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This article focus more on different strategies a teacher uses to be a great teacher along with providing for students.

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Gather a room of teachers together and they will give you as many teaching strategies as there are topics in the K-12 curriculum. This article introduces the 13 most important teaching strategies you should be using - the ones that have real impact on learning outcomes and the ones that we use every week with the 7,000 students we teach in our one-to-one interventions. We also include the 6 learning strategies that your students should know about in order to enable them to reach their learning goals.
Teaching and learning strategies taken from the best of global education research

One of the greatest advances that has been made in the last 5 years in the education sector in the U.S. and globally is the increasing influence of large scale research and evidence informing what we know about how children learn, and consequently, how we can better teach them.

Whether that's the emphasis on evidence-based interventions under ESSA, the growing ResearchEd movement, or even just the vibrant #edutwitter community, many more teachers now are taking their professional development into their own hands.

More teachers than ever are aware of John Hattie's "Index of Teaching and Learning Strategies," and wary of implementing new instructional strategies unthinkingly; no one wants to be stung by another "learning styles" waste of effort.

But even when you know there may be better and more efficient ways to develop your students' understanding, choosing which of these teaching strategies to start with can be a challenge. This article aims to guide you through this.

What are teaching strategies?

Teaching strategies are methods and techniques that a teacher will use to support their students through the learning process; a teacher will choose the teaching strategy most suitable to the topic being studied, the level of expertise of the learner, and the stage in their learning journey.

In one lesson, a teacher may use many different teaching strategies with different end goals. The most effective teaching strategies are those proven to work over large scale trials. There is no requirement for a teaching strategy to be innovative, although, of course, some of them are.

List of teaching strategies for elementary and middle school

These are the 13 most important teaching strategies that you and all the teachers in your school should have in your teaching toolkit to make the most out of class time.

No one is suggesting you will use them in every lesson, but an awareness of what they are and their potential impact is essential to improve your practice. All of these teaching strategies can be implemented both in the classroom and during remote learning.

And of course if you're a school leader, or responsible for professional development in your school, knowing what's current and evidence-backed is key so that you can make an informed choice the next time somebody suggests implementing a new or innovative teaching technique.

1. Know your students and develop their respect

This may sound basic, but the basis of all good teaching is an understanding of your students and their learning needs. Aligned to this is the respect between you and your students. The relationship between teacher and student is a vital element of the learning experience. Memorizing names, taking time to get to know a new class from the first day, and understanding what motivates them and their barriers to learning - this is an often overlooked teaching strategy!

All of our one-to-one tutors are made aware before working with a student of any special educational needs, and will take the time to get to know each student throughout the lessons by asking about their hobbies and interests or the kinds of things they've been learning in school.

Read more: How To Support A Child With Autism In The Classroom

In this way, whenever possible, a tutor can personalize a lesson or a teaching technique as appropriate to the child with a real-world example.

2. Appropriate use of summative and formative assessments

The first stage here is making sure you know the difference between formative and summative assessment. It may sound obvious, but you'd be surprised how many teachers don't use each appropriately.

To cover them quickly:

Summative assessment refers to an assessment that takes place after a block of work has been completed, whether this is a unit or a school year. They are best thought of as assessments of learning.

Formative assessments are those that take place day-to-day and are used to gauge students' understanding of a topic - they are assessments for learning. Formative assessment is often used in a diagnostic capacity to help us identify whether students are struggling with a topic in the moment. This can then guide and adapt our instruction during the lesson to better meet children's needs.

Diagnosis of children's gaps using formative assessments

We advocate the use of these kinds of diagnostic assessments to identify a child's misconceptions. Usually, this is best achieved through a set of multiple choice questions.

As well as the correct answer, we can include multiple distractors - answers that are incorrect based on a misconception a child may have, e.g. around multiplying. If a child chooses an incorrect answer, then we can easily identify exactly where their thinking has gone wrong.

For students in our elementary math tutoring, we use a diagnostic quiz at the start of the intervention which is responsive, meaning questions are based on answers to an earlier question. This helps us more clearly identify not just misconceptions and weaknesses, but also where a child's strengths lie and what needs less time spent on.

3. Teach the vocabulary

With the new focus in the curriculum on knowledge organizers, there's no excuse for children being without the relevant topic vocabulary. They need the words to be able to create the thoughts and the sentences to confidently speak about a given topic.

