Ten useful skills for teaching

You may be one of the many people who are wondering what you can do for a future career. You have many skills that can benefit people, but how can they be applied to something that can be useful for you and your community?

One of the best jobs you can do if you want to give back to your local community is to go into teaching. This incredibly rewarding profession might not be the first one to come to mind when thinking about your next career move, but you may be surprised at how well suited you may be for this role. You can use your many skills to great effect when working in a classroom with students, and here’s how you could use some of those.

Leadership

As an effective teacher, you will be able to lead and guide your classroom. That means you can manage a wide number of personalities and point them in the right direction. You will become an important role model to your students and will lead by example.

Respect

A good teacher will be able to set a respectful tone within the classroom. Your students will feel safe to share their own opinions and values and their peers will learn to be good listeners and respect other people’s thoughts. So, you, as an educator, will be creating a useful learning environment for your pupils.

Organization

You will need to handle several different tasks, which can range from lesson planning to marking students’ work. So, you will need to have exceptional organization skills if you want to succeed within this role, because you will need to keep on top of all your tasks and complete them on time.

Teamwork

You will need to have the ability to work as a team – as well as on your own – to be a teacher. It’s essential for teachers to network with each other to solve any problems, as well as to create lesson plans for the overall teaching scheme. You will also need to make your students feel like they’re part of a team, which will also enhance the learning experience.

Communication

Teaching is a form of communication – so you will need to have excellent communication skills to be a teacher. This will include verbal and written communication, friendly yet professional body language and being able to listen. You’ll need to explain the material to your students in a way that’s both meaningful and accessible. You’ll need to adapt your communication style for different students, and you’ll also need to be clear and accurate with colleagues, parents and administrators.

Patience

You will need to show patience in difficult classroom situations. For example, you may have to explain concepts a number of times and manage students who are having a difficult time in class. It can also be trying when dealing with others, such as your colleagues, administrators and parents. Yet, you must handle these with a calm and professional manner and pay attention to the challenge you face at that moment.

Critical thinking

There will be a variety of problems you will need to solve – sometimes within a tight deadline. You would need to answer difficult questions posed by students on the spot, solve student conflicts, deal with issues between colleagues and revise your lesson plans. A good teacher will know what resources to use to solve these questions effectively and quickly.

Passion

Being enthusiastic is important when you’re teaching a subject to students, so they are engaged and enthusiastic. You will need to be creative when doing lesson plans and presenting in class so your pupils pay attention – but do bear in mind that what works for one group (or student) may not work for another.

Knowledge

You will need academic knowledge of the subject that you are going to teach. If you want to be an elementary school teacher, you’ll need to master the basics in a variety of subjects. But if you’re going to be a high-school teacher of maths, for example, then you’ll need to have advanced-level number skills which will often include calculus.

Teaching

You will need to have these pedagogical skills, understanding children’s needs, learning styles and abilities – as well as the different ways you can teach the subject matter. You will need to make difficult concepts easy to understand, verbally and by using props and other non-verbal methods. If you think you have these skills and are interested in pursuing a career in teaching, then look into getting your teaching credential and take one more step to achieving your goal.

Becoming an educator will lead to a fantastic career that can make a positive impact on your future students.