Teaching HOW to THINK, not WHAT to THINK

Whatever I will write in this article will be from my heart and truly my experience. A teacher should not just be an educator. A teacher should be a facilitator or a catalyst. In my view, no subject is boring or interesting; it’s a teacher who can make it so.

Teachers should teach in a way that helps a learner become innovative, engaged, confident, reflective and responsible.

In a developing country, the real investment is its people, likewise, for innovative teaching ideas, the real investment are pupils.

If a teacher trains the learners to take responsibility for their own learning and make them a part of the active learning journey, the perfect results can be achieved in less time, with zero investment. A concept can be taught sitting under a tree with the same effect of sitting in an AC room.

How to involve the kids in their own learning through Active Learning?

Learning is no longer confined to the walls of the classrooms. A friendly classroom setting can motivate learners to take more interest in learning. A good atmosphere in classroom motivates every student to express freely and share their ideas. The class should be student led and highly motivated. The learners must be inspired to use every opportunity to learn.

The main purpose of teaching is facilitating learning by the learners. If we as facilitators can motivate them to learn, then we can achieve our goal.

A good way would be to note down the area of weaknesses and plan a new course of action for the next session with them. The outcome of the lesson should match the learning objective of the lesson.

Here are some methods I use to bring active learning my classroom:

Learning in the Real World

Learning material can be made easy to understand and learn, by connecting it to real life situations. It will help them to get excited and involved, as well as, create their interest in learning.

Open Classroom (Outside the classroom)

Some topics are best understood when they are taught in an open classroom. Organize field trips (with no fees) that are relevant to the lessons, or just simply take students for a walk outside of the classroom. Students will find this fresh and exciting. Without taking much effort, they will learn and remember what we teach them.

Role Play

Teaching through role-playing is a wonderful way to develop their interpersonal skills and to help them step out of their comfort zone. Through role- playing activities, students understand the relevance of academic material and everyday tasks. It is effective for learners of all age groups.

Team Work

As everyone knows, the result of team work and collaborative efforts is always wonderful. Spend some quality time with colleagues to share their views and experience in improving teaching methods. In this way, teachers can come up with new and interesting ideas and strategies to introduce innovative teaching methods.

Facilitate peer study groups

Learners are generally more comfortable with children of their age groups. Organizing a few Peer Study groups with different calibers can help students guide and learn from each other. The best teaching experience is to see your kids engaged in asking questions to one another, solving problems in the class while developing a curiosity to learn a new concept.

**Best teachers show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see**

I believe that all these ideas are capable of providing a sound base for our future leaders without incurring too much expense. These ideas will instill in them advanced cognitive skills which will foster holistic growth along with being economical. Every child should be taught that no one can take away one thing from you and that is their education. The BEST TEACHERS are THOSE who show you WHERE TO LOOK but don’t tell you WHAT TO SEE.

As educators, one can’t expect students to simply listen and memorize concepts. The role of an educator is essential when it comes to making students actively engage with the material, participate in class, and collaborate with each other. Therefore, the main purpose behind any lesson should be to demonstrate a process, encourage students to analyze an argument, and even apply a concept to a real-world situation.

We are sure these wonderful tips from Shalini Chuahan will help other teachers just how to do so in their classrooms. Read Shalini’s article series of #MathMagic here-

Students Leading Active Learning in Classrooms

Teaching HOW to THINK, not WHAT to THINK