Being a primary school teacher can be highly rewarding, but as with any career, it’s not without its challenges.
In order to thrive in a primary classroom setting, there is always plenty for teachers to consider, regardless of whether they’re newly qualified or with years of experience.
Here are some top tips to help primary school teachers enjoy long and successful careers in the education sector.
Positivity is a must
The vast majority of pupils will respond well to praise, so a primary teacher should look to encourage their pupils at every opportunity.
From recognising hard work, achievements or creativity, being positive can help pupils to feel at ease in the classroom too, which in turn should help to boost behaviour.
Focus on subject knowledge
As primary school teachers need to have a vast wealth of basic knowledge across a number of different subjects, it’s important to stay up-to-date.
A teacher should think about any curriculum changes and ensure that they understand how those changes will impact on what is taught.
At the same time, it’s important to plug any subject-specific gaps in knowledge that might appear during lesson planning.
Build strong parent-teacher relationships
Parents play a pivotal role in the education of their children, so it’s important to have them on-side.
One of the easiest ways to have regular contact with parents is to be available at the end of the school day, so that chat can take place when they are collecting their children.
Primary school teachers may wish to update parents on that day’s activities, any specific areas of progress that their children are making, or to hand over information on school events.
Planning and organisation
Most primary school children have very short attention spans, so keeping them engaged in lessons requires plenty of planning and organisation.
A teacher will need to recognise that pupils learn in many different ways – be it visually, through doing something, or by listening – and they should be given options to learn in a way that suits them.
Tasks should have a clear focus point though and should be neither too hard nor too easy – this is likely to result in misbehaviour or boredom among pupils if a primary school teacher does not plan effectively.
Look at the classroom environment
The classroom environment has a big impact on how pupils will interact with both the teacher and those around them.
All efforts should be made to ensure that a positive welcoming environment exists and that pupils feel they can speak up if they have any problems.
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