Motivation
The best lessons, books, and materials in the world won't get students excited about learning and willing to work hard if they're not motivated. Motivation, both intrinsic and extrinsic, is a key factor in the success of students at all stages of their education, and teachers can play a pivotal role in providing and encouraging that motivation in their students. Of course, that's much easier said than done, as all students are motivated differently and it takes time and a lot of effort to learn to get a classroom full of kids enthusiastic about learning, working hard, and pushing themselves to excel. Even the best intentioned and educated teachers sometimes lack the skills to keep kids on track, so whether you're a new teacher or an experienced one, try using these methods to motivate your students and to encourage them to live up to their true potential.
Give students a sense of control.
While guidance from a teacher is important to keeping kids on task and motivated, allowing students to have some choice and control over what happens in the classroom is actually one of the best ways to keep them engaged. For example, allowing students to choose the type of assignment they do or which problems to work on can give them a sense of control that may just motivate them to do more.
Define the objectives.
It can be very frustrating for students to complete an assignment or even to behave in class if there aren't clearly defined objectives. Students want and need to know what is expected of them in order to stay motivated to work. At the beginning of the year, lay out clear objectives, rules, and expectations of students so that there is no confusion and students have goals to work towards.
Create a threat-free environment.
While students do need to understand that there are consequences to their actions, far more motivating for students than threats are positive reinforcements. When teachers create a safe, supportive environment for students, affirming their belief in a student's abilities rather than laying out the consequences of not doing things, students are much more likely to get and stay motivated to do their work. At the end of the day, students will fulfill the expectations that the adults around them communicate, so focus on can, not can't.
Change your scenery.
A classroom is a great place for learning, but sitting at a desk day in and day out can make school start to seem a bit dull for some students. To renew interest in the subject matter or just in learning in general, give your students a chance to get out of the classroom. Take field trips, bring in speakers, or even just head to the library for some research. The brain loves novelty and a new setting can be just what some students need to stay motivated to learn.
Offer varied experiences.
Not all students will respond to lessons in the same way. For some, hands-on experiences may be the best. Others may love to read books quietly or to work in groups. In order to keep all students motivated, mix up your lessons so that students with different preferences will each get time focused on the things they like best. Doing so will help students stay engaged and pay attention.
Use positive competition.
Competition in the classroom isn't always a bad thing, and in some cases can motivate students to try harder and work to excel. Work to foster a friendly spirit of competition in your classroom, perhaps through group games related to the material or other opportunities for students to show off their knowledge.
Offer rewards.
Everyone likes getting rewards, and offering your students the chance to earn them is an excellent source of motivation. Things like pizza parties, watching movies, or even something as simple as a sticker on a paper can make students work harder and really aim to achieve. Consider the personalities and needs of your students to determine appropriate rewards for your class.
Give students responsibility.
Assigning students classroom jobs is a great way to build a community and to give students a sense of motivation. Most students will see classroom jobs as a privilege rather than a burden and will work hard to ensure that they, and other students, are meeting expectations. It can also be useful to allow students to take turns leading activities or helping out so that each feels important and valued.
Allow students to work together.
While not all students will jump at the chance to work in groups, many will find it fun to try to solve problems, do experiments, and work on projects with other students. The social interaction can get them excited about things in the classroom and students can motivate one another to reach a goal. Teachers need to ensure that groups are balanced and fair, however, so that some students aren't doing more work than others.
Give praise when earned.
There is no other form of motivation that works quite as well as encouragement. Even as adults we crave recognition and praise, and students at any age are no exception. Teachers can give students a bounty of motivation by rewarding success publicly, giving praise for a job well done, and sharing exemplary work.
Encourage self-reflection.
Most kids want to succeed, they just need help figuring out what they need to do in order to get there. One way to motivate your students is to get them to take a hard look at themselves and determine their own strengths and weaknesses. Students are often much more motivated by creating these kinds of critiques of themselves than by having a teacher do it for them, as it makes them feel in charge of creating their own objectives and goals.
Be excited.
One of the best ways to get your students motivated is to share your enthusiasm. When you're excited about teaching, they'll be much more excited about learning. It's that simple.
Know your students.
