Effective TEACHING APPROACH by My Favourite Teacher(s)

I remember my GP teacher Catherine Lim who told such wonderful stories and made the GP lessons come alive. Her ability to weave a story and to bring us into conversations through her narratives was superb

I remember my Sec 3 English teacher who made the class keep a class journal. Anyone who had an opinion or story to tell could write an entry in it, and we would read the journal once a week. There were times when the entries were hilarious, others sparked lively discussions. It was a simple technique that integrated reading, writing, speaking, listening and thinking - and engaged the class completely!

Selvathi wrote:I remember my GP teacher Catherine Lim who told such wonderful stories and made the GP lessons come alive. Her ability to weave a story and to bring us into conversations through her narratives was superb

Yes! I love the stories my EL teachers told too! A simple strategy with so much potential...

I think my favourite teachers were the ones who didn't care what I scored in tests, as long as I applied myself as best I could. This didn't mean they weren't hard on me. But they were intuitive enough to know when I was slacking off (and Whack!) and when I was already pushing to my hardest and hence ease off on me.

Basically teachers who put me at the centre, not the results.

ElaineY wrote:

Selvathi wrote:I remember my GP teacher Catherine Lim who told such wonderful stories and made the GP lessons come alive. Her ability to weave a story and to bring us into conversations through her narratives was superb

Yes! I love the stories my EL teachers told too! A simple strategy with so much potential...

My favourite lessons where teachers told stories were RME lessons, I'm a chicken soup for the soul kinda dude

Selvathi wrote:I remember my GP teacher Catherine Lim who told such wonderful stories and made the GP lessons come alive. Her ability to weave a story and to bring us into conversations through her narratives was superb

Selvathi, what's it like to have an ex teacher who's famous?

My favourite Chemistry teacher was very skillful at consolidating important learning points at the end of each lesson. He used visual aids such as diagrams, flow charts and concept maps to help us see how the new information pieced together and fit in to the larger idea or linked to previous concepts learnt. I found that especially helpful in making sense of the new content.

aaronrajoo wrote:I think my favourite teachers were the ones who didn't care what I scored in tests, as long as I applied myself as best I could. This didn't mean they weren't hard on me. But they were intuitive enough to know when I was slacking off (and Whack!) and when I was already pushing to my hardest and hence ease off on me.

Basically teachers who put me at the centre, not the results.

Yes, even though the improvements were slight, when teachers recognized that I was putting in my best efforts and commended, I would always feel very encouraged and motivated to improve further!

ElaineY wrote:I remember my Sec 3 English teacher who made the class keep a class journal. Anyone who had an opinion or story to tell could write an entry in it, and we would read the journal once a week. There were times when the entries were hilarious, others sparked lively discussions. It was a simple technique that  integrated reading, writing, speaking, listening and thinking - and engaged the class completely!

I had a teacher who made us do something similar, which was the keep personal journals. Interesting stories by my classmates were read out in class after permission was sought, and I always enjoyed those sessions because we were exposed to different writing styles and perspectives!

ElaineY wrote:

Selvathi wrote:I remember my GP teacher Catherine Lim who told such wonderful stories and made the GP lessons come alive. Her ability to weave a story and to bring us into conversations through her narratives was superb

Yes! I love the stories my EL teachers told too! A simple strategy with so much potential...

For me, it was my Chinese Teacher in JC who piqued our class interests in the language (not just a subject). He would link the topic he is teaching with many interesting historical "stories" told and enacted in an animated fashion ! Through this engaging lessons, it has not only heightened our interest in the subject, it also created a sense of identity of who we are as Chinese. Tong Wee

Admin wrote:Share an Effective TEACHING APPROACH used by your Favourite Teacher(s) that helped You Learn

To be honest, when I was a student, our lessons were all "chalkboard talk" and I don't recall any particular teaching approach that was particularly different. However, I do know that I was always inspired to learn when the teacher made the effort to connect with us as learners by building strong rapport. We loved learning when we loved the teachers.

Charmain Loy wrote:My favourite Chemistry teacher was very skillful at consolidating important learning points at the end of each lesson. He used visual aids such as diagrams, flow charts and concept maps to help us see how the new information pieced together and fit in to the larger idea or linked to previous concepts learnt. I found that especially helpful in making sense of the new content.

This must have been very helpful!
I think I learn better with visual aids too!
I do try to do this for my students as a teacher.

ElaineY wrote:I remember my Sec 3 English teacher who made the class keep a class journal. Anyone who had an opinion or story to tell could write an entry in it, and we would read the journal once a week. There were times when the entries were hilarious, others sparked lively discussions. It was a simple technique that  integrated reading, writing, speaking, listening and thinking - and engaged the class completely!

