7 ways to get more respect from your students
Sometimes students don’t seem to realize that their teacher is a human being with feelings, thoughts, and concerns beyond the curriculum. High school students are so wrapped up in the lives of their friends and social media that teachers don’t seem to exist unless they confront one. Teachers should be ignored or tolerated at best. In the mindset of many teenagers, teachers are hardly human and do not deserve your respect. So how can teachers gain more respect? Choose some of the following suggestions to show that you deserve the utmost respect. Drum roll please:
7. On the first day of school, stand by the door and shake hands with each student in the room. Greet students by name and a handshake as they enter the room. Squeeze a smile too. How will you know the names of the students? During the summer, look at the photos in your file folder and memorize their names and faces. You will be surprised that you took the time and energy to find out who they were before they entered the classroom. You may even be considered a good witch or wizard with special talents that will be revealed to you as the school year progresses.
6. Let your students know that you support them emotionally. Students and teachers are nervous on the first day of school wondering what the year will be like. Will it be a good year or a bad year? Will they make new friends? Will they achieve goals? On that first impression day, I like to introduce you to a poem called “On the First Day of School.” It is an opportunity to relax, laugh a little and get rid of the angst of the students.
5. Discuss the class rules, of course, but with an added twist. Create this rule of your own that is golden: No teasing in the classroom. It is simply not allowed, as in never. This also alerts you to immediately follow up when it happens. I walked quickly towards the student and whispered something in his ear like “Do you really want three days of detention?” or something else they really don’t want to do. Students should know that their classroom is a safe haven.
Four. Encourage your students to laugh. Students love to laugh. Laughter has been described as an “instant vacation.” However, it is even more powerful than that. Laughter in the classroom creates an instant relationship. Transform the classroom into a learning center as students love teachers who make them laugh. Sometimes I would say to my class, “Listen, don’t go to La-La Land. This new concept is very important. You will probably see it at your next test.” Then I would say something silly. The students who were listening would laugh, and the students who went out to lunch would wonder what was so funny.
3. Let your passions play out in your lessons and hobbies. It is a personal challenge to stay excited about what you teach if you have already been teaching for a long time. You need to take courses in service and constantly update the curriculum. In a world filled with YouTube, videos, cell phones, and instant self-gratification, students want to be entertained. You can say, “That is not my job. I am a teacher.” However, the best teachers always have a trick or two up their sleeve to capture the interests of their students. They spread excitement and surprises in their lessons with the wave of a wand or a pointer. They prepare dynamic lessons and share their own personal interests from time to time.
2. You clarify what is important to learn and what is not. For years, brain researchers have known that we learn best when we associate new information with old information. If you are studying a new language, it is better to learn a word with its opposite, such as the words “black” and “white.” If you can’t think of one, the other word might remind you of the correct word for you. In the classroom, I used the word “connection” to encourage my students to make connections. For example, I would say, “To remember the correct spelling and use of stationery and stationery, it is important to remember that we use stationery to write letters. List the teams and events you support.
1. Always remember: teachers don’t die. They just lose their class. In terms of treasured memories, teachers live over and over again in retirement. They no longer wander the classroom, but they have saved numerous brilliant end-of-year letters. They have stored memories of students who enjoy funny poetry and the literary magic of Shel Silverstein or Harry Potter. They have returned to their previous classroom for Open School Night to thank a teacher for being there to support them in their early education. These teachers know without a doubt that they made a difference in the lives of their students … Click on the page to discover Joe’s best memory of teaching in his thirty-three-year career.