1. Creating a positive and challenging learning environment through interesting and innovative strategies

   

     Teachers need to challenge students through interesting and innovative strategies to develop their skills. The book “Captivating Your Class Effective Teaching Skills” presents a series of interesting strategies that we can use in the classroom to challenge our students and to create a positive learning environment. For instance, there is a strategy in which each individual has a given number of talk tokens that they have to use within a discussion. These talk tokens can be used to make the whole class participate. For a talkative student who can be prone to dominate the discussion they will have to think before they talk and use their tokens wisely. They will hopefully become wise with their words and think much more before they talk. For a quiet student, having to speak can be an intimidating and overwhelming experience and the teacher needs to be sensitive in handling these students. Carrying out this strategy can be challenging for both talkative and quiet students, but it will create a positive learning environment in the classroom.

     

       Furthermore, students must be active learners “Speaking in a classroom should be a participatory event.” All students in a classroom must have the same opportunities to speak; and teachers need to ensure that everyone in the classroom participates. Here, Interesting and innovative strategies play an important role in the classroom. Discussion, for example, is an interesting strategy in which all the students are involved. “Students have to be involved in their learning through interaction and physical activity rather than passive listening and reading. “

       Unquestionably, we teachers need to think about our students’ needs and different learning styles so that we can use the most appropriate strategies in the classroom. By doing so, we will challenge our students to do their best.