Teach English in SongzhuAng Zhen - Lianyungang Shi

A teacher usually does activities to keep the students engaged in the classroom discussion. There are several teaching techniques that may be applied depending on the topic, class level and class size. There are also many warmers in engage phase and other creative activities in study and activate phases that may be used to avoid student's boredom and keep a high level of participation. But no matter how well-prepared the teacher is, it is inevitable that some students lack enthusiasm and are not cooperating. How should a teacher deal with students with challenging behaviors? 1. Remember your deep Why This is similar to the 5Whys teaching technique where the teacher repetitively asks the students "why" in order to end up discovering the root-cause of a given topic or scenario. When faced with misbehaved students, the teacher must think about the ultimate purpose of teaching the lesson to the students. Why do the students need to participate in the activity? Why do the students need to understand the topic? The list goes on. If the teacher has a clear view of the purpose of what he or she is doing, it is easier to let the students understand why the topic or activity is necessary. 2. See the bigger picture A teacher may be reactive if the focus is only on the student's misbehavior. "The person did a bad thing but he/she is not a bad person at all" is a useful mantra and reminder for a teacher to address the student's mean behavior but take into consideration that there are many factors that come into play for the student's attitude in class. Cultural difference, confusion on the instruction or lack of self-esteem may be a reason why a student is not behaving well. Looking into the classroom set-up from a different perspective may entail a teacher to reflect on the situation from a student's standpoint as the teacher may miss out small details like appropriateness of the activity for all the students in the class. This will bridge the teacher-student gap and may lead to better lesson planning in the future. 3. Praise in public, Correct in private This has been a longtime coaching technique to impose a corrective action but not inflict intimidation. Praising the students in the class is a good way to let them know that all their efforts are seen and recognized by the teacher. A public praise does not only motivate the recognized student but also provides a new learning for the whole class. Thus, it is important to give details or impact of the great thing done by the student so that the class understands the context and learns from it. On the other hand, correction in private is necessary to keep the communication clear and kind. The teacher should not yell or scold the student. The aim is to have an open-communication to better understand the reason of misbehavior. The 1-1 session will also allow the teacher to motivate the student and create an action plan to avoid the same circumstance in the future. 4. Accountability partner This method is applicable for a small intimate classes and those with students who already know each other. The idea is to pair up weak and strong students together. The pairing may also be done for students who are comfortable to work with each other. The activities will be done in pairs and will have corresponding team score. Both students are accountable for their team's performance so it will encourage the students to participate more and use each other's strengths and weaknesses for their advantage. There is no hard and fast rule to deal with difficult students. It will always depend on the situation. As a teacher, the most important thing is to do is to acknowledge the misbehavior, act on it accordingly and never hold a grudge. It is essential to remember that a teacher not only teaches a lesson but also inspires their students to be at their best.