Teaching Styles for Elementary School
Elementary school is an extremely important learning period in every child's life. These are the years when a child's mind is being developed, when his opinion of himself in relation to the world around him is being formed, and when his vision of the world is being established. These are just a few of the reasons why strong foundations must be built in elementary grades and why it's important for teachers of elementary school students to develop the teaching styles that best suit them and their classrooms. It is also essential for teachers to be flexible and develop the ability to combine styles and adapt to the best learning styles of the students they are teaching at a given time. Some of the most common teaching styles used in classrooms today are the traditional lecture style, the hands-on approach and hands-off approaches, the collaborative method, and demonstration or presentation. As top teachers in New Jersey understand, often it takes a combination of various styles to teach effectively, especially when children are learning in groups of varied skill levels.
Lectures
The traditional style of lecturing from the front of the class is one of the oldest and perhaps the most formal of all teaching styles. In this method, teachers are the authority providing facts to the class. In this style, students often are expected to take notes and study from their notes at home. This method can be especially challenging for visual learners because they need to see a more demonstrative approach, rather than just hear lessons that are being taught without any visual aids. Auditory learners often do well with the traditional lecture style of teaching.
Hands-on
The hands-on approach is quite different from the lecture method. Elementary students often perform well with a hands-on style of teaching because it gets them involved in their learning. Unlike the traditional lecture style, a hands-on approach to teaching generally works much better for visual learners. In this style, teachers give information in a more personal and direct manner, offering examples that allow children an opportunity to participate.
Hands-off
Conversely, in the hands-off approach, teachers give just fundamental instructions, leaving students to work and learn independently and ask further instructions from the teacher only when they face challenges. The hands-off teaching style generally works better for older students who have already built strong critical thinking skills. Younger children tend to need more guidance from their teachers. Even if some students seem as though they are ready for a hands-off approach, this teaching style can backfire as some children may be afraid or even embarrassed to admit when they are having problems.
Collaborative
This teaching style offers students assistance as they need it. With the collaborative approach, teachers may design an activity that groups students in an ensemble in order to achieve a result, working together and supporting each other. Group discussion often follows the group's collaboration in order to discuss students' views on what they just learned. This method is a more innovative approach often used by teachers in New Jersey, including one of the area's top teachers, Shari Duddy. In fact, Ms. Duddy pioneered a pilot program that assembled students both in the general population and the special-education population, bringing the two together in a collaborative approach that addressed students' learning needs and strengths rather than focusing on their disabilities. This collaborative approach to teaching aids in developing students' communication and problem-solving skills.
Demonstration
Demonstration is one of the most commonly used and effective teaching styles. In this method, teachers combine showing with telling, using visual aids, experiments, projectors, and in today's technology-rich classrooms, exhibits created and displayed with computer programs. Demonstrating information to students, especially when combined with other methods such as collaborative and hands-on, can be a very effective means of allowing children not just to hear but to see what they're learning as well as participate in the learning experience.
Being an elementary school teacher is, indeed, a serious and demanding undertaking. Elementary teachers in New Jersey are tasked with challenging jobs, as teaching is one of the most significant means of aiding in the development of young minds and talents, as well as overcoming the challenges each student faces. To be as effective as possible, top teachers have learned that they must be educated in many different teaching styles in order to combine, adapt, and tailor their styles to the needs of individual students as well as groups.
Lectures
The traditional style of lecturing from the front of the class is one of the oldest and perhaps the most formal of all teaching styles. In this method, teachers are the authority providing facts to the class. In this style, students often are expected to take notes and study from their notes at home. This method can be especially challenging for visual learners because they need to see a more demonstrative approach, rather than just hear lessons that are being taught without any visual aids. Auditory learners often do well with the traditional lecture style of teaching.
Hands-on
The hands-on approach is quite different from the lecture method. Elementary students often perform well with a hands-on style of teaching because it gets them involved in their learning. Unlike the traditional lecture style, a hands-on approach to teaching generally works much better for visual learners. In this style, teachers give information in a more personal and direct manner, offering examples that allow children an opportunity to participate.
Hands-off
Conversely, in the hands-off approach, teachers give just fundamental instructions, leaving students to work and learn independently and ask further instructions from the teacher only when they face challenges. The hands-off teaching style generally works better for older students who have already built strong critical thinking skills. Younger children tend to need more guidance from their teachers. Even if some students seem as though they are ready for a hands-off approach, this teaching style can backfire as some children may be afraid or even embarrassed to admit when they are having problems.
Collaborative
This teaching style offers students assistance as they need it. With the collaborative approach, teachers may design an activity that groups students in an ensemble in order to achieve a result, working together and supporting each other. Group discussion often follows the group's collaboration in order to discuss students' views on what they just learned. This method is a more innovative approach often used by teachers in New Jersey, including one of the area's top teachers, Shari Duddy. In fact, Ms. Duddy pioneered a pilot program that assembled students both in the general population and the special-education population, bringing the two together in a collaborative approach that addressed students' learning needs and strengths rather than focusing on their disabilities. This collaborative approach to teaching aids in developing students' communication and problem-solving skills.
Demonstration
Demonstration is one of the most commonly used and effective teaching styles. In this method, teachers combine showing with telling, using visual aids, experiments, projectors, and in today's technology-rich classrooms, exhibits created and displayed with computer programs. Demonstrating information to students, especially when combined with other methods such as collaborative and hands-on, can be a very effective means of allowing children not just to hear but to see what they're learning as well as participate in the learning experience.
Being an elementary school teacher is, indeed, a serious and demanding undertaking. Elementary teachers in New Jersey are tasked with challenging jobs, as teaching is one of the most significant means of aiding in the development of young minds and talents, as well as overcoming the challenges each student faces. To be as effective as possible, top teachers have learned that they must be educated in many different teaching styles in order to combine, adapt, and tailor their styles to the needs of individual students as well as groups.