This is why our tutors will always pre-teach important math vocabulary at the start of a lesson with their students, explaining any new terms and checking for understanding of previously covered ones.

4. Explicit instruction

Also known as direct instruction, this teaching strategy is teacher-led and focuses on frequent questioning and guided practice to help students learn a topic.The backbone of explicit instruction is the use of the worked example in an Example-Problem Pair. This involves demonstrating a worked example in its entirety in silence alongside a problem that students will then attempt.

Silence is important in order to ensure students' attention is not split between the example and the spoken explanation, making it more likely that both will be more fully absorbed and retained.

A student on a Third Space Learning's online math intervention program will need to have all other distractions eliminated so they can focus entirely on the information on their screen and what the tutor is asking them to do; tutors can present a worked example in real time in a learning environment without any visual or auditory disruptions.

5. Effective questioning techniques

While we are all aware of the importance of questioning as a tool to gauge students' understanding of a topic, there are definite techniques to improve the efficacy of your questioning in the classroom.

Questions such as "Are you sure?" and "How do you know?" encourage students to engage in grade-level-appropriate critical-thinking to establish how confident they are in an answer and why, while others such as "Is there another way?" help to highlight where multiple methods to derive a solution may exist.

Our tutors encourage students to verbalize their reasoning and ask questions to ensure students have really got to grips with the topic at-hand: "How do you know that answer is right?", "Can you tell me how else you could work it out?" or "What do you need to do first to answer this question?" are all questions that come up frequently during our lessons!

Goal-free problems are another questioning strategy worth considering using in your classes.

6. Deliberate practice

One of the most effective ways of introducing new concepts to a class, Deliberate Practice involves breaking learning down into a series of sub skills, each of which is deliberately practiced in turn.

The 5 steps involved in deliberate practice are:

As an example, when teaching long multiplication, this is how we might use deliberate practice:

identify (isolate) each specific sub skill involved in multiplication using the standard algorithm;

practice (develop) each of these one by one;

Assess students' use of these skills before moving on;

have students put them all together for a final performance - in this case a full multiplication problem using the standard algorithm;

return to this topic in later weeks and months to check that students still retain those skills.

At the beginning of every Third Space Learning intervention session, students are given a warm-up question related to a previously covered topic; this enables tutors to check that they have retained the relevant skills (and where they have not, to return to the topic).

7. Differentiation

Far more than simply "splitting the whole class into small groups based on attainment," positive and effective differentiation at the elementary school level can be difficult to achieve - poor differentiation strategies risk actually widening the gap we're attempting to close.

But there are plenty of impactful differentiation strategies; techniques such as interleaving and phased learning, as well as the use of math manipulatives and formative assessment, are among those proven to have a beneficial impact on students when properly employed.

As we've already discussed, formative assessment is a significant aspect of how Third Space's tutors gauge student progress. But we also make use of several other differentiation strategies during lessons, such as spaced practice, interleaving and a mixture of direct instruction and inquiry-based learning.

8. Reinforcing effort/providing recognition

Helping students make a link between putting effort into a task and receiving recognition is an important step in developing a classroom environment that fosters active learning.

Encouraging students to put more effort into activities only goes so far without something to provide them with the motivation to do so. Praise and recognition are motivators that students are already familiar with; shifting them from being correct to giving full effort can be highly effective.

Third Space Learning's tutors establish an effort-focused environment right from the first session, encouraging students to talk through their answers and celebrate their mistakes as learning opportunities, ensuring they approach each intervention as another chance to try.

Since we began our intervention programs, our tutors have celebrated and rewarded student effort by awarding over 32 MILLION Effort Points!

Literally "thinking about thinking," metacognition has been recognised as one of the most effective, lowest cost teaching strategies there is, with students making an average of seven months' additional progress.

Metacognition in elementary schools often incorporates some of the other effective teaching strategies, such as questioning in the classroom - "How do you know?" not only asks students to justify their solutions, but has them thinking about their own thought processes for deriving that solution.

Teaching students how to learn math, plan, monitor and self-evaluate their own learning also improves student motivation and encourages them to work harder in lessons, tying into another teaching strategy. Furthermore, it develops their communication and literacy skills.

All our tutors are trained to use a variety of metacognitive strategies as standard during sessions, and we provide students with numerous moments for self-reflection both during and after sessions.

