8 Questions for Teachers at the Beginning of the School Year!
Adapted from the September 2019 First Rank Newsletter of our friends at ChessPlus. Our comments are given in italics.
Good planning of the chess year increases the effectiveness of your lessons. Here are some questions to consider:
1) What do I want to achieve with chess?
You can limit yourself to chess as a tool, but then think about the subjects in which you want to use and you can use chess: mathematics (geometry, arithmetic, etc.), geography, history, physical education, languages. However, you can also set up a school chess club, if the enthusiasm of parents and children is high enough.
Schools that have participated in the our Chess in Schools programs have access to the CIS Resource Library with a variety of lesson plans.
2) Who can help me in organizing chess activities?
You can do it on your own, but two persons have more ideas than just one. The larger the group of colleagues who collaborate, the better it will be for the quality, the fun and the experience of success.
Plan now to take a teacher team to one of the
professional development courses
that Chess in Schools offers each summer.
3) How can I convince my colleagues and management?
Our colleagues in Europe use this promotional
video
to highlight he extensive use of Chess in Education on that continent. Within the next few months we hope to release a new website devoted exclusively to Chess in Education with deep and substantive content. For now, our
Chess in Schools
website provides CIE news, the latest on CIE research, and ideas for developing a local CIE program.
4) How can I improve myself as a chess teacher?
The 'Trial and Error' approach undoubtedly leads to efficient education. However, it takes a lot of time before it becomes truly efficient.
It may be useful to take a teacher team to one of the professional development courses that
Chess in Schools
offers each summer.
5) What internal factors should I take into account in my planning?
Of course, you have to take into account many factors: the number of children playing chess, their level (how can you differentiate?), the helpers you can count on (possibly even stronger pupils (from higher years)), the classroom and the equipment you have, the time of teaching and if the lessons take place outside class hours, you also have to take into account the parents.
6) How can I keep motivating my students (especially the weaker ones)?
Always analyze why the children are enthusiastic: some of them are more interested in the fun, the group atmosphere and are less involved in the game.
To add variety to your schedule, connect chess to other abilities such as art and music.
You can also organize an event at school and develop something special for it (exhibition, special tournament, guest chess player, etc.) and link cross-curricular teaching content to it (have invitations written, have items ordered, have a poster designed, etc.).
7) If I have already given chess lessons, what needs to be improved?
No doubt a number of things did not work as well last year. Analyze them and try to find improvements, change your course (and/or code of conduct), expand it or try other methods (in view to differentiation).
8) Finally, what should I not forget?
In a chess in school program, you want to develop student's skills. That takes time, but that time flies by when a) it's fun and b) you still spend at least 50% of the time on game activities (where the knowledge can be converted into skill).
Alternatives to chess skill building activities are those connecting existing chess knowledge to life skills or critical thinking skills.
