In this post we bring some more effective and efficient strategies you can apply in your classrooms to make your boring lectures interesting and attentive for your students.

Technology:

We are fortunate to be living in a world where technology has a great impact on our living standards. Teachers are thankful to the new inventions of technology that has made their lives much easier and exciting too. Many schools around the world use new and modern technology trends in education to make it more effective and fun for the students. However, it is really important that the teachers use the resources that fits best for the lecture to be taught in the class and not the other way around. The most commonly used technology trends in a classroom are, PowerPoint presentations, Educational videos, blended learning (mixture of online + traditional learning),teaching through Gamification and lot more. These techniques make the lecture more fun and exciting for the students and the teachers too. Moreover, it also engages the students in active and independent learning.

Make the Lecture Interactive

Student interaction is very essential during the time of the lecture. This ensures that the students have retained the content and are actively participating in all discussions. The teacher must encourage every student to participate in the lass discussions to know their level of understanding and how much of the lesson has been retained by them. Peer interaction can work best for students to involve in active and independent learning. Students working in groups or pairs can express their views and thoughts about the topic with their peers and then with the entire class. This also helps to build self-confidence in shy students and develops their communication skills as well.

Change is Good

A famous quote by Jenny O’Connell states, "Sometimes change was good. Sometime it was even exactly what you needed."

With reference to this quote we believe that in our day-today changing world, we need to flow with it and not just look behind to what we are leaving. Undoubtedly, old things and strategies worked best in the past, but it worked for those who lived in the past. Same goes for education too. Old techniques and methodologies can’t always work in all class lectures. Changes can bring a good impact on the teaching-learning process. Teachers must explore different strategies and ways of teaching and try to implement in their lectures. It will be a great source of learning for the teachers as well as the students.

Students’ Feedback

Teacher helping pupil in classroom to resolve schoolwork

The best way to evaluate your own lecture is to get a students’ feedback. It’s scary and can be embarrassing too but it is the best way to know how successful were you in teaching the students the way you wanted. The best way to get a feedback is to ask the students about the topic that was taught. If you get answers from half or more than half class, you’ve nailed it for sure, cause’ students will not hesitate to share what they have learnt and retained from the lesson. If you think a questionnaire or survey at the end of the lesson will work best for a feedback, I’m sorry but it would be a great mistake. Another relevant way to get feedback is ask students about the activity you did with them in class if they liked it they will ask you to do it again in future. Feedback also helps you learn and avoid the mistakes for future planning and makes you more confident to use new activities without any hassle.

Closure

The closing of your lecture must be as good as your start. If you have worked hard to make the beginning of the lesson very dynamic, then it should also end the same way. Your lecture and strategies must be well-organized and linked to one another. The start must link with the mid of the lecture and the mid must be linked with the ending. A synchronized lecture will proceed to a smooth and effective classroom.

By ending your lectures well you have given students the chance to ‘come full circle’ by providing a: positive start, purposeful middle and reflective end, all of which are key ingredients when creating a dynamic lecture.