Getting to know your students is about more than just memorizing their names. Students need to know that their teacher has a genuine interest in them and cares about them and their success. When students feel appreciated it creates a safe learning environment and motivates them to work harder, as they want to get praise and good feedback from someone they feel knows and respects them as individuals.
Harness student interests.
Knowing your students also has some other benefits, namely that it allows you to relate classroom material to things that students are interested in or have experienced. Teachers can use these interests to make things more interesting and relatable to students, keeping students motivated for longer.
Help students find intrinsic motivation.
It can be great to help students get motivated, but at the end of the day they need to be able to generate their own motivation. Helping students find their own personal reasons for doing class work and working hard, whether because they find material interesting, want to go to college, or just love to learn, is one of the most powerful gifts you can give them.
Manage student anxiety.
Some students find the prospect of not doing well so anxiety-inducing that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. For these students, teachers may find that they are most motivated by learning that struggling with a subject isn't the end of the world. Offer support no matter what the end result is and ensure that students don't feel so overwhelmed by expectations that they just give up.
Make goals high but attainable.
If you're not pushing your students to do more than the bare minimum, most won't seek to push themselves on their own. Students like to be challenged and will work to achieve high expectations so long as they believe those goals to be within their reach, so don't be afraid to push students to get more out of them.
Give feedback and offer chances to improve.
Students who struggle with class work can sometimes feel frustrated and get down on themselves, draining motivation. In these situations it's critical that teachers help students to learn exactly where they went wrong and how they can improve next time. Figuring out a method to get where students want to be can also help them to stay motivated to work hard.
Track progress.
It can be hard for students to see just how far they've come, especially with subjects that are difficult for them. Tracking can come in handy in the classroom, not only for teachers but also for students. Teachers can use this as a way to motivate students, allowing them to see visually just how much they are learning and improving as the year goes on.
Make things fun.
Not all class work needs to be a game or a good time, but students who see school as a place where they can have fun will be more motivated to pay attention and do the work that's required of them than those who regard it as a chore. Adding fun activities into your school day can help students who struggle to stay engaged and make the classroom a much more friendly place for all students.
Provide opportunities for success.
Students, even the best ones, can become frustrated and demotivated when they feel like they're struggling or not getting the recognition that other students are. Make sure that all students get a chance to play to their strengths and feel included and valued. It can make a world of difference in their motivation.
Punishments
Should teachers be allowed to punish students? I think that punishment should be allowed. We all know that teachers have a tough job. They are typically dealing with 20 to 35 students in their class. Students WILL misbehave at some point. Even your perfect child. What should the teacher do when this happens? If they do nothing, then the other children may misbehave as well, because they saw no consequence for the bad behavior. What should the teacher do, if he/she doesn't know who is responsible for the infraction? Should they punish the entire class? Unfortunately, there are times when collateral damage will occur and this is one of them. Sometimes it's impossible for a teacher to know who committed an infraction, so if no one will confess, they must punish the entire class. If there are a few known bad children that misbehave, I don't think that the entire class should be punished.
All parents have developed their own forms of punishment for their children. Some parents don't believe in punishing their children. When your child enters school, the teacher is now issuing the punishments and it doesn't matter what your punishment philosophy is. Most schools banned corporal punishment years ago, so most parents don't have to worry about a teacher hitting their child.
Writing linesWhen I was growing up, I had the gift of gab. I couldn't stop talking in school. I was made to write "lines". I had to write "I will not talk in class" 100 times. One of my teachers gave a punishment that was brutal. She made me make a "red chair". I have no idea where this term came from because it doesn't make sense. A red chair is when you squat with your knees together and extend your arms out in front of you. I would be forced to be in this position for 15-20 minutes. Thank you Mrs. Burke-Aldersen for my nice thighs and calf muscles. If the class was being punished, our punishment was no recess.