10. Personalized learning

It might sound obvious, but students are more likely to engage with learning when it is more targeted to them and appeals to their interests! This may be difficult to achieve early on - especially with large classes of 30 students - but as familiarity and rapport builds throughout the year, it should become easier to make activities and even questions more personalized to individual children.

At Third Space, we've built our online interventions on personalization; all our students undertake an Initial Diagnostic Assessment when they begin their programs, which identifies their strengths and weaknesses in math and allows us to design a lesson plan that helps them make progress where they need it.

Our tutors then build on this by adding a personal touch to those lessons, incorporating students' interests into lessons with ease thanks to our online platform.

11. Collaborative learning

Also referred to as "cooperative learning," the idea of having students work in groups for certain classroom activities won't be new to most teachers. A popular technique to promote this collaboration is through think-pair-share.

However, the impact of group work can vary widely, and to make it most effective, teachers should focus on well-structured tasks that promote talk and interaction between students.

The concept of "competitive" collaborative learning (where groups of students compete against one another) has been shown to have some impact, but caution is advised in case students focus more on the competition rather than the learning.

12. Explicitly teach thinking skills & problem solving techniques

Mathematical problem solving techniques don't always come naturally to students; while metacognitive strategies such as those mentioned above make it more likely that students will be able to apply critical thinking to a problem, there is no set way to ensure that this will happen.

Research into the topic suggests that context-agnostic deployment of problem solving techniques only occurs once students have secure domain knowledge and the opportunity to practice.

Without these, students often fall into the trap of attributing importance to the so-called "surface features" of a problem, which we naturally discount as irrelevant to the actual math involved.

That said, explicit teaching of thinking skills is still of considerable importance; once domain knowledge has been (relatively) secured, teaching students how to recognize and focus on the "deep structure" of problems enables them to apply their knowledge more effectively.

Try using several "Same Surface Different Deep" (SSDD) problems in lessons - where the surface features of the questions are the same, but the deep structure varies (e.g. division, multiplication, addition, etc.).

These questions eliminate any confusion regarding surface features and thus allow students to focus on differentiating the deep structures.

13. Modeling and scaffolding

You may already be familiar with the "I do, We do, You do" method of scaffolding, but it's worth taking some time to dive into why it's as effective as it is.

Modeling is one of the most important factors in ensuring student learning of a particular topic, but it is most impactful when it can introduce new concepts without increasing students' cognitive load - hence the "I, We, You" approach.

By building from teacher-led, to joint construction, to independent working, we create a structure that presents learning as less of a step-change and more of an actual process. It also allows us greater flexibility; more time can be spent on one stage, e.g. joint construction if it becomes necessary.

Gradual scaffolding with support slides

All Third Space Learning intervention lessons make use of this kind of gradual scaffolding method, and our online platform lends even more flexibility to the scaffolding structure - tutors can pull from a bank of "support slides" if spending more time on a concept or process is necessary.

Other teaching strategies to consider

The teaching strategies above form the basis of our one-to-one lessons, but some other teaching practices you'll need to consider in your own classroom include:
Use of education technology
Knowing when and where to bring technology into the classroom is a delicate balancing act. While children tend to react well to technology-based lessons, there's always the risk that they focus on the tech over the learning.

Read more: How To Do An Education Technology Audit In Your School
Behavior management
Effective classroom management is its own topic, but there's no doubt that a well-behaved class (not necessarily a perfectly-behaved one) is far more likely to engage with lessons.
Inquiry-based learning
While triggering the curiosity of your students for a topic is the necessary first step in inquiry-based learning, presenting them with the opportunity to research and report on the topic is where learning really occurs.
How you manage class discussions, e.g. 'Think, pair, share'
Somewhat related to behavior management, class or group discussions are most beneficial when they have a clear, well-established structure to them. Students should not only feel they have the opportunity to share their thoughts, but understand that others' thoughts also have value.
Feedback process and understanding
The single most impactful teaching strategy when used correctly, feedback (whether from the teacher or another source, such as a peer) needs to be specific, encouraging, and actionable - students need to be able to understand where they could improve and how.

Read more: Why My School Banned Marking
Growth Mindset
Separate from praise and rewarding effort, developing a growth mindset can be a very valuable tool in developing students' resilience and fostering a more positive attitude towards both math specifically and learning in general.

Read more: How To Get Growth Mindset Right In Primary Schools

Read more

List of learning strategies

Last, but not least, central to any good teaching practice is explicitly teaching learners of all ages about learning strategies. These are the 6learning strategies we think every student should be familiar with by the end of elementary school.

