How to be a better teacher

How to be a better teacher

There are three keys to success in teaching. Firstly, you must establish values and expectations that both you and the students will strive towards. Secondly, you must make yourself readily available to the students. Thirdly, continually refine the course to improve the learning experience further.

Photo by aliet kitchen on Unsplash

Be readily available

Student access to you is paramount to the student’s success. Even if students don’t take advantage of your availability, knowing that they can depend on your support outside the classroom affects their classroom performance. If your schedule allows, set a weekly 2-hr slot to meet with them even when class is not in session. Invite past students to drop in and help them with problems relating to projects that are unrelated to the class. Become a trusted ally and mentor. The main benefit to you is that you get a better understanding of gaps in your teaching.

Set values and expectations

The two most important values for me in teaching are meeting students where they are and striving for excellence. Recognizing that each student brings unique life experiences to the classroom will allow you to be malleable to each of their needs. They all have different strengths and limitations. Managing this diversity may mean spending more one-on-one time with certain students or providing more advanced topics to others. Whatever the case, tailoring your teaching will produce overall better outcomes. Excellence is all about giving your best. Excellence is essential for both the instructor and the student when preparing the lesson and teaching. The student should strive for excellence, and the teacher should set this expectation early in the learning process.

Continual improvement

As much as we might hate it, our teaching doesn’t end when the course has finished. Therefore, we must take it upon ourselves to continually improve our courses. Here are a few things I do that inform how we should improve the class.

1. Make a note of clarifying questions that students ask
2. Make a note of when you changed the way you usually explained an idea to get your point across
3. Have students fill out a final reflection at the end of the course
4. Have students fill out a course evaluation at the end of the course
5. Assess how new technologies or methodologies might be relevant

These tips have helped me become a better instructor, and I hope they do the same for you.