Let's fast forward to today. The new punishment for the class is "Silent Lunch". It's self explanatory, the students are not allowed to talk during their lunch period. Some parents are hot mad about it. I can't help but chuckle a bit. Didn't these parents ever give their child a time out? This is actually better than getting a time out because you can eat instead of just sitting by yourself quietly. The canceling of recess still exists today. However, parents are threatening lawsuits because they say that it is in violation of the school policy. Apparently, in some school districts, no child can be denied their (God given) right to recess. Recently, I heard about a teacher who made the students run laps outside during recess because the class misbehaved. Some parents were really upset about that as well. The other punishments being handed out by teachers include, yelling, making children sit in the front of the class, taking away treats and revoking non-uniform day privileges.
Silent lunchI don't have a problem with teachers punishing students, as long as it's a fair punishment. Punishment should always be age appropriate. The classrooms would be complete chaos if there were no consequences for bad behavior. I think that teachers should consider giving extra school work as a punishment. Maybe the children should be required to write an essay about respect, common courtesy, good behavior, punishment, peer pressure or anything else that could make them think about why the punishment needed to be issued.
No matter what stage you are in your life, there are consequences for your actions and school is no exception. Teachers need to be able to set boundaries in their classrooms. A classroom without boundaries and consequences is a great disservice to every student in that class. If you are a parent that believes that teachers should not be allowed to punish students, maybe you should consider homeschooling your child. When your child misbehaves in school, he/she is cheating the other children out of their education because the teacher is not teaching when he/she dealing with behavioral issues.
Compare the role of a teacher with the role of parents. Which is prior? What should be the ratio?
Nowhere does the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child," more aptly apply than to the division of educational roles between parent and teacher. Each parent's role in education does not stop when the child enters school. The parent provides the foundation on which teachers are able to build further educational structures.
Building Foundations
Parents as Teachers, an outreach program to parents, both recognize the importance of early childhood learning as preparation for a good educational experience. It was found that kindergartners who had preschool experience were more classroom-ready than their peers who had not attended preschool. Parents as Teachers recognizes the value of parents as a child's first teachers, and matches families with a parenting mentor who can make suggestions and provide parenting tools.
What Kids Get From Parents
Many parents actively teach their children life skills, but their example of how to live life may be even more important. If children see parents reading, they are more likely to want to read. If parents read aloud to them, children learn that books have stories and information that can be fun. If parents are organized and take care of things at home, the children are more likely to be organized. But most of all, parents provide emotional support and encouragement, and are their child's best advocate.
What Kids Get From Teachers
Teachers represent role models beyond those provided by parents. They introduce added knowledge and differing points of view. Classroom routines and expectations are the first step on the road to gaining and maintaining the ability to earn a living. The school provides a learning environment where your child's skills can be measured against the abilities of age peers. Classroom teachers are trained to spot any learning problems and to work with counselors to provide any assistance your child may need for educational success.
Working Together
The partnership between parents and teachers is not always an easy one to maintain, but it is essential to the educational process. Parents can take an active part by checking notes sent home by the teacher, talking with their child about school and attending school events. Teachers can send home positive communication about children, as well as notes about deficiencies or problems. Regular calls to parents, suggesting Web pages or even e-mails can develop a communication bridge that is beneficial to the child.
Parents, teachers, siblings, elders and friends play an important role in child development and, more importantly, the family and teachers have a critical role. The conventional and traditional pattern of family, consisting of husband and wife, married and living together, is the best situation for child development. But in reality, the nature of families widely varies. It may be single male or single female, it may be husband and wife working, or working wife with house husband or housewife with working husband, incompatible couples, family which cares for the child and family which scares the child. Each situation causes a different impact on the child. The teacher's understanding of family is largely based on the teacher's own family and if that of the child is a different nature, the teacher's perception of the child's family will be distorted and hence hamper the role effectiveness.
There are many ways in which the parent-teacher relationship can be mutually beneficial. Parents and teachers can both share valuable insights into a child’s personality. Teachers can pass on information about how the child copes with a classroom environment, and additional strengths and skills which they have uncovered through various activities. Teachers can keep parents informed about the syllabus, including themes, which can be easy to reinforce at home. Parents can easily present the theme of helping friends, for example, by introducing a book, cartoon or song on the topic, role-playing with toys, or setting up a play date with another child.
It's most effective when teachers and parents speak to each other face-to-face, but occasionally emailing parents with brief feedback can help maintain the relationship, and encourage a more meaningful exchange of views. Keeping the lines of communication open for queries or information from parents helps make the relationship more equitable, so that the information isn't going one way, as often happens.
