What is Your Teaching Style?
Have you ever thought about the following question? What is your teaching style? Do you need to plan everything out to the smallest detail, or are you the type that likes to go into a new situation and “wing it?” Do you write out every word of your lesson, or do you improvise as you go along? While I don’t think either extreme produces the most effective teaching, I do think that there are advantages to both, knowing exactly what you want to say and being improvisational and spontaneous. Let’s look at both.
If you find it necessary to write out every word when you are teaching, especially in front of a group, it will probably sound like you are reading- because you will be reading. It is much harder to have good eye contact and connection when you read the material. If you spend the time to memorize the material, you risk forgetting something, losing your place, or you may sound like you are giving a speech, none of which aid in connection to the student. Connection really is important in keeping the students’ focus so they don’t fall asleep or get distracted. Your teaching style matters.
On the other hand, if you come into the classroom and just begin talking without a plan, your presentation will most likely be scattered and hard to follow, which will not be effective either. You may even miss the main point because you spend most of your time on rabbit trails!
Your presentation needs to sound as though it is fresh and you are newly putting these thoughts together, and at the same time, it needs to be polished as though you have taught it forever. How do you do that? How do you make it fresh and polished at the same time?
I believe it is in your preparation. Your teaching style needs to be defined before you enter the classroom. There is a phrase (I think first coined by Benjamin Franklin) that says: If you Fail to Plan you are essentially Planning to Fail. So we do need to make plans. We need to know exactly where we are going or it is likely we will not get there.
Here are some teaching style tips I have implemented when I have put together a presentation.
- I always start with an outline. It is a sort of roadmap to keep me on track.
- I write down the points and sub-points so I know exactly what I want to cover. I don’t write down every word I plan to say, but I make sure I have written the key points to keep me on track.
- I may write down all of the details of a list if I I have a list to share, because I am not great on remembering lists.
- There might be some other things that I want to say that I will include in my notes.
- I may run through my notes in a “practice teaching time” and if there is something that trips me up, I write down the beginning of the sentence I want to say, to get me started.
- I type my notes out in large font so when I present, I am readily able to read them.
For me this really works because then I am free to look into the eyes of the students when I am teaching. That eye contact can help to hold their attention. Again, teaching style. I want to come across with fresh inspiration and discovery but be planned and confident as though I have known it all forever.
Anything that is worth doing, is worth putting a little preparation time into. If you are new to teaching, this may take a little practice to find the balance, but it will be so worth it—for you and your students! And please don’t forget to follow the Lord’s leading by the Spirit and pray! And define your teaching style!