1. Spaced practice

Ensuring that learned material is revisited at regular intervals instead of all at once much later on, when more of it is likely to be forgotten. For older students, study calendars can be of immense help leading up to state-wide or end of year exams.

2. Retrieval practice

Retrieval is the process of recalling information purely from memory, without the aid of learning materials. Effective retrieval practice helps embed information more thoroughly in our minds, since we no longer need context to recall it.

3. Elaboration

Tied into questioning in the classroom, elaboration puts the onus on students to do more than "just" recalling information. The use of open-ended questions such as "How did I get that answer?" help students to make connections between the things they've learned rather than seeing them as several unrelated facts.

4. Interleaving

A wealth of research is now available that suggests the benefits of interleaving - mixing practice of different skills with one another - in helping students better identify the necessary strategies to solve different problems. Interleaving with connected topics (e.g. division and multiplication) amplifies this effect.

5. Concrete examples

As math educators, the Concrete Representational Abstract Approach is embedded into the way we teach. Within our online tutoring, we have many different ways of explaining a topic and as an extension, we may ask students to come up with their own concrete examples for concepts, based on the examples we've used in explaining the concept to them.

6. Dual coding

Combining words and visuals in teaching materials. This isn't referring to speech (as we established earlier), but having students create some kind of visual aid (e.g. a sketch, a diagram) to accompany written text can help them reinforce the concept in their brain in two different ways, making it easier to recall. Anyone who's created slides for their students will be familiar with the challenge of imparting information through words and pictures.

References

Do you have students who need extra support in math?
Give your students more opportunities to consolidate learning and practice skills through personalized math tutoring with their own dedicated online math tutor.

Each student receives differentiated instruction designed to close their individual learning gaps, and scaffolded learning ensures every student learns at the right pace. Lessons are aligned with your state's standards and assessments, plus you'll receive regular reports every step of the way.

Programs are available for second grade, third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade and sixth grade, and you can learn more about how it works here.

The content in this article was originally written by Anantha Anilkumar at Third Space Learning and has since been revised and adapted for US schools by elementary math teacher Katie Keeton.

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Join thousands of blog readers to find free resources, best practice and intervention tips from our expert team of K-12 math educators!

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Marzano's 9 Effective Instructional Strategies

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Marzano's 9 Effective Instructional Strategies

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Nine different strategies for teaching!

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Effective teachers directly impact student learning and achievement. It's been proven that teachers who have a large repertoire of effective instructional strategies teach differently. They are more intentional in their objectives, strategies and intended outcomes. They receive better results. Robert Mazano, an educational leader, conducted a meta-analysis of instructional strategies to determine which were most effective.

Click here to view the classroom of a teacher who needs a good management system

Howard Miller, Children need structure, an orderly classroom is an achieving classroom. Teacher have the responsibility of keeping the peace in classrooms. The problem is for most new teachers when they attempt to create the structure is usually not in the setting of the regulations, but rather their promotion and enforcement. Howard Miller, Associate Professor of Education at Lincoln University suggests 12 steps teachers can take at the beginning of the year to promote effective classroom management.

1. Develop a set of written expectations you can live with and enforce.

2. Be consistent. Be consistent. Be consistent.

3. Be patient with yourself and with your students.

4. Make parents your allies. Call early and often. Use the word "concerned." When communicating a concern, be specific and descriptive.

5. Don't talk too much. Use the first 15 minutes of class for lectures or presentations, then get the kids working.

6. Break the class period into two or three different activities. Be sure each activity segues smoothly into the next.

7. Begin at the very beginning of each class period and end at the very end.

8. Don't roll call. Take the roll with your seating chart while students are working.

9. Keep all students actively involved. For example, while a student does a presentation, involve the other students in evaluating it.

10. Discipline individual students quietly and privately. Never engage in a disciplinary conversation across the room.

11. Keep your sense of perspective and your sense of humor.

12. Know when to ask for help.

13. Devise reasonable consequences for when rules are violated. Click here for cartoon about consequences

There are many other theories which have been developed by well known theorists. Some of these include the the Instructional Management model by theorist Jacob Kounin. He states that educators are effective instructional behaviors (teaching techniques, movement management and group focus) to influence student behaviors. B. F Skinner also spoke of his Behavior Modification model which states that educators use positive and negative reinforcements or rewards and punishments to modify or shape students' behavior.

