#13- How to Be A More Engaging Teacher
We have to admit that some teachers are engaging more than others. Let’s be honest, even back when you were a student, I’m sure there were classes that you looked forward to attending while you dreaded attending others, right? This is because students like to be engaged for them to perform better during a class lesson.
Nick shares the five ways he uses to engage his audience. When you incorporate at least three of these in your lessons, you are sure to start getting results. But keep in mind that you have always the end goal and these techniques are only tools.
Set clear lesson goals. This is where you start with the end in mind- look for the desired result that you want to achieve during the lesson. These are the two questions you should ask yourself:
- What will students accomplish during this lesson?
- What does success look like to me?
Make the lesson challenging enough but also achievable.
Open strong and finish strong. We remember the beginnings and endings more than the middle. This applies to the start and finish of a lesson, which means you should try to engage your students as they’re entering the class. Make it an experience by starting strong with an interesting fact or a story and repeat it at the end of the lesson. You can also come up with a creative way like reciting a poem- this is to make sure you end just as strong as you started.
Turn lessons into stories. Storytelling has been proven to be the best way to captivate and engage an audience’s logical and emotional side of the brain. Look for a way to include a short story during your lesson to pull your students in. Remember to keep the end goal in mind by keeping the story related to the topic of the lesson.
Get them to move. It is boring to just sit there and listen, even you would want to move around to break the monotony, right? Students tend to want to move so it is wise to keep them moving. You can get them moving around the class if it is an in-person class or send them to the breakroom or ask them to move their body parts if the lesson is virtual. Find other creative ways that you can keep your students engaged.
Gamify the educational process. This will keep them interested! You can even make it a fun competition. Students like games and will in fact ask for more instead of turning the idea down.
Key Moments:
- [2:22] How to set clear lesson goals by starting with the end in mind.
- [3:55] Open strong and finish strong by making both the start and finish interesting and interactive.
- [8:45] How to turn lessons into short interesting stories that keep the students wanting more.
- [11:20] How to get your students to move, in both the in-person or virtual lesson settings.
- [15:10] Learn to gamify the educational process to make it easier and fun.
- [18:37] Nick narrates a story of how he kept his audience engaged during a speaking event.
Quotes:
“Setting clear lesson goals, knowing what that is, and working towards that in every part of your lesson.” [7:57]
“We remember the beginnings and endings more than we do the middle.” [4:15]
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