Once I read a tweet that went something like this: ‘An influencer is a teacher who gets the whole class to brush their teeth. I’m just a geek with a 4G phone’. And I thought: That’s so true! Massive kudos to the teaching community that achieves meaningful change every day.
Are you a teacher who wants to strengthen your ability to inspire even further? Creativity and innovation will be your trusted allies. These tips are sure to help you too.
5 tips for becoming a teacher-influencer
1. Strengthen bidirectional communication
Once upon a time, not all that long ago, teachers relayed information and students listened without complaint. I’m sure this idea conjures up a certain image in your mind, doesn’t it? Luckily, that educational model has gone out of fashion, as it doesn’t work anymore. Society has changed, as has the education system, as it has to respond to the new needs of the social context. The role of the teacher is less and less about providing information, and more and more about communication.
What are the challenges for education in the 21st century? Equipping students with the skills to construct their own ideas, to live in a society that values equality, and to interact assertively. This is achieved by empathizing with students and encouraging integration by listening to everyone.
New educational trends give students the role of protagonists. When educators speak less and listen more, learning has significantly better results.
When communication is bidirectional, this is a very good sign, as it means that the students have received your message. Success happens when students are active and adopt a participative role in the construction of their learning. Promote and cultivate this feedback; it is pure gold for any teacher. You’ll discover that the process of teaching and learning is enriched on both sides.
2. Awaken their curiosity with interactive content
Every year, in every class, there are students that don’t want to participate, which means that a lot of the time, the class doesn’t gather the desired momentum.
But what if you could motivate them? Why not try interactive content?! Interactive content awakens their curiosity, gets their attention, and makes even the most reluctant ones want to explore any topic.
When you succeed in activating students to find the answers they need, learning becomes more effective. At the same time, they learn to take initiative and to investigate on their own, which will undoubtedly be very useful to them in all areas of their lives. Teachers can also encourage students to create these kinds of content themselves, inviting them to become creators and true protagonists.
Learning deserves to be interactive
The creation of interactive content is one of the many education solutions that new technologies offer. Interactive content works very well in any format, be it face-to-face classes, online, or blended learning.
It also strengthens communication between students and teachers and helps improve digital competencies across the school. Using interactive content will make your students, as well as their families and the rest of the teaching staff, see you as a teacher-influencer. Everyone will be waiting to see what you come up with next!
3. Gamify your classroom
The benefits of gamification in education have been clearly demonstrated; it improves students’ motivation, facilitates understanding of the more complex concepts, and makes use of the always effective reward system.
By using games, educational breakouts, and digital quizzes, you create opportunities for sharing experiences and developing other skills such as problem solving and teamwork. The digital format makes it possible to take full advantage of all the possibilities gamification offers, with less time and effort required.
Gamification also stimulates and engages your students. There’s little they enjoy more than learning while playing! Gamifying your classroom will mean they’re always looking forward to your classes. Who doesn’t want to be the teacher who brings the fun?!
4. Become the role model they follow
I’m sure you still have fond memories of a particular teacher from your childhood who changed your life by making you love math or giving you good advice. You can become that teacher who inspires!
Imitating others is part of our social nature. Human beings imitate what we like and what we find interesting, and we do it instinctively throughout our whole lives. We start imitating as soon as we’re born. That’s why leading by example has always worked so well.
As a teacher-influencer, your example is crucial. Reinforce the behaviors you want them to learn and imitate. The power is in your hands! As the saying goes, ‘give them something great to imitate’.
5. Inspire with your content
Do you know about the Genially social profile? This feature will help you put almost all the previous points into practice, and will also allow you to inspire your colleagues and the rest of the education community. The Genially social profile is a page where you can display and share all your best creations with one simple link. Like a bank of interactive resources created by you.
At the time of writing this post, there are about 10,000 teachers’ social profiles on Genially, and this number is growing non-stop. So when you’re reading this, there are probably many more. Are you up for creating yours?
Some of the benefits:
- It’s free. All you need is a Genially account.
- It’s super easy to activate.
- Only the creations you select will be displayed.
- You can personalize it with a description, photo, and links to your social media.
- Unlimited space: you can include as many resources as you like.
- All your geniallys in one place. Your students will find all the interactive resources they need to follow your classes, and it’s also a great place to share info with parents, or share your creations with other teachers. They’re bound to reuse them!
Want to see an awesome example?
If you’ve already created some resources in Genially, now is the time to take advantage of this feature to share your genius. Very soon, everyone will be talking about your content, and you’ll save loads of time by avoiding having to constantly send files with resources and information. You can even include the link to your social profile in your email signature so everyone can have it to hand. Oh so handy.
If you’re still not using Genially, you can start by reusing some of the countless educational resources you’ll find in the Inspiration section, created by and for educators. That’s the quickest way to start building your own great resources and becoming a teacher-influencer using Genially. Did you know? We’re the biggest interactive-content-creating community in the world.
