“We all live with the objective of being happy: our lives are all different and yet the same.” – Anne Frank
Similarly, a class full of forty students has forty different mindsets, approaches, beliefs, and learning capacities. A student might take 10 minutes to understand a concept and the other student might take 30 minutes to understand the same concept. This happens because different people have different strengths and abilities. But something that is common for all the students is practical learning. Students find it easy to learn when the teachers teach practically. If you want to be an effective and impactful teacher, make sure to follow the right teaching strategies and styles. Something that the teachers can follow is teach practically.
What is Practical Teaching?
Practical teaching can be termed as a teaching approach where teachers teach the students by combining theory and practical work experience. For instance, if a teacher aims to teach the concept called 'types of matters in our surroundings', then they should give them the practical examples of liquid, solid, and gas. They teach practically by showing them the formation of ice from water or water from ice. It not only provides the students a good classroom experience but also helps them in retaining the concepts for a longer period of time.
Ways to Practice Practical Teaching
1- Prioritize Understanding over Learning- Teachers should prioritize students' understanding of the concepts rather than mere learning. Rather than focusing on word-by-word learning, the teachers should ensure that the students actually know what the concept is. This is known as practical teaching. Teaching practically is one of the most effective approaches to teaching. Engaging with students may be a useful and practical approach to examining learning skills and experiences for your students. When the teachers practice on the understanding part more than the learning part, they see better results for the students at the end of the year.
2- Exchange ideas with colleagues- Remember how we used to learn multiple things from our peer group during school days? Things still remain the same and teachers can learn a lot from their fellow teachers. Since all of them are teaching and have similar teaching experiences, they can share the same with them. They may improve their teaching skills by observing other teachers in actions and approaches. They can also visit different classes to broaden their horizons. They can contact various teachers who teach the same subject in order to understand how they teach practically. They can also discuss the concepts with them and plan the teaching the lessons accordingly. Learn why they did what they did, how they cope with different students and their needs.
3- Understand your students' learning approach- Understanding students' learning approach is extremely important. Teachers should understand the student's needs as it is crucial in order to deliver the best knowledge possible. Understanding the student's needs and learning approach helps the teachers in preparing themselves better to teach or choose the right teaching technique. Once the teachers are th0rough with what the students want, the teachers can easily teach practically.
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