COOL TEACHER TIPS : PLAN & PREPARE

Do you consider planning and preparation as an investment or a waste of time? Those who say it is a waste of time may have their genuine reasons due to experiences in the past. If you have planned for class activities or any other thing at school that turned out to be a flop, you may say planning is not necessary.  However, well documented plans afford us the opportunity to retract and improve on our approach, this turns out to be beneficial for you and your students in the long run.

WHAT TO PLAN FOR

• Methodology
• Classroom management
• Resources
• Dealing with peculiarities: children and parents
• And so much more

WHY DO I NEED TO PLAN?

The teacher is continuously faced with numerous tasks to accomplish, without adequate planning, one is most likely to fail in some aspects even though you thrive in other areas.We do know that if you are ever given a choice to win-some or win-all, you will choose the latter. Good planning and preparation help you win more often than you would without the pair.

If you are still wondering why you need to plan, you should keep reading.

1. Planning helps you to focus on what is important per time. With so many deadlines, you may want to be sure you are doing the right task per time. 
2. You set and keep up with standards (lesson delivery and every area of your teacher life) when you plan. Planning brings your wishes to reality because every teacher has big dreams for their classroom but not all are able to bring these bright dreams to fruition because they were not properly planned for.
3. You become a better manager through planning.  Properly engaged learners are more likely to be better behaved than those who are left idle or those without clear instructions. If you have ever been in a situation where your resources were not ready, complete or appropriate, then you can agree that when the teacher gets disorganized, the class is equally disorganized too.
4. You become a better teacher.  This one always works. A teacher with intentions to plan researches, practises, reflects, learns, relearns, fails, succeeds and much more. Because all these things build you, you earn the respect of your colleagues, administrators and students.
5. Your students learn in a more enriched environment and achieve better results.

WHEN DO I PLAN AND PREPARE?

It is no doubt that the free periods we get at work do not suffice for the kind of planning and preparation that produce effective results, we need more time. Whatever time is comfortable for you is fine as long as you can do your planning.

1. Staying back after close of work is effective for those who can do it. You have more quiet time at work to reflect and let the ideas flow.
2. Some teachers prefer to come to work pretty early when there's hardly anyone else around to distract them.
3. Others cherish the peace of their homes and would rather stay up late at wee hours to plan and prepare.

HOW DO I START MY PLANNING?

1. Write notes. A teacher who wants to succeed at planning will have to write down important things at different times. You write when you want to reflect on your practice/day at work. A to-do list works wonders and will give you direction, help you stay focused and increase your chances of having a peak performance. 
2. Do a draft of your lesson by breaking down each aspect of delivery into minutes. Play out every part and see if you really will achieve the intended purpose at the specified time. (look out for future posts where I will be teaching you how to organize your activities and make sure Blended Learning is achieved).
3. Your colleagues are valuable resources which should never be ruled out. Observe other lessons and ask questions. Allow others to observe your class and also tell them to give you honest feedback. Use the results of these to plan for your class. 
4. You can find a lot of information on whatever you need to know by surfing the net, reading a book or doing a short course.  You do not always have to stare at the ceiling or give up when you lack ideas. Doing research can provide you with more ideas on how to deal with issues in your class.
5. Always document your ideas as they come. If you choose to wait for a special time to recall them, important details may have been lost.

I AM NOW A CERTIFIED TEACHER

Congratulations filled the air upon receipt of this document just last week.

It took a year to get this processed; signed, sealed and delivered. Who would have thought this was something I would be proud of fifteen years ago. Right now, I am incredibly proud of it.

I  really did not consider it important when I had just started teaching, truth be told,as much as I  wanted to be a teacher, I also wasn't ready to be committed ( Lol...Does that sound like what a guy will tell a lady?)

So, somehow I never applied for it until a few years ago when David and I got nominated for an award in Lagos state with a huge monetary reward. I did not bother going on with the procedure because I was told being certified as a teacher by Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) was compulsory. David who is a go-getter  went on with the process and interestingly moved all the way up to the finals. He had gotten to the top four in that award but had to drop out as he was not certified. It was then it  dawned on us the importance of the certificate and so we decided to start the process of getting it.

