To begin with, I would like to greet our second mother in the school who are our teachers a Happy World Teacher's Day. It saddens us to not celebrate this special day with students but deeply in our hearts we all know how thankful and blessed we are of having them to help us achieve our dreams in life. In my 7 years of teaching experience, I can differentiate the differences between working in an actual classroom than working at home because the presence and celebration are far beyond nowadays but I consider it because of the pandemic. As an Educator, I am so happy to know that there are some people who can remember us and appreciate us. I think there is no easy job no matter what the status of that job because we need to work in a whole package that covers physical, emotional, and mental. Dealing with students is one of the hardest parts because you need to gain their trust and catch their interests too.
Today, I will serve this post as my gift for parents and teachers for their hard work on making the lives of their children and students more comfortable. I knew some of you will laugh if you can relate to what I am stating because for sure you experienced it but for those who are still confused and asking for guidance on how to solve these issues well, I am here to lend my arms open to help you. I am also open to suggestions and tips if you have any. You can share it by commenting in the comment box. There are countless scenes to be told but I only chose the best 8 to elaborate it. Are you ready? Come on!
1. REPETITION AND IMITATION
This can be annoying in some parts of the teacher where the student is copying whatever you are saying or repeating the words continuously. You don't have to feel mad if your students did it to you most especially if you are having a class with small children. If our students are new to us, same as what they feel and think too. We are also new to them. Repetition and imitation create a big part for the beginner students because this is mostly what we teach for them to master the sounds, identify and develop their speaking skills. There are times that we cannot expect in the four corners of the room, the majority will automatically understand the lesson. That's is why the presence of the teacher is needed because we are there to guide them to learn day by day.
I am going to set an example. When I passed my training to teach younger ones, I was so happy because my heart and soul are close to these little angels. Some teachers would rather teach adults or teenagers than 0 English ability or children ages 3 years old and above because they feel it more responsibilities and patience but I see myself enjoying having classes with these cute ones.
After the greeting and warm-up time, we are about to begin our lesson, and later on, based on my observation, the student was saying words repeatedly according to what she or he hears from the teacher. As a teacher, you should not take advantage of your student that you don't have to worry until the lesson ends because the student is easy and cool to teach. It's a big NO. Since the student is in the process of imitating you then this is the chance that you will put extra miles for him or her fully understood what he or she is saying. Your facial expressions and gestures should be evident enough so that your student absorbs what she or he is learning.
This happened to me many times and there is no reason to give up on them. I can still recall students of mine who used to practice this kind of action and I am so proud to myself to see their great progress. They are aware enough of how to respond well and know what they are doing.
2. CAN'T HEAR ME, CAN'T HEAR YOU
This is applicable to having classes online. The pandemic changed us and so did the education system. Students are lucky if their parents can afford some equipment to conduct their online classes. This includes mobile or laptop, internet connection, headset or headphones, and more. Teaching in an actual classroom is easier because you can directly talk with your students since you are in one place but to be in ESL, there's a gap.
One of the main reasons why your student cannot hear it is because of your internet connection. Having a slow connection can affect your class which leads to pausing and delayed. Parents and students are not happy to encounter this situation because they are excited to learn and expecting a lot at that specific time of discussion. To avoid this, you have to make sure to have a stable connection. Next is, try to double-check your desktop or laptop if it is updated or not crowded with unuseful applications and files. You have to set a schedule too for you to clear cache and so on. This can give you a lag issue.
This is a funny scenario. There is some student who can access the mute and unmute the microphone. Some will pretend that they don't hear you or their headphone isn't working. To solve this issue you can try at least 3 times to log out and refresh the app you are using on your teaching. If it is still not working you can send a message through chatbox and lastly let her or him call someone who can help him or her to adjust the setting because there are students as well who accidentally press some icons and don't have any idea how it works. If he or she is your regular student which means you can have him or her most of the day then it is time for you to inform the parents that there is something wrong with his or her child's device because if you will not take an action this will be repetitive and try to imagine the student and you stayed in the classroom without learning to bring home or share to their parents and friends.
3. I AM NOT ON MY MOOD
This tackles between a teacher and a student. Let us start with us, teachers. Whatever problems we are having in life should not be brought during the class. We should maintain our professionalism since we are their role model. They see and treat us differently with respect so we must highlight that. I would like to share my experiences. There are times I cried a minute before my class starts but I was able to manage my emotions towards my students. This is where pretentious happened but in a good way. We are there to inspire and motivate our students that is why we have to show them the charisma of positivism.
If you are not feeling well, you can simply inform the management to take a leave because forcing yourself without any interest and desire will not provide quality education to your student. We, teachers, are not always perfect, there are times our body weakens and we need some rest so never pushing ourselves if we cannot make it.
