7 Effective Teaching Strategies For The Classroom (2024)

The classroom is a dynamic environment, bringing together students from different backgrounds with various abilities and personalities. Being an effective teacher, therefore, requires the implementation of creative and innovative teaching strategies in order to meet students’ individual needs.

Whether you’ve been teaching for two months or twenty years, it can be difficult to know which teaching strategies will work best with your students. As a teacher there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution, so here is a range of effective teaching strategies you can use to inspire your classroom practice.

7 Effective Teaching Strategies For The Classroom

1. Visualization

Bring dull academic concepts to life with visual and practical learning experiences, helping your students to understand how their schooling applies in the real world.

Examples include using the interactive whiteboard to display photos, audio clips, and videos, as well as encouraging your students to get out of their seats with classroom experiments and local field trips.

2. Cooperative learning

Encourage students of mixed abilities to work together by promoting small group or whole class activities.
Through verbally expressing their ideas and responding to others your students will develop their self-confidence, as well as enhance their communication and critical thinking skills which are vital throughout life.

Solving mathematical puzzles, conducting scientific experimentsand acting out short drama sketches are just a few examples of how cooperative learning can be incorporated into classroom lessons.

3. Inquiry-based instruction

Pose thought-provoking questions which inspire your students to think for themselves and become more independent learners.
Encouraging students to ask questions and investigate their own ideas helps improve their problem-solving skills as well as gain a deeper understanding of academic concepts. Both of which are important life skills.

Inquiries can bescienceormath-basedsuch as ‘why does my shadow change size?’ or ‘is the sum of two odd numbers always an even number?’. However, they can also besubjectiveand encourage students toexpress their unique views, e.g. ‘do poems have to rhyme?’ or ‘should all students wear uniforms?’.

4. Differentiation applied to teaching strategies

Differentiate your teaching strategiesby allocating tasks based on students’ abilities, to ensure no one gets left behind.
Assigning classroom activities according to students’ unique learning needs means individuals with higher academic capabilities are stretched and those who are struggling get the appropriate support.

This can involve handing outworksheets that vary in complexityto different groups of students or setting up a range of workstations around the classroom which contain an assortment of tasks for students to choose from.
Moreover, using an educational tool such asQuizalizecan save you hours of time because it automatically groups your students for you, so you can easily identify individual and whole-class learning gaps.

5. Technology in the classroom for teaching strategies

Incorporating technology into your teaching strategies is a great way to actively engage your students, especially as digital media surrounds young people in the 21st century.
Interactive whiteboards or mobile devices can be used to display images and videos, which helps students visualize new academic concepts. Learning can become more interactive when technology is used as students canphysically engage during lessons as well as instantly research their ideas, which develops autonomy.

Mobile devices, such as iPads and/or tablets, can be used in the classroom for students torecord results,take photos/videos,or simply as abehavior management technique. Plus, incorporatingeducational programmessuch as Quizalize into your lesson plans is also a great way to makeformative assessmentsfun and engaging.

6. Behaviour management

Implementing an effective behavior management strategy is crucial to gain your students’ respect and ensure students have an equal chance of reaching their full potential.
Noisy, disruptive classrooms do not encourage a productive learning environment, therefore developing an atmosphere of mutual respect through a combination of discipline and reward can be beneficial for both you and your students.

Examples includefun and interactive reward chartsfor younger students, where individuals move up or down based on behavior with the top student receiving a prize at the end of the week.‘Golden time’can also work for students of all ages, with a choice of various activities such asclassroom gamesor no homework in reward for their hard work.

7. Professional development for teaching strategies

Engaging in regular professional development programmes is a great way to enhance teaching strategy and learning in your classroom.
With educational policies constantly changing it is extremely useful to attend events where you can gain inspiration from other teachers and academics. It’s also a great excuse to get out of the classroom and work alongside other teachers just like you!

Sessions can include learning aboutnew educational technologies likeQuizalize,online safety training(check our ready-to-use quiz), advice onhow to use your teaching assistant(s),and much more.

Being an effective teacher is a challenge because every student is unique, however, by using a combination of teaching strategies you can address students’ varying learning styles and academic capabilities as well as make your classroom a dynamic and motivational environment for students.

Quizalize – Try the best quiz platform for face-to-face or remote learning.

Now we want to hear from you!

What teaching strategies do you use to be an effective teacher? Have you got any top tips? Comment below and we will update the article with your ideas.