If you’ve ever been a teacher or know someone who is, you’ll know it’s not easy to be a great teacher. But if you’re new to teaching, don’t let this scare you! There are so many transferable skills from any workplace that you can take with you into teaching. Or, if you don’t want to give up your current career, online teaching can be a fantastic side hustle or part-time job.
After teaching online for almost a decade, I can say that these are 10 teaching skills you need to be a great online teacher.
1. Adaptable to Student Needs
Sometimes, your student will join your class, and within seconds, you realize that the material you’ve prepared is not going to work. This can be for several reasons. Perhaps the student’s level is above or below the grade levels you expected, or maybe the student has something urgent that needs to be addressed. This could be a variety of things like an upcoming interview, so they need help with a resume, or they will serve as a role model for a new intern arriving soon, and they want to practice what they’ll say to them.
Try to gauge student understanding as quickly as possible so you know whether to continue as planned or adapt the lesson. I know firsthand that adaptability is a skill that doesn’t always come easily, so be easy on yourself and try to think of it as a positive challenge.
2. Patient
My students have the opportunity to give me feedback on my teaching, and the feedback I receive the most is that I’m incredibly patient. This is one of the most important skills you can have not just as a teacher but in life. As a teacher, there are so many things that will frustrate you. Maybe the student just isn’t understanding your instructions, or perhaps there are technology issues. Whatever the case may be, you must remain patient and calm.
Remember that it’s about teamwork. You and the student are working together to help them reach their learning goals. Try and think about it from their perspective. Consider how difficult it is to learn something new, and if you’re frustrated, they are probably even more upset with themselves for not getting it. Being patient will allow them to make mistakes without fear.
3. Willing to Learn
In any educational workplace, you need people with a willingness to learn. Today, educational technology is an ever-growing field, and there are always new technology tools or teaching methods to learn about. If you work for a teaching company, take advantage of any professional development opportunities you see.
Whether your students are children, teens, or adults, set an example and show your students the importance of being lifelong learners. Continue to develop your skills both in teaching, like problem-based learning or project-based learning, and the subject you teach.
4. Empathetic to Your Student’s Struggles
An important part of the learning process is putting yourself in your students’ shoes. For example, I teach adults who are learning English as a second language, primarily for their jobs. Because of this, I try to take language classes myself and also self-study so that I can create a learning environment where my students feel understood.
When I share my language learning struggles, it allows me to connect with my students more deeply. If you haven’t already, try being a student again and share best practices from your learning journey. Learning isn’t just about student achievement; it’s also about creating a fun environment to learn and grow.
5. Able to Solve Tech Problems
If you ask online teachers what they dislike most about teaching online, you’re bound to hear something about problem-solving or technical skills. I’ve been teaching for almost a decade, and most of my frustrations have been related to tech challenges.
The good news is that the more you teach, the more comfortable you’ll be when tech challenges arise. As simple as it seems, you’d be amazed how many problems can be resolved simply by restarting your computer.
6. Open to Giving and Receiving Feedback
Giving and receiving feedback is a learned skill that doesn’t usually come naturally for most people. Many people avoid feedback because they either worry about hurting the other person’s feelings or feel that receiving feedback means they’ve failed or done something wrong. However, to learn personally and professionally, feedback is essential. You might even ask the student to do a self-evaluation from time to time to see how aware they are of how they are doing and what they can do to improve.
As a teacher, giving feedback is a balancing act. If you overdo the feedback, your student will become discouraged. On the other hand, if you never give feedback, they won’t be able to improve. In general, giving a handful of corrections per lesson is what I shoot for. Also, keep in mind that each student is different. Some students want lots of feedback, whereas others just want one or two corrections and feel overwhelmed by more than that.
7. Organized
In a typical month, here are some of the things I need to do.
- Organizing my teaching schedule
- Booking lessons for students
- Preparing lesson plans or resources
- Recording what I’ve done with each student
- Giving written feedback or grades to each student
- Communicating with colleagues, fellow teachers, and students
- Making notes of any behavior problems that need to be addressed
- Submitting invoices
As you can see, there are so many moving parts to being an effective teacher. Developing or enhancing your organizational skills and classroom management skills will help you avoid stress and overwhelm.
8. Curious
This might surprise people, but curiosity is essential for effective teaching. Whether it’s my first time meeting a student or the 100th, one of my favorite teaching strategies is to learn as much as I can about the student’s life. The more you can tailor your classes to the interests and needs of your students, the more they will enjoy their interactions with you.
For instance, if you notice your students seem bored, ask them about their hobbies or what they like to do on the weekend. I did this last week and found that a student loves math and online gaming. Instead of just powering through the lesson, I decided to take the last 5-10 minutes to talk about gaming, and the student immediately perked up.
9. Good at Managing Your Time
One thing you’ll learn as a teacher is that things rarely go exactly as planned. For example, let’s say that you’re teaching an online lesson on leadership skills to eight students from around the world. Not only do you need to go through the material, but you also need to make sure that each student has adequate solo speaking time and time to speak with their peers.
Learning good time management skills can take a lot of time and teaching practice. When I first started teaching groups, I would write down each PowerPoint slide and would note how many minutes I should spend on each slide. This helped me to stay on track. Use some trial and error to find what works for you.
10. Able to Listen Carefully
It always puts a smile on my students’ faces when I remember them or show that I recall details about their lives or their learning goals. Even if you have dozens of students, do your best to remember key details about them. If you don’t naturally have a good memory, don’t be afraid to type or write things down.
After each class, I will write down a few notes. If a student has a big test or event coming up, I’ll even make a note to ask them about it during the next class.
Top Teaching Skills Wrap-Up
While online teaching isn’t necessarily an easy job, it can be incredibly rewarding, especially if you are passionate about student learning. Whether you naturally have skills like organization, curiosity, time management, and more, the good news is that all of these skills are things you can develop. If you care about your students and are willing to learn, you have what it takes to be a great online teacher.