Finally, one of the most important ways to develop and maintain a good parent-teacher relationship is simply by showing appreciation for each other. If a child sees a parent and teacher thanking each other, the co-operative aspect is reinforced. It’s also valuable to have your child thank the teacher, and for a teacher to thank the children for coming.
School, teachers and parents play vital role in holistic development of the child. Parents are the first mentor of the child and the teacher is the second. Both have an immense contribution and responsibility in shaping child’s personality.
Role of parents: Parents are the child’s first role model. Children behave, react and imitate same as their parents. Parents play important role in encouraging and motivating their kids to learn. Good parental support helps child to be positive, healthy and good life long learner. Children acquire skills at the very early stage of their life if the parents are responsive and understanding.
Role of Teachers: Major challenges for teachers are to nurture children’s learning and give him various experiences to face this challenging world. She molds the child to be a responsible and independent learner. Teacher is the first person from whom child learns his social skills in school. Teachers make him comfortable and guide him the early concepts and developmental skills of life. Open minded , well balanced and a planned teacher has a great power to bring a positive change in the child’s development. As the child grows and develops mastery in different skills, teacher becomes a real guide in nurturing his interest and learning to make him more independent.
Teacher-Parent Relationship– Trust and mutual understanding between parent and teacher is a real secret of child’s happy learning. Support and Cooperativeness from parents towards teacher helps a lot to connect, understand and work towards child. Remarkable positive change is seen in a child if the parents and teacher understand and work hand in hand. A good parent teacher relationship leads child to be positive towards attending school.
Do you believe that there exist ‘universal’ teachers, who can get on well with both small children and teenagers? Provide examples to support your point of view.
Kindergartens (aged 4-6)
Depending on your approach, these cute kids can either be the nicest young people you will have the pleasure of teaching or a nightmarish group of unruly children that reduce grown men to tears! Teaching young children properly is not for the fast quitter as it will take time to get into the swing of it. There is a good chance that at some point you will have to deal with crying, toilet issues, screaming and students who have the attention span of a gold fish. Some useful tips are:
Be clear and direct in how you speak. Use simple 1 or 2 word commands and be prepared to apply a firmer tone to your voice when need be.
Be animated and lively. Not everyone will be comfortable with jumping around, singing and dancing for an hour but it will certainly make you more likable if you are able to act silly in class.
Use TPR activities whenever possible: Kindergartens tend to respond extremely well to TPR (Total Physical Response) based activities whereby they produce the language through physical actions. If you are teaching animals, have the students doing the actions and noises, when teaching them feelings; have them performing the emotion etc.
Short, sharp games and activities: The best way to keep your kids’ attention and save time dealing with bored students is to keep things moving all the time. When planning your lessons, start off by introducing your grammar point or vocabulary then run through a series of 5-10 minute games and ALWAYS have back up plans. When you see students losing focus, move onto the next activity.
Reward them: sweets/candy obviously gives young children an incentive to learn but without this kind of luxury you can easily keep them eager by giving them other kinds of rewards. A high-five or pat on the back after a successful activity and at the end of class will make them feel like they have achieved something, as will the opportunity to do some drawing or colouring activities during the lesson.
Juniors (aged 7-12)
Junior classes vary significantly depending on your students’ maturity, personalities and ability. You will find though that when you have developed a good overall structure to your lessons and a decent repertoire of activities you will be able to apply a fairly similar approach to all of your lessons. Teaching this age group will be demanding in different ways than teaching kindergartens.
Expose them to different cultures: at this age your students are more intellectually capable than kindergartens and more eager to learn about the world than many of the teenagers you will encounter. It will likely be the case that your students are interested in a particular aspect of western culture. Whether they like basketball, hamburgers, music or clothes, take some time to teach them about your culture and give them something different to learn about in English than the grammar and vocabulary set for each lesson.
Classroom management: put good systems in place for dealing with badly behaved students and rewarding good learning. Juniors will generally respond well to some form of team points system whereby you put the students into teams at the start of the lesson and give out/take away points accordingly. This way they will largely discipline themselves.
