Layoffs, lockdowns, dwindling financial resources, boredom, shift from in person to digital teaching modes have left many a parent, teacher, and school administrator in a quandary as to how to keep their careers vis-à-vis catering to the needs of students needing to be educated.
What used to be an alternative career choice for some before 2020, has now become a full-blown mode of teaching. It is the new norm and standard by which young learners are taught, and how teachers who had the familiarity of the four walls of the classroom, now teach.
However, the shift has been so abrupt that traditional classroom teachers feel they were thrown into the deep end and expected to thrive as they deliver the mandated curriculum to their students. On the flip side, the relatively small band of online tutors who enjoyed a seemingly obscure work environment and lifestyle has been thrust into the limelight as they are now forced to accept the reality that the online realm is no longer their exclusive domain. So, how do we online teachers keep our edge?
To be an effective online teacher, there are 8 simple but effective practices you can follow. When coupled with the right mindset and the right resources, there’s no reason why online learning can’t be even more effective than a traditional classroom setting.
1. Be Present
Sure, you might not be physically present in a classroom, but showing up each time for each and every class for a group of students is one of the hallmarks of success in teaching online. Since your classroom now is not defined by the physical limitations of a classroom, each time you are present, you bring your classroom to your students wherever they may be at that time you have your class.
2. Structure Your Day
If you find yourself working from home to teach students who may be in another continent, there’s a very real risk of forgetting that while you may be in your home surroundings, you are teaching in a classroom or that you have a class at a certain time which may be set as just one class in that part of the day where you would normally nap, read, watch TV, or do other hobbies.
By providing a set structure to your day, you are able to delineate what part of the day is for teaching, what part of the day is for personal time, what part of it is for family, and what part of it is rest. That way, you keep the right mindset when teaching, and keep away the distractions of the other things that may take your attention away to the primary task at hand.
3. Foster Personal But Professional Relationships With Each Student
Getting some one on one time with each student is just as important as effective group communication. Students studying online can sometimes feel deserted and alone in the digital classroom, so it’s up to you to make an effort and reach out. Nonetheless, keep a professional but friendly relationship so that you don’t lose control of your classroom, or if you do, only briefly.
4. Let The Students Do The Work
Give your students the confidence to stretch their wings. Admittedly, not all students will readily embrace this, Some would rather just listen and repeat, others are just content to listen and not respond, there will be some who are very active in the classroom.
To give your students plenty of opportunities to engage with the content and with you. Find times where you can ask them to find and discuss resources, do practice sets, and hold comprehension check questions or Q&A students, and revisions to make sure that what you’ve taught them sticks! Just adjust the activity to find the best fit for each student according to his/her interest or personality.
5. Be Generous
We want our students to flourish and take wing. However, they will not be able to do that either on the day itself, or even only after 2 lessons. If they come to you with questions, foster that sense of letting them see that you are someone they can go to for clarification or just to share ideas with. Be generous with your answers. Allowing them to see that you encourage them to speak up in the classroom will break down walls faster than you think.
5. Be Flexible Like the Bamboo
If you find that a student is finding it hard to grasp a concept, adjust. Play to his or her interests to be able to drive home a point faster and to get the concept as plain and simple as possible. Keep it to the bare essentials if possible,
If you only stick to one method, your success rate will also be limited. Don’t be afraid to look like a silly goose in front of your student if that is what will get the point stuck into his or her mind.
6. Do a Tech Check
Before you even greet your first student of the day, make sure that any computer updates have been installed and well out of the way, bills for your internet, phone, electricity, and other utilities have been settled to avoid disconnections while in class.
Double check your schedule. It wouldn’t hurt to do a quick check of your roster for the day to make sure you have the correct day and time schedule, and student to prepare for.
Should unforeseen circumstances like natural calamities get in the way of your teaching schedule and disrupt it, find a way to notify the office right away so that the necessary adjustments could be made to the class or classes affected.
7. Use Resources That Are Readily Available
You don’t have to break the bank in stocking up for materials that you will use as visual aids, memory aids, and other teaching tools in your digital classroom. Use whatever you have on hand. Most often, the most common ordinary thing on your desk, an article you’ve come across online, and just about anything can be a teaching tool. Some are already there hiding in plain sight.
8. Give Honest Feedback
It is easy to praise a student when he or she does well in the classroom. This makes life easier to teach in the digital classroom scenario. However, some students would need positive reinforcement especially if the task has been especially challenging for them. Provide feedback using the sandwich method, and as always, as a good physician, adopt a friendly manner in delivering news that would otherwise would not be received positively.
