Teach English in Huitengxileyuanqu - Wulanchabu Shi — Ulanqab

The roles of a teacher can be varied every day. There are many aspects to the act of teaching that need to be considered in a day-to-day teaching environment. Some roles that a teacher may find themselves with in the classroom include a manager, a prompter, an assessor, an observer, a tutor, a participant and a role model. As a manager, a teacher needs to have the skills to effectively manage the lesson and the classroom. Elements to this role would include keeping order and peace in the classroom, managing lesson schedules in an orderly and effective fashion and being the main focal point of the classroom (at the front of the room). As a prompter, the teacher is required to offer prompts to students when they need it, to enable the students to generate their own skills and ideas in the classroom. A student may need a small prompt when stuck on an activity or a word in order to continue with the activity successfully. An example might be when a student is speaking a sentence out loud and there is a word that he or she is stuck on, the teacher could prompt them by sounding the beginning of the word or giving them a small clue so that they are not directly giving the student the answer but rather allowing the student to come up with the correct answer themselves. The assessor role of a teacher is an important one as this is a way to keep students informed of their progress throughout the course as well as giving the teacher an opportunity to track this progress. By assessing the student’s activities, and providing them with feedback, a teacher is giving student’s an opportunity to improve where needed and also providing them with the knowledge that they are succeeding in other areas. As an observer the teacher will be required to observe the classroom activities as a way to gauge whether the activity is being carried out correctly, how long it may take and how successful the activity is. If a teacher gives the classroom an activity but doesn’t bother monitoring the students during the activity, there’s a good chance that the teacher and student’s won’t be gaining the full potential of that activity because there won’t be any success measured. It is important that the teacher allows the student’s space to carry out the activity independently, so maintaining a distance is wise however they will need to step in to monitor more closely at times as well. As a tutor, the teacher will sometimes need to step in and give students some personalized tutoring. If a student is having trouble understanding or carrying out an activity, the teacher may wish to spend some one-on-one time with that student to get him or her up to speed. It is important to remember not to focus too much on one student and to offer equal attention to all students the majority of the time. Sometimes a teacher may be required to participate in activities or games, during class time. This is where the participant role comes in. This may be required to even up odd numbers during student activities, or it may simply be to help liven up the activity. One thing a teacher should be wary of when participating in activities is that they must not dominate the activity too much and keep the focus on the students, not him or herself. A teacher needs to be a role model during class time to set a good example for his or her students. If a teacher is using foul language or incorrect use of the English language in class, unreliable and late, short tempered and unmotivated, the students will not respect that teacher and may follow suit in their behaviour which will lead to a disruptive class routine. Using the English language correctly will be hugely beneficial for students to learn and mimic. One other role of a teacher which was not included in the course units but which I would like to personally add, in my own opinion a teacher also needs to be a confidant and times. They need to recognize when a student might be troubled or unhappy and offer the student the opportunity to approach them about it, listening and offering general advice. If a student is having a difficult time in class or in their personal life, that will reflect on their success and behaviour in the classroom and I personally think that it is important for a teacher to recognize that and offer an opportunity for students to confide in them if they wish. This needs to be done in a very subtle manner and any advice needs to be offered professionally, tactfully and without judgement. An example of this might be, if a teacher notices that a student is falling behind in class, they might ask the student to see them after class. The teacher may say to the student “I have noticed that you had a bit of trouble with the last two assessments, is everything ok?” and the student might say that they are embarrassed to say it in class but they are having trouble keeping up with the rest of the class and the lesson plan. The teacher may then advise that the student consider extra tutoring or extra study to try to catch up and perhaps even recommend some tutor or extra materials that may be of assistance to the student. To conclude, the role of teacher doesn’t stop at just “teacher”. There are so many different elements which make up a successful teacher and recognizing when to use those roles and in what manner is extremely important. It is the responsibility of the teacher to engage and teach efficiently and effectively and these roles combined correctly will enable the success of the students.