| Soleron said: - Standing at the whiteboard and cover the material are the best. Too many teachers try to be students' friends, or have fun games or "computer assignments" that get nothing really done. - Having time for individual students with problems. Set the class off on exercises then walk round, don't wait for students to come to you because they won't. - Not putting up with disruption in the classroom at all. I've seen far too many teachers give second and third chances until the kids pick up on the fact that the teacher won't ever react and then do what they want and interfere with the good students' learning. The best kind of discipline is where the student feels like they let the teacher down if they don't do their work, so much more effective than detention or something. - Being regular with setting work and homework, clear about deadlines and what is expected, and returning marked work promptly. That way students can get into a routine. Set just enough homework so that everyone practices the skills but not mindless repetition. - One one hand, realise your job is not to teach to the exam but instead to get the students excited about the subject so the exam takes care of itself. However when it gets close to the exam spend a lot of time on exam answering technique and short revision summaries, because a little effort there gets a lot of marks. |
I agree with all but the bold. Minor distractions that aren't noisy and isn't actually disrupting anything can be ignored completely. If a kid is doodling and ignoring the class, let them, just speak to them privately if need be to make sure they aren't lost. A lot of people drift off because they don't understand and there for cannot focus on whats being taught. I tended to do that. I ended up staying after class a few times for extra help in my chemistry and algebra 2 classes. It also helps if you teach multiple ways of solving a problem. Simply yelling at students over every little thing puts the teacher in bad light and makes their students hate them. Only way to get respect is earn respect.
