Personalized learning can be incredibly useful for all students, whether they're excelling or working hard to not fall behind in class. By tailoring lessons to the unique needs and strengths of individual students, educators can create genuine, positive, and impactful learning experiences. However, crafting a bespoke approach is increasingly challenging as classrooms expand and student attention becomes more divided than ever.
Thanks to modern technology, teachers are more empowered than ever to create personalized approaches to teaching. They can reach students who learn at different speeds and meet them wherever they are in their educational journeys. Leveraging technology, students no longer need to feel the pressure to conform to learning styles that don’t fit them.
At Yup, we know that all students have the potential to succeed with the right resources and guidance. Here are five things educators can do to contribute to a personalized learning experience that sets students up for long-term success.
1. Practice Empathy
Positive and cooperative relationships with teachers can make all the difference in the world for students. Though this may seem obvious, when students feel understood by educators they are more likely to engage, ask questions, and persevere through challenges.
Empathizing with students means validating their frustrations and patiently channeling these emotions towards finding a solution. It means being compassionate and aware of the pressures that they face in school every day, ranging from academic to athletic to social.
Approach every teaching opportunity with sensitivity and an open mind. A strong, empathetic relationship can transform a child’s perspective of a particular subject.
2. Guide, Don’t Just Give
At Yup, the Socratic Method is a guiding principle for teaching and development. When educators ask guiding questions they give students the opportunity to take an active role in their learning, which promotes an in-depth understanding of a problem’s underlying concepts. As educators, it’s crucial to collaborate and guide students through tough problems rather than provide answers.
3. Embrace Mistakes
Giving students the freedom to make mistakes plants the seeds for “Growth Mindset," the concept that we better ourselves by learning from mistakes. Students perform their best when they feel they can attempt challenging problems and tackle new ideas without risk. Always create a safe environment for your students that reinforces effort and minimizes shame.
4. Let Students Set Pace
Every student learns at a different pace. In personalized education, teachers must be mindful of how their students are progressing in real-time. It’s important to learn when to accelerate and when to slow down. Some students push themselve while others need external motivation. Encouraging language goes a long way to boosting student confidence!
5. Track & Analyze Performance
It’s hard to know what’s working and what isn’t without reliable data. One of the most significant benefits of personalized education is that teachers can evaluate student performance on a deeper level. Thanks to advances in education technology, we can collect and manipulate data much more efficiently than ever before.
Educators can track how students perform on certain types of problems, identify knowledge gaps, and visualize trends with today’s digital resources. Teachers can show parents and students how much they’ve improved over time and tailor lesson-planning even more closely to the needs of the student.
Personalized Math Education with Yup
Reliability is another core tenet of personalized education. Students feel supported when they know help is available whenever they need it. It’s easy for them to become frustrated and hopeless when they face complex problems in isolation. Being available at these times can be tremendously impactful on students.
Yup’s tutors are here for students 24/7, standing by to provide students with personalized, one-to-one tutoring sessions whenever they need one. All of our tutors are hand-selected and passionate about helping every student thrive. Yup's plans offer students unlimited access to tutoring so they never have to worry about learning at a pace other than their own.
Want to learn more about how Yup equips students with the knowledge and confidence they need to succeed in math? Head over to our Teaching Methods page! Want to learn more about Yup's tutors and their educational backgrounds? Head over to our Tutors page!
