Teach English in Laofu Zhen - Chifeng Shi

I guess every teacher has lost his temper at least once or twice , if not more during their career, because of certain students . Sometimes it is the student’s mistake. They just don’t like the subject or don’t want to attend so they start chatting in class, laughing , doing all sorts of things that will drive the teacher crazy. You shouldn’t lose your temper that’s right but we are all human , you might be having a hard day yourself, you might be sick or had a long week of work and the last thing you need is some disrespectful kids. As a teacher you are not supposed to lose your temper , you should keep calm and respectful in front of the class. But what can you do if, once, you lost your temper ? How can you gain your students’ respect and love back? As they get older, it gets harder to control them. Especially boys! They can be naughty, noisy and disrespectful. But it’s your responsibility as a teacher to make them interested in your class. Let’s say you lost your cool and screamed at your class—or at a certain student. You had a weak moment and took matters into your own hands instead of following your classroom management plan. And now you’re beating yourself up for it. You’re convinced that you’ve ruined everything, that you’ve undone all the influence, trust, and goodwill you’ve built up since the start of the year. That your students will never look at you the same way again. It’s a terrible feeling. Yes, you messed up. You made a mistake, or a series of mistakes, and it seems like the end of the world. But it’s okay. Really. With the right response, you can turn your bad moment into a positive lesson for both you and your students. Here’s how: Review it. Instead of pushing the incident out of your mind and moving on, take some time to review it. Sit with your eyes closed and watch it unfold all over again. Although you may wince, it’s helpful to understand why you reacted the way you did. This alone goes a long way toward ensuring that it doesn’t happen again. Address it. After giving yourself time to reflect, and let any lingering frustration dissipate, briefly address the incident with your class—even if it involved only one student. “Yesterday, several students broke rules during group work. They were moving around, disturbing others, and I raised my voice instead of holding them accountable.” Own it. While not letting the misbehaving student(s) off the hook, admit your mistake. Take responsibility for your part in the disruption, added tension, or lack of focused learning. “I messed up. It wasn’t okay how I reacted. It wasn’t okay that I didn’t follow through on my promise to protect your right to learn and enjoy being part of this class.” Apologize. Now, while still speaking to your whole class, apologize directly to those affected by your mistake, whether it be to everyone or just the student or students involved. “I’m sorry I raised my voice and lectured rather than enforcing a consequence.” Remind. The steps above are a perfect segue into a reminder about expected behavior. It brings out into the open the misbehavior in question and redefines its transgression of the rules. “I want to remind you, however, that leaving your group and talking off-topic interferes with learning and is against the class rules. I’m going to be watching closely, and if I see it in the future, you will be held accountable.” Move on. There is no reason to belabor the point or wait for a reaction from your students. Say your peace and be done with it. Move on to the next lesson or activity as if nothing happened. “Alright, when I say ‘go’ you’re going to meet with your reading group.” The Lesson Addressing your mistake and boldly apologizing for it does several things—all good. First, it’s an example for your students to follow. It provides a model for them, in a very real way, how they should respond when they’ve made a mistake or gone back on their word. Second, students—and people in general—are quick to forgive those who openly admit their wrongdoings. It’s rare in this day and age, and thus more powerful and meaningful than ever. Third, vulnerability makes you more likable. It makes you more authentic and your lessons more interesting, allowing you to build easy rapport with your students. Finally, it’s humbling to make a public admission. In a small way, it changes you from the inside and makes repeating the same reactionary mistakes over and over again far less likely. Your Strength Apologizing to students isn’t a weakness. It won’t lessen your authority or “lower you to their level.” It won’t make you look like a wobbly-kneed pushover. No, it will make you stronger. It will make you more confident and influential. It will make you more of the kind of leader your students will respect and admire. How to prevent that from happening again ? 1. Be prepared Planning includes anticipating the challenges of particular classes, ensuring you're ready for lesson observations, potential situations that could arise and how you might deal with them. If your confidence has been knocked, try to put a little extra preparation time in. But… try to allow for some flexibility to avoid panicking if you need to change track part way through! 2. Your classroom, your rules • Your lesson begins the moment your students set eyes on you. So if they're waiting outside your classroom, start the lesson then. Calmly and confidently demand the behaviour you expect from them before they come in, greet them at the door and set expectations straight away. • If you start to feel panicky or that you're losing control, take a moment and breathe. Refer to your lesson plan and then once you feel more relaxed, try to gain control of the lesson calmly and authoritatively. • Finally, if a class simply won't listen, don't try to shout over them. It will quickly frustrate and anger you and it won't encourage your class to listen. Instead try calmly standing still (despite how you may feel inside) and wait. Eventually the class will become quiet, it may not happen right away but be patient. 3. Don't fear criticism, use it If you've been given some feedback that you deem to be negative, then use it as a tool to change. By acting on criticism instead of wallowing in it, you can turn a negative into a positive, helping you to not only build confidence but also really improve your practice. 4. Realise your strengths Last, but definitely not least, take some time to reflect on your practice and pull out the positives. Try filming your lesson for a really objective lens on your practice. Whilst it might be uncomfortable at first, it really does help to overcome negative self-perceptions and recognize your strengths in the classroom. By reflecting on your teaching strengths and celebrating them you build a sense of self worth and belief, which ultimately leads to confidence.