Oh YES. I did have a few teachers who did this.
For me, by allowing us to have an "open channel" to them, it helped to build rapport.

I didn't think this was very difficult until I became a teacher and tried to do this with my students.
Looking through 40 journals x # of classes wasn't that easy and it made me appreciate the effort my teachers made for me when I was a student!

I recalled that my physics teacher brought in toys to explain concepts to us. I hated physics but it really intrigued me to see the how the law of physics is used to to build such toys. It made me look forward to his lessons because it was a refreshing change from the usual boring 'read each sentence from the textbook' style that the other teachers were doing.

I remember my Chinese language teacher who also shared many stories to make lessons come alive.

Cheryl Ng wrote:

Admin wrote:Share an Effective TEACHING APPROACH used by your Favourite Teacher(s) that helped You Learn

To be honest, when I was a student, our lessons were all "chalkboard talk" and I don't recall any particular teaching approach that was particularly different. However, I do know that I was always inspired to learn when the teacher made the effort to connect with us as learners by building strong rapport. We loved learning when we loved the teachers.

I can identify with Cheryl.

Mr Ong was my Geography teacher in Secondary 2. I recalled our first few lessons where he (repeatedly) ramped his waist against our writing desks to illustrate meandering rivers and soil erosion.

That left an indelible mark, it also made geography lessons come to life.

Charismatic and exuberant, he made lessons lively and worth our while/time. As young hyper-active learners, such a teaching approach kept us on our toes. A large part of the effectiveness of his approach has to do with his ability to engage his learners, largely due to his persona as a no-nonsense and unpredictable presence in class.

I guess nothing beats a teacher with a unique temperament and classroom presence.

Charmain Loy wrote:My favourite Chemistry teacher was very skillful at consolidating important learning points at the end of each lesson. He used visual aids such as diagrams, flow charts and concept maps to help us see how the new information pieced together and fit in to the larger idea or linked to previous concepts learnt. I found that especially helpful in making sense of the new content.

I do agree that for learners who tend to be more visual, mapping the key points in a flow chart or diagram helps a great deal. What I also found effective as a teacher was to let students come up with their own diagrams or concept maps. This enabled students to make sense of the content (on their own) and if teachers are able to view these individualized maps/charts it gives us insight to how/what the student learnt.

AdrianT wrote:Mr Ong was my Geography teacher in Secondary 2. I recalled our first few lessons where he (repeatedly) ramped his waist against our writing desks to illustrate meandering rivers and soil erosion.

That left an indelible mark, it also made geography lessons come to life.

Charismatic and exuberant, he made lessons lively and worth our while/time. As young hyper-active learners, such a teaching approach kept us on our toes. A large part of the effectiveness of his approach has to do with his ability to engage his learners, largely due to his persona as a no-nonsense and unpredictable presence in class.

I guess nothing beats a teacher with a unique temperament and classroom presence.

That's one hell of an image in my mind now...

Selvathi wrote:I remember my GP teacher Catherine Lim who told such wonderful stories and made the GP lessons come alive. Her ability to weave a story and to bring us into conversations through her narratives was superb

Wow...Catherine Lim is your teacher. She is indeed a good story teller who can get students hooked to the lesson with her stories.

rachelgoh wrote:

Cheryl Ng wrote:

Admin wrote:Share an Effective TEACHING APPROACH used by your Favourite Teacher(s) that helped You Learn

To be honest, when I was a student, our lessons were all "chalkboard talk" and I don't recall any particular teaching approach that was particularly different. However, I do know that I was always inspired to learn when the teacher made the effort to connect with us as learners by building strong rapport. We loved learning when we loved the teachers.

I can identify with Cheryl.

That's sad but true in some of the classrooms we have. Sometimes, teachers feel that it is so much easier to go into the classroom doing what was trial and tested.

One of the more effective teaching strategies I can recall is the introduction and use of a thinking framework for analysis - where in order to assess the effectiveness / significance of a particular historical event, one will need to consider the PMECS angles - Political, Military, Economic, Cultural and Social angles.

Charmain Loy wrote:My favourite Chemistry teacher was very skillful at consolidating important learning points at the end of each lesson. He used visual aids such as diagrams, flow charts and concept maps to help us see how the new information pieced together and fit in to the larger idea or linked to previous concepts learnt. I found that especially helpful in making sense of the new content.

yes, I must agree that visuals were particularly effective for me too.

ElaineY wrote:I remember my Sec 3 English teacher who made the class keep a class journal. Anyone who had an opinion or story to tell could write an entry in it, and we would read the journal once a week. There were times when the entries were hilarious, others sparked lively discussions. It was a simple technique that  integrated reading, writing, speaking, listening and thinking - and engaged the class completely!

I recall reading one such journals years later - nostalgia!