With technology, standards and content continually changing, every teacher needs to brace up to current trends in his field and be on of his game. Innovative teaching gives every teacher a starting point regardless of their situation.
"I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions"
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The type of teaching we were exposed to during our time has become obsolete as technology keeps evolving. That is not to say many of the pedagogical and instructional strategies we learnt do not stick with us today (the good ones always will) but our current students are different learners in their own time.
As part of the proceedings from NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) Confereence 2013, the innovative strategies listed below would be of a great assistance to any 21st century teacher wishing to teach innovatively.
INNOVATIVE TEACHERS MUST OFFER CHOICE
Giving students an opportunity of choice is a great and very important innovative way of learning. choice gives student the ability to go and beyond our curricular limitations. Try to give as many choices as possible and watch your students innovate.
This is a new way to inspire and motivate your students to learn. You may not sucees in reaching all of them but this works to a large extent. Allow them pick a theme or topic out to of a box of several topics but real choice. They would be moved to learn at this instance by themselves and by each other. Students when inspired to learn do much better job than a teacher could ever do.
INNOVATIVE TEACHING ALLOWS FOR FAILURE AND PROVIDES GROWTH OPPORTUNITES.
"Success is sweater when you have kown defeat" malcoln forbes.
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Naturally, research findings shown that we learnt best after failure. in fact you should start promoting initial failures in the classroom that will trigger off inspirational to get it right. Give a round of applause when students fail because now the learning can really begin. this may not work too well with class tests but with projects it is great. If you creat a culture where failure is not only accepted but embraced with the mindset of failure being discovering the wrong way of doing a thing, your students with this knowledge at the back of their minds will not be afraid to challenge themselves.
In past years when learning was hard, remember it took time to find an answer. you had to search the libarary, ask from one teacher to another, or find some typeof adult or expert who had knowledge and ask for guidance. Today's learner can find out what a professor took years to research out in a split second via on-line learning.
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We need to model to our students where to find the right information or right answers to their questions. Their learning mentors could bo google, youtube, twitter, facebook, etc. These sites and platforms connect our learners to better information than we ever had. it would a shame for us not to be the ones showing them how best to use them. Update yourself so you can continue to be relevant to your students in these days of vast social mediachannels of learning.
Teachers should learn to use technology purposefully.
They should also learn to understand which tool (technology) is right for which job ( assignment o project).
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In other to do this, you must be informed om what options are out there. find out from colleagues that know or have used what technology before. Dnon't waste youe time or your students' time by using technologyfor technology sake. know that mostly the use of social media in learning is time consuming. be sure the technology you are using or encouraging your students to use is what suites the purpose.
Let children know that in whatever project they are involved in, they are not alone in their learning, and so should be made to realize that students all over the world are just like them. Every student struggles and works hard to learn, to create and make waves. They should not be naive about their place in a global education system.
Expose them to various discussions about what it would take them to compete with other students globally, to take their positions in all institutions of learning worldwide as well as taking their job positions in life. The world they must know is a global village.
Learn to know something about everything about everything and everything about something. This would trigger off the interest to learn on your students.
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Set high expectation for your students and they would rise up to meet thwe challenge. But also learn to be flexible to go with what is working and change your style if need be. Keep an open mind about what is possible and anything rally can happen.