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Effective Instructional Strategies and Management Systems - My Teaching Toolkit

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Effective teachers directly impact student learning and achievement. It's been proven that teachers who have a large repertoire of effective instructional strategies teach differently. They are more intentional in their objectives, strategies and intended outcomes. They receive better results. Robert Mazano, an educational leader, conducted a meta-analysis of instructional strategies to determine which were most effective.

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A fun graph with different ways to be an efficient teacher.

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by Terry Heick

Notice that I didn't use the more vague 'good teacher' phrasing.

That's an important distinction, because here we're talking about something a bit more clinical. Not entirely scientific and analytical and icky, but not entirely rhetorical and abstract and mushy either. Something somewhere in the middle-human, efficient, and hopefully happy and sustainable as a result.
16 Indicators Of Efficient Teaching 1. You make frequent minor adjustments.
To curriculum, pacing, assessment design, curriculum materials, etc. This implies not a lack of planning or poor foresight, but the reality of a dynamic classroom where you, as an effective teacher, are constantly taking formal and information measurements, then making minor adjustments as necessary.
2. You have access to 'good' data.
Fresh data. Data accessible in 30 seconds or less. Data that is visualized, easily skimmed, but also useful enough to study closely and extract takeaways. Data that is a product of timely well-designed assessments. (See below.)
3. You think like a designer.
You know the pros and cons of project-based learning, scenario-based learning, learning simulations, and the like. You know the skills are perishable, transfer matters, and that assessment design can make or break everything. While others spend their lunch breaks swilling Diet Coke and counting down days until the weekend, you sketch out scope-and-sequences for fun.

Speaking of instructional design, the design of experiences that promote understanding of the most important content is a huge part of what an effective teachers do. You resist the temptation to simply implement passed-down initiatives and staid curriculum maps that are (probably) bunk. Instead, your mind can swing back and forth-even if not equally well-between the macro and micro.

Which is what design is about.
4. You plan backward.
What you plan backward from is up to you, but you start with a goal in mind-a standard, habit, assessment, indicator, or some other goal. How objective or subjective you are is up to you, but to begin with the end in mind is a habit of an effective teacher.
5. You don't do what you're told.
Because the best teachers never do.
6. You're a learning feedback machine.
You know what useful feedback looks and sounds like. And feels like for the student. Most of your assessments are brief but insightful snapshots of what students understand. This makes it easy to give immediate feedback-often during the same class. You use technology (e.g., like Kaizena) to give in-depth feedback on writing without costing you your weekend. You design collaboration so that students can usefully provide one another feedback when you can't-using sentence stems that scaffold the task for them, for example.

In short, you give students-or arrange for them to receive in some other way-consistent feedback that they can understand and use.
7. You prioritize endlessly.
Most important standards, most efficient data collection tools, most accurate assessment designs, most reliable apps, more flexible planning templates, etc. It's impossible to do it all, so you instinctively start with what's most important.
8. You change your mind.
Nothing you do is perfect. This implies the need for change. Students change as you teach them. This implies the need for change. You change-get better at some things, learn to prioritize, and also forget good practices along the way because you're human. Your content area is alive with discoveries, trends, and progressions even if your "standards" only change every decade or so. Technology changes, curriculum changes, communities change.

This all implies the need for constant change.
9. You see each student individually.
It's been said that Ted Williams could see the stitches on the baseball as it rotated towards the plate at 90 MPH. Where novice hitters see a ball, Ted Williams saw a cover separated by dozens of stitches. Novice, ineffective teachers see a classroom. Or even rows. You see students.

And then you see them not as 'students,' but as human beings. Not shades of proficiency, or 'Novices' to move to 'Apprentice.' And you see them individually-each student, what that student needs, and what resources can help them the most. Even if you can't always make it happen every day for every student, you see it-which requires you see them individually.
10. Your students are changing-all of them.
They're taking ownership. Growing-and demonstrating that growth across assessment forms. Asking better questions more persistently. Challenging plans. Demonstrating curiosity outside of a given curriculum. Seem to be having fun, either with the content or their own performance. (In addition to the learning activities themselves, team-building games are useful here.) This can be vague-what does it mean that students 'are changing?' Is change enough? Changing how? With what pace? This depends on your grade level, content area, and where the students started, and so can't be standardized.

