Teaching can be a rewarding experience but only if, as a teacher, you are ready and confident. There are many ways to teach a class, but fun and easy visual aids can help teach almost any subject and make the class enjoyable for both the students and the teacher.
Formats of Visual Aids
A commonly used visual aid format used today is the slideshow presentation--a collection of slides put together on the computer. This format is effective for teaching all ages, because you have the choice of using words or pictures or both. Microsoft's PowerPoint, for example, also allows you to use sound, animation and a wide range of slide designs to keep this format forever interesting and new.
Flashcards are excellent visual aids to teach and reinforce vocabulary words. Be sure the flashcards are large enough to be seen by all students.
Making visual aids from construction paper, markers, and various other art supplies can often be a great attention-grabber because the visual aid is tangible. If you are making an animal, for example, there is a never-ending supply of objects that can be used or combined with others to look like the animal. If possible, laminating your creation can keep the visual aid in prime condition for years, even if students have handled it.
Magnet strips, felt or sticky tack can be used to present words or pictures that are prepared on paper or cardboard. Whether you have a magnetic blackboard to work with, a felt board or just a wall, it is always handy to have a means of displaying your aids so that you don't need to hold up one at a time.
Videos, or video clips, can capture the attention of today's TV-loving youth. As long as your video isn't too long and dull, most students are used to tuning in to whatever is on the TV screen.
Toys, such as a beanbag or a rubber ball, can double as props for games.
The overhead projector can also be very useful to blow up text or a drawing so everyone can see it. The overhead projector uses prepared transparencies that you can photocopy text onto; you can also draw or write on the transparencies with any color marker for a livelier visual aid.
Know Your Audience
Naturally, high school students and elementary students will benefit differently from a particular visual aid. The younger the student, the more hands-on and colorful your visual aids should be. If students have not yet learned to read and write, a computer slideshow presentation with lots of sentences and words will not be as effective as one with pictures and shapes. Likewise, most toys will not help teach a lesson to high school students.
Especially if you are teaching a foreign language to the students, it is helpful to use the same visual aid repetitively until the students have learned the word or concept. For example, if you are teaching the word "sleep" and show the students a laminated color flashcard of a child sleeping every time you use the word, the students will not need a verbal reminder of what the words "sleep" means and eventually will associate the sound of the word with the meaning and not need the visual aid.
Tips
When preparing a lesson, do not rely solely on visual aids. Always have a backup plan in case something goes wrong with it as can often be the case with those in electronic format such as a slideshow presentation. Keep a hard copy of your presentation.
Keep your visual aids. You never know when you will need that poster of an atom or the video clip of photosynthesis in the future, and it's a good idea to build a supply of lesson materials to save yourself from extra work in the future.
When appropriate, have students help create the visual aids. A student will usually remember a lesson best when involved with its creation. If it's something each student can make and take home, it's likely the student will remember the lesson or idea taught each time he sees the visual aid.
Be sure that your visual aids aren't distracting from your lesson material. It is very possible to go over the top with your creation so that it leads to chatter and drives the students' thoughts away from the subject you're presenting.
Don't let your visual aids become anything more than "aids" for your teaching. Avoid simply reading from a slideshow presentation, for example. Also avoid creating props that are complicated enough to distract you from your lesson material. Be comfortable showing your visual aids naturally during the lesson.
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