The importance of a positive learning environment.

Teaching is more than just relaying information to your learners, it is also based on  two-way communication between you and your learners. To be successful in the teaching process you need to create a positive learning environment for your learners. There are various ways to creating such an environment, I'm just going to mention three ways.

1. Know your learners by name, this enables you as a teacher to address your learners directly during the lesson. Knowing your learners by name makes the learning process more personalised. This is important because it creates a feeling of importance and beloning among your learners.
2. Greet your learners and start a conversation with them, it is important to remember that your learners also have a life outside of school. Before you start your lesson greet your learners and strike up a conversation with them, that's not related to the topic. This five minute conversation with your learners creates a positive environment where they will feel at ease and comfortable to partake in your classroom.   
3. Teaching is a two-way communication process, teaching as I mentioned don't consist only of you (the teacher) relaying information to your learners while they just listen and take notes. Your learners need to actively partake in the learning process. You can accomplish this through class discussions, groupwork, asking questions and so forth. 

Meaningful learner involvement in the learning process will make your lessons successful. It is important to create an environment where your learners feel that they feel part of their learning growth. This will also mean that your lessons will be led by your learners, making them the priority as it should be.  

Technology Is Your Friend

I remember the days when teachers will catch you with your phone and then confiscate it for a few days, and the learner will panic and quickly take out his or her sim-card and memory card…. That were the days where technology in classrooms were frowned upon, today it’s an integral part of our everyday learning and communication, so why not use it to you and your learners benefit? As an impending teacher of History, Afrikaans and Life Orientation I would like to make use of social media in my classroom and as a form of communication with my learners and their parents.

Since social media forms part of our everyday life it is important to teach your leaners how to use it to their benefit, it is one of those necessary skills that will never got to waste. There are various platforms you as a teacher can use that does not form part of popular social media like Fakebook, Fake Tweet, Edublogs, Kidblog, and Edmodo. I would implement some of these platforms in my classroom, to create a new way for my learners to communicate with one another on the subject matter. They can also use it as a feedback platform on lessons, furthermore I would like to use the platform like Edublogs as an online assessment opportunity where learners can post their essays or assignments. If my learners find something new or interesting surrounding one of my subjects I would like them to post it online for the class, it’s a new way for informative learning and encourages learners to explore the subject matter on their own.   

To further enhance communication and learning, I would create private Facebook and Twitter accounts where my learners and their parents are able to communicate with me and other learners on topics surrounding the subject matter. In this case learners are able to ask question if they struggle with homework or assignments. Parents are also able to see how their children are faring in the particular subject and are able to communicate with me, since most parents don’t always have time for a face-to-face meeting.  

This is only a few possibilities of how social media can be used to enrich the learning experience of learners.