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100 Teacher Tips 72-74 | Sleep and Exercise | Learning Styles | Become a Mentor

    Tip 72: Sleep and Exercise

    It is tough being a teacher, so make sure to get enough sleep and exercise. People, in general, don’t realize how physically demanding it is to be a dedicated teacher giving your all to the students. The schedule is hectic; we have to wake up early to go to school. After school, you’ve got errands to run or you’re doing extramural activities and then, when you finally get home, take care of your family.

    So, it’s easy to put yourself and your physical needs in the background, but you shouldn’t. You should take care of your physical needs because that will help you be a better teacher, a better mother or father, and a better person all around.

    When you exercise and sleep enough, you will have more clarity. You will have more energy and you can focus better, and that is what your family and your students deserve. What I suggest is mixing in your social life with an activity you enjoy and can do with your friends. Find something physical you can do together; bowling or swimming, have something you can do with your kids. You have to use TPR in class anyway, so do some activities that let the students release some energy and also give you an opportunity to stretch your muscles. I think stretching is very good.

    Also, try to get enough sleep. There’s nothing worse than a teacher that is chronically tired, so make sure you get enough sleep before you come to school. I would suggest staying away from electronic devices an hour before bed. I know it’s difficult. We’ve got our phones, the TV and the computer distracting us. Turn off many lights so that you prepare your body for sleep. A very good habit is to go to bed early and read a bit before falling asleep.

    Tip 73: Learning Styles

    Be an all-style teacher! Don’t focus rigidly on accommodating particular preferences or the learning styles of students, for new data does not show meaningful differences in the results.

    At university, they taught us that there are different learning styles and that teaching must be adapted to the preferences of students. Yes, students like to take in information in different ways, be it kinesthetic, audible, by reading, or by doing something, but research shows no difference in the results despite their preferences.

    Besides, as educators, we are supposed to teach our students in all these different ways. We shouldn’t primarily focus on one learning style. Pushing the idea will cause students to think, “Oh, I can’t listen well, I should just do reading.” Or, “I can only learn by doing something physical,” and that’s not true.

    Use all these different ways to teach. Make sure that your students can read, touch and do things, and they’re able to listen to instructions. We need to raise our learners holistically. So, I think you should focus on teaching your students using a variety of methods.

    Tip 74: Become a Mentor

    Become a mentor, at the very least, get the mindset of a mentor. How would you help someone if they were in your position? When you first start teaching, it feels like there’s so much to learn and you need to get that experience, but once you’ve been a teacher for a number of years, then you can help new teachers.

    If you take on the mindset of a mentor or you start by helping others, it will help you improve your own teaching as well. Think about it this way; you learn by teaching, so if you have been in teaching for a number of years, try to mentor someone that’s new. Give them tips and help them. It will build up your own confidence and that will make you think about your own teaching methods as well.

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