Cater for different learning styles: at this age your students’ brains are unknowingly adapting and developing towards a particular style of learning. Generally speaking, the major learning styles are thought to be auditory (learning through hearing), visual (learning through having something to look at) and kinaesthetic (learning by physical activity). You don’t need to study educational psychology to learn how to cater to your students’ needs. All you need to do is be aware that your students have unique ways of taking in information and use a variety of techniques and activities to give everyone in your class the best chance of learning.
Take an interest in your students’ lives beyond the classroom: taking a few seconds to ask a student about an aspect of their life outside the classroom will make a big difference. If they think you care about them they will generally be more inclined to care about what you have to say in the lessons.
Be a positive role model: try to set a good example in how you interact with people and approach your work. Show them that successful learning can happen through having a good work ethic, being respectful to others and having some fun with your tasks.
Motivation: it is likely that some of your students will have already had a day of school before they come to your evening class to practice their English. At this age they are becoming harder to motivate. Through positive re-enforcement and giving them something every lesson to show for their time you can keep them enthused. Praise is very important. Be liberal with giving praise to all of your students- regardless of how significant/insignificant whatever they did to earn it is.
teenagers
It’s unlikely you will have to deal with crying, screaming and downright crazy kids to the same extent as the younger groups but you will have some challenges along the way. For many of us, our teenage years were synonymous with thoughts of school being boring, authority figures being the enemy and learning another language being a pointless venture. The mentalities of many young adults abroad are no different. Before you start to panic about the prospect having to teach English to a classroom of adolescents, here are some things you can do to make your life easier and lessons better:
Keep the dry content quiet: if your aim for the lesson is to teach something complicated like Past Perfect tense, don’t write this on the board or make them aware of what you are trying to feed them. Start your lesson by giving them situations and explaining that in these cases we use a particular piece of language then get stuck into some activities to practice it. If you have a particularly dry piece of reading to focus on, find ways to make it more interesting, make fun of the characters and have them rewrite a part of it to make it more fun.
Be a team leader: rather than going into class and seeing yourself as an authority figure, try to imagine yourself as a team leader or mentor amongst a group of colleagues. Show some empathy, take an interest in their lives outside the class but at the same time guide them through the tasks. Tell them that you are on their side and that you know how it feels to be in their shoes. Having this mentality will help you to earn the respect that can be so vital to whether or not you succeed with this age group.
Be a role-model: don’t let them see you as the same kind of old, boring and robotic authority figures that they most probably see their parents and school teachers as. Try to make them think you are different, cool/interesting and that you actually care about how they feel. If they admire you as a person they will be more willing to follow your instructions and will listen to you when they get out of hand.
Make yourself the object of humour: taking yourself too seriously when teaching teenagers decreases your chances of creating a good learning environment. Sensibly make fun of yourself when the opportunity arises. Instead of having the students use their new language to insult each other, have them write crazy stories about you in mildly uncomplimentary ways. Done in the correct way, making yourself the figure of fun puts your students at ease in your classes and will most likely actually increase their levels of respect for you if you are perceived to have an ability to see the funny side of life.
Research their interests: If the key to impressing juniors is caring about their interests, with teenagers you should go a step further and learn about their interests. Take some time before class to find about the country’s popular singers, movie stars, national laughing stocks. Throw these names into your lesson, use them as the subject of a sentence accompanying a new piece of grammar, have them write stories involving these people, get them to analyse pictures of them etc. The more material they can relate to the better.
Get them moving around whenever possible. An English class at this level won’t involve much jumping around and making animal noises. However, when you’re faced with this potentially lazy age group, it is vital that you don’t let them sink too far into their chairs during the lesson and spend too long daydreaming about happenings outside school.
Do you agree that there should be a psychologist in every school?
To begin with I would like to say that I agree that every school needs a psychologist.
Young students' minds are very impressionable, and the events that they experience in school will often stick with them for the rest of their lives. For this reason, it is very important to mold our young future leaders to become relatively emotionally stable, socially adept, and intelligent - not sociopaths.
Students who have a rough time in school may be impacted for the rest of their lives, or they might have trouble learning like they should. This can cause problems later on in life or impede them from being accepted at a good college.