And smarter teaching produces learning experiences that change all learners, not just those that would've grown with you-that may even be growing in lieu of your teaching, which can be a tough pill to swallow. Murky as it may be, as far as smarter teaching goes, it all ends here, with the students and their growth as people.

Which makes it the best way to know if your teaching is actually smart-when it results in smart learning for all students.
Other Indicators Of Efficient Teaching
11. Your lessons and activities (usually) begin and end within desired time constraints.

12. Your students are clear about what they're learning and why.

13. Your lessons and units and assessments are being refined over time-often in small ways (which indicates strong planning from the beginning that doesn't necessitate massive changes).

14. You assess frequently through disarming forms of assessment (that don't feel like a constant barrage of quizzes and tests). And further, you have a plan for the data from that assessment before you give it.

15. Your teaching is improving year-over-year in an obvious (and ideally measurable) way.

16. You're not always exhausted and your students aren't always stressed. : )
16 Indicators Of Efficient Teaching; image attribution flickr user jirkamatusek

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by Terry Heick Notice that I didn't use the more vague 'good teacher' phrasing. That's an important distinction, because here we're talking about something a bit more clinical. Not entirely scientific and analytical and icky, but not entirely rhetorical and abstract and mushy either.

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There are many different ways to be a good teacher, this article explains just a few great ones.

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Some qualities of a good teacher include skills in communication, listening, collaboration, adaptability, empathy and patience. Other characteristics of effective teaching include an engaging classroom presence, value in real-world learning, exchange of best practices and a lifelong love of learning.

A good teacher can make a world of difference in a student's life, impacting everything from their classroom learning to their long-term success. If you're considering a career in education - or looking to boost it with a Master of Education (MEd) - it's important to explore the qualities of a good teacher.

Research from the Economic Policy Institute shows that good teachers are the single most important factor that contributes to student achievement in the classroom, more important than facilities, school resources and even school leadership.

A study from the American Economics Association (AEA) found that improvements in teacher quality positively impact everything from the quality of colleges students attend to students' future salaries, the quality of their neighborhood and even their future participation rates in 401k savings plans ( AEA PDF source).

So, What Makes a Good Teacher?

Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) education faculty and university students shared their thoughts on the qualities that make effective teachers stand out.

1. Good Teachers Are Strong Communicators.

When it comes to effective teaching, strong communication skills are a must, said Dr. Daniel Tanguay, senior associate dean of faculty and education programs.

Tanguay got his start as a high school math teacher and said that many students came to his class feeling afraid of math, discouraged by their prior experiences and too overwhelmed to approach the subject positively.

By communicating with students at the beginning of the year about how math applies to their favorite hobbies, sports and future careers, Tanguay said his students were able to approach the subject in a more enjoyable way that better supported their learning.

"I'm a firm believer in communication in all forms," he said. "As a leader, communication is a tool for overcoming fear."

2. Good Teachers Listen Well.

Great communication doesn't stop when the teacher is done talking. Listening well is one of the most important skills needed to be a teacher.

"Teachers that are skilled in listening and observing often pick up on what isn't being said, such as any anxieties a student may have, and can then help the student build their skills and confidence levels," said student Kristine Ducote, who is earning her bachelor's in criminal justice.

Student Latricia Maddox, who is studying for a bachelor's in business, said that effective listening skills also help a teacher better understand their students and tailor lessons to reach them how they learn best.

"If an educator can truly hear a student, they can learn how to reach them where they are," she said. "This will open the door for them to receive and learn the lesson that is being taught."

3. Good Teachers Focus on Collaboration.

Working in education means you're never truly working alone. From paraprofessionals and teaching assistants to other classroom teachers and school leaders, working as a teacher often means working effectively in a group. It's also important to keep an open mind and learn from other educators.

The key to success in this kind of environment, Tanguay said, is the ability to collaborate. "You really need to be able to fill various roles in order to collaborate effectively," he said. "If you already have someone on your team who is going to be the one to critique all of the suggestions made, then you don't need to join in on that. Instead, maybe you need to be the person who is going to come up with creative ideas. You need to have that flexibility."

4. Good Teachers Are Adaptable.

Effective teachers need to be able to work in a constantly evolving environment and adjust their teaching methods based on the age of their students, the resources available and changing curriculum, practices and requirements.

