In a learning environment, the teacher or tutor hopes to provide their student with the skills to remember and meaningfully interpret information. Whether it’s maths, science, or humanities, the objective is the same: help the student know more. But when students are distracted, disengaged or confused, this can make the learning process more difficult for the student and teacher. This is why developing strategies to maintain high student engagement is important. Studies show that student engagement “increases satisfaction, enhances motivation to learn, reduces the sense of isolation, and improves student performance.” These are significant areas where your student can flourish. To help engage students in learning environments, we’ve provided some tips below.
Children can feel disengaged when the classroom content is too abstract or distant. One way to ameliorate this is by connecting your lessons to the world they live in. This is an effective learning tool that grounds their education in tangible things they can understand. For example, studying fractions can seem unimportant until you try and bake a cake using cup measurements.
You can ground your lesson by looking at the news or playing an excerpt about a relevant issue. Alternatively, try getting out of the classroom. Go for an excursion to the garden, local park, news agency, or school yard and set up an activity relevant to the lesson. You’re only limited by your imagination and creativity when it comes to grounding lessons in reality.
A good teacher is warm, accessible, enthusiastic and caring. They have the respect of their students and are invested in their learning outcomes. Children are very sensitive to variations in tone and body language. When a teacher is upset or distracted, the student will pick up on this which may affect their learning. Teachers and tutors will always have off days, but if the overall impression is caring and professional, students will learn better.
Much research has been done on how the teacher/student relationship affects learning. Summarily, a teacher that cares, is present, and is accessible will encourage students to succeed and set goals. These goals set up self-directed and self-driven learning in the students who will, in turn, become more engaged in the classroom as they seek to fulfil the vision they and their teacher have created.
Without lesson structure, children can feel aimless or confused which leads to suboptimal engagement in the learning activity. Providing a clear structure means the students are aware of both the expectations and the duration of the lesson segment. This can have a significant impact on engagement in schools and in home tuition classes.
You can provide structure by clearly explaining what will be happening in the lesson. But children can be distractible or forgetful, so writing down what the child can expect from class on a whiteboard or sticky note provides a tangible reminder of what they should be doing. When a child is distracted, you can point to the current activity to get them back on track and engaged in the lesson.
So what is good teaching practice to keep students engaged? We’ve outlined that warmth, relevance and structure are key to an optimal learning environment. If you’re looking for home tuition classes in Singapore that are led by these areas, or want to become a home tutor, then connect with FamilyTutor Singapore to find the perfect match for your child’s learning style and needs. We are the no #1 home tuition provider in the country with a strong track record of improvement in our students – our tuition subjects range across Maths, Science, Chinese, English and many more. Fill out a tutor request form today to find your perfect match or browse our testimonials section to see how many children have been positively impacted by our home tuition service.
Carelle is a teacher who has been through the ups and downs of the teacher and learner life. She wishes for every learner to gain educational satisfaction that will help embody the people they want to be in the future.
FamilyTutor is an established home tuition agency in Singapore! We match suitable home tutors for our clients not just to improve the students' academic grades, but also to build a strong rapport and meaningful relationship with the students and even the their whole family. FamilyTutor put every student in good hands!
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FamilyTutor is an established and the people’s favourite home tuition agency in Singapore! We match a suitable tutor for you not just to improve the student’s grade, but also to build a good rapport and meaningful relationship with the student and even with the student’s whole family! With FamilyTutor, every Singaporean son & daughter is in good hands.