Table of Contents
Tip 49: Learning Strategies
Encourage students to learn strategies that will help them define their learning tasks. Teach them ways to organize their notes, their learning devices, and cognitive strategies. It’s not just our responsibility as teachers to teach our students, we should also help them be better learners, and to do that we have to teach them how to learn, how to organize their notes, how to study, and also provide cognitive strategies for learning.
As professionals, it is important for teachers to know how the human brain works and how learning occurs. Many of us have learned this at university, but we should continue to use those learning skills and also pass it on to our students.
As teachers, we should constantly read books about learning and improving as teaching. This relates to professional development, in taking on those strategies and passing them on to our students.
49.1 Examples of Learning Strategies
Some experts claim that there are four basic learning strategies, others say five, seven, eight, or ten depending on their criteria.
Tip 50: Teacher Image
Know that children notice everything and act accordingly. I have discussed why teachers should act and look professional in Teacher Tip 35, which means dressing well and also interacting with other people professionally because students are always looking.
If you’re in the class, think about how you act and communicate with other people because students scrutinize teacher behavior. They will go back to their parents and tell their families.
So, you need to be on the ball; you need to be constantly professional in how you act. This also applies on social media where you should act professionally too because we’ve all seen clips where teachers got caught out for saying bad things or for compromising photos. So, be careful not to share bad content on social media.
When you’re in public, you still need to be professional, because students can see what you’re doing. I know this is a lot of pressure on you, and some say teaching is just a job. Yes, it is, but it’s important to remember that we are professionals and should act worthy of respect, especially in public, where people can see what we’re doing. Be a professional not just in the classroom, but also in your daily life, in how you present yourself and communicate with others.
Tip 51: Learn to Say No
Don’t easily give in to students and take on more responsibilities than you can handle. Often, as teachers, we want to please everyone, so perhaps when the administration asks us to take on extra classes, or do more work we should try to do our best, but if we’re unable to handle it, we should kindly reject them.
Also, a lot of students or parents might request you to do something. If it’s reasonable, you can accept it and help them or do something for them, but if your load is too heavy learn to say no.
You can say, “Sorry, I can do this. I’ve got too much to do right now.” I’ve often seen teachers take on way too many responsibilities and get weighed down. It affects their lives and emotions and can quickly become too much to cope with.
So, before that happens tell people no, I need more time for myself or it’s too much for me to do right now, please as someone else.
