Do you know that your hands can also speak? Gestures play an essential role while teaching. A lot of information can be conveyed easily using the gesticulation strategy.
Whether it’s face to face learning or virtual learning, students’ engagement is the critical point. Gestures add information and are also related to what you are saying. It’s a helping hand for the students to learn more effectively. To get to know this better, give a read to the blog.
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It is always a big question- what strategies to apply for a better engagement in class. There are various techniques available which you can apply for a more significant response in a class. Whether it is an offline class or an online class, the teachers must use the best techniques to make the student understand better.
Gesticulation is among the best techniques that many instructors use to engage the student. Gesticulation is a gesture, particularly a dramatic one. It is used instead of speaking or to emphasize one’s words. It is considered an active engagement for the students to enhance their productivity and skills. Though there are various other ways, gesticulation makes the learning easy and exciting.
It is simple; if you add more movements either by your hands or use any prop, the learning process becomes much more appealing. To make the point clear and understandable, gestures are promoted more for better learning. The use of gestures helps the students to recognize the topics well and internalize content and vocabulary.
For example, as a teacher, if you are explaining the size of a particular thing and using gestures, you explain the different sizes like small, medium, and larger with hand movements. It will be better understood and memorized by the student.
Or the best way is to engage the students in it, make a group of a few students, give them a common topic and ask them to present their views using different gestures. And at the end, ask the rest of the students to judge both the teams who presented better. This activity gives rise to active participation and develops additional skills within the students represented in front of everyone.
What things to keep in mind while using hand gestures?
Using hand gestures or movements proves to be very helpful for a better engagement and understanding of the student. But it would be best if you were very careful while using it as specific points need to be kept in mind. These points are as follows:
- Do not use hands for no purpose
We must avoid the unnecessary movement of hands. There should always be a purpose behind using hand gestures to explain the vital point. Your hand movements must be strong enough to grab a student’s attention towards an important point. Your hand gestures should not be over expressive or stiff. It should always be in between these.
- Prepare well before you speak.
This is a crucial point to keep in mind; if you give long lectures,, you need to prepare yourself first. It is often seen that many people who fall short of words use hand gestures in their speech. Hand movement would save you if you forgot or don’t know the right word to be used within the address. But it will only be helpful for a limited time because, in the end, the right words matter the most.
- Go with the flow.
If done in a smooth flow, hand movement looks much more appealing than doing it with a jerk like a robot. The way you speak should always look natural. Practice well before presenting it before the students to find it interesting to listen and watch.
- Keep yourself within the box.
If you plan to use hand gestures for online learning, you must keep this point in mind. With the box, I mean that the hand movements should not exceed the area above your chest and the bottom of your waist. If you choose the option of pre-recorded video, then while shooting, keep this in mind to make appropriate use of hand gestures in a series area or box. If you move your hands excessively upwards or downward, then there are higher chances that the student is distracted from your point. It may also look absurd or funny. So be natural with your movements.
How to be more effective with the gesticulation strategy?
Whether it is an online class that may be live or based on pre-recorded videos or the traditional offline mode of teaching, gesticulation helps in every way. There are several ways by which a gesticulation strategy helps in the learning process. They are as follows:
1. Make use of props: Props proves to be extremely helpful under the gesticulation strategy. It not only attracts the students but also helps them to understand better. You can use props in both online and offline classes and have the student’s active participation. While studying online, it sometimes becomes difficult for students to understand specific points. In that case, props are very helpful as they can demonstrate important points.
2. Wearing different costumes: Wearing different and funny costumes is a great source to attract and engage as many students as possible. Gesticulation becomes more effective with funny costumes. It can bring back the lost concentration of the students because of prolonged or boring lectures. So all in all, it will help the students learn with much more enthusiasm.
3. Do something with the background: While attending an online or an offline class, if something is interesting in the background, eventually it attracts the student’s attention. The students feel more curious even before the starting of lectures. In the online teaching mode, there are several customized backgrounds available that you can use. You can also put additional items in the background for effective learning. This is one of the best ways to dramatize the teaching using a gesticulation strategy.
4. Experiment with filters: This option works with online learning, where you can use different filters to engage the students more. Gestures go well if you use the suitable filters; you can also go for funny filets available. Try different filters for different lectures to let students enjoy every part of their studies.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels.
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