What Basic Teaching Skills Should Be Improved?

affiedalfayed (57)in #steemiteducation • 8 years ago (edited)

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Basically, Teachers should have varied teaching skills that need to be trained. The teaching skills should be trained from basic skills to practical advanced skills in addition to their competence as a teacher. One way to practice such skills is to implement Micro teaching as a classroom where teachers are trained during preservise and inservice programs. For a student teacher, Micro teaching is a preservice training, while for a teacher to improve her skills micro teaching is applied as an inservice practice.

Microteaching is a scaled-down sample of actual teaching which generally lasts ten to thirty minutes and involves four to ten students. A microteaching session simulates a regular classroom instructional period in every way except that both time and number of students are reduced (source).

Usually, in improving teacher skills through presevice and inservice training, teachers are focused on mastering basic skills that must be mastered while teaching students in a real classroom. In this post, I intend to clarify some basic teaching skills that teachers must master when they will teach students in the classroom.

Set Induction : How to Start a Lesson

Set induction skill is a skill in opening or starting a lesson. This is a teacher's skill in creating a condition at the beginning of learning to attract interest and enthusiasm of student in following lesson. In this case, Teachers can start classes with various techniques such as starting learning by narrating a short story about a phenomenon related to a learning topic, or by presenting an image that can attract students' attention. In addition, Teachers can also begin the lesson with a question that will foster students' curiosity for further explanation.

As an example, the teacher starts the class by entering the class and greeting the students in the class. Then the teacher puts books and stationery on the table and stepped in front of students by making eye contact from students on the right side to the left side as a whole. Furthermore, the teacher gives a question related to the material that has been studied and associated with the material to be learned on that day.

^{I started the lesson by showing them a package (source)}

Another example I've applied when teaching procedure text is I start a class by showing students a package of instant noodles. Then, I asked the students have they ever cooked the noodles? after hearing the students response then I ask back what they first do when want to cook the noodles? after that, I started to explain what is contained in the package of the noodles is a procedure text (instructions how to serve instant noodles).

Gestures : How to move, to stand, to do eye contact

The second teaching skill that needs to be trained is gesture. this skill is important so that when teachers are teaching can do the appropriate gestures, not rigid, and not awkward in front of students. Teachers need to pay attention to every movement that they do during their teaching, while standing teacher should show the position and sympathetic attitude and authoritative to the students. When explaining the teacher should not do it while walking. When explaining something from the chalkboard the teacher should face the student, and seal himself onto the board to make it easy to show something off the board.

When there are students who want to ask the teacher must provide a space between the position of the teacher with the student so that the student asked in a clear voice, then other students can listen what the students are asking. To find out the students' overall behavior, teachers can observe them by walking slowly from the student's back toward the front.

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If you are a beginner teacher and nervous about teaching on the first day then all you have to do is get a moment to sit or stand behind the table to ease the nervousness and try to take a slow breath. Really, it's working !!!.

Questioning and Reinforcement : How to Ask Questions and Respond to Students' Answers

Questioning skill is very necessary in the process of learning so that students can think critically. In this case, the teacher is required to be able to ask the students in the right way. In asking questions, the teacher should consider several indicators in the question, such as the question asked to have varied answers both in the form of description, analysis and application. Then, the teacher utters the question briefly, clearly and unhurriedly so that the student can understand exactly what the teacher asks.

Precisely, the teacher must first say the question, and then show the students to answer, the teacher should not show students first before asking questions because it will make students' depression in answering. Teacher selects students at random to answer the questions asked.

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While reinforcement is a positive feedback to the students' answers both verbal and non verbal given in order to improve student motivation through strengthening. In providing verbal reinforcement, teachers can do by using several terms in responding to student responses such as very good, good, excellent, well done, exactly, good job and others. While to provide non verbal reinforcement, which is done by the teacher usually through a smile, nod, thumb, eyebrow movement and others.

Lesson Close : How to End the Lesson

To close the lesson the teacher must have skills in ending the process of learning on that day. This is done to enable the teacher end a learning session appropriately so that students master what has been taught. In developing teaching skill in closing the lesson, then some strategies need to be done by the teacher. First, when it comes to ending the learning process, the teacher must summarize the essence of the topic taught comprehensively so that students can understand the outline of the material taught. After that, the teacher directs the students' attention to the core material in the learning so that the information received through the learning can motivate and enhance students' interest in learning.

Furthermore, teachers coordinate and reflect on all the activities that have been undertaken during the learning process into results that can be understood together essentially. And then, the teacher provides guidance and motivates the students to learn more about the topic outside of the classroom and students are expected to be able to apply what is learned in real life.