To begin with, let me say that teaching from a textbook is a ‘no-no’. It would almost always give students the impression that you don’t know your ‘stuff’ or that you are not confident. Here, you must remember that you will always know or understand more than the vast majority of your students with the subject you are teaching. Occasionally there will be gifted students in your class who will understand everything. Use them as tutors/mentors for your peers. They will often express difficult ideas in ways that are better understood by their classmates.
However, since textbooks can be expensive, it is important that they are used frequently and effectively. A good textbook can be a real asset to both you and the student. The author was most likely a teacher who wrote the book based on his own experience.
A good textbook is an essential tool in learning, helping with the consolidation and practice of skills. Therefore, spend a lot of time researching various options to find the one that best suits your needs. A bad choice becomes a costly mistake.
The writer spent most of his career teaching Mathematics, where a textbook is essential. During his years as Director of Mathematics, he introduced several new programs to his school. Consequently, he and his staff needed to research carefully to find the best textbooks available. He sometimes took up to two years to try out the available textbooks. His experience using textbooks and selecting new ones provided the information for this article.
A good textbook is a:
• Reference guide;
• Source of basic concepts to learn and/or practice;
• Source of rules or procedures to learn;
• Source of exercises used to consolidate new learning and ideas on how to practice new skills; (These need to be carefully graded to allow students enough practice to consolidate the basics and then allow them to move easily to the more challenging tasks.)
• Source of review exercises;
• Source of worked examples; Y
• As a backup when teaching new and challenging topics.
It must contain the following:
• Summary of the chapter of ideas to remember;
• Chapter review/quiz;
• Answers;
• Easy-to-understand diagrams, graphs, pictures, and other illustrations; Y
• It may also contain a suggested work schedule as a guide for the time you need to spend on each topic.
Please teach your students how to use the textbook effectively as it can be an efficient learning tool at home. Spend a lesson looking at the following list of sections in the textbook, explaining how to use each part.
(a) Content page
(b) Indices
(c) Explanations of the new work
(d) Worked Examples
(e) Learning work
(f) Exercises to do
(g) Skill Practice
(h) Review of the chapter
(I) Test/diagnosis chapter
j) Troubleshooting
(k) Extension work
(l) BOB, back of book – answers
Work program and its textbook
Give students an outline of work to go with the textbook. In it, the basic exercises that students must perform to achieve understanding of the subject are detailed. This is the minimum requirement only. However, specify what needs to be done to broaden this understanding and get the best possible grades.
Some final tips:
Insist that students have their textbook with them every day in class. If you know you definitely won’t be using it in the next lesson, tell the class not to bring it. (Students appreciate not having to carry heavy books around unnecessarily.) However, don’t forget to remind the class to take you to the next lesson. You need to be careful with this process in lower level classes, especially high school classes.
When you know you will be using a textbook in a lesson, insist that it remain closed until you have finished the teaching portion of the lesson, unless you plan to refer to it as part of your teaching strategy. It is important to write on the board the number(s) of the page(s) you intend to use. Then, don’t start talking about what students need to do until you’re sure everyone is on the same page. This is also true when you set out textbook work for students to do.
Some teachers, particularly in lower secondary classes with less capable students, have extra textbooks with them or photocopies of relevant pages to ensure that all students can do the work planned.
In the end, your text should be:
• Teaching tool;
• Teaching aid; et a
• Learning tool