Effective Student Centered Teaching

Effective teaching can be defined as striving and aiming higher for students. It is believing that all students are capable of achieving everything successfully rather than thinking that some can while some are destined to do poorly. It is all about many things but most of all it is about teachers' behavior around the students or its effects on students' achievements (Good T.L., Wiley C.R.H., Florez I.R., 2009). When teachers achieve effective teaching, they are considered to have the most high and preferred quality teaching.

 Teachers could accomplish effective teaching in many ways such as, by being positive, prepared, organized, clear, active, patient, and fair (Walker, n. d). According to my understanding, I think that effective teaching could also be achieved by proper teaching methods, guidance, trust, understanding, and most of all teacher qualities such as caring, fair, respectful, and holding high expectations for themselves and their students (D. Tucker & H. Stronge, 2020).

 Throughout my teaching experiences, I focused on allowing learners to be able to see and understand the world beyond what they were taught, to think outside the box, to have confidence, and to develop an interest in learning adequately so learning barriers could be broken. It is indeed a very tough task to fulfill especially when students have low self-esteem and doubt about their capabilities and worth. However, I tried to stay positive and did the best I could to make students feel good about their learning capabilities and work to achieve the best results.

 For my students to achieve astonishing results I used effective student-centered teaching methods such as interactive and communicative activities, using real-life examples, using a variety of hands-on activities, and being resourceful in my activities. I would engage students in activities that require critical thinking, competition, teamwork, and focus. For example, joint writing, mind reading (warmer), group work, and so on. These activities not only allow students to become critical thinkers but also allow them to enhance their ability to improve their self-esteem and teach them to master and control their learning through positive relationships respect and learning from experiences. At the same time, students were having fun as they were learning using visible teaching aids such as pictures, flashcards, fraction cards, and many more.

 Students' involvement, collaboration, and participation in interactive activities accomplished a high level of effective teaching as they touched on many important factors of students understanding such as learning using prior knowledge and daily experiences (real-life experiences). For example, solving word problems (real-life situations) in math that require them to work it out cognitively. These activities were very interesting for students because they were the ones who were in charge of their learning and also because the focus was all about what they had experienced. Thus, teaching could result in impacting students’ lives positively since it could stay with them for the long term and could become a helping tool for preparing them to face the outside world (Sand, 2019).

 Observation and monitoring were constantly carried out throughout the daily tasks that I conducted so the students were aware of their mistakes and could avoid repeating the same thing in future learning. During the process of facilitating the students, I would provide constructive feedback, recognizing and praising students throughout activities so they are assured that their ideas and work are highly appreciated and matter. These tactics increased learners' willingness to participate and be part of the whole learning process.   

Therefore, effective teaching can only be accomplished if teachers bring positivity, high expectancy, creativity, and understanding into the classroom. To acquire the best outcomes teaching should be practical so learners understand the importance of their existence, and values and most of all realize the changes they could bring to society in the future.

Bibliography:

D. Tucker, P., & H. Stronge, J. (2020). The Power of an Effective Teacher and Why We Should Assess It. Retrieved from: http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/104136/chapters/The-Power-of-an-Effective-Teacher-and-Why-We-Should-Assess-It.aspx.

Good T.L., Wiley C.R.H., Florez I.R. (2009) Effective Teaching: an Emerging Synthesis. In: Saha L.J., Dworkin A.G. (eds) International Handbook of Research on Teachers and Teaching. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 21. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73317-3_51

Sand, K. (2019). Why teachers should provide real-life examples. Retrieved from: https://blog.checkio.org/why-teachers-should-provide-real-life-examples-84721d875d48.

Walker, R. J. (n.d.). Twelve Characteristics of an Effective Teacher [Review of Twelve Characteristics of an Effective Teacher]. Retrieved May 11 C.E., from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ815372.pdf