Ive been observing a Chinese teacher in the office of a school where I teach 10 classes each week. She has always seemed quite kind, nice, polite, etc. But, Ive seen her interact with the students. She seems disgusted, impatient and rather demeaning to the students. Today, she asked me an interesting question. She said, Michael, can you give me any tips or hints about how to make my teaching better? I said, Well, Id be happy to suggest a few things. One, when you are teaching your students English vocabulary, immediately use the words/terms/phrases that you are teaching them. Otherwise, their minds are bored. Theres little chemical activity when they are bored. You will open their brains up to faster and more in depth learning when you use what youre learning as quickly as possible. I showed her several ways to do this and to get the students involved in the lesson. I took her vocabulary book and showed her a resource to do exactly what I was suggesting. Tap into their creativity (very rare for a Chinese classroom). Second, give them continuous and positive feedback. The mind will again shutdown if you only give them negative feedback. When they try to answer something and get it wrong, tell them that they are on the right track but that is not the right answer. Coax them along. Draw them to the right answer. Resist giving it to them too quickly. Let them know that you think they are smart and can come up with the right answer. Her eyes lit up as if I just handed her the holy grail of teaching. In fact, I just gave her a few small tips that can and will transform her teaching experience. It is amazing that a teacher is someone who knows their subject well. However, there is no requirement that he/she knows how to teach students. I feel responsible to mentor these younger teachers. God put me here to do something that is bigger than me; farther than my reach. I will fulfill my purpose faithfully and with excellence.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 11:23:47 +0000
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