Teaching strategies are methods and techniques that a teacher will employ to help their students through the learning process. Teachers select different teaching strategies for different reasons, based on variables such as the topic being studied, the ability of the student(s) and the stage the student is at on their learning journey.

Teachers often interchange learning strategies mid-class, depending on the aims and objectives of the lesson. Being able to react to behavioural and contextual variables effectively is crucial in the classroom, as it ensures the most resonant and effective learning by the students.

Quizalize previously published an article listing ‘7 Effective Teaching Strategies For The Classroom’ – here we have five more top teaching strategies that you could be using in your classroom as an effective tool for effective learning:

1. Get to know your students:

While this may sound obvious, knowing your students well and understanding their learning needs is crucial in order to layer on additional learning strategies. By getting to know your students well from the start teachers are able to identify any additional, complex needs some students may need extra help with, along with an understanding of the general mix of abilities and personalities in their classroom as a whole. This forms a solid foundation for effective learning.

One technique to get to know your students is to do an ice-breaker activity. How about giving your students a quiz about you? This could help the students to feel more relaxed in class and offer you insight into their personalities. Here is a great example.

2. Formative assessments:

By monitoring and assessing students frequently and regularly teachers are able to identify learning gaps, misconceptions in their understanding of a topic, and on a class level gauge general retention of knowledge. Quizalize allows teachers to do this easily, quickly and in a way that is fun and engaging for their students. From micro, student-level insights through to macro, district-level insights, Quizalize’s powerful Mastery Dashboard displays crucial data that teachers can absorb and react on in just seconds.

3. Direct instruction:

Direct instruction is teacher-led and centres around frequent and regular questioning during the initial explanation to ensure and ascertain learning retention. The teacher then assigns a problem that students work through in silence (silence is important to ensure that students are focused). The combination of the teacher giving direct instructions, questioning students before the task to measure when they are ready for the task, and then delivering a silent, focused task can result in increased comprehension in a shorter period of time.

4. Praising effort:

When students recognise a link between the effort they make in the classroom and the praise they receive, an active learning mindset is established.

Active mindsets encourage students to try harder in class and gives a student motivation to push themselves to the best of their ability. When praise is given not just when a student gets an answer right but also to recognise when they are trying hard, all students have the opportunity to receive praise, feel motivated, and excel in the classroom.

5. Differentiation:

This strategy is designed to ensure that all students’ needs are met, in an individual and personalised way. When a teacher is able to provide custom pathways, resources and methods to each student based on their learning style and ability, each student is able to achieve their highest success.

One issue teachers often experience in delivering differentiated learning is that it is time-consuming and difficult to execute. Classrooms contain multiple students, often 30 or more, and it is oftentimes near impossible for a teacher to be able to understand each student’s learning needs and then implement a custom pathway for them.

Quizalize is a solution all teachers can use to implement differentiated learning quickly and easily across all their classrooms. The data the platform delivers once students have completed a quiz allows teachers to have a complete overview of how each student is performing against curriculum-specific learning objectives, which they can use to assign follow-on digital resources based on custom-set criteria.

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There are so many different teaching strategies available for teachers to use. These strategies benefit the teacher and the students, resulting in more controlled classrooms with increased learning attainment across the class.

Quizalize is a FREE technology that you can use in your classroom today. Let Quizalize take the stress away from implementing differentiated learning, save you time when assessments are due, and provide you with valuable insights into your students that you would not have otherwise.

You can sign up to Quizalize for free here – and make sure to let us know: which teaching strategy has Quizalize made easier for you to implement?

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