Working Tips On Effective Classroom Material For Teachers

30th June 2021

When it comes to teaching young learners or even adult learners, there are a lot of materials that you need to involve in your lesson plan. Only the book and oral teaching are not enough in this 21st-century to teach the learners. Teachers, as well as facilitators, need to involve certain teaching strategies and materials to meet the 21st-century teaching needs. Classroom material gives learners a better understanding of the subject and widens their opportunity for learning. Thus, a certificate in classroom material development is an important credential for teachers at present.

However, in this modern time, teachers need to be facilitators – to encourage them, to make them think and create rather than just teach. Therefore, facilitators need to encourage the learners, involve interesting learning materials in the classroom to make the learners learn efficiently. Implementation of materials designed proves to be of utmost importance and support for the learners.  

Some of the classroom materials/ aids are given below that you as a facilitator can use in your classroom to make it more interesting and interactive for the learners.

• PowerPoint Presentation - PowerPoint presentation can be used in the classroom to make the best of learning. It grabs the visual and auditory learners.
   
• Charts – You can use charts in your classroom to enhance your classroom materials and make the learning more interesting.
   
• Flashcards – Flashcards are also very useful as classroom material.
   
• Videos – You can include short videos related to the content topics.
   
• Real-life Objects – Some real-life objects can be included in lesson planning. For example, if you are introducing topics like fruits or vegetables or colours to the young learners then you can show real objects to them. This makes the class more interesting and our lesson plan more innovative.
   
• Puzzles/ games, etc. – It is always good to involve play in the lesson plan as play is no doubt the essential part of childhood. Puzzles and games and activities make the classroom material more effective.

The attached link will give you more insight–

Some useful tips for effective classroom material development-

• Plan – To have effective classroom material development and management, it is important to plan activities. Planning helps in the effective delivery of the lesson plan.
   
• Take time to organize – Organizing your teaching activities, materials needed for the activities are very essential while planning the lesson.
   
• Set ground rules – It is important to set ground rules. Rules are very important, it helps in the proper management of the class and hence everything works in place.
   
• Use proper material – Materials should be used wisely as we cannot use materials because we have them. It is very important to have proper planning of material according to the subject topic, the need of the learners, classroom setup and environment. Also, the fullest use of the materials should be done.
   
• Rotate and recycle materials – As facilitators, we can also recycle or rotate few materials instead of throwing them away. Children should be involved in the process and this habit will help a learner to do the same in future instead of wasting things.
   
• Explain the importance of material – Learners should be made aware of the learning classroom materials. They should be encouraged to respect the materials.
   
• Keep a regular check on materials – As facilitators, it is important to keep a regular check on materials, whether they are kept properly, used properly, etc. Learners can be involved in the process, children learn through observation and thus learn to respect and keep things properly in their surroundings.
   
• Cleaning of materials day – A day can be set out for the cleaning of materials and shelf and organizing the materials properly. Involving learners will help them to imbibe good habits in them and thus learn to maintain hygiene within the classroom and in life.

When you are teaching in a Montessori set-up, classroom materials play a huge role in the learning process. Therefore, it is important for a teacher to know the effective use of classroom material development and management. Usually, classroom material was neglected in the traditional times and wasn’t given much importance.

Conclusion

The awareness of classroom materials was very less as compared to the modern times. Today when we are in 21st Century, effective classroom material has a major role and is a big part of effective teaching – learning process. However, as facilitators we need to know proper use of material and its management techniques in this changing time.

Certificate in classroom material helps facilitators to update themselves as per the 21st-Century skills and to grow into effective facilitators for their learners. Facilitators can be guided with proper material use, development and management. Thus, effective classroom material management will lead to an effective teaching – learning process.