As a teacher since the 1980s, SNHU education professor and on campus undergraduate program chairman Dr. Audrey Rogers said she's seen tremendous changes in the education field throughout her career, particularly with the rise in access to the internet, computers and other technology. What is teaching going to look like in another 30 years? The only thing certain, Rogers said, is change.

"Change is a constant," she said. "Learning how to adapt and adjust, that's been one of the skills that's been most helpful in my career. It's about keeping my finger on the pulse of who my students are over time and all the trends, standards and new research, and being able to continually improve."

Adaptability is also one of the key skills needed to be a teacher who may be educating students of varying grade levels or different learning styles, Tanguay said.

"You have to be able to adapt based upon your audience," he said.

5. Good Teachers Are Engaging.

Being able to engage students with humor, creative lessons and a strong classroom presence is an important part of what makes someone a good teacher, Tanguay said.

"If you were to envision that teacher that you would want in your life, even now, you're going to want someone who is very engaging in front of the classroom," he said. "A good teacher will perform for their students to keep them going... It's not about sitting back and just lecturing, it's about engaging in the work."

What an engaging teacher looks like will vary depending on grade level and subject matter, Tanguay said.

In kindergarten, an engaging teacher might be one who gets down on the floor to do activities with their students on their level. In high school, an engaging teacher may be one who thinks outside the box, adds humor to their lessons and finds creative ways to bring learning into the real world.

6. Good Teachers Show Empathy.

Another key to engaging students and improving their learning is to treat each student as an individual, by being empathetic and understanding to what may be going on in their lives, Tanguay said.

"We need to take a moment to think back and think about what could be going on in this student's life," he said. "It's so important to be observant, attentive, empathetic and always have a positive attitude."

Rhonda Garrison, a student in SNHU's psychology program, said empathy and understanding from a teacher can not only help that teacher make a connection with a student, it can directly impact a student's learning in the classroom.

"Something that may be easy for one student may not be so easy for someone else," she said. "Everyone learns differently, whether it be faster or slower than normal, learns better by writing, reading or hands-on. Teachers need to always keep this in mind and always pay close attention to ensure each student is on the track they need to be."

7. Good Teachers Have Patience.

No matter what grade level you're teaching, your patience will be tested while working as an educator.

Whether you're managing classroom behavior, working with colleagues with different views, or communicating student issues or progress with parents, patience is one of the most important skills to practice as a teacher.

"More often than not you actually have to have more patience with the parents than you do with the students," Tanguay said. "Parents are coming in with their perceptions of what happened to them when they were students or previous experiences that may have been detrimental to their child... You have to be patient and understanding of them."

8. Good Teachers Value Real-World Learning.

Teachers who bring their students' learning into the real world are often some of the most engaging. But it's important for teachers to bring their own learning into the real world, too.

One of the best preparations for effective teaching is to ensure that education students get plenty of classroom experience early on in their degree programs, Rogers said.

For education majors in SNHU's on campus program, this preparation includes embedded coursework that begins in a student's freshmen year. They spend time at a local school once a week to collaborate with teacher partners and apply their learning to the classroom. A year-long student teaching experience is also a powerful way to ensure soon-to-be teachers have the time to hone their teaching skills, Rogers said.

"Our students have that benefit of seeing the practical application (of) what they're learning in the moment they're learning it," she said.

9. Good Teachers Share Best Practices.

A willingness to share knowledge and experiences with others is one of the most important qualities of a good teacher, Rogers said.

Education is a hands-on field and often requires experimentation within the classroom to discover which methods of communicating with students work best. Part of being an effective teacher is sharing your findings and best practices with others in the field, Rogers said.

"I always challenge my students to think, 'What is your contribution?'" she said. "Are you brave enough to post on Twitter about your ideas on technology integration in the classroom? Your willingness to share your practice, to keep an open door, to be transparent and to be observed are an important part of your teaching."

10. Good Teachers Are Lifelong Learners.

One of the key skills needed to be a good teacher is a dedication to continued education and a love of learning.

Whether you're learning more about your subject area, learning new methods of communication or even exploring how to bring more technology into your classroom, continuing to expand your own knowledge is key to expanding that of your students.

"Those dedicated to their subjects with a passion for learning make the best teachers," said student Jennifer Gardner, who is earning a bachelor's in mathematics. "They also need to have a desire to pass on that knowledge."

Ducote said it's important for teachers to never feel as though they've learned it all, and to remain open to new experiences.

