101 Tips for Teaching
By Mark Rasmussen
Mary Poppins said a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
It has often been said the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary
Seek to inspire your students to learn and every aspect of their education
The more the students can be involved with the instructor in the process, the greater the learning and ultimate retention will be.
One of the problems with today’s educational method is the lack of repetition
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body
The student must understand that there is always room for growth and improvement.
Help the learner understand that nothing good will ever come without a price.
Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven – Ezra 7:23
One needed quality is enthusiasm about the subject at hand
It can be guaranteed that the student will never be more interested in the subject then the instructor.
It is imperative to understand that as a teacher are genuine interest, love, and enthusiasm for the topic at hand is the spark that kindles the fire of learning.
Ordinary people must have extraordinary dedication
The extra ordinary parent or teacher who does every action with such excitement and creativity that their children seem to always respond with great results, is truly 1 in a million!
God does not want anything other than our everything
DL Moody said, the world has yet to see what God can do with one man who is totally yielded to him. But he went on to say that by gods grace he would be that man.
In Proverbs 31:26, the virtuous woman demonstrates the correct way to speak – with wisdom and kindness.
Truths wrapped in stories are more easily comprehended
People remember stories for longer than they remember outlines or lectures.
Truths are seeds to be sown, not bullets to be shot
Speaking the truth in love – Ephesians 4:15
It is impossible to get to know God without spending time with Him
Praise publicly, reprimand privately
He who fails to plan, plans to fail
Be proactive and not reactive
Some people make things happen, some people watch things happen, and some people wonder what happened.
We must decide that we are going to make things happen rather than just allow things to happen
This proactive behavior must be a goal within the heart of the instructor
True teaching does not just involve giving of knowledge, but also creating and stimulating in the mind of the student a desire to learn and it cumulate knowledge and understanding for himself.
It is important to inspire students to want to learn.
Eliminate distractions. There are two major distractions that can affect the student: internal distractions – student is thinking about something else. External distraction: noise, windows, television, pictures, communication with others. With these distractions are eliminated, learning becomes easier and more efficient.
Motivate students toward maximum effort
Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence is the key to unlocking potential – Sir Winston Churchill
Teach with care and confidence
Students need variety in the classroom
Well spontaneity is important, it needs to occur only periodically… Lest there be too much of a good thing!
One must first organize, then deputize, and finally, supervise.
If the student cannot trust the teacher, the instructional process is severely crippled.
Jesus Christ is our great example of one who said what he meant and meant what he said.
Look to the future, but value and enjoy today
Think fullness will lead to thankfulness
Have more teaching material than you think you will need
After laboriously working to produce a vase or a jar, artist in ancient Rome often faced a dilemma. They would sometimes detect a crack after removing the pottery from the kiln. This forced them to make a choice to either destroy the object and start over, or to attempt to camouflage the weakness and passed the vessel off as one without defect. The weakness was camouflaged by filling the crack with wax and painting over the vessel. To the untrained eye, it was difficult to detect the weakness that existed in the vessel. This led craftsmen who had vessels without flaws to put above their pottery the Latin phrase, sine cera. This is where we get our word sincere, meaning “without wax”.
Focus on the Root, not just the fruit
May we see beyond the fruit problem and beyond the outward conformity, and may we look to the root problem in the lights of our students!
Bob Moawod said, average is the place in the middle. It is the best of the worst or the worst of the best.
Oliver Cromwell said, those who stop being better stop being good.
An excuse is nothing more than a lie
wrapped in the skin of a reason.
Rather than making excuses, we need to realize that a leader will find a way.