4 Essentials for Teachers Looking to Make An Impact

Creating lesson plans sometimes feels like a hit or miss prospect. Plans and curricula that you've poured your heart into can flop, while plans that you’ve thrown together hastily can remarkably resonate with students.

The students of today must learn how to be exceptional to excel in the workplace of the future. As an educator, this sometimes means reassessing the basics of what it means to prepare students for an ever-evolving world. This raises a question. What can you do to ensure that your students are fully engaged in their lessons?

Don’t blame yourself. There are many factors, inside and outside of the classroom, that affects student learning outcomes. However, there are many unobtrusive ways that you can prime students for learning.

The following segments highlight 4 essentials for teachers who desire to consistently make a positive impact on their learners.

Essential 1: Make Sure That Young Learners Take Care of Themselves

You probably thought many times that if you could bottle the energy of youth, you’d be rich. Still, young students can routinely face stressors that diminish their learning outcomes.

Long hours of sitting and listening to lectures, doing in-class assignments and homework and working on computers are physically and mentally taxing. Also, some students must cope with potential stressors, which might include anxiety, bullying, family issues, peer pressure and verbal – or even physical – abuse.

Resultantly, more educators are introducing students to yoga in the classroom. The practice helps to assuage the stressors in students’ lives. Stress can hinder academic performance. Yoga can relieve stress and empower students to perform to the best of their ability.

Studies show that after seven weeks of practicing yoga poses along with breathing exercises and meditation, students exhibit lower stress levels and improved learning outcomes. Another study shows that yoga, as opposed to physical education classes, prevents learners from growing fatigued as the year wears on, which can result in the decline of student performance. In addition, studies show that yoga improves memory, a benefit which would likely help students improve their grades.

Essential 2: Create a Challenging Learning Environment to Engage Your Students

An idle mind is a bored mind. You can continually challenge students’ intellect by exposing them to rigorous content. When students are curious about a topic it enhances their learning experience.

Educators can create an environment where students feel challenged by providing materials that build their interest in subject matter. In this regard, it helps to show students information that allows them to make the connection between current lessons and real life. In this way, you can help students form a deeper understanding and appreciation for new concepts.

Challenging material compels students to ask questions. When planned correctly, you can introduce materials that will bolster students’ enthusiasm for committing to requisite learning objects.

In part, you must design your curriculum in a way where students are led to the answer, rather than simply giving the materials to memorize. In addition, supplementary materials should include empirical evidence that supports current learning objectives. It’s also important to provide independent research sources for students who are compelled to learn about a topic beyond what’s taught in class.

Essential 3: Ensure That Students Are Prepared for a STEM-oriented Future

In 2015, during the fifth annual White House Science Fair, former president Barack Obama expressed that STEM learning is about more than memorizing facts, figures and formulas. In so many words, he conveyed that it’s about understanding the world through the spectrum of the sciences.

The US Department of Education report entitled “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math: Education for Global Leadership” indicates that the United States was once a global leader due to the “hard work of its scientists, engineers and innovators.” Today, however, few students pursue the STEM learning tracks required for Americans to remain ahead of national competitors. Resultantly, the former president made it his mission to increase the number of STEM teachers and learners.

The opportunities for students to learn STEM sciences are abundant. However, a disproportionately small number of students actively seek the learning path. It’s essential that you encourage students to pursue STEM learning by helping them make the connection to how the discipline will heavily influence nearly everything in their adult life

Essential 4: Work With Your Peers to Maximize Student Learning Outcomes

Teaching should be a collaborative effort that consists of you, your peers in your learners. Students should feel as though they are appreciated and part of a community. Furthermore, they must learn empathy and respect for one another, a trait which they will carry into adulthood.

This kind of support will foster an environment where students feel safe and are free to engage in lessons. Moreover, they’ll feel more committed to learning and more invested in the overall academic experience.

In a communal teaching environment, students are concerned about more than their own welfare. They’re sincerely interested in the thoughts, ideas and well-being of others.

You can foster this kind of environment by providing meaningful, positive feedback and praise when appropriate. It’s also essential to practice sensitivity to students’ cultural, ethnic and identity traits.

In a fully inclusive environment, students have more wherewithal to endure through challenging activities. In addition, students will enjoy the freedom to enjoy their excitement for learning.

These are just a few essential techniques for promoting positive learning outcomes. Whatever techniques you decide to employ, the most important technique is introspection. From time to time, take a step back to think about what works and what does not.