Teaching young learners is a very appreciative task and requires lots of patience. A teacher needs to be creative as young learners need to be engaged in several activities and make learning fun. Also, there is a crucial need for the changes in the teaching methodologies and variations in activities to make the learning more fun for the learners.
Following are some ways in which you can incorporate various teaching strategies in your young learner’s classroom –
Integrate Technology
In this digital era, it is very important to incorporate technology into student’s learning. In a 21st Century classroom, technology plays a major role. Technology can be included in the lesson plans in the form of PowerPoint presentations, short videos, rhymes and songs using multimedia, digital newsletters, audio and digital books, etc. There needs to be technology included in the classroom as it is a need of an hour and so it is very important to introduce children to technology at a young age.
Be Creative and Communicate
Creativity needs to be encouraged amongst the learners thus, it starts from the teacher. However, a facilitator needs to be creative and innovative and should come up with creative ideas and should include that in lesson plans. Along it being creative, a teacher should encourage children to be innovative in their works and give them chance to explore and come up with creative ideas. Once they come up with such innovative ideas, they can have a discussion on the same amongst their peers which ultimately encourages communication. Communication is the basic skill that should be motivated as it leads to more effectiveness.
Repeat and Recall
Young learners learn with continuous repetition and reading loudly. There should be continuous reading and repetition of the topics when teaching as this age group is new to the topics and does not have any understanding. It is very important to recall the topics done at the end of the session. Thus, reading loudly, repetition and recall is an essential part of the lesson plan.
Talk
Talk to the learners. Facilitators should always take time out to have a conversation with children and help them express their feelings. Some children have difficulty in expressing their feelings so this helps children to open up. So this really works well for the learners.
Effective Teaching and Learning Process
Teachers need to work to plan effective lesson plans for children. There should be an effective teaching – learning process to make the learning process fun.
Encourage
Encourage connections, creativity and communication. Every learner is creative so, it is very important to connect with the learner and encourage them with creativity. Communication is the key to many problems. Effective communication should be motivated.
Variations
Variations in activities and high energy level. Learners need to have variation in activities as they have a very short attention span. A teacher full of energy plays a crucial role when teaching young learners.
In addition, there are many other skills that a teacher needs to possess to become a good facilitator like being approachable and build connections and have communicating with parents and children. A great facilitator is not born naturally. Rather no individual is born with all the skills. Individuals work on them and are the best of themselves.
Anyone who wants to be a facilitator needs to update their skills in teaching with an advanced teacher training course and be knowledgeable. A teacher needs to be approachable. When you aim to teach the young learners, then pre and primary teacher training courses are suitable for your goal. It helps you with deep insight into the different strategies of the learners and ways to approach their needs. Thus, to conclude, we can say that Learning and practice will make teachers a good facilitator who will help learners grow socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually.
Written By : Somdrita Bose
