Have you ever wondered what your students might be thinking about you?
Here are a few possibilities:
1. Your breath is not fresh.
If you are engaged and interacting with your students, you will often lean in close to them to offer advice or encouragement. Be sure the tuna sandwich and ranch dressing chips you had for lunch do not offend. Keep some breath mints in your desk, pop one in your mouth, and keep your breath fresh. ( I can still remember my 6th grade teacher's offensive breath. Seriously? After all these years, you'd think I could forget.)
2. Your voice is unpleasant.
Record your lessons for a few days and listen to the sound of your own voice. Are you too loud? Do you speak in a monotone? Do your words produce a singsong pattern? If so, practice making your voice more pleasant.
3. Your instructions are not clear.
Do your students ask you several questions before they begin to work? Are the questions ones that were already addressed in your instructions? If so, perhaps the wording in your instructions is not as clear as it could be. Anticipate the questions (even if they seem trivial) your students might ask , and include that information in your instructions.
5. Your focus is not what it should be.
Are students cheating? Are they visiting and socializing when they should be working independently? If so, examine what you are doing. Are you walking around the room and interacting with your students, or are you typing on your computer or iPad, checking your email, or grading papers? Focus on the students who are acting out. Leave everything else until later. They will soon realize that you are aware of their actions, and they will get to work.
It is entirely possible that your students have never thought any of these things about you, but it helps to be aware of the possibility that one of these might be something you could improve upon.
Here are links to three FREE and two moderately priced lessons you might find helpful during the first few weeks of school. I hope you are off to a great start.
Day Planner and Daily To-Do List- FREE
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs Grammar Worksheets - FREE
Sentence Patterns Grammar Worksheets – FREE
Sentence Patterns Back to School Grammar Worksheets $$
Finding Prepositional Phrases Grammar Video and Practice Exercise $$
Thanks for reading. Below are a few interesting blog posts from my friends at The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marking Cooperative. Enjoy!
Charlene
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