School psychologists can help the students adjust better to their schools and peers, which can help them become happier and more successful adults.
School psychologists work directly with students of all ages, both individually and in groups, to improve academic performance, resolve behavioral, emotional, personal and social issues, learning disabilities, and serious problems such as alcohol and drug abuse, or help with crisis situations.
This involves bringing together parents, teachers and other education professionals and creating plans and solutions for resolution. School psychologists employ a variety of clinical therapies and behavior management techniques with the ultimate goal of helping students reach their full potential. School psychologists typically work on campus in public school districts or private educational institutions with elementary, middle and high school students. They may also work at colleges and universities, day care centers, juvenile detention facilities, in private practice or at research centers.
The adolescent suicide rate continues to raise, with each suicide a dramatic reminder that the lives of a significant number of adolescents are filled with anxiety and stress. Most schools have more than a handful of kids wrestling with significant emotional problems, and schools at all levels face an ongoing challenge related to school violence and bullying, both physical and emotional.
Yet in many schools there is inadequate professional psychological support for students.
Being a school psychologist can be so many different things depending on the school district and then on which grade levels you work with. I work with preschool and love it. At times it can be depressing but many other times it is rewarding and you feel like you are making a difference. At the level I work at, most of my time is spent in diagnosing speech and learning problems and in finding classrooms or therapies for the child to attend to remediate their difficulties. Many have challenging behaviors. One fabulous thing about this job is the calendar.......the day ends earlier than the traditional business day and we have more holidays. The most frustrating part of my job is the endless paperwork which takes so many hours and hours and often seems endless.
What are the makings of a good teacher? Why is it easier to speak about them than find them in one person?
1. Friendly and Congenial:
I think the most important characteristic of a good teacher can have is to be friendly and congenial with his students. It is a plus point for a teacher, if his students can share their problems with him, without being afraid or hesitant. I think students have always thoughts their teachers as their enemies (in a funny sense though :p). With this mentality, they can never be close to each other, and besides that how many teachers did you like who were NOT friendly, and were rather arrogant and rude?
2. Personality:
A good teacher has a very good personality; there is no second thought about it. Students always get attracted to teachers with good personality and characteristics which leads to better communication, understanding and ultimately good results. Everyone can have a good, decent, likable and presentable personality. Just dress sensibly good, smell good, and be a little gentle and kind. That's all.
3. Knowledge and Teacher's Education:
Another important characteristic of a good teacher is his knowledge and own education. As there is a saying that 'a teacher is only as good as his knowledge is'. After all, he is doing a teacher's job, which is to teach. If he himself lacks in the knowledge of a certain subject that he teaches, he is never going to make a name for himself as a good teacher. So, sign up with only that subjects which you have really good expertise; and it is a moral duty of every teacher too. Otherwise, it is not worth it.
4. A Good Communicator:
One of the very important characteristics of a good teacher is his communication skills. He should be a very good speaker. This characteristic will benefit a teacher in several ways. For example:
i) If his communication skills are good, he can convey his lectures with better skill and results.
ii) If a teacher is a good speaker, his class strength increases automatically. People love to hear a person who he can speak well enough. There is always a shortage of good speakers in the world ;)
5. A Good Listener:
Apart from being a good communicator, a good teacher should also have the characteristic of being an even better listener. As there is Turkish proverb:
"If speaking is silver; then listening is gold."
Remember, a good listener will always have many friends and fans. Because people do not want to hear every time, they need persons who can listen to them as well. And when a good teacher develops this patient quality in himself, he starts to become a great teacher.
6. Good sense of humor:
A good teacher should also have the quality and characteristic of having a good sense of humor. It is a logical fact, that a person generally teaches the next generation and as they are younger than the teacher, they are expected to have more fun in the class too. So, a good teacher is the one who can cope up with his sense of humor, and with his strong communication skills and personality, can also maintain the discipline of the class.
7. Be Kind:
The last but obviously one of the most important characteristics of a good teacher to have in his box of qualities. He should be a gentle, kind, chivalrous and a benevolent person. Students should love him, and when they do love him, they idolize him. Then ultimately, they will respect him, will do his homework and eventually will bring greater outputs and results.
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