5 Innovative Teaching Methods to Kick Off the New School Year

Teaching in the classroom can be tough at times, especially if you feel like you’re not connecting with your students or you’re running out of teaching ideas. However, the classroom doesn’t have to be so staid; there are plenty of innovative teaching methods you can use to help spice up your next year in the classroom and make your students more excited about learning than ever before. Try incorporating these 5 innovative teaching methods into your first few weeks of school, and see how they improve student engagement!

1. Ask students what they want in a teacher

One of the most innovative teaching strategies is to ask your students what they want and need in a teacher. It shows that you care about their opinions and want to make changes based on what they say. Plus, it gives you insight into what areas you need to work on. You can accomplish this with an interactive presentation. By simply adding questions to your PowerPoint where your students can send anonymous answers via their mobile phones, it makes it easy, fast and visual to find out what students need. Use our pre-made template to get inspiration for questions to ask your students at the start of the new school year.

One on One meetings

2. Start with a recap before diving into new material

Study book

It’s been a long summer break, and you’re finally ready to get back into the swing of things. But before you dive headfirst into new material, it’s important to take a moment to recap what was covered last year. This will help ensure that your students are prepared for the new material they’ll be learning.

3. Give students choices in their learning experience

Students learn best when they are given choices in their learning experience. Allowing them to choose how they want to learn material will not only make them more engaged, but also help them learn the material better. Some innovative teaching strategies that give students choices are:

  1. Give students a choice of what type of project they would like to complete.

  2. Ask students if they would prefer a hands-on or more lecture based lesson on this topic before moving forward with your plan for the day.

  3. Have students choose which chapter of a book they would like to read and study before class.

Post it board

4. Let students give you feedback on your instruction style

teaching methods

Asking for feedback from your students can help you understand how they learn best and what teaching methods work best for them. Plus, it shows them that you care about their opinion and want to make sure they’re getting the most out of your class. The feedback can be collected through sendsteps anonymous open ended question, lowering the barrier to honest feedback.

5. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

One way to become a more innovative teacher is to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. This means trying new things, even if they might fail. It also means being open to feedback and constantly looking for ways to improve.

Illustration of a woman presenting

Anouk Baltus

Anouk’s passion for presenting started when she was very young: from voluntarily giving presentations in primary school to winning a speaking award with a self-written and presented speech. This adoration comes to life while working for Sendsteps. A passion for giving and writing speeches turned into writing blogposts about these subjects to help others find their passion in presenting.