Strategies for Teaching

While making observations in a First Grade classroom at a Middle Georgia Elementary school, I focus on the teacher’s strategies for teaching. The one that stood out to me most was the teacher strategy for test-taking.

Typically when a teacher prepares his or her students for a test they stress how important it is for them to pass it. Next, they give them a few encouraging words-“Do your best!” They also tell their students how to answer the questions, whether they have to bubble the letter or circle the answer. Lastly, the teacher will give the students the directions- keep your eyes on your own paper, read the questions first, and take your time but be mindful of the time. Then the students take the test.

This teacher did things differently. In order to prepare the students for their first test while in first grade, the teacher decides to play the students a video. The video is called Heaths Test Taking Song. The song was a fun way to tell the students what test are and how to approach them. Showing this gave the students the chance to get rid of their test jitters or anxieties. It allow them to have a since of relaxation before the test. After the video was over, the teacher went over the procedures for taking the test. Then the students were able to take the test.

The author of Beating the Kid Trickers: Getting Students Ready for Test Week made a great point  when teachers approach testing as a scary thing the students can tell and will also approach it in a scary manner. Whereas if the students are relaxed and are in a somewhat relaxed environment , the students would not look at testing as scary thing but as something that is natural.