| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
|
 Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 2:30 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
I think the most important quality of a "good" teacher is feeling like a bad teacher (from time to time). Those that boast and chest out bloat on about how great they teach -- well I don't have any time for them. We all can improve, the ground moves under our feet. We must always be learning and changing. That is the nature of teaching and "life"...........
DD |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 3:44 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| ddeubel wrote: |
I think the most important quality of a "good" teacher is feeling like a bad teacher (from time to time). Those that boast and chest out bloat on about how great they teach -- well I don't have any time for them. We all can improve, the ground moves under our feet. We must always be learning and changing. That is the nature of teaching and "life"...........
DD |
Very true, but I think it's equally important not to let any little incidents or the odd bad lesson drag us down too much. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
As an aside.......
I just did two Friday morning classes. Same lesson as yesterday which worked super. But on Fridays, my classes are SOOOOOOO tired and just deadwood. Opposite to back home where the kids are climbing the walls...
I did a great game where they hold up signs with a day of the week on it, when they hear the day on the Cure's "It's Friday, I'm in love." Then we sing the karaoke version. Rocks big time but these kids were just asleep........
Anyone else have sleeping/tired/robotic/blank kids of Fridays????
I don't judge my teaching by my Friday classes. 
DD |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| ddeubel wrote: |
As an aside.......
I just did two Friday morning classes. Same lesson as yesterday which worked super. But on Fridays, my classes are SOOOOOOO tired and just deadwood. Opposite to back home where the kids are climbing the walls...
I did a great game where they hold up signs with a day of the week on it, when they hear the day on the Cure's "It's Friday, I'm in love." Then we sing the karaoke version. Rocks big time but these kids were just asleep........
Anyone else have sleeping/tired/robotic/blank kids of Fridays????
I don't judge my teaching by my Friday classes.
DD |
Last year I had a HS class of 40 grade 1s I taught at 4pm Friday in the multi-sil. The grade 1s in the academic programme were divided by ability and these ones were at the lower end. If I judged by teaching ability by them I would have been feeling a little worried.
This year two of my three Friday classes are surprisingly good. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lastat06513
Joined: 18 Mar 2003
Location: Sensus amo Caesar , etiamnunc victus amo uni plebian
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 9:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I prefer to teach basic and beginning level students because they tend not to be so cocky and arrogant, some actually want to learn.
I put a strong emphasis on the word SOME....
As in every class, no matter whether you were teaching English or Physics, you will find that there will be four or five students (sometimes in the same class) who don't want to learn and are intent on giving the teacher a hard time.
And when the teacher gives in to them, the other students see it as a sign of weakness on the side of the teacher, thus the teacher begins to lose respect and the teacher starts to question their ability.
Or
Sometimes, some material, though suitable for a certain level in theory, might not work in practice (refer to my post on theory versus practicality). Sometimes it is not the material that is wrong, it could be the delivery. If a teacher teaches the same grade or level all day, they tend to do the worst in the first class and the best in the last class.
How? Self-evaluation.
The teacher can make many mistakes in the first class but tend to see the mistakes and made sure they don't repeat them during the day. But the bad side to this coin is that the first class gets the sh^tty end of the stick because they are always the guinuea pig for the teacher's lesson (My first classes sometimes described me as So-so at best).
Then thats when delivery comes into play. The better a teachers learns how to introduce, conduct and conclude a lesson, the more confidence they might get.
Keep in mind, being bad is relative from person to person. A bad teacher for one student can be the best teacher for another. Don't forget that  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
elynnor
Joined: 08 Feb 2006
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 9:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
...
Last edited by elynnor on Sat Oct 07, 2006 4:04 am; edited 2 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
elynnor
Joined: 08 Feb 2006
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 9:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
...
Last edited by elynnor on Sat Oct 07, 2006 12:11 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 9:09 pm Post subject: Re: Do you ever feel like you're a bad teacher? |
|
|
| celticjay wrote: |
| I go through a teaching rollercoaster. I feel that I'm not adequetly trained to teach ESl sometimes. I've been doing it almost two years and one class will be great while the next will be average at best. Am I alone in this thinking? Is anyone else up and down like a toilet seat with regards to their confidence as a teacher. |
Who doesnt? I think its normal. Hey, after almost 5 years I still sometimes feel like that. But its getting better as the years pass by. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SPINOZA
Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:00 pm Post subject: Re: Do you ever feel like you're a bad teacher? |
|
|
| celticjay wrote: |
| I go through a teaching rollercoaster. I feel that I'm not adequetly trained to teach ESl sometimes. I've been doing it almost two years and one class will be great while the next will be average at best. Am I alone in this thinking? Is anyone else up and down like a toilet seat with regards to their confidence as a teacher. |
That's just the way it goes, certainly with me.
One thing that works a treat with all classes and all levels is quizes - general knowledge. I've not had a sucky lesson all week, all thanks to my quiz! They just all totally got into it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 3:31 am Post subject: |
|
|
| EFLtrainer wrote: |
| What I took from your post is a great hopefulness: an English teacher that gives a damn!!! The money is so easy that many (most?) get sucked into/beaten down to just collecting their checks. Your rollercoaster is a sign that you give a rat's butt. Let that be a motivator so that noticing it helps you focus on continued improvement rather than giving in. Let's face it, there are precious few English "teachers" here that have anything like adequate training. There are so many that never question or examine what they do. |
I find my popularity with students tends to vary inversely with how much of a rat's ass I give. But then there's a balance to be struck between putting in an effort and stressing out, cos unless you can create a relaxed atmosphere you can't achieve anything and that means being relaxed.
By the way, are you actually an official ELT trainer? You speak as one with authority.
| EFLtrainer wrote: |
| How many people do you know that are charming, very popular and just assume that they are also teaching effectively? Do they track their students? Do they assess them? If so, do they use a standard that is recognizable beyond "He's better than he was, cause I remember how he was?" (Studies have show that teachers' observations are only about 60 percent accurate in assessing student improvement, yet this is the sole barometer in the vast majority of hagwons in Korea, right?) How many think that because they have been teaching they ARE tachers, though there has been absolutely zero measurement of this? |
There's no reason why a charming popular guy can't be an excellent teacher...
As far as student assessment goes I have just about always felt that my students show no change whatsoever between the time I get them and the time they leave. Perhaps because the most easily measurable sign of improvement is improved vocabulary and I mostly don't teach vocabulary: I focus on grammar (someone in the class has to). Mostly they run through grammatical drills mechanically and as soon as they decide to attempt real communication it goes straight out the window. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
