Teach English in Meilihe Zhen - Chifeng Shi

There is no doubt that lessons go more smoothly when students and their teacher are on the same page. What can be better when the teacher enters the classroom in order to share his knowledge on a new lesson topic and he knows that the students would be absolutely enthusiastic about the learning process he is going to manage whatever the topic is?! There is something that makes students come to the classes again and motivates them for the further interaction and collaboration in the lessons. This is established rapport wich facilitates understanding and creates an appropriate atmosphere in the classroom, providing thus more efficient learning and higher results. First and foremost the teacher should keep in mind that the students he works with are not consuming machines any time ready to accept any kind and amount of information. Each student has his own personality, feelings, fears and abilities. Some students are not actually interested in learning English and come to classes only because they have to due to particular life circumstances. But now they are sitting in the classroom and it is the teacher's task to create in them a sympathetic attitude to the subject and desire to learn. It is obvious that gentle and smiling teacher, attentive to students' needs is able to reduce tension and win students over. In fact, learning process is a challenge for many people and a harsh and grumpy teacher can make it even more complicated, while a teacher with a good sense of humour and who is ready to laugh at his own mistakes makes the lessons enjoyable and easy-going. Students will definitely prefer attending classes with positive environment, where they feel comfortable and confident to ask the teacher any questions and express their opinions because they trust him, because they know that he does not only announce English language rules but also provides the students an opportunity to give their feedback on the lesson. However, trying to establish good relationship in the classroom it is necessary not to bring it to the level of fraternization, which is to be absolutely excluded. As it is said, "Blur the line between student and teacher and chaos will ensue." Sharing teacher's personal information with the students should not be overrated because it will turn to a "teacher centred lesson" and lead to loss of students' attention and interest to learning. Besides, a teacher may have his personal space and not allow students pry about how much he earns, who he is dating or what shower gel he uses. Of course, having fun in the lesson while learning difficult grammar material can be quite beneficial as it reduces tension, but using too much humour tends to make the lesson be more like an entertainment but not a study program, which can cause bad discipline and lower scores as the result. Moreover, it is highly important not to use inappropriate jokes and sarcasm as it may destroy students' respect to the teacher. Though students' feedback can be very important for it helps the teacher to realise students' real needs and choose the right further strategy, it should not give the students an impression that they but not their teacher are managers of lessons. In other words, students get exposed to the learning and show better results with an open-minded teacher who does not fake smiles, who never punishes for mistakes but corrects them tactfully and offers the students constructive criticism and accepts possible feedbacks. A sincere and caring to students' feelings teacher is able to establish confidential relation in the classroom, which is crucial for the best interaction during the learning. Teacher's help in building students’ confidence in themselves means an inspiration on the challenging way of study. To sum up, establishing rapport is extremely valuable and can not be avoided for it provides another level of learning process where the balance of respect to the teacher and pleasant and relaxing atmosphere in the classroom lead to the best results.