Since I received this certificate, I have been made to understand the numerous benefits I stand to gain as a teacher.

Don't sleep on a bicycle like I did, it took me over eight years to start processing mine. This certificate is gold to a teacher the way being a chartered accountant is to the accountant.

I know there are people reading this now who have gotten theirs. Kindly share with us the benefits teachers can get with this certificate and also tell us if you have one.

WHEN TEACHERS DISGUISE

Many people seem to crave the weekend for several reasons. Even in work places, parties are thrown on Fridays and those who love to get their groove on move from one event to the other throughout the weekend. Another category uses the time to get personal things sorted out.

I grew up knowing that many use the weekends to cash in on strategic meet ups; to close business deals or meet prospective clients.  Others just want to make the acquaintance of people so as to increase the value of their network.

At meetups/events, when people introduce themselves they would usually say something like 'My name is Mr/Ms......, I am into entertainment or investment banking, nice to make your acquaintance.' And courtesy demands that you return that gesture by introducing yourself as well. Even if you miss the line of mentioning what it is that you do, it does not take long for someone to pop the question 'so what do you do?'

Well, word has come to me that teachers still find it difficult to mention that they are indeed TEACHERS. Some simply lie or mention something else that they do.

It is can almost be forgiven because I have WALKED into rooms in the past where I would timidly mention that I was a teacher and the expressions were priceless (negatively).
Teachers know how they are perceived by a lot of people and would rather stay safe by hiding from who they are. The stigma attached to teachers being poor is still so strong and it has affected how we are perceived.

The narrative is changing, many teachers have broken free from the yoke of poverty ( that is a topic for another day). Better still, teachers are intelligent, creative, problem solvers, nation shapers and many more. Which of these do you fall into?

It took me a lot of thoughts to accept myself for what I had decided to do as a career, understand why I was doing it and define the mark I intended to make. By so doing, my career has become the easiest story I know to tell. Believe it or not, I now walk into gatherings with my head held up and talk about being a teacher to people in more 'lucrative' professions, hold them spell bound and begin to receive comments like 'Can we do something together?'

Someone once mentioned that if you are a teacher and all your friends are teachers, you are headed in the wrong direction.

The level of exposure you have is how far you can show your students. Take bold strides today, there's so much more to you than talking about your students to your spouse or network of teacher friends.

1- Discover yourself
2- Work on yourself
3- Use it to change your narrative.

Still wondering about how to go about this, drop a comment or visit @teachersidaraanddavid on Instagram. We love to see teachers becoming more of whom they intend to be and even beyond.

08167434858,08034085285

TEACHERS CAN BE MORE...

This is third term and the session is going to end before we know it. Are we just going to let the same old cycle begin next session?

I am hearing someone say 'NO.'

Talk is cheap!

What are you doing about the dreams and aspirations you have always nursed? Think problems, think solutions! Money comes only to those who help solve problems.

Everyone can be a problem solver if only we think a little harder.

Before you know it, it's going to be a new year again.

Be intentional about your goals! Don't just have dreams, reflect, look for ways to get them done, ask a friend, take a course.

Success will never show pity to those who hope and do nothing.

#mytwopence
#muchlove

REINVENT YOUR CLASSROOM

Teachers are often prone to get overwhelmed with school activities, lessons and everything else in between. When teachers are faced with meeting deadlines, completing the syllabus and all one will agree that all these can make a teacher develop patterns and routines to ensure that all these are accomplished.Also, there is the issue of lack of sufficient time allotted to the numerous school ‘must dos’. So, you find out that some teachers become experts in routines and gradually lose the ability to be creative.

Good news!!! You can reinvent your classroom every once in a while by disrupting your routines and procedures without losing focus. There are simple ways you can add fun and excitement with or without technology. I do this regularly and the pupils always love it.

