Teachers have a very important role to play in the lives of children. They spend the most amount of learning time with students and develop almost parental relationships with them.
They act as a reliable resource centre for students who approach them seeking information about umpteen things. They are a guide and mentor who coach the students to achieve their goals.
Classroom Management
Classroom management is one of the most important skills teachers need to have. A good teacher can create an environment that encourages students to learn effectively by establishing clear rules and procedures. They also know how to manage disruptions and deal with problems that arise in the classroom.
Many teachers are able to develop strong relationships with their students, encouraging them to participate in class activities and share a bit of themselves with them. This helps to make classroom learning more fun for both teachers and students.
Teachers also take on other responsibilities such as visiting villages to persuade parents to send their children to school, addressing the lack of reading material in many schools, and dealing with irregular student attendance due to family migration in search of work. They also contribute to their communities by volunteering to be a part of Voluntary Teacher Forums (VTFs), where they can discuss academic and pedagogical issues.
Teaching Resources
Teaching is a highly sophisticated profession, and it extends well beyond the classroom. Teachers function as surrogate parents, mentors and counselors. They are almost always looking for ways to improve their own teaching skills and the structure of the schools in which they work.
The art of lesson planning is an important skill for teachers to master. Creating effective lesson plans allows teachers to deliver quality instruction that helps students achieve success. Teachers must also be able to manage their classroom materials and productively navigate the curriculum.
Additionally, they must be able to adjust their lesson plans based on weather conditions and personal issues. For example, if a teacher has to attend a meeting or deal with an emergency, they must be able to do so without losing sight of the goals of their class. This is one of the main reasons why teacher training is essential. Whether it’s through on-site programmes or regional training centres, teachers must continually improve their skills and knowledge to fulfil their role effectively.
Lesson Planning
Teaching children can be a physically and emotionally demanding job. They must be able to concentrate at all times, keep their learning resources organised and create an engaging classroom environment. Teachers also have to spend time outside of the standard working day preparing lessons and marking work.
Providing feedback on students’ work is another significant function of primary school teachers. Using different methods to check student understanding is key to a teacher’s success. This includes live marking or demonstrating performance exemplars so students can see what excellence looks like.
Most importantly, teachers must convey life skills to their students. They teach kids to respect others, learn through failure, be kind and ask for help when needed. They often play the revered role of mentors and guides and many students look up to and respect their teachers as semi-parents.
Methods of Student Assessment
As teachers work with children to achieve success, they must continually assess what their students know and understand. This enables them to institutionalize effective teaching choices and revise ineffective ones.
Standardized tests may provide valuable information about student learning, but only as part of a wider set of tools for measuring student performance. They typically measure only what a student knows at a specific point in time, so they do not help educators understand how the instruction they provide is impacting their students.
The most successful teachers have found that they can accomplish more if they become educational guides and facilitators rather than benevolent dictators deciding what is best for powerless underlings. To achieve this, they must create classrooms where students are able to self-assess and give guiding feedback on their own performance. This is accomplished by providing meaningful opportunities for students to reflect on their own understanding and by providing formative assessment to gauge student comprehension of the material.