Teaching Methods for Prospective Teachers

1
Teaching Methods for Prospective Teachers

• By
• Eileen Dougherty
• Vanessa Skrba

2
Introduction

• Their eyes are on you. Waiting, watchful, they
  follow your every move. You begin to sweat as
  you realize that everything you say and do will
  affect the outcome of the rest of the year. You
  are about to begin on the most important
  adventure yet you are about to begin a years
  worth of lessons. Are you ready? Do you have
  the map youll need to get this adventure
  started? Will you make it to the X on the map?
  Possibly one of the most important tools for a
  teacher is their teaching method.

3
The Battle Between the Two Parties

• Liberals believe group work is a more effective
  teaching method. They believe in
  student-centered curriculum, which is good for
  student motivation, but is not a highly efficient
  method.
• Conservatives believe individual student work is
  the most effective learning method. They believe
  in subject-centered curriculum, which is the best
  of what has been thought and written. It uses
  common elements, familiarity, and makes good
  progression. However, the world is not organized
  into subjects.

4
1. The Lecture Method

• Possibly the most popular and widespread teaching
  method is lecturing, in which the teacher gives
  information and the students listen or take
  notes. Lecturing is a useful way of imparting a
  great deal of information quickly, but it is
  passive for students. Keeping the students
  attention is a major dilemma educators have to
  face. The best use of lecturing is in
  combination with other methods this helps your
  students retain their interest and attention,
  allows for more student participation, and
  emphasizes different learning styles.

5
2. Small Group Discussion

• An equally popular teaching method is small group
  discussions (or cooperative learning), in which
  students are working together in groups to solve
  problems, giving knowledge a much-needed social
  context. It makes the students responsible for
  themselves and each other, and creates a
  community of learners and writers. There are
  drawbacks to small group discussion, such as a
  louder classroom and the occasional giggling of
  friends in the same groups. These drawbacks can
  be easily corrected by careful splitting into
  groups, and constant reminders to keep the noise
  level low.

6
3. Questioning Method
This method requires the educator begins the
lesson by introducing some provocative idea or
question and the students respond. One of the
best ways to generate discussion is to ask an
open-ended question (one which can't be answered
by a simple "yes" or "no"). Questioning tends to
be a universal teaching strategy. There are
drawbacks to this teaching method, such as lack
of class participation due to discomfort from
speaking out loud or misunderstanding the
questions given to them. Having a student reword
the question or giving the class time to react to
the questions are good solutions to these
drawbacks.
7
4. Inquiry/Inductive Teaching

• Inductive teaching is an investigative learning
  process that asks students to pose questions,
  analyze data, and develop conclusions or
  generalizations. This teaching method requires
  educators to teach kids how to think. Critical
  thinking skills are becoming more important
  thus, constructivism was created. Constructivism
  is an approach to teaching and learning based on
  the premise that cognition (learning) is the
  result of mental construction. In other words,
  students learn by fitting new information
  together with what they already know.

X Marks the Spot!
8
What Teaching Method Do You Use?
An Interactive Quiz
9
Question 1

• You are teaching your science class students
  about the solar system. Which of the following
  lesson plans would you use?
• A. Give facts about the solar system, which the
  students can copy down and study from.
• B. Have the class break into groups, assign each
  a planet, and have the groups report their
  findings to the class.
• C. Begin the class by asking the students, If
  you could go anywhere in outer space, where would
  you go and why?
• D. All of the Above

10
Question 2

• You are teaching your math class proportions.
  Which of the following lesson plans would you
  use?
• A. You give the students a definition of
  proportions, write some examples on the board,
  and assign in class as well as homework problems.
• B. Have the class break into groups and write
  word problems. Then have the groups switch
  problems until all the problems have been worked
  on.
• C. Ask the class for examples of proportions in
  everyday life.
• D. Have the class develop a project where
  proportions are used (for example, have a class
  project of making cookies (the ingredients are
  proportions of the whole cookies).

11
Question 3

• You are teaching your history class about
  Vikings. Which of the following lesson plans
  would you use?
• A. Give notes on the Viking way of life. Assign
  passages from the textbook on Vikings.
• B. Have the class break into groups and build
  their own Viking longships.
• C. Ask the class, If you could take over
  anywhere, anything, what (or where) would it be
  and why?
• D. Have the class invade another classroom.

12
Question 4

• You are teaching your writing/language class
  about speaking in front of a class. Which of the
  following lesson plans would you use?
• A. Give tips on how to be a better speaker.
• B. Have the class split into groups and have the
  groups develop an infomercial to present to the
  rest of the class.
• C. Ask the class, What is the most difficult
  part of speaking in front of a class?
• D. All of the above.

13
Question 5

• You are teaching your Spanish class about the
  cultural influences in Latin American countries.
  Which of the following lesson plans would you
  use?
• A. Give notes on the culture of Latin America.
• B. Have the class split into groups and have each
  group pick a Latin American country, researching
  the culture, and reporting back to the class.
• C. Ask the class, What are some traditions we
  see celebrated in the U.S. that came from Latin
  America?
• D. Organize a classroom fiesta. Have each
  student research an aspect of the fiesta, and
  have them present their findings.

14
Your Results

• If you have mostly As
• You prefer the lecture method. Try integrating
  other teaching methods to make your classes more
  interesting and interactive.
• If you have mostly Bs
• You prefer the small-group/discussion method.
  Try integrating other teaching methods to make
  your classes more interesting and interactive.

15
Your Results, cont

• If you have mostly Cs
• You prefer the questioning method. Try
  integrating other teaching methods to make your
  classes more interesting and interactive.
• If you have mostly Ds
• You prefer the inquiry/inductive method. This
  is a combination of all the methods together, and
  probably the most effective teaching method.