This happened to the students too. Your smartest student will not always answer your questions. Your shy type of student will not always stay remained as she is and your happy and go lucky student will not always be active. Children face mood swings too whatever may their reasons are. So this is where our role will be tested. We have to find ways to cheer them up, entertain them to stay on track. At the end of the day, we should be considerate and understanding that this will happen any time, anyone, and anywhere.
In another scenario, I had this cute girl student for a week who used to smile and keep laughing in the class. I love seeing her positive attitude. It seems that she enjoyed learning and there was one day she was on her break down. She was crying the whole time. Grandma and brother approached her but it does not give an effect because she still continuously crying. She doesn't want to talk with anybody. As her teacher, I tried my best to entertain her and did some alternative ways but still, it isn't. Since we have the rules in our management that we have only 15 minutes to wait for the student so I informed the Grandma that let her calm and relax but if she cannot make it until 15 minutes then I have to leave the class.
Having knowledge about your job can save you in this kind of situation because you know what are the steps to do and the best thing to decide to solve it. It is much better to leave a message not just for proof but also to show respect for why you left after 15 minutes and this can avoid conflict in the future class with your student.
4. EASILY GET BORED
As what they said, teachers can be a puppet or clown because they will do everything to catch the attention of their students. I will share some tips here on how to deal with students who usually used to feel bored during the class. A prepared teacher is way better than one who doesn't. As what I posted on my old blogs, We teacher should know what lesson we are teaching about and by knowing it we can prepare some fun activities which are related on the topic. Our voice should not too slow and low because it will increase the boredom of the student. We should be lively, energetic, and fun on facing them because this encourages the students.
5. EDUCATE THE INNOCENT MINDS
In every single day of conducting classes, there are different types of students' behavior you will encounter and there are some unexpected graphics that will appear. This is a little bit sensitive topic because I will share what I did and how I overcome it. Students love to draw and doing it is amazing but off-limits aren't acceptable. Instead of getting mad at your students about why he draws those(sensitive body parts), you have to undo or erase and try to access the icon where that student can't draw something on the screen board. There are big kids who are matured enough what it is but they are trying to test you and ask what is it. The best thing to do is to ignore it and try to make a quick alternative to get back on track or do some screenshot and report it to the management because this kind of practice should not be tolerated. It is not just about drawings they are doing it by actions and speaking unnecessary words. You have to stay calm and act professionally to maintain a smooth class. There is nothing to feel nervous about or even laughing about it because you are giving a chance to the student that you are with his jokes or whatever may be his reason. You cannot say directly to the student that he is a bad boy, you are doing bad instead you can say NO but in a well-mannered approach. If you are a concerned teacher then make sure to keep evidence through screenshots or review the recorded video so the management can help on what is the best way to solve this issue.
6. MOMMY AND DADDY-SIDE BY SIDE
Beginners are guided with their mothers or fathers on their side especially on their first day of learning. It is a good thing to have parents because they feel more comfortable and confident with their parents but this is only effective for 1-2 weeks and parents can start letting their child enter the class on their own. I am glad to see how these parents are so supportive. At first, I felt awkward conducting classes with parents but I set myself that there is nothing to be scared of because I am trained and with experience. In my two years of teaching online, I have this regular students and they are not small children to be guided but their parents are still there to listen and learn with them. I don't find it wrong because it is nice too that parents are eager to know what their children are learning and by that, they can evaluate the child on how far they learned the lesson well.
My real-life experiences helped me to see reality. Having parents with our side does not guarantee the student absorb everything in the lesson some were feeling pressured. I had a student of mine who loves to talk and have a great conversation with me during the class but her attitude will change if her parents are with her. I can see how nervous she is to do a single mistake and from a positive aura turns to a stage of nervousness. I am not telling here that parents cannot help or parents are not allowed to join but please give your child a space to grow on her own and be independent. Again, this is way better for beginners or first-timer students to be with parents.
7. FAST LEARNER OR HIGH LEVEL
8.FREE TALK-IELTS-BUSINESS CLASS with ADULTS
The free talk is really nice because this is the chance that you will know better your students. There is freedom of speech. But let us always be reminded that teachers should have less talk and more for the students because this will test the student's ability on constructing sentences, grammar checking, usage of vocabulary words, and how to improve daily conversational talk using the English language. I suggest you make questions or choose a topic to talk about just don't forget about the taboo topics. If you don't have enough to prepare well the internet can help you with that. Make sure to ask questions that are relatable and according to the level of intelligence of your students. Even though I am experienced I cannot deny the fact that I feel nervous as well because I am no longer dealing with young learners. I have married students, or shall we say older than me like in their 30's, 40's and 50's. I admit, there is pressure but in the long run, you will enjoy it because you are talking too with people who are experienced. So it is like a give and take. They learn from me and I learn from them.