"No matter your education level, you can learn something from everyone you encounter, including fellow educators as well as students," she said. "Being willing to continually add tools to your toolbox - even unconventional ones at times - will keep things new and exciting, as well as giving you excellent skills."

Learn the Characteristics of Effective Teaching

If you're interested in starting a career in education, it's important to first focus on your own learning. Whether you're seeking a bachelor's degree in education, an education master's degree or even a Doctor of Education (EdD), building a strong foundation of knowledge and real-world experiences is key to becoming a good teacher.

No matter where your career path takes you - whether to an elementary school, secondary school or even to the university level - your teaching can have a profound impact on the lives of students, and your education is the foundation for that work.

"Teachers make such a huge impact on their students' lives," said student Donna Whisman, who is earning her bachelor's in communication. "I believe that being a teacher is a very special gift, and those that have that gift make a positive, lasting impression on the lives of their students that can totally change the trajectory of their lives."
Danielle Gagnon is a freelance writer focused on higher education. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

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A good teacher can make a huge difference in a student's life. But what are the qualities of a good teacher? We've identified 10 common qualities.

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Another model of Marzano's Instructional Strategies.

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1. What are research-based teaching strategies?

2. How do effective teachers think about teaching strategies?

3. How do effective teachers maximize the use of research-based teaching strategies?

The act of teaching is a performing art. Like musicians or actors, teachers are always focused on their audience. We aim to engage, inspire, and inform. Like other performers, we know some of our techniques are more effective than others, and we consistently seek to hone our craft. A master violinist practices scales every day to improve her performance. In a similar way, a master teacher attempts to think of more interesting questions, meaningful examples, and useful feedback. The act of teaching is both art and science, imagination and skill.

The Universe of Effective Teaching Strategies

Scores of variations and combinations of teaching strategies exist from which teachers may choose. The best teachers are aware of the universe of teaching strategies and carefully select the right combination while teaching a particular subject to a particular group of students. Again, there is no "magic bullet" or perfect strategy, and all require a skillful, competent, artistic teacher to breath life into them. The first step, however, is understanding something about the universe that is available to you-the article below does just that.

Read: Beck, Charles R. "A Taxonomy for Identifying, Classifying and Interrelating Teaching Strategies." The Journal of General Education JGE. 47, no. 1 (1998): 37-62.

Research-based Teaching Strategies

Researchers have studied teaching strategies for decades and we now have evidence of those strategies that seem to have greatest influence on academic achievement. Robert Marzano (2017) conducted a meta-analyses of education research on teaching strategies to see which strategies seemed most related to student academic achievement-at all levels and across all subjects. Interesting ideas.

Here are Marzano's top nine teaching strategies in order of effect size (i.e., actual effect on student achievement):

1. Comparing, contrasting, classifying, analogies, and metaphors. (Effect size=1.61 or 45 percentile points)

2. Summarizing and note-taking. (Effect size=1.0 or 34 percentile points)

3. Reinforcing effort and giving praise. (Effect size=0.8 or 29 percentile points

4. Homework and practice. (Effect size=0.77 or 28 percentile points)

5. Nonlinguistic representation. (Effect size=0.75 or 27 percentile points)

6. Cooperative learning. (Effect size=0.74 or 27 percentile points)

7. Setting objectives and providing feedback. (Effect size=0.61 or 23 percentile points)

8. Generating and testing hypotheses. (Effect size=0.61 or 23 percentile points)

9. Cues, questions, and advanced organizers. (Effect size=0.59 or 22 percentile points)

Read: Hoover, Clara. 2006. "Research-Based Instructional Strategies." School Library Monthly 22 (8): 26-28.

Marzano's strategies, however, are only as good as the teacher employing them. His list of "high-yield strategies" are popular throughout the United States; however, Marzano warns about their possible misuse.

Read: Marzano, Robert J. 2009. "Setting the Record Straight on 'High-Yield' Strategies." Phi Delta Kappan 91 (1): 30-37.

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8 Module 8: Research-Based Instructional Strategies

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What are research-based teaching strategies? How do effective teachers think about teaching strategies? How do effective teachers maximize the use of research-based teaching strategies? The act of teaching is a performing art. Like musicians or actors, teachers are always focused on their audience. We aim to engage, inspire, and inform.

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Characteristics are important when it comes to being a good teacher. Being open and honest with yourself while providing for your students.