An effective classroom lecture provides students with the key information they need for the course. Lectures should contain introductory material to provide students with an overview of the lesson, as well as summary points that recap points thus far discussed, relating them in various ways. This ensures students retain the lecture information in an organized manner, focusing on the key points they need to learn. Also, set aside periods throughout your lecture to ask your students questions, as well as a longer discussion period at the end of the lecture. Classroom discussion helps you ensure students are focused on the most important information.
Effective testing allows you to evaluate the information that your students have learned, as well as their abilities to apply the information in various practices. Tests should incorporate various question formats, such as multiple choice, short answer and essay responses. This shows that students are not only retaining classroom information, but also developing effective writing habits. To be most effective, tests should incorporate multiple lessons from the same curriculum or other curricula. For example, a history test might ask questions that require the student to relate events from the current chapter to previous chapters.
Though textual information is an efficient way to present lectures, many students learn better through audio and visual presentations. For this reason, effective teaching incorporates multimedia material such as graphic representations, images, songs and video. For example, replace one of your science lectures with a relevant video documentary. The variation this offers students helps them engage with the classroom material. Another example is the inclusion of relevant songs in conjunction with history lessons. This gives students a more concrete perspective of the time period of which they are reading in their textbooks.
Effective classroom practices must incorporate student group work. Group work gives students the chance to collaborate their knowledge and learn from each other. Furthermore, working in groups helps many students engage with the classroom material. When assigning group work, choose projects that give students the freedom to be creative and self-managing. This helps develop social skills and creativity, while still keeping students focused on the classroom material.