage of quiet moments. In another article I will highlight a few classroom control techniques I've found helpful in working with children. For now, let me say that knowing what your next activity, step, or subject is will give you a great advantage when you see attention slipping. Even if you've memorized your lesson plan, in the heat of the moment, it helps to have a list of mental prompts that remind you of your next move. Plan more activities than your time will allow so that you have a backup plan if something flops.
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Step 3
Bring "It". When working with children, you should be aware of their ability to see right through you. For whatever reason, children know when your heart is not in something. It's vital that if you are not enthusiastic about your subject, you find some part of the lesson that does excite you and then apply that excitement to your interaction with the students.
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Step 4
Use objects. It's important to incorporate as many of the learning styles at one time as possible. Objects are a handy way of getting students moving and involved. When students engage physically, they are learning mentally. Try to relate your objects directly to the lesson. Think of your criteria in this preference order: 1) bring the "thing", 2)bring an image of the "thing", 3) bring something like the "thing". For instance, you're teaching about recycling but from the perspective of a baby deer. You probably won't get your first preference (a baby deer), but you can probably get a picture of a deer. If there are no pictures of deer to be had... bring something "like" a deer. The third preference can often be turned into a game. Bring a sack with five items in it and pass them one by one around the room having the students guess what the "clues" mean you are going to talk about that day. A picture of trees could represent where deer live, a brown piece of paper could represent the deer's color, a soft piece of cloth could represent the deer's coat of hair, etc.
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Step 5
Make allowances for the nature of children. You're telling a story about fish which died because people didn't recycle, but your children are fidgeting - follow that cue! Get the students up, have them shake out the wiggles, do some jumping jacks or run around the room for a controlled period then stop and move on to your next activity gracefully. Never be so married to your first idea (the fish story) that the lesson grinds to a halt. Keep things moving!
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Step 6
Shampoo Method. The best teaching often repeats its theme, but in different ways. Introduce your lesson in a general, global way. Go back in the meat of the lesson and expand on your two main points. End your lesson by repeating those two main points with the children and then go back over the big picture you gave them in the beginning. Wash, rinse, repeat.
