Teach English in Hengnanxian Yuanzhongchang - Hengyang Shi

A teacher wears variety of hats and possesses multifaceted skills in enhancing learners’ achievements. There is lot more to teaching than just coming into the classroom and giving the day’s lesson. Though, the prevalent role of a teacher is provider of information whereby the teacher delivers lessons to the students to give them a deeper understanding of the subject but an effective teacher extends his roles beyond that because they know acting other roles make the students’ educational experience so much more beneficial and interesting. During a lesson, the teacher needs to head up the activities and the learners in different ways. This means he needs to behave in different ways at different stages of the lesson. If he is able to make these changes effortlessly, his effectiveness as a teacher is greatly enhanced. Here are some roles teacher often uses: Controller/Commander: Teachers take on the role of a controller when explanations are given, instructions need to be told, when decorum needs to be reinstated or when the teacher is leading a question and answer session. In many educational environments, this is the most day-to-day teacher role whereby they stand in front of the class delivering lessons, reading aloud etc. Many teachers neglect other roles since controlling is the role they are acclimated to. Over -using this role may withhold the teacher and students from having an enjoyable class. Assessor/Tester: A good teacher will need to function as an assessor. This assessment can happen informally through classroom observation and participation or through formal methods like quizzes and tests. This role helps the teacher to know each student’s growth and mastery of the lesson objectives. It is imperative that in this role that the teacher’s evaluation system must be unbiased and be able to contribute to the holistic development of every student. Organizer: Teaching requires the organization of learning, thus, it follows that a very crucial role of the teacher is an organizer. The main aim of the teacher when organizing an activity is to tell the student what they are going to do, give clear instructions about the task, get the activity going and then organize feedback when it is over. This sounds easy but can be disastrous if the teacher does not give a clear instruction on how the task must be done. Developer/Builder: The more the teacher gets to know his students, the more he will realize that the worksheets that come with the assigned course book may be replaced or just aren’t going to be enough. The teacher will definitely become a builder of resources- making worksheet, designing assignments, creating games to go along with your lessons. You will stop at nothing to make sure the students are all taught in the way that suit them best. Prompter: There are times when students are lost for words or what they intend to say or write. When this occurs, the teacher can prompt his students to think creatively but must be done in a very encouraging and sensitive way but above all with diplomacy. Resource: Teacher act as resource by guiding and helping the students to do their work step by step. However, a teacher has to resist the urge to spoon-feed them so they can become independent in their learning generally. Tutor: The role of tutor is combined the roles of prompter and resource. The teacher has a more personal contact with the learners to give those help and support they need but the teacher must tactful of intruding too much. EFL learners needs to be tutored and motivated by their teacher in order to develop their language skills. Observer: Often during an activity teacher does not only monitor students in order to give feedback, corrections or praises but he also watch in order to know how successful an activity has been. If necessary, make some adjustments in the future lessons. Being an observer also helps to know the level of the students, comment when it’s necessary and applauds when they do well. Participant: A teacher can also act as a participant to make the activities enjoyable for the students. Here, the teacher acts like them in doing activities in the classroom. Some of the motives for such can be to spice up activities from the inside of the group as an alternative to prompting from the outside of the group or acting as a resource. This role is helpful for learners to be in contact with the teacher in order to improve their learning. Other Roles: Teachers can also be event planners, foster parents, role models, travel agents, bookkeepers, tour guides and lots more. It all depends on the type of teacher you are and the educational environment you teach in. It is also imperative that the teacher knows the names of his students in order to make them feel confident in themselves. This can help them to learn with keenness.