Teaching a classroom of many students is a much different experience as compared to teaching one student in a one-to-one private tuition setting. The experience would be different, the challenges vary and the advantages as well as disadvantages would differ as well. Teachers who are used to teaching a group of students would find it challenging to teach one student. And the opposite is the same; private one-on-one tutors would require some time to adapt to teaching a group.
Everything would seem challenging in the beginning, but once you get the knack of it, things get easier. So, here are some tips for tutors to manage a large classroom!
KNOW THEIR NAMES
The biggest challenge of managing a large classroom is being interactive with every student. Each and every student deserves attention from the teacher; that makes the lesson more engaging and interesting. If students feel left out of the learning process, it is highly unlikely that they are learning anything useful.
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The first and best way to gather the attention of each student would be to arrange an ice-breaking event to know each other’s names. When students are familiar with each other and the teacher, it sets a brighter tone for the lesson.
INVOLVEMENT
It will be a boring and mundane lesson if the teacher is the only one speaking the entire time. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn”. His words can’t be truer and should this principle be applied by teachers in their teaching methods; it will make a huge difference. Students will benefit from a lesson if they feel that they are in involved in the learning process.
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For example, if students are learning about histology, the teacher can make the necessary effort to bring them to the laboratory to show the histological slides under the microscope. The immediate practical session after a theory class would help in memory reinforcement to a great extent. Students will feel that they are involved in a hands-on manner which helps them better encode the information being internalised.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
No matter how jovial you would like to be with your students, there needs to be some rules and regulations set in order to put up some boundaries. You should be an amicable and approachable tutor, but you need to be strict when the necessity arises. A good teacher needs to know when to show some tough love as well!
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A good way to establish these rules and regulations would be to spend some time talking to the class, like how a normal conversation would be like. The tone doesn’t need to be authoritative, but the words need to reflect the fact that you have your own set of expectations that students need to keep up to.
As long as students know their parameters and are understanding enough to stick to them, teachers will have an easier time managing a classroom!
IN CONCLUSION
With the advent of technology, even online tutoring has become a possible option that many students are considering. Nonetheless, nothing can beat the learning experience in a traditional classroom setting. Teachers have to be skilled enough to have everyone’s attention on them, and they need to be able to teach students in a pace that everyone can follow in general. The pace should be in such a way that slow-learners don’t get left behind and fast-learners don’t end up dozing off from boredom.
Though it may not be easy to manage a large classroom, it is not an impossible herculean task to do so. With practice and experience, it will be a joy to teach a large number of students!