This is a small article I found that I think is a fantastically simple guide to becoming the kind of teacher that the students themselves want. I am going to try and apply these ideas and record any results I find. This article was found at:
http://www.dance-teacher.com/content/thirteen-things-best-teachers-do
Students say, "The best teachers..."
“…know us personally.” Make a conscious effort to use a student’s name when giving corrections or compliments.
“…let us know who they are as individuals.” Students shouldn’t be your best friends, but tell them about some of your hobbies and interests outside of the studio.
“…smile at us.” Be aware of your face when you talk to students—a smile is worth a thousand words.
“…argue with us in a fun way in informal situations.” Before or after class, remember that your students enjoy a little humor just as much as you do.
“…check on us when we are sick.” If a child has missed consecutive classes, call home to check in or send a condolence card. They will appreciate how much you care and learn a lesson in compassion.
“…establish rules for everyone, including themselves.” If your students can’t check cell phones in class, neither should you. If they have a strict ballet dress code, consider donning a leotard and tights for class as well.
“…are consistent.” Students should know what to expect in class and what is expected from them every day. They should never have to adjust based on your mood.
“…are energetic, enthusiastic and enjoy their job.” Showing some excitement about dance class will encourage students to be excited about it, too.
“…help us on their own time with our work.” Staying after class to help a student perfect a combination is worth the effort. She’ll appreciate the personal sacrifice you’ve made.
“…are in control of the class.” No matter how much you want your students to like you, you should still be an authority figure. Students need limits and structure.
“…value our work and effort.” Don’t mislead students about the quality of their work, but keep comments motivational and practice constructive criticism.
“…tell us they believe in us and work with us to be successful.” Convince your students that they are capable of nailing a triple pirouette or winning that trophy. It may just become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
“…admit it when they mess up or make mistakes.” If you say something harsh or overreact in class, apologize for it and explain that teachers make mistakes, too.
(Photo ©istockphoto.com/Suzy Oliveira)
5 comments:
This is a lovely article purely for being so simple. I might just try and apply some of these myself! Something that isn't mentioned in this article though is something that I think is fairly important. I know that some of my favourite teachers when I was training were those that did the work themselves as well. There was nothing worse than a teacher who would scream at you to do carry on with the 100 sit ups but not do any themselves.
I absolutely agree with that. I think you have to be an extremely experienced and highly respected teacher to get away with simply shouting out commands without participating. I always work along with my students, although I'm sure there'll come a day some time in the future when the effect of doing so will be some what diminished! No student wants to see an old timer trying his best to keep up!
Another characteristic I would add to the list would be "be scary". I know initially this may seem quite a negative attribute, but I had a teacher at college who was fantastic. He had a great relationship with his students, but if they over stepped the mark he was fearsome. We were genuinely had a fearful respect for him and therefore were completely focused and desperate to please and impress him. The end result was that we progressed and learned more in his class than any other!
Hi Liam! I love this article as it mentions a lot of things I agree with. I do a lot of cover work as a dance teacher which means I'm not always teaching the same children, and if you can learn all their names at the start of the lesson and use them throughout I find you can really get the kids onboard a lot more easily.
I'm not sure I completely agree with you on the 'scary' front, though. I appreciate that you need to command respect from your class, but I think that you need to smile often (as mentioned above in the article), especially when teaching younger children, to put them at ease and make yourself approachable.
I do think this is a great checklist though, to stop yourself from slipping into bad habits when teaching!
Hi Aïcha,
You make a very good point and obviously with younger children it's slightly different! I think it's just being able to switch from smiley, happy teacher to extremely stern in the blink of an eye when needed.
Also it of course depends on the children you're teaching. I teach some children that are so unruly and badly disciplined (I can only assume this is due to previous/other current teachers, I'm working on it!) that I find I have to become the scary teacher I mentioned earlier in order to make my class productive.
I suppose your comment has actually made me think of another characteristic to add to the list; adaptability. You have to become a different teacher for different classes, employing the persona that particular class needs. Would you agree?
Liam,
I've just seen your comment in the middle of writing a reflection on the contrasts of 2 classes I have taught for different age groups. I think you are absolutely right that you need to have adaptablilty, and sometimes we are conscious of this and sometimes you find yourself responding almost instinctively to what the class needs.
I know the feeling of having to struggle against previous teachers' discipline (or lack thereof) in order to create a successful class, and would definitely agree that in this case, you have to be stricter to establish YOUR expectations, and then later on you can relax a little.
I hope you will take a look at my post on the subject - this article inspired me to explore the way I was teaching!
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