[vc_row row_content_width=”grid”][vc_column][vc_row_inner gap=”20″][vc_column_inner][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]Pure Dance Tours design travel and events to meet the requirements of each group that we work with ensuring each and every participant (including non-performers) has an experience of a lifetime. We are flexible and create bespoke trips according to your party’s wishes and goals.
With over 25 years of experience, we have worked with schools, dance studios, choirs, acting troupes, and bands. Contact us for more information.
The Best Modern Approaches for Teaching Kids
Education continues to evolve because learning cannot remain stagnant. As the needs of the younger generation shift, there is also a paradigm shift in education. Before, we taught children through lectures and made them hand copy notes. Now we try to focus less on rote memory and more on helping them apply their knowledge to everyday situations. Instead of the teacher talking, we let the students discover things on their own and guide them through the process so that they can be empowered on their own. If you’re a 21st Century educator, here are some of the best modern approaches to teaching the children of today, whether you’re doing it online or face-to-face.
Gamification and Rewards
Games and rewards might not be an appealing thought because students can get overexcited about games. But isn’t that great? They’ll be excited about the learning that comes along with it. The trick here is designing rules that make sure they won’t misbehave. For example, if it’s a group game, you can add a rule that will deduct points from either team if one of their teammates is noisy. This works very well for young children because they don’t want to be blamed by their friends for losing points.
For older students, a mix of games and technology can be used. There are online educational game websites such as Classcraft that use designs similar to RPG games. Students join a class, and they can choose characters such as warriors or mages. They can even design their characters! Students who are into gaming enjoy the game, especially since they can also use powers and attacks be gaining points from their teacher! It’s really like a computer game!
Using Different Multimedia Resources
Gone are the days of teachers writing on boards with chalk or markers. We now have PowerPoint and Keynote presentations. Children are now exposed to screens before they can even walk, and 71% of parents say that they are worried their children spend too much time on screen. Given this data, most students grow up to be visual learners, which means that texts won’t be enough to catch their attention. This is why educators should incorporate the use of different multimedia when teaching kids. Some examples of multimedia resources are as pictures, videos, GIF files, or songs. Even memes and infographics are good educational tools. Students love memes, and creating educational memes can be just as entertaining for them as the actual memes they see online.
Encouraging Students to Work Collaboratively
In the traditional ways of teaching, we would have students sitting individually with their desks and chairs arranged in neat little rows. But what if we treated them like they were still in kindergarten? What if their desks formed one big table and they sat around that desk? What if instead of having 20 neatly arranged chairs inside a classroom, you had five neatly arranged clusters with four students seated together. Again, this setup would not be disruptive if the teacher has routines and rules set at there start of the school year to make sure the students behave. This increases not only collaboration between the students but it also creates camaraderie between the students. They can help each other out in activities and work better during group works. Again, this is about empowering the students and teaching them about responsibility.
Scaffolding in Education
Like in buildings, education sometimes needs scaffolding when trying to build the foundations of children’s knowledge. When we do scaffolding in education, we break down the learning and guide the students towards independence. This is broken down into three basic phases. In phase 1, the teacher will show the students how something is done. Then, the teacher and the students do it together. Once the students understand the concept more, the teacher lets them work on it independently. Scaffolding is not only useful in activities; it can also be used to get students to be more participative in class. Scaffolding can also be used when asking students questions so that they can be guided to the correct answer. The teacher asks a series of questions that slowly help them realize, discover or understand the concept independently.
Teaching kids, contrary to popular belief, is not an easy profession. Educators must always understand the needs of their students and build the lesson around those needs. These needs are always different, and often, teachers need to mix them up, which is why there are many strategies and approaches to use. With some of these approaches, students will surely enjoy class more or, at the very least, they won’t get bored.
[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner gap=”35″][vc_column_inner][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]