WAYS TO REINVENT YOUR CLASSROOM

        Introducing games
·         Use of music
·         Dance
·         Movement
·         Talk
·         Activities unassociated with the subject, etc((The teacher has to be creative, purposeful and thoughtful about this)

WHEN CAN YOU DISRUPT YOUR CLASSROOM ROUTINE

•   Before school assembly in class

• Before the first period of the day

• After the last period of the day

•  Somewhere in between your lesson

•  The transition from one class to the other, etc.

Disrupting your classroom has more advantages than disadvantages. Some teacher may begin to think of time, disorganized class and all. But, these things are important for different reasons.

•  It relaxes the students.

•  It makes a lesson or day memorable

• It helps learners (especially the kinesthetic) to connect the activities with the lesson and remember more easily

• It eradicates boredom.

•  It creates excitement that makes students interested in learning.

EXAMPLE

A teacher just concluded an hour of a Numeracy lesson after which the pupils are expected to immediately begin another one hour Social Studies lesson. A simple activity either teacher can do at the end of the Numeracy lesson or the beginning of Social Studies. Tell every child to:

• Stand

• Walk ten steps north of the classroom

• Turn around and walk towards the east of the class and touch the wall

• Finally, touch one more end of the class that they desire.

Then the teacher says, ‘who will be the last?’ The next reaction is always amazing. The movement awakens them, makes them more ready for the next class and all. The first time I did this, the students loved it and asked for it again. However, I am careful not to use it too often so it does not lose its ‘magic’. There are some I do once and that is it. The most important thing is to add excitement to your classroom as often as you can Regular is boring!    

Wait Time: A Priceless Teaching Technique for Teachers

Wait time! So simple yet so powerful.

Many times, teachers unknowingly make students come up with hasty conclusions by the way they ask questions and demand for the answers in class.

Scenario

The teacher asks five-year-old pupils to mention major landmarks leading to the houses. And, in less than three seconds the teacher is breathing down on them to supply answers. Before you know it the teacher begins to get angry when the pupils cannot supply him/her with reasonable answers.

The next time the teacher does the same thing and so you see a cycle where pupils are trying to meet up with a teachers expectation of ‘prompt’ but ‘poorly thought out’ answers.

Try out Wait time!

It is a learning tool used by teachers but if well understood and utilized by the teacher it will largely contribute to developing one of the most important 21st-century skills, critical thinking.

How does it work?

• You ask a question.
• Tell the student to think about it by weighing other options before arriving at an answer.
• Give the student quality time to think about the answer (the teacher decides the length of time, based on the nature of the question).
• Prompt the students when it appears they are not getting the answer as quickly as they should, the problem may be with your question.
• Listen for qualitative responses from the students.

Result

•  It will increase the child’s ability to think in class.       It will increase the chances of a child to transfer the skill to his/her personal life.
•  The child will come up with better decisions and answers
•  The is most likely to solve problems easier and more frequently than a child who does not think though question.
• This will ultimately prepare that child to become an influencer as he/she will become a problem solver.

How well do you use this tool in your classroom?

ONLINE COURSE ALERT: BECOMING A TRENDY TEACHER

Jolaawo was a 24 year old guy from an average Nigerian family. His parents were teachers and he always wanted to be one as well.

He used to  believe that as a teacher, hewill close early from work and have  other small businesses that can fetch him more money.

Soon, he realised that being a teacher requires more time. In less than a year, he lost his drive.

 He would  rush off from work to meet up with lessons, leaving a lot of school work undone and in no time, became an under performer at work.

 One would think he raked in cool cash from his after school endeavours. Right?

He was losing on both sides and because he paid no attention to professional development,he quickly became stale and kicked out of work.

He was smart, young, had the relevant qualification, knew the content of the lesson.

Problem:
He was not up to date. He was loosing his relevance bit by bit and had no idea of it.

Don't be a Jolaawo,
•click on this link forms/d/1D6iesCmpNXsWIyQi6pOFNTokn433xjXqslt85whmSAI/edit?usp=drivesdk
•fill in your email to get more details

Email: